It's a combo of that and the travelling still and...I think...the drugs the doctor gave me are steroids and have hit me for six. I asked the pharmacist if there were any adverse side effects and she neglected to mention any...not least the dizziness and insomnia.

Heading back to my hotel in a minute via a shop for some sugary food and dinner, skype call and then an early night to catch up on sleep.

Dumping the steroids is a gamble as they pump so much cortisol in but hopefully only 3 doses means I'll survive.

Are you still alive, Scamp?

Evening.

Yes, still alive and feeling OK. Just very busy.

The 'withdrawal' from the drugs kicked in after roughly 3 days and so far since the last dose (before I knew they were bastards) is about a day and a half. So in theory, tomorrow afternoon when I'm due to meet people for a beer I'll be right up shit creek once more.

Hoping the previous issues weren't withdrawal issues but more just lack of sleep, time zones, exhaustion, lack of food etc etc etc....but just in case I have researched some places that my medical is direct billing for already.

I was thinking along the lines of spiders and creepy crawlies but glad to know you're still sort of okayish. Get better soon. It's boring on here without you.

I would recommend taking enough cigarettes to last you (I would also recommend declaring them at duty free when you arrive - I chickened out of trying to smuggle them in).

Paying the duty at the airport is still way cheaper than buying cigarettes there.

I did - normally do anyway, wherever I / we go.
I did too - when you have to physically lie on a form I get uncomfortable.
I did too - 157 dollars for 10 packs.
It is - they would have cost 350 dollars apparently.

Get used to it. Hammond's budget just raised the duty on cigarettes back home

I won't call myself a smarmy ex-smoker because I really miss smoking but quitting is the best thing I ever did. Trust me, it's worth it.

I only ever go to the UK for 3-4 days so my trusty Duty Free always keeps me good :-)

This is so true. I was a 40 a day man but I am so glad I quit and I don't miss it at all, even the access to the club of social renegades, clustered in odd corners, that smoking used to afford...

I'm getting there. I've cut down a shit load.

Made a deal with Mummy that if she did chemo and radio, I'd quit. She's done it. I haven't.
She's coming for a week at Xmas so that'll be the target for me to bin it. Not sure how yet but I think that if you can go a few days then you're basically in the clear. It's just then about not boozing either

It's as much about situational awareness as anything. Don't put yourself in situations where it would be normal to reach for a smoke. I doubt you smoke whilst showering, shagging, or in the process of dining (unless you're Chinese of course). So do one of those instead. Want to get clean.

My worst fear was travelling. Endless hours alone in hotels would be a sure recipe to cave. So I avoided trips for a month by which time I was pretty clean. Same for socialising. Just avoid for a while until you feel its not a risk. Want to be a non.

Be absolutely convinced, to the nth degree that this is what you WANT!
Like much in life achieving something really does depend on how much you want it.

10 years on, woo hoo, its all benefits, no negatives.

After almost 30 years and around 20 a day it took less than a minute to stop and about a month or so to feel 'safe'.

Some years ago a friend had hypnotherapy - twice! - in a bid to stop smoking. Neither course of hypnotherapy worked and, when she returned to try and persuade the therapist to go for a third course he refused. His reason for refusing? Three times he asked my friend what she wanted to achieve. Each time she replied that she wanted to stop smoking. He said that that was the wrong answer. He told her that she should have replied that she wanted to be a non-smoker; many, if not most, smokers wanted to stop smoking but until they actually decided that they wanted to be non-smokers they wouldn't be able to stop. She saw the sense in this and eventually decided that she wanted to be a non-smoker and gave up 'just like that'.