How often do you smoke?

[Azygous]

Also, please post if you believe you are addicted or not.

I've been trying to limit myself to only smoking when I have a friend to smoke with (usually on the weekends).

[mushrat]

Thats a good plan. I've been giving myself once a week for just me and try to keep it to having others around for more than that.
Suggested to wyteboy a similar course of action.

[cypress]

I like to smoke and can stop at any time. I actually had to take a week
off for a cold.  But I will smoke to relax at times.

[NERV]

there shud be an option for more than 3 times a day, id be there

[Mathazar]

I've owned 7 hookahs.  1 of them I sold, 2 I gave away,  and 4 I thru out in an attempt to quit.

It's no use,  I can throw-out all the Sultan Hookahs I want, 
but the fact remains that I am THOROUGLY addicted.  I've been
smoking,  on average,  around 5 to 10 bowls a day for the
last 8 months.

Realising that I was having trouble quitting,  I stopped buying
expensive hookahs and started buying cheaper $40 Sultan Hookahs, 
with the understanding that if I got the overwhelming urge to quit
again then it wouldn't be an expensive hookah I'd be getting rid
of.  I've thrown-out 4 Sultan hookahs so far,  and it never
does any good.  At max,  I've been able to go a day or two
without smoking,  but the longer I wait the more painful my
withdrawls get.  Usually by the second day I'm climbing the walls
yearning to buy another hookah and fill my mouth with that beautiful
smoke. Okay,  Nakhla isn't exactly beautiful smoke.  We have
a Middle Eastern store nearby that sells Sultan Hookahs,  3Kings
Charcoal,  and Nakhla tobacco.  But it really doesn't matter
what I smoke after going 2 days without it,  I'm literally going
out of my mind by the 2nd day.

So,  I guess there really is no moral of the story for me because
I'm so completely hooked.  But for newcomers to this hobby, 
I suggest going VERY slow in the beginning,  don't just jump right
in like I did or you'll get addicted in a hurry. Trust me,  you
don't want to get addicted to the hookah,  as I'm sure there are
negative health issues associated with hookah smoking if you do it too
much.  HookahCulture mentioned something about a Sucrose build-up
in the lungs from doing it too much.  Someone else mentioned
something about Glycerine being bad for you,  and the importance
of washing the maassel before smoking it to get the Glycerine
out.....something I haven't tried yet.....you're supposed to add honey
to it after washing it.

I guess,  in a nutshell,  smoking is bad for you.....PERIOD!!! 

[mushrat]

um...Mathazar....time to see a doctor. If you are insured, Welbutrin (zyban?) is very good for quitting smoking. Or even a patch or gum. At this rate you may as well be smoking cigarettes. Nothing you don't know I'm sure, but I feel like you folks are becoming/have become friends and friends help out friends.
 
 

[yashman19]

For a while when I had the time, I was smoking 3-4 times a day. This semester I've had a larger load of classes, thus forcing me only to smoke about 1-2 times per day. Just cutting down like this hasn't made me feel any withdrawls, but NOW I'm only smoking on the weekends. I still put 4-6 times a week, but those 4-6 times in one week is all done on the weekends with friends. Never by myself anymore.
I love hookah, but I'm just trying to be smart about it. Its better to cut down now before I get to the point Mathazar is. Sorry Math

[Mathazar]

Welbutrin,  ha?  Yeah,  I've been thinking very
seriously about a patch.  But then,  if I give-up hookah
smoking with the intention of lowering my nicotine intake,  then I
might as well give-up cigars and pipe tobacco also,  which is
something I'm definitely NOT going to do in the near future.  So,
I may as well keep smoking the hookah.

Although,  my doctor DID reccommend that I stop smoking the
hookah.  He said that even pipe tobacco & cigars are better
than hookah tobacco because you're not inhaling.

Thanks for the reccommendation,  friend, I'll take it into consideration

[wyteboy]

For me, I will be smoking fairly often, prob 3 times a week while I smoke the samples and stuff that I'll be getting while trying to figure out what I like and don't like...Once I settle on sort of a core stash, I will prob do it once every week or once every 2 weeks....always with friends.
While I try these different brand and flavors, I am on the mushrat plan.  Max 4 times in a week, only once can be by myself.  That way while smoking a bowl with a friend, I'm really only smoking 1/2 the bowl, but will still be able to decide if I like the flavor, brand etc.
I love the hookah smoke for the taste and the relaxation, but also mainly for the big social aspect of doing it with friends.  Today, my closest friend at work and I lit up a bowl and talked about stuff we've never really chatted about before, just reminscing back to high school and stuff like that.  Was real cool, something about the hookah just brings out great conversation among friends.
So for the next 2 months I'll say I am probably in the 3-4 times a week range (maybe), but then after that I will be in the once every 2 weeks or so range...

[ZooJohnnyZETA]

I smoke the hookah once a day with the exception of about one day a week when I don't have the time to sit back and smoke it.
  Every time I smoke the hookah I smoke with my partner who is a
non-smoker (other than the hookah). Even after smoking once a day for
well over a month he feels no sense of craving or addiction to the
hookah.

  I myself am a cigarette smoker as well so any nicotine addiction
I have is centered around cigarettes. I smoke the hookah for the
pleasure of the flavor and relaxation as where I smoke cigarettes for a
quick nicotine fix. I tend to smoke about 7 cigarettes a day (I used to
smoke about 40, but I cut back and now I'm trying to quit cigarettes
after smoking them for 7 years).

[yashman19]

[quote name='wyteboy']but then after that I will be in the once every 2 weeks or so range...[/quote]
Yeah I call bullsh*t. Don't wanna burst your bubble wyteboy, but this wont last very long. I'm not saying you will be smoking more because of the nicotine and being addicted, but just that hookah comes up all the time. Exactly like you said, hookah is a social tool which brings people closer togeather, and like it did for me, we got hooked on that.
Regardless of what I think, it is good that you don't want to jump in too fast, but in one month you gotta tell us what the new count is up too

[wyteboy]

will do yashman