Hypnosis Anyone?
A Stop Smoking Hypnosis thingy is tonight. Has anyone else tried this type of thing? I tried it once and it was (obviously!) a no go. Left the room and soooooo wanted a smoke. Then I tried it for weight loss AND smoking. That time it didn't work out so well but I think it was possibly because the lady seemed more interested in learning about what types of childhood abuse I suffered at the hands of my father than she was in truely helping me.
My husband REALLY wants me to quit. He's the one who found the info about the class thing. It's tonight and I've been doing some thinking. There are three reasons I would want to quit. #1 Make Hubby happy #2 My health and #3 Cost effective. Notice the way I listed them, hubby comes first. Is this a bad thing? I figure if I go for the hypnosis and it works then all three objectives will be met and if I don't go then it's a missed opportunity. Hubby is even willing to miss the NEW star trek this week to go with me, you KNOW he's gotta want it to do that! 
Anyway even if my motives aren't exactly dead on I think I'm gonna give it a shot.
Lemme know if you've tried hypnosis, I'm interested to know how it worked or didn't for others.
L&H Gayle
Anyway even if my motives aren't exactly dead on I think I'm gonna give it a shot.
Lemme know if you've tried hypnosis, I'm interested to know how it worked or didn't for others.
L&H Gayle 
Gayle - I tried hypnosis for weight loss before WLS - it did bring some positive changes in my habits, but obviously wasn't the answer for me or I wouldn't have gone with WLS. BUT, my dad did quit smoking 17 years ago after hypnosis and he smoked for 50 years! I think part of it was that he really believed it would work. My husband quit 5 years ago after smoking for 20 years using Zyban (or Wellbutrin) for a few months. This needs to be prescribed by a doctor and I am not sure about any changes using it post WLS, but it is just a thought. Good Luck to you in whatever you try. Dee
Talk about a GIANT flop! I so sucked at being hypnotized! My hubby did fine, I know because I watched him! I soooo wanted this to work, I think more for him like I said earlier, but it just didn't. Then he made this snide little comment "You're an adult now and nobody can make you stop when you don't want to, they can't take it away" Like an arrow through my heart I tell ya! I tried, I failed, the flamed. The pud knocker! That's how I feel tonight. I feel like I could take him out back and kick his ya ya behind the barn while I smoked a cigarette! Of course we'd hafta have a barn but then again I'm so dern mad that I could eat horseshoes and spit nails, maybe I can get a barn built! I feel like a freak. I feel like I failed. I know I failed but on what level? I mean I wanted to quit to make my man happy. FAILED! Wanted to quit because of the cost. FAILED bought two packs on the way home! I wanted to quit for my health... kinda shot myself in the foot on this one didn't I???? How do I tell hubby to back off without screeching at him to leave me be? How can I do it "with love and a smile"? Is that even possible????
L&H Gayle
The weight loss one didn't do a thing for me.... Like I said though I think the gal was off on her own tangent and then the other time for stop smoking didn't work either.... why am I so surprised that this time didn't work?
Maybe because I'm always one of the ones who gets hypnotized in the crowd at the fair.... just never in therapy situations... is that possible? Can I be that resistant? Or am I just that pig headed?????
Gayle -
I empathize with trying to quit. I quit about 7 years ago and totally did NOT want to. Don't know if you are religious or not, but I will briefly relate what happened to help me quit and hopefully no one will get mad that I did so. It's not to preach at all - just relate what happened and maybe provide something you can cull from it either way.
I promised my DH I would quit. I did not want to AT ALL. I was on my last cigarette the night before I was to quit and we were driving down the road. I smoked the cigarette and looked at my husband and said "I do not want to quit." 
He just gave me that look. You have a husband wanting the same thing, so I suspect you know "the" look I'm talking about.
We drove home and I was just convinced I'd go right out and buy a pack of cigarettes the next day. I was not ready and I did not want to. So I said a prayer. "God, I do NOT want to quit smoking. Seriously - if you want me to stop, YOU have to do it. I have absolutely no power over this. I don't even want to WANT to quit smoking. I love everything about it and I have no desire to even contemplate putting any effort into this."
I felt useless and futile, but I went along with the charade for that next day, which was a Saturday. I wasn't dieting at the time (thankfully) so I had stocked up on Little Debby Nutty Buddies. I sat on the computer all day trying not to think about smoking, and my DH would open the door to the office and throw in a box of those every couple hours. It was laughingly pathetic. I went on a posting frenzy on all my message boards and ate myself sick. I figured I could do this for the weekend so I gave it my best shot. In my mind, I had planned to find a reason to get fed up so I could go out on Monday and buy a pack of cigarettes.
Well, Monday came and I didn't find a reason to get mad. I was getting through the day okay, so I decided to try for a week. Still in my mind I was thinking I had every intention of starting again in a week. My thoughts were that it would look REALLY good to my DH and he would be happy with me for making it a week. I am serious here - I had set out to fail at every turn. I was doing the opposite of what I would normally do.
When I went back to work, I did not change anything. I didn't clean out my ashtray in my car. I didn't clean out the one in the garage either. After all, when I cleaned out my ashtrays I didn't realize it but I actually missed the smell. No, I didn't love the smoke smell. But I knew something was different. It wasn't my normal routine and that only reminded me of the fact I wasn't smoking. I took my breaks like always - I would go outside and stand out there just like when I was smoking. I told NO ONE at work that I quit. In fact, the ONLY thing different about my life was that I wasn't lighting up.
A week passed and I started to feel like it might be possible to do this. I thought I'd give it another week. I really wanted to smoke though, so I went to my ashtray and found a butt that I could get a couple puffs off. I was able to get 4 puffs off it and got a head spin. I hit upon something then. I figured that at 3 puffs I wasn't getting enough nicotine to keep me hooked, but it was enough to keep me from going nuts. So I actually went out and bought a pack of cigarettes and put them in the freezer in the garage.
I decided what I would do is stave off my desire for a period of time. If I felt I NEEDED a cigarette right now, I would make a deal with myself and let myself have the 3 puffs at a later time. Sometimes it was a day or two later. Sometimes it was a week. As time went on I continued this pattern while pushing the time back for my promised cheat. Eventually I was staving it off for 2 months. That was the last one I did, except for my yearly. This is not something I would necessarily recommend, but for several years in a row, I promised myself a whole cigarette on the anniversary of my quit date. This was my way of staving off my craving during the year. I knew I could have a smoke later if I wanted one.
Well, of course, during this time, I continued to pray. I knew I couldn't do it on my own and I knew I wasn't going to try. Over a short period of time it became a reality to me that I could really do this.
The thing is, I was the worst kind of addicted to smoking. I was addicted emotionally, socially and physically. I could not escape the addiction on my own. This was the way it was.
Anyway, that is how it happened for me. I no longer need those yearly anniversary smokes. I feel fine without them.
I hope this helps in some way. Maybe it will help you find the way in which you can accomplish this eventually. Good luck!
Dina
He just gave me that look. You have a husband wanting the same thing, so I suspect you know "the" look I'm talking about.
We drove home and I was just convinced I'd go right out and buy a pack of cigarettes the next day. I was not ready and I did not want to. So I said a prayer. "God, I do NOT want to quit smoking. Seriously - if you want me to stop, YOU have to do it. I have absolutely no power over this. I don't even want to WANT to quit smoking. I love everything about it and I have no desire to even contemplate putting any effort into this."
I felt useless and futile, but I went along with the charade for that next day, which was a Saturday. I wasn't dieting at the time (thankfully) so I had stocked up on Little Debby Nutty Buddies. I sat on the computer all day trying not to think about smoking, and my DH would open the door to the office and throw in a box of those every couple hours. It was laughingly pathetic. I went on a posting frenzy on all my message boards and ate myself sick. I figured I could do this for the weekend so I gave it my best shot. In my mind, I had planned to find a reason to get fed up so I could go out on Monday and buy a pack of cigarettes.
Well, Monday came and I didn't find a reason to get mad. I was getting through the day okay, so I decided to try for a week. Still in my mind I was thinking I had every intention of starting again in a week. My thoughts were that it would look REALLY good to my DH and he would be happy with me for making it a week. I am serious here - I had set out to fail at every turn. I was doing the opposite of what I would normally do.
When I went back to work, I did not change anything. I didn't clean out my ashtray in my car. I didn't clean out the one in the garage either. After all, when I cleaned out my ashtrays I didn't realize it but I actually missed the smell. No, I didn't love the smoke smell. But I knew something was different. It wasn't my normal routine and that only reminded me of the fact I wasn't smoking. I took my breaks like always - I would go outside and stand out there just like when I was smoking. I told NO ONE at work that I quit. In fact, the ONLY thing different about my life was that I wasn't lighting up.
A week passed and I started to feel like it might be possible to do this. I thought I'd give it another week. I really wanted to smoke though, so I went to my ashtray and found a butt that I could get a couple puffs off. I was able to get 4 puffs off it and got a head spin. I hit upon something then. I figured that at 3 puffs I wasn't getting enough nicotine to keep me hooked, but it was enough to keep me from going nuts. So I actually went out and bought a pack of cigarettes and put them in the freezer in the garage.
I decided what I would do is stave off my desire for a period of time. If I felt I NEEDED a cigarette right now, I would make a deal with myself and let myself have the 3 puffs at a later time. Sometimes it was a day or two later. Sometimes it was a week. As time went on I continued this pattern while pushing the time back for my promised cheat. Eventually I was staving it off for 2 months. That was the last one I did, except for my yearly. This is not something I would necessarily recommend, but for several years in a row, I promised myself a whole cigarette on the anniversary of my quit date. This was my way of staving off my craving during the year. I knew I could have a smoke later if I wanted one.
Well, of course, during this time, I continued to pray. I knew I couldn't do it on my own and I knew I wasn't going to try. Over a short period of time it became a reality to me that I could really do this.
The thing is, I was the worst kind of addicted to smoking. I was addicted emotionally, socially and physically. I could not escape the addiction on my own. This was the way it was.
Anyway, that is how it happened for me. I no longer need those yearly anniversary smokes. I feel fine without them.
I hope this helps in some way. Maybe it will help you find the way in which you can accomplish this eventually. Good luck!
Dina 
Gayle, PLEASE quit smoking! I quite 17 years ago and, like Connie, it remains the best, most loving thing I have ever done for myself. I can't stand to be around it now, I'm vigilante about it. In fact, we don't know anyone who smokes, not socially or in the work place or anything, so it has become something that I don't even think about anymore. I can tell you this, though. It was very difficult to quit; I was insane for about 7 days -- then, I never looked back. Once in a while, over the years I would think that I wanted a cigarette, but it was just in my head. When I was smoking, it ruled my life. The habit controlled me and in retrospect, I felt so lousy about that. Hypnosis, schmosis. I tried that once to quit -- I got hysterically as in I couldn't stop laughing in this guy's face. Must have been the gigantic handlebars mustache. You can be sure of one thing, though. If it's something that you don't want to do, or are doing it for reasons other than for yourself, you will not be successful. You've got to want it -- bad -- for yourself. Hubby gets to benefit and thats a good thing, but it's got to be for you. Gayle, smoking SUCKS -- and it's killing you. I will send good, strong, positive thoughts your way because, my friend, if you can endure what you've gone through this past 11 months, you are SUPERWOMAN, you can endure this too. Keep us posted. Best of luck! Maureen
Gayle,
my mom is a board certified hypnotherapist who works on two things - stop smoking and weight loss. She guarantees her results for stop smoking. If you are going to go to a hypnotherapist check their credentials and their guarantee. Group hypnotherapy only has about a 20% success rate whereas one on one hypnotherapy has a 90% success rate. Only thing is, if the hypnotherapist is your mom, it won't work. That tiny little voice inside your head wont let you completely relax for her. LOLOL. Good luck! Let us know how it goes!
-Sherrie
oh you already did let us know - my bad. sorry it didnt work. It may be the hypnotherapist. My mom does something called NLP for people who cant or wont be hypnotized - you might look for an NLP practitioner in your area. Its a way of bypassing the part of your brain that resists hypnotism.
-Sherrie
Gayle,
I quit smoking 16 years ago after the birth of my second daughter. I finally decided that if my kids were going to grow up to be smokers, it was not going to be because of my influence. My wife is also a non-smoker and I know it bothered her although she didn't bug me about it. (I'll never understand how she put up with me) I didn't try hypnosis, but I just wanted to encourage you to try anything to quit. You are making huge sacrifices now for your health, so why continue a habit which is at least as bad for your health as obesity. Best of luck.
Mike
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