Nancy Young wrote:

> "Arnold" > wrote
>
> > For me the two are closely related, I smoke a hell of a lot more when
> > drinking.
> >
> > I agree with the positive approach whereby you feel that you are not
> > giving
> > up something, but more like convincing yourself that 'I don't want to
> > smoke/drink anymore'.
>
> ... For whatever reason you are quitting, worry about that more than having
> a beer or a smoke, but give yourself time to get over the withdrawal. I
> don't think I have to tell you, don't have booze or cigarettes in the house,
> and stay away from it as much as you can, I know it's hard to avoid
> other people who smoke or places where drinking is going on. ...
> nancy

My smoking buddies at work were mostly very understanding when I avoided them
for several weeks. I used the patch as a crutch, but the new advice is to use
it longer and this was effective for me - 8 weeks on high dose, 8 weeks on
medium, 2 weeks on low. And having a lot of public places no smoking helps. And
smells nicer. You will need to get all your clothes, curtains, etc. cleaned.
You'll be surprised how bad they smell.
And good luck on the drinking - I still got memories of my dad and his shakes.
Edrena