jamdls

I had quit smoking a couple of months before I stopped drinking but once I stopped the alcohol I picked up the cigarettes again, usually smoked about 1/2 pack a day and they helped me get through that first year of not drinking and never made me want to drink. I finally quit smoking in April of this year using Alan Carr's Easyway to quit. Cigarettes may kill more people than alcohol but they never caused me to black-out/get arrested/embarass myself etc...

whitelotus1978

I just put down the cigs a week ago after 17 years of smoking. I have been dealing/toying with sobriety on and off for the past 3 years or so... a few months sober, then back out and then sober again...I do want to get sober eventually - or to put it another way - just get alcohol out of my life for good. I don't think it's great for me, and I do abuse it. I know I have to work in my relationship to that and also to the cigs.

However, i decided the most important addiction for me to tackle right now in terms of my health is the cigs (I am a 33 year old female)... and the drinking has fallen off with that, which I kind of expected. I really do not think i will be able to have a drink or get drunk and not smoke. Right now I HAVE to protect my not smoking... and I am doing that by not drinking. I won't kid you, it's not easy... but I am really trying to focus on my overall health and figuring out a new approach to life that is healthier and doesn;t revolve around cigs and booze (they are inseparable to me), which is really getting boring as hell - for me and for everyone else. Thanks and good luck! I recommend quitting smoking, it's hard but it is SUCH a relief.., in fact I am realizing a lot more about myself from going through quitting the cigarettes than I ever have trying to get off the bottle. I'm surprised, but it's quite amazing. Good luck and do what you need to do to stay sober. One day (minute, hour) is the only way. Thoughts are with you.

WindOfChange

e cigs have taken off like wild fire where i work. I have two friends that completely quit the 'real thing' and switched over 100%. You can actually buy a non-nicotine version, and you still get the feel of smoking without the nicotine. Even if you choose to order the nicotine ones (they come in different strengths, I would have to say, IMO, it has to be better than ingesting all the chemicals added to real cigs....Cherry and Vanilla are my favs.....I haven't had a menthol person find one they like...

Not condoning smoking on any level, BTW...just sharing what I have learned

yeahgr8

Always makes me cringe when someone suggests that an alcoholic/problem drinker tries to quit smoking in early sobriety...i went to the docs in early sobriety and voiced the same concern about smoking as the OP and the doc said "ffs do not quit smoking!"...so i guess it is down to the OP as to who's advice he takes? Mine is keep on smoking, i got sober with a few guys and girls a couple of years ago and all, but me, have quit smoking in the last 6 months...give yourself time and concentrate on getting sober for now:-)

Kellye C

When I got sober in 2004 I was a pack a day smoker. My home group was/is one of few smoking groups left and many of the members smoke. There are so many smoking that at times the air gets so full of smoke that it starts to look like a bar in there at times LOL! The cloud of smoke just sorta hangs in the air. I guess smoking and drinking tend to go hand in hand for a lot of people. For me, in earlier sobriety my smoking actually increased some due to anxiety & depression as well as the power of suggestion from sitting in a room full of smokers. In addition to increased smoking, my coffee consumption also went WAY up LOL!

Being the all or nothing alcoholic I am, when I got sober I wanted to change every problem area at once. I wanted to stop drinking, stop smoking and go on a strict diet. My sponsor told me to chill out and remember first things first. My first thing and only thing to focus on was to not drink. Then I could work on other vices.

The topic of quitting smoking comes up in meetings a lot around New Years. Someone I admire with double digit sobriety shocked me by sharing she was a smoker when she got sober. She said to start out praying for willingness and when the time was right I would know. For her, she was about 10 years sober when she finally was ready to quit.

I stopped smoking 1/1/07 with the full support of my fiance (now husband) who was and is a former chain smoker with approximately 10 years smoke-free at the time Once the decision was made and a quit day decided on I prepared by attending American Cancer Society smoking cessation classes , using suggestions I heard there such as switching to a less appealing brand/type so I wouldn't enjoy/crave it as much, counting out my allocated cigs for the day during the taper down and when I was done then I WAS DONE, praying and working the steps on them as the day approached. The day before the quit date, New Year's Eve, I chain smoked right up until midnight LOL!

I will admit that have had some ups and downs along the way such as smoking the occasional cigarette in secret but between dealing with the guilt, shame and remorse of being a closet smoker and the realization that they honestly tasted like crap once I wasn't smoking anymore they lost the appeal they had before. I am now totally smoke free.

As much as someone might cringe at the advice to keep smoking and just stop drinking first it is advice I've heard a lot. Some people can walk away from it all at once and do fine while others can't handle it and it becomes a trigger and too much to deal with at once . It just depends on the person.

So, checkmate, my suggestion is to search yourself and whenever you feel ready to give it a shot then go for it but if while quitting, it comes down to either taking a drink or smoking a cigarette, smoke the cigarette and then try again when you feel you are ready. Smokers have tools at your disposal to help out such as the patch, nicotine gum, Chantix, electric cigs, hypnotists and subliminal tapes and finally, the Amercian Lung Society which is an awesome resource. I'm sure you have friends and loved ones who will be so happy and anxious to be supportive as well.

I look forward to you posting when you make the leap and quit.

Hugs,
Kellye

Terminally Unique

No doctor in his or her right mind would try to deter someone from quitting smoking these days.

CarolD

Both my lung cancer surgeon and COPD doctors know I still smoke.
Both said..."If you can't quit yet...please do limit your cigarettes"

I now smoke about 1pack a day....nevver when I am around non smokers.
90% of my smoking is when I am on my PC...and I live alone...

I assure everyone they are not only in their right minds but also aware
of how difficult some smokers find quitting.

At 75 I don't expect nor do they that I will ever completely stop smoking.

I do hope anyone interested in quitting will find a way to do so.
We all know the dangers and if you have families there are others to be cconsidered.

And since this thread is in our Alcoholism Forum....I've been an AA recovered alcoholic for 22 years...

Beebizzy

You'd be surprised... Every single psychiatrist/doctor I've ever seen (and there have been many) for depression has said something along the lines of 'concentrate on getting better first'. The current one is saying that it could make my depression worse if I withdraw the cigs right now as well as the sauce.

Now that's not to say, obviously, that they condone smoking or think it's a great idea to smoke. Of course they do not. But (I suppose) they do not want to compromise recovery from depression, or sobriety.

So I guess there is not a conflict with what you are saying, it's just a question of priorities (ahem - which is maybe also somewhat questionable, in a sense LOL).

It bugs me beyond belief that I am still smoking. I absolutely hate it with a passion. I tried to quit a gazillion times. And I also think it fuels my gloomy fears of dying, cancer etc. Plus it makes me question my newfound attempts at health - what is the point of exercise, vits, fruit and veg if I am still puffing these odious things? GRRRRRR.

I was like others here - wanted to lick both at the same time (why suffer withdrawal twice?). But the second I detected that quitting the cigs was in fact going to make sobriety harder, I abandoned that idea. Sobriety is my priority now.

I have an e-cig. Like Carol said, I puff at the PC so I might resurrect the e-cig for that purpose. I also have Champix but have been advised by the doc not to take it yet while on valium/anti-depressants etc.

AVRT, do I infer from your 157 attempts to quit that you used to smoke and have now stopped? How (I know this is not a quit-smoking forum, apologies)? I am all over Joel Spitzer, whyquit.com, Allen Carr and all the rest.

Here's the weird thing: by some miracle my mind was in the right place for quitting drinking. It never is for quitting smoking.

Thanks,
BB

SixStringZen

Just to play devil's advocate, to those using an e-cig, would you think it sane to aid your sobriety by drinking your ginger ale out of a shot glass?

Beebizzy

Sure :-) Containers/vessels are no kind of trigger for me, in any case, if that's what you mean.

The e-cig was the stupidest thing I ever bought, honestly. It's been in my drawer most of the time since I got it.

But at least it's minus the 4000 chemicals in cigs. And 'only' has nicotine in it (and one other chemical component also found in toothpaste and other things).

But I'm not an apologist for the e-cig. I smoke for nicotine so whether it's a cig or an e-cig, well...

One thing I wouldn't do is drink non-alcoholic wine or beer - because let's face it, I wasn't drinking for the 'flavour' in the first place...

Not that I have any issue with anyone else doing it :-)

BB

CarolD

We all are aware we should quit smoking.
WE all know there are products that may or may not assist us to do so.

Let's get back to discussing alcohol in the Alcoholism Forum please.

Do begin another thread about your drinking and how your sobreity is going.

:

This thread is closed. Here is the link to the forum about smoking issues

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/nicotine-smoking/