Clem, hang in there. I'm at exactly 15 days, 10 hours since I quit. By the end of the day it will be 312 cigarettes that I haven't smoked. I smoked a pack a day for 30 years. I won't lie, it's hard at times. It's the HABIT more than the addiction for me, but maybe those are wrapped up in to one thing. As you are already thinking about, we have to change the habits tied to smoking.
A book that helps lots of people is Allen Carr's (book/website) Easyway to stop smoking. The book is available online in various places at no charge. It's worth a look to see if you think it may help you.
"I'm winding down my second day of being cig-free as I type this post. I'm amazed at how cig consumption is tied to routine behavior: finish a meal; have a smoke. Coffee in the AM? Have a smoke. Get in the car after work?"
I hear you Clem. It's why I found it helpful to maintain the 'going outside' part of the going outside to have a smoke after a meal...after sex...with my morning coffee...etc. Something about just going outside during that craving stage helped ease some of the anxiety. Throw in a quick chore like pulling a weed, taking out the trash, sweeping the steps, etc and refocus that anxiety into that task. It really will help.
I've never smoked anything in my life, so take this for what it's worth.
Someone who stopped smoking said that a big thing that helped them is that they kept track of how much $$$ they saved from not buying smokes, and used some or all of that money on themselves (buy a nice gift for youself, take yourself out to dinner or dessert, or whatever). Made sense to me, incentivizing like that.
I was a 20+ year pack-a-day Camel Filters smoker. I quit in December 2005. I started at age 13..... finally, about 6 months before getting sober, I decided I needed to stop smoking. I went to my doctor and he gave me a prescription for Wellbutrin.
In the end, it helped that I was really ready to stop, even though I still loved smoking. The Wellbutrin had no side effects for me, and it made all the difference. There were a handful of rough moments in the early months, but overall, it ended up being a LOT easier than I expected.
Once I realized that taking even a single puff would undo all the time I had accumulated, it became easier to tell myself No.
Browns is the Browns
... there goes Joe Thomas, the best there ever was in this game.
Once I realized that taking even a single puff would undo all the time I had accumulated, it became easier to tell myself No.
As I was leaving for work this eve, I said to My Wife:
"You know... I wish I was one of those folks who could smoke a random cig at a bar a few times a year, but I know I'm not that person."
Not only that, but if you have say three days as a non-smoker and you take just a hit off of someone else's.... you now have ZERO days. Clock reset. Progress lost.
One other big help was realizing that any and all physical NEED for the nicotine is gone and out of the body after Day 3. After that, it is all MENTAL - you don't *NEED* a cigarette, your mind is just obsessing over the idea of having one. You will be your own worst enemy, but you can win!
Browns is the Browns
... there goes Joe Thomas, the best there ever was in this game.
One other big help was realizing that any and all physical NEED for the nicotine is gone and out of the body after Day 3. After that, it is all MENTAL - you don't *NEED* a cigarette, your mind is just obsessing over the idea of having one. You will be your own worst enemy, but you can win!
The thing they don't know enough about are the 600 other chemicals put in to smokes. Of all of them nicotine is probably the best since it's at least natural and occurs in nature (it's also naturally in nightshade veggies). We're probably craving some strange mix of formaldehyde, rat poison, and carpet glue. Blech.
I had a heart attack. I quit quite simply as I laid on the table of my emergency heart surgery. One of the people there to begin working on me looked at me and asked, "do you smoke?", I replied, "not any more", that was five years ago, it's still a true reply.
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
I have IBD and get fatigued also. I suggest you take vitamins instead of nicotine. Specifically B Complex and multivitamin. It will help a lot.
I bought some B complex the other day. They are a bit nasty tasting but definitely help. Thanks!
You are very welcome. B complex is one of the things put in energy drinks. The pills are a lot cheaper than the drinks. And last all day. They will turn your pee neon yellow. But its good stuff and good for you.
I have IBD and get fatigued also. I suggest you take vitamins instead of nicotine. Specifically B Complex and multivitamin. It will help a lot.
I bought some B complex the other day. They are a bit nasty tasting but definitely help. Thanks!
You are very welcome. B complex is one of the things put in energy drinks. The pills are a lot cheaper than the drinks. And last all day. They will turn your pee neon yellow. But its good stuff and good for you.
I take a couple of them when I first get up and then a couple right before I go to Fitworks. They definitely help. Thanks again.
I have significant neuropathy in my feet. A woman at church told me about this stuff she's been taking that helped her.
This supplement had 33,000 times the RDA of certain B vitamins. That's flat out scary. Most mega doses of B vitamins are flushed right out of the body, (so why bother taking that much?) but others can actually be toxic.
I found a different supplement, and it seems to be helping me with my foot pain.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
I know something that will help with that foot pain.
A new foot. I got you bro.
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
So, on the suggestion of a fellow DT'er (thnx,grrlfrnd) I downloaded a smoking cessation support app for my smartphone.
________________
Here is where things stand this very moment:
1M/7D/6h since my last cigarette. Money saved: $279.41 Cigs not smoked: 1118.27 "Life regained" (hours): 223.32
But the biggest personal revelation came when I decided to extrapolate the info gleaned from this app, and use it to calculate what my cig consumption has been in total, after 40 years of daily smoking (at presumably the same basic rate all along).
It's something I've thought about often: "How many of these things have I burnt into my body since I started buying individual packs?" But because I never tracked a single week of consumption over those years, I had no frame of reference from which to do the math. That's no longer true.
Well... here's the most general, 'fuzzy' of math: 33 cigs/day. 1k cigs/month. 52K/year.
2,080,000 coffin nails... courtesy of Big Tobak.
Sobering as Hell.
"Hi. I'm Clem. And I'm a cigarette-smoking addict." "Hi, Clem."
2 MILLION.
_______________
This has been excruciating at times... but it's also been exhilarating. A year before she died, My Momz MADE me promise her I'd 'get off the leaf.' She was clutching my hands 'til they ached, tears streaming down her cheeks. I promised her... just to make this gut-wrenching emotional scene end. BUT- every year in the Spring, on or about the anniversary of that date... when I hadn't yet followed through on The Promise I made to her in 1992...
I've placed another "brick of guilt" in that emotional/moral/spiritual/karmic knapsack I carry around every day.
This was the first Spring in 25 years that I haven't added another brick to my sack.
One month/one week/and a handful of hours means that I've done precious little so far... but somehow, I feel lighter already.
Maybe it's the lack of that extra "2017 brick" that's already making me feel lighter. Maybe it's the excitement that comes from trying to become someone new. Perhaps Momz just smiled down on me... and lifted a bit of my burden.
Whatever it is, I feel like I've just passed a huge test and milestone... and I kinda wanna see what the next one feels like.
I was a 2 pack a day smoker for 18 years. I smoked my 1st cig at the ripe age of 11 years old. I have been smoke free for 4 years, with ZERO desire to ever go back to it, I don't crave them, I no longer think about them, I have no desire for them anymore.
However, the road to getting to this point was not an easy one.
I'll tell you right now, at 6-8 month mark will be the deciding factor if you stick to being a non-smoker or go back...no matter how well your doing right now, no matter how much you think you have it beat...the 6-8months mark is always the "make it or break it" so many people fail at that time and go back(I did on 2 separate occasions before i finally beat it)
The 1st thing you need to remember is, IF you have a lapse and smoke just one Cig, its OK...simply put the cigs away and continue to not smoke. There is no such thing as "quitting smoking" You simply choose to "Stop doing it". Once you understand this, then you cna really move forward and beat this thing longterm for good.
I highly suggest book marking that link and watching his videos and listening to him. He will fill your soul with the ammunition you need to beat this thing at the 6-8months mark and once you get past that point, i can tell you your in good shape then. Your chances of relapsing back drop way down to the point of almost insignificance.
Your brain will try every trick in the book to try and convince you that you need nicotine, that you need a smoke, but its an illusion. Its not real, but you will most certainly think and even believe it is real. Drink lots of water, a Gallon a day if possible...every time you have an uge to smoke take a drink of nice pure cold water....you will be suprised how calm it will make you feel.
God Speed to you! I am pulling for you to beat this thing!
If you should slip and buy a pack ... and maybe even smoke one, crush the pack (and all remaining cigarettes) and throw them out, saying to yourself, "No more". I really believe in mindset helping set a person's course. It's like when you were learning your craft as a musician. You had to say "no" to certain other things because you had to practice. Take that same mindset to your smoking cessation.
I am also a huge believer in prayer, and that it is very helpful. If you feel the urge for a smoke, pray, thanking God for getting you this far, and asking him to take you all the way to being a non-smoker forever.
Keep up the great work! I know how difficult the road your on can be, but the feeling you get when you realize that you have absolutely no desire for a smoke, and even dislike the smell of smoke,. makes it all worthwhile.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Great job Clem. I am about 14 days or so ahead of you in the no smoking realm. The being around people that smoke doesn't give me an urge at all. drinking really doesn't either. the part that does is being bored and getting p***ed off. just went camping this past weekend. kinda had a few urges but not too bad. Seems people are p***ing me off more and more and that is when i could use one. but I have held off thankfully. the urge only lasts about 10 min or so.
My math was off... which is actually a good thing. 1k/month comes out to 12k/year... not 52k. So that means I've only consumed 480k. Better than 2M, but still pretty appalling.
Saw my dentist today. She always takes my BP at every visit. Down from last time. Significantly down.
Yeah, I think this is worth the effort. Thanks to you all for your words of advice, support and encouragement.
My math was off... which is actually a good thing. 1k/month comes out to 12k/year... not 52k. So that means I've only consumed 480k. Better than 2M, but still pretty appalling.
Saw my dentist today. She always takes my BP at every visit. Down from last time. Significantly down.
Yeah, I think this is worth the effort. Thanks to you all for your words of advice, support and encouragement.
This could easily go in the good news thread. Keep it up
I'm attempting for a second time. I quit for over a year and a half, then in a moment of frustration put the damn demon in my mouth again.
Last time I vaped with medium nicotine and never dropped the dose. This time I'm vaping with the 2nd lowest nicotine 3 ml then dropping to 1.5 ml then to zero and stopping the vapes. That's the plan. Started vaping two days ago, still smoking a few a day too but almost nothing. All my health issues are linked to smoking and I have never been able to completely break the nicotine habit. It has to go this time, so wish me luck.
Bernie Supporters aren't mentally tough enough to stop smoking for good.
How's that for reverse psychology?
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
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