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03 January 2006
So how we doin', alla youse folks quittin' smokin'?
Oh and I have been a "social smoker" since 14 (though I probably only started to inhale around 16). I'm thirty. It isn't so much the cigarettes but the drinking and cigarettes.
So there are going to be a lot of healthy, cranky people around here, huh. It's a good trade-off. Good luck to everyone trying to kick a bad habit or make lifestyle changes.
Ok, mostly. I've slipped a few times, but am way way down from where I was (about a pack a day, give or take). Last night was bad, I was pretty tipsy and wanted to smoke or smash something. There were no smokes in the house or anywhere though, and I'm happy to report I survived. I look most forward to the time when I have no or little desire. It used to be quite repugnant to me; it'd be easier if it felt like that again.
I'm not really quitting anyway and you can't make me and I don't care, everything sucks, I hate you all, no I don't, but maybe I might have some mood swings if I'm not smoking, not that there's anything wrong with that, IS THERE? Or not, and anyway I'm not quitting, because I DON'T FEEL LIKE IT it's not because I'm addicted or anything or crazy, no not that, I could quit anytime, just maybe right now is not the right time, maybe the right time will come along but maybe it's not now? Gaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had a friend who quit for a while because every time she wanted a cigarette she instead smoked some of that medicinal Aunt stuff and it worked fine and she was delightful company if somewhat out there until she ran out of medicine and that was that, back on the nicotine. I had another friend who quit with altoids and you could smell her coming for several blocks, this wafting visible cloud of pepperming, and I quit for six months one time by eating candy every time I wanted a cigarette but I gained 30 pounds and I don't want to do that this time. And I quit once for 6 months just cold turkey, and I quit once for 2 years by getting pregnant but that seems a bit drastic.
No smoking at work. Then work out, then one or two after dinner. Buuuut drinking? A party? Out? Forget it. However, no smoking at work = 10 to 15 a week and that adds up. I just. . .I can't be told I will never ever do anything again.
I am not quitting till I move and I am doing the cut down slowly method. So far, in preparation, I'm down to ten per day from twenty (known in some parts as a "pack"). Once I can't smoke in my house, down to five should be easy. Then fewer. Does anyone know where they sell cinnamon toothpicks in this town?
Also, people who do shit like "I won't kiss you if you smoke" are bad people. Just don't date someone if you don't want to, but the judgemental ordering around crap: ugh.
I think giving up drinking and smoking is a bad idea, psychologcally speaking. I've done it myself in the past and found that when I cracked and went back on the booze (which was kind of inevitable) the ciggies were not far behind. You see once you link the two, and then crack on one then you're left with less will power to fight off the second.
Personally I found giving up smoking easier while I was drinking - if I fancied a fag I just drank more and soon forgot about wanting to smoke at all. For the first two weeks I was absolutely hammered. It was fun though...
Last night, I was watching old SATC On Demand and I was smoking and drinking...my own fond farewell party I guess and I saw Bunny (Charlotte's mother-in-law) smoking and I seriously thought "Hey if that old bitty can do it...so can I"
Then I had to run up the platform for my train this morning and I was wheezing for five straight minutes afterwards.
Whenever someone told me that they hated when (boys/girls) smelled like smoke and they wouldn't kiss them, I just shit in my pants, which put the whole thing in perspective.
I will repeat that I haven't smoked since saturday, if I could smoke just a few a day or just smoke once in a while then I would never quit. I still can't believe I can never have another cigarette. Fuck.
I once tried to quit by smoking reefer every time I wanted a cigarette, this lasted until I blew through about a half ounce of weed in a day and was more or less comatose, not a viable option for me.
On preview:
I totally agree dodgy, I thought that I wouldn't be able to drink at all (and I have cut down anyway, which is nice) but I can totally drink, in fact drinking helps, I get kind of jumpy and agitated rather than cranky (I went from a pack a day to about 4 - 5 pieces of the gum a day) and the booze just smoothes it all out. Although If I get too drunk I will probably just forget that I quit smoking.
Not tonight. Just going to the gym and swimming. I'll update you tomorrow. I'm kind of nervous. Fighting for lane space and all -- plus I am out of practice but I have my suits, goggles and cap...NO MORE EXCUSE FOR ME!!!
...when I cracked and went back on the booze (which was kind of inevitable) the ciggies were not far behind.
This is a really good point. I'm one of those people who only smokes while drinking, so booze and smokes are very much linked. I really want to quit smoking (even if it is only occassionally, it's still too much for me), but I'm not giving up the booze permanently. No way.
You should go swimming, anyway.
You're right, dame. The only thing is: I don't have much money or a car, so gym memberships and getting there easily are kind of hard for me to do... But. Part of the no smoking thing also includes increasing my daily exercise.
I did once manage to quit for almost 8 months. My downfall was thinking that I could still have one occasionally. That first bummed smoke was like heroin.
Also, I put on about 40 pounds over those 8 months, not a bad thing for this scrawny bastard, but I really cant afford to buy new trousers right now.
just over a year now. It's a good thing. I feel so much better having done it. Don't miss it one bit.
Don't believe the hype - it's bullshit that it's hard to quit. That's just what we've been told since day one. The first few weeks are the hardest, but even then it's not bad. 90% of it's in your mind, 100% after 21 days. Hold out on the pang and notice how quickly it goes away. It's like 20 or 30 seconds.
I suspect the myth that it's so freekin' hard is perpetuated by the nicotine industry.
you can do it, mygoth, dwino, lola...! I'm a big weakling dumbass and I did it. And I still drink and do other things, like smoke crack.
Exercise is great because there is a whole - what - hour and a half/two hours of dressing, exercising, transporting yourself there and back where you won't be smoking. Then you just won't FEEL like it for another hour or so after.
But like the Speck, no way am I Never Drinking Again, and also, I live with a chimney type smoker. Yeah, he smokes upstairs or outside, but it's a lurking temptation.
Actually, without cigarettes and coffee, I might never shit at all. It's ingrained in me biologically, I think: wake up, light smoke, poop. go to work, sip coffee, poop again.
OH MY GOD I AM A SANCTIMONIOUS EX-SMOKER, THREE DAYS IN! YES!
I suspect the myth that it's so freekin' hard is perpetuated by the nicotine industry.
My Uncle in Law just said the same thing to me and he quit after smoking for 50 years, he is one of the reasons I'm really trying this time, if he can quit after fifty years I can certainly quit after fifteen. He also suggested counting the hours, not the days.
Dude, I've simply reconciled myself to the fact that I cannot function well without the aid of several chemical crutches. Best of luck to you guys though. I guess I'm gonna have to hang out the South Pole's smokers bench by myself now.
I'm considering an askme thread on the cigarette/shitting connection. But like I said, I might not be quitting right now anyway. Just cutting way, way down.
It is hard though. I've quit lots & lots of times, although not recently, and I've lasted anywhere between 10 days and 2 years (the record) and the toughest part for me is always about 4 - 6 weeks in, because that's a) when I start thinking, hey, I quit, I can just have one, or b)as long as I can keep the stress level at bay, or c)when I start going out again, and all my cool friends are out there smoking in the rain.
Jon
I can't function at all, with or without crutches, I still believe in you buddy. Don't worry, when you are out smoking I'll come out with you and shit my pants.
I cheated already. At 3:30 this a.m., I woke up, walked outside and found a ciggy under my car seat, and I smoked it and I loved it and I think that's the last one. The gum is helping, but I'm also carrying a small note pad to doodle on if the urge should strike. Good luck to everyone.
Everyone in my family but me smoked at one time in their lives. They've all quit now. For some reason, I frequently dream that I smoke Marlboro Lights. No idea.
Dang jonmc. Here in The Promised Land (VA), premium smokes are $2.85 - $3.33 a pack. See! See! There - I have another excuse! But I don't mean to derail. I AM trying to get a handle on it. The whole not smoking during the day thing has been surprisingly easy after the first few days. And I'm getting to a point where I won't be able to take my jogging to the next level unless I quit.
Don't ever let anyone project their addictions on you by telling you you're an addict. It's okay to treat a child like a grownup, but it's never okay the other way around.
Divine_Wino:But you can afford seven bucks a day for smokes?
jonmc: Dude, I've simply reconciled myself to the fact that I cannot function well without the aid of several chemical crutches. Best of luck to you guys though. I guess I'm gonna have to hang out the South Pole's smokers bench by myself now.
I'm not quitting soon, so you'll have me to chat with on that bench, jon. Unless I get pregnant, in which case I'll sympathy-quit for the sake of the healthy-healthy baby. (And it probably doesn't count if I'm only impregnating a non-smoking lesbian friend, which is probably the only short-term likelihood...)
As for the cost, I order from the indigenous internet, which is $30/carton. This time I ordered a couple $10 cartons of bargain brands, which, if they aren't disgusting, would be less than one spends on coffee each day.
::shakes pom-poms::
Ready? OK!
We're not quitters!
Our lungs are strong!
Who cares if we can't
sprint for as long!
::jumps around, cartwheels, pauses for breath, looks around for the pack that must have fallen out amidst all the tumbling::
project their addictions?
Come on Janus, this is a thread about nicotine addiction.
If I sounded like i was talking down to anybody, I apologize. It wasn't intentional. I'm just trying to help out, FFS. Do you not suppose it's possible to be addicted to something without knowing it?
Specklet - sorry for assuming you are addicted. I really don't know your particular situation.
When you smoke (and drink coffee, the old one two punch) you can kind of schedule your dumps. Have a cig, have a cup, take a dump. Very convenient. So when I quit (cigs) the problem wasn't that I was constipated it was that I didn't know when I was going to have to go. I smoked for nearly 30 years so I got out of practice noticing the little internal hints that now might be a good time to start looking for a bathroom.
This is a thread about people changing their practices.
"I'm addicted so I ________" is a good way to keep it up as, in my experience, it validates a certain kind of helplessness that encourages me to knuckle under to the next ________.
"I am in the practice of ___________ after work, after meals, when I drink, or whatever," puts ___________ in the realm of controllable, regular actions, that can be changed or erased or augmented or whatever.
I almost never want to sound as didactic as I do, (For Fuck's Sake?), but I really get scared when I see people telling other people what their lives mean, what their practices are, or who they really are underneath what they feel.
But really, sorry for going off half-cocked. I hope you see my point of view, but I understand that I was indelicate and impolite.
Also, in the future, please spell out any foul language you intend to use. F is ambiguous. ;]
yeah, i wondered why i didn't just write that out after I wrote it. I saw it an earlier thread somewhere.
I do see your point of view, but it really depends on how you look at it.
For someone to say "I'm addicted", it can be liberating, seeing it as time to take action.
Whereas someone that's just "in the practice of ___" can think "but at least I'm not addicted".
My point was that I was your latter example. That thinking is part of what kept me from realizing I was addicted.
In any case, it's really a case of calling a spade a spade. If someone's addicted, they should admit it (I'm certainly not speaking about anyone in particular here). That said, I am aware that it's possible to be a social smoker and not be addicted. That's why I backed off.
It's so easy to go off half-cocked this time of day. My brain's always on auto-pilot from about 4 until I leave work. In any case, don't go changin' - your indelicateness and impoliteness is part of what keeps me coming back...for fuck's sake.
;)
Specklet - sorry for assuming you are addicted. I really don't know your particular situation.
Ain't no thang, baby.
I'm certainly not addicted to nicotine, but I most definitely am addicted mentally to smokes. And they've got to go, dammit!
I'm leaving for Florida for ten days soon, I know that the change of scenery will distract me from wanting to smoke, but I'm worried about when I come back. I really need to avoid going out to bars, but it's hard when you're on a pool league team to avoid the bars. Oy.
I'm just here to say
Say what? Say what? Everything's just a practice
Practice! Though I think I may
Oooooooooooh! Roll my dick in cactus!
We haaaaave a dick shun! ....
Go go go go go go go 2 3 4... Auuuuuuugh! Ack! Aieeeeeee!
i know lots of people who have successfully used wellbutrin (and the same stuff in different dosages under different names). Some found out it worked for them for more than smoking.
i've tried it and it's not for me (don't screw with my dopamine, man) but i can say it does effectively block any pleasure or sensation of smoking so you find yourself sucking on a smoky stick for no reason for you throw the thing down in disgust.
it doesn't mean you don't try to light another and i know people who have continued to smoke on it.
porpoise has the right idea: you need to prepare yourself if you're really serious.
figure out why you smoke, when you smoke, where, etc. and what it does for you.
there are benefits to smoking for some just as there are almost sure fire fates for others.
know your family history on your lungs and what your goals are.
i don't mean to be pedantic girl, but everyone is different so don't expect the same thing to work for you as it did for someone else.
a new fiscal year isn't as much of an occassion as say lunar new year or spring or that it's too damn cold out.
put the money you'd spend on a pack of smokes on a jar and watch it grow.
drink orange juice.
try acupuncture.
seriously, ask yourself why you smoke or why you want to quit.
and seriously, if you really want help, i'm here to help.
Today is my first day without cigs in about 15 years. I smoked way too much on NYE and have been coughing up lungs ever since. So, I quit. And I was feeling crap and then I came over here and found all this which has made me smile. Thanks, chaps.
Oh I found a new way to avoid the pangs, if you feel one coming on, punch yourself or someone near you, briskly, in the business. In the ensuing pandemonium you can sometimes forget that smoking was the only thing in the world that made you truly happy for upwards of six seconds.
Day Three - Wino's Withdrawal Diary:
In which our hero discovers just how black the blackest night of the soul is...
photo by splunge
photo by TheophileEscargot
photo by Kronos_to_Earth
photo by ethylene
