Hi Ladyla,
Binge smoking and all the time smoking are almost the same thing. Smoking is smoking.It appears that you are giving into peer pressure. Do ALL your friends smoke??If you really want to quit for All the time, maybe you could explain to your friend that you are trying to quit and will be absent from the circle untill you are standing on your own feet. Any of the posts will help no matter if you smoke 1 or 1,000 nasty cigs.

I had only 1 friend that still smoked and she understood and we kept in contact by phone till I felt confident in my quit.We had been smoking buddies for over 20 years. I never bugged her and 3 months ago she surprized me by quitting herself. So start a trend with YOUR buddies. They might be ready too.

Hugs for success,Maybery

Hi Mayberry,

Thank you for the advice. I guess I need to be a bit clearer about my situation:

First, I'm a musician, so I have no option of not being around people who smoke. I play in bars and larger music venues.

Second, no one is pressuring me to smoke. There is not a single person who tries to convince me to have a cigarette. It's more about me: I see people smoking and I usually go bum one off of them.

Third, there is something different about binge smoking. It feels different from when I was a full time smoker years ago. It feels bad, like I'm doing something wrong, which makes it all the more enjoyable when the rebel in me says "do it! smoke!" So, I'm especially curious to find someone who has been successful quitting social/binge smoking to commiserate with.

Does that make sense?

Ladyla

The term social smoker often refers to someone who doesnt smoke on a daily basis but may have a few when on a night out. This is sometimes referred to as binge smoking. It is however less harmful to smoke 10 cigarettes in one night and then abstain for a fortnight than smoke one or two each day. This is because the body has time to recover. The problem with binge smoking is that it causes damage to the immune system. It can make you more vulnerable to mouth ulcers and throat infections. It can often make you cough a lot as the lungs try to get rid of all the chemicals like tar etc.

A lot of my former friends were/are smokers, I would stop smoking, go out with, then smoke like 2 packs in one night! Crazy.
I had to tell them that I could not go out with for awhile, or ??
Most faded away, we lost touch, they would say aww gee you quit so it wont hurt to smoke a few with us??? HUH?
I would then proceed to smoke myself silly, had to stop that, I was like quitting, starting over, quitting starting over.
Now I have only a few friends really but none smoke-or are former smokers, that is nice to not have to worry about that
GOOD LUCK

Ladyla, in my town, state I think? smoking is no longer allowed in bars-that would be rough to be a musician who is trying to quit! Lots seem to smoke in bands, when playing. Is there smoking allowed in bars where you live?

I can relate to that rebel part, I think I started for that reason among others.
AND I had friends too who did not pressure I would plead bum some off them

I am an ex musician and i know it is harder to quit as the bars give musicians a room where they CAN smoke behind the scenes. You have to really want to quit and then stick with it. If your desire is not strong enough, you will inevitably give in to it.
Make that decision and kick the nicodemon to the curb, read
whyquit.com and get your mind set, be prepared, and this will help you
to successfully quit. Good luck and keep us posted.
hugs, Jazz

To quit smoking... you have to really want to quit.