Looking for Advice

[nogard]

After 35 days clean (sober) I have spent the last few days noticing what smoking cigs is doing to me and I have been watching others who smoke as well and asking myself; "why do we do this..". I considered stopping and decided that it was too soon, so I have decided to think of myself as a non-smoker (a friend suggested this) and sort of prepare myself for the day when I stop.

I would love to hear what you all think, any suggestions or comments at all would be great.

nogard

[spirit30]

That is exactly what I did before I finally quit on April 1, 2005. Well actually, i semi-quit. I set a quit date and started imagining myself as a nonsmoker. I also found a replacement for cigs...herbal tea in my case. I bought every kind there is. I didn't really like the stuff at first but now i love it. It soothes me big time. I decided to stoped think in "all or nothing terms" as well. I still let myself have a couple of cigs at night (under very strict conditions). I know there are those who would disagree with me on this...but it's working. All my previous attempts failed because I was creating internal resistence by telling myself I could never have another cig. Don't get me wrong. It wasn't easy at first. My cigs were what got me through a day at work. Now it hardly crosses my mind while i'm working. And when it does, I say to myself: "self, you can have one before you go to bed, take a few deep breathes, go get some tea and you'll forget about in few minutes". I may reach a point where i'll decide to quit all together...but i'm not pushing myself. If I do, I do, and if I don't, I don't. I think 1-2 cigarette a day is a lot better then the 25 I used to smoke. It's all a mind game in my opinion.

[nogard]

Thanks spirit30, I am doing something similiar, starting with seeing myself as a non-smoker. I was thinking of setting a date to stop, but I will think about what you wrote for two days and then decide whether to stop at a cetain date or try a statergy like yours

nogard

[mizeeyore]

wow. Both of you have my admiration. That's a great way to go about it. I quit in 97, after having grown up in "the blue haze" that was my house, then smoked for something like 23 more years. I tried three or four times to quit, and finally the patch is what got me through. That and keeping in mind that the craving for a cigarette will go away whether you have one or not. Here's an amazing thought for you. I went outside in the backyard the other day where my husband was smoking a cigar. Got about ten feet away and had to run back in the house and actually throw up. Believe it or not, once I got it set in my mind that that stuff is bad/icky/yucky, whatever you wanna call it, it really stuck with me. One whiff and I was down for the count! Pretty amazing, once ya set your mind to something.

[comfortablynumb]

"The path to the cancer center at the Hospital I work at is paved with "just one cigarette" patients, and the heart failure and respiratory
therapy centers too. No such thing as just one cigarette, never has been,
never will be, and there's a couple thousand people on the quit smoking boards that lost quits of 6 months to several years long,
that had just one cigarette, and always went back to full time smoking within days."


It's called perpetual withdrawal..
I could no more have one or two, than an alcoholic could have one or two...

I have been quit for over 100 days now.......cold turkey
Once you put enough distance between you and the nicotine, THAT is when you truly begin to feel like a NON-smoker or rather, X-smoker
Good luck to you...

[bookie12]

Originally Posted by nogard

I considered stopping and decided that it was too soon, so I have decided to think of myself as a non-smoker (a friend suggested this) and sort of prepare myself for the day when I stop.

Nogard - How does one continue to smoke and think of him or herself a non-smoker? Am I missing something here?

You must quit smoking and then think that way. It worked for me.

Best Wishes!

Bookie12

[nogard]

Thanks for the advice Bookie

nogard

Originally Posted by bookie12

Nogard - How does one continue to smoke and think of him or herself a non-smoker? Am I missing something here?

You must quit smoking and then think that way. It worked for me.

Best Wishes!

Bookie12

[PlanoTexican]

The patch worked for my wife and myself. I had to take it off at night though. The dreams were intense If I left it on a night.

I kept some hard candy in my cigarette pocket for a couple of weeks to have something else when I reached for a cigarette.

My wife has been off cigarettes for almost 15 weeks, myself almost 14 weeks.

Good luck and don't give up trying, you can quit too.