Quitting Smoking

[thefirst]

Thank you ladies, every pat on the back just adds to my determination

[Cagliostro]

Over a month now. Yay!

Getting a lot easier now. But damn I wish I didn't want to eat all the time.

[MsMary]

Yay, Cag!!!!

[Cameraman Jenn]

Congrats you guys! Keep on rocking it!

[Wyldewode]

Rock it, Cagliostro! And perhaps you can chew gum to head off eating?

[danlo]

I don't know if I can do this--on the 8th day I'm really losing my mind. I almost got in the face of some lady on the street for looking at me funny and I just screamed bloody murder and beat my fists in front of my daughter. This isn't cool at all, I'll try to keep it together but I'm really ready to lose it.

[MsMary]

Hang in there, danlo! Quitting will be good for your longterm health, even though it is hard right now.

[thefirst]

You can do it, trust me. It helped me a lot to find other things to do. A friend of mine quit cold turkey by having some kind of laser treatment which is supposedly similar to acupuncture. She never had another craving at all, there's also a lot of talk about the prescription called Chantix. It's supposed to help with the nervousness and tension, and has some effect that's been compared to anti-buse by some people. Anything you can do to make it easier on yourself, do it. It will be worth it in the long run.

[danlo]

I'm still going, watching last week's LOST cleared my head-but man the back of my head's still steaming. I was really pissed off at another member and sent them a nasty PM. Damm I'm ready to quit this board.

I'm all over the place-this is the 3rd time I've tryed to quit cold turkey and the other 2 times I was successful 5 years apiece, but I didn't smoke menthol then-I think I'm much more addicted to the menthol than I am to the nicotine...

[thefirst]

I wish you the best, if there's anything I can do, just let me know, we're all here for you.

[danlo]

Yes! Put me in a straight jacket! Off to read and bed--I'm by no means proud of my behavior today, but I made it through...

[thefirst]

I don't have a straight jacket handy, but, I'll see what I can come up with, and don't beat yourself up too bad. As things get easier, your behavior will follow suit, and the people who love you will understand, and they'll be proud of you, because they know how hard this is for you. God knows, I do, and I'm proud of you.

[matrixman]

This is one of the most inspiring threads I've ever encountered on the Watch. I just read through all 8 pages and I'm floored by all of you who've made the commitment to stop smoking.

I don't smoke, but I often wonder how much second-hand smoke I've inhaled in my life. Hopefully, it hasn't been much, since my parents never smoked, and I studiously avoid putting myself in places and situations where I may be surrounded by cigarette smoke. I remember only one time that I ever took a puff from a cigarette, when I was 8 or 9 years old. My older sis had taken up smoking at the time, much to the disapproval of my dad. One day I snuck a cigarette from her pack to try; however, the taste of the smoke in my mouth was so vile I think I gagged. My dad found out about my aborted attempt at smoking, and that was that. Whatever other faults my dad may have had as a parent, I'll always be grateful that he was against smoking. Thankfully, my sis quit the habit a short while after she began.

Here's the key to my past smoke free year.
The body tries to trick us into smoking. It asks for one smoke and says it won't bother us later but it lies, my precious, it lies, dirty rotten tricksie it is.
So I'd get a craving, and thoughts start creeping into my head like walking to the store and buying a pack, or smoking after a meal, how nice would that be?
These were the thoughts I knew would break me. So I let the part of my brain that was determined to quit take a front seat and tell the rest, "No".
"Yeah, but what if we..."
"No."
"But I just wanted to..."
"No."
"Come on, one drag, just one drag."
"Tut, tut, tut...No."
With previous attempts the craving would start out as a whisper and turn into a battle between the rational side of my brain and all the nicotine dependent cells in my body, and the latter always won, what with all those thoughts of rewarding myself with a smoke for how good I'd been not smoking.
What seemed to work for me was to recognize the whisper when it started , or even just before it started, and shut it down right away. Your sitting there minding your own and the body says,"You know what would be nice?"
"NO. You're not gettin' one, forget it!" and I'd get up and do something, anything else.
I'd shuffle the furniture in the house, I got bird feeders and kept them full and cleaned up the mess, I'd exercise and breathe for no reason other than to get high on oxygen, hell, I'd organize the dish towels, anything else than sit there and crave a cigarette.
My body soon learned, it seemed, to quit asking. It may have figured out that it is more rewarding in the long run to do something else needs to be done than to sit and crave and suffer and argue with the mind about smoking. The main benefit, of course, is now I find myself smoke free, without cravings, thinking cigarettes are the stupidest thing in the world. The secondary benefit was that this time around, the succesful time, there was a lot less suffering.

BB, thank you for this vivid picture! It helps give me a sense of what it must feel like inside for those who are trying to quit - the internal conflicting dialogue, and the intense willpower needed to overcome the cravings.

I applaud all of you and hope you all find freedom from the evil of the cancer stick.

As an old and wise Jedi master once said: "Do or do not. There is no try." Er, which I really hope won't be taken the wrong way. In the context of quitting smoking, I see the words as meaning: once you make the decision to quit smoking, just DO it and go all the way, don't be half-hearted about it.

(Sorry, at some point in my posting I feel the need to quote from either TCTC or Star Wars.)

[Cail]

Danlo, congratulations!

-Drink a ton of water.

-Don't be afraid to take Tylenol or something for the headaches.

-Remember, the physical addiction will be gone after about 2 weeks, after that it's all in your head.

[storm]

Own it Danlo...own it! Once you get past the neuro-receptor issues of addiction like Cail said it'll be your mind v. itself, take it a day at a time, you're in good company though, some very mentally tough people here in the same boat as you, kick its ass son, kick its ass

[Wyldewode]

I'm all over the place-this is the 3rd time I've tryed to quit cold turkey and the other 2 times I was successful 5 years apiece, but I didn't smoke menthol then-I think I'm much more addicted to the menthol than I am to the nicotine...

Hon, maybe you could try sucking on a strong mint (like an altoid or something) to distract you? Either way, best wishes. And don't you dare leave us. . . I'd miss you terribly.

[danlo]

I'm still at it but I'm really pissed at a couple of people on this board. Anyway maybe my quitting is fostering those bad feelings-I'm really high strung right now. I actually asked Jay to deadmin and demod me so I could run away this morning but he talked me out of it-he advised I take a vacation from here. It's too bad that I lost someone I thought was my friend on this board-oh well I was wrong...

Thanks for your support guys but I'm still really, really pissed.

[aliantha]

It's the nicotine receptors talking, Danlo, I'm sure of it.

Hang in there for another week or two and see if you feel differently. I'd miss you if you left.

[stonemaybe]

Just a couple of comments from the pharmacy world...

Champix (UK name, may be different in US) seems to be an absolute wonder-drug for giving up! Everyone I've come across so far has considered it thus. BUT it hasn't been available here long enough to say whether those who've used it to give up, will just start again in 6 months time...
Also, very very very rare, but scarey side effect - death.

Is 'Rescue Remedy' available worldwide? It's a Bach-flower remedy, for 'emotional emergencies' (eg driving test, important exams, fear of flying), and can be useful in curbing those homocidal tendencies when giving up. It's a herbal type liquid, can be used as a spray under the tongue, or rubbed into the temples.

[Cagliostro]

The girlfriend is using Champix or whatever the new wonder drug is. She has been smoking since around 15, and now feels completely done with it. She's very nervous about stopping taking it though, as she thinks she'll want to start smoking again. I tell her that she just can't allow herself to do that.