upandup

Hi everyone,

So here I go! I've quit smoking before, and know just how insidious of a drug it is. It is my crutch, my pacifier. I want to want it gone from my life. I have a newfound appreciation for people trying to quit heroin or meth, I am a nicotine junkie! Had a couple of puffs off of some old butts, so yea the term junkie feels appropriate. The immediate relief, quickly followed by the immediate headache. But at least my insides weren't screaming at me anymore. Debating if I should stick it out today using lozenges or get pack and condemn myself to quitting Monday, when I don't have as much going on. This weekend is a family reunion several hours away and an overnight. I don't see most of the people but once a year. Wish we could wear signs around our necks proclaiming to the world "Just quit smoking!"

Like I mentioned I have quit before, and one of the biggest benefits has been the mental clarity that comes from it. I remember thinking if my toenails had nicotine in them I'd clip them and smoke them. Last time I'd quit for a week in 2008.

The reason I'm thinking of putting it off until Monday is because I'll also be able to fast (I've done that before many times) and more efficiently get the nicotine out of my system, be agitated by myself, be more mentally prepared than today, it is also a date recommended by the farmer's almanac to quit, and I'll be able to reread Allen Carr's book.

Ugh. Trying to not swear like a sailor. Thanks for reading my stream of conscious ramblings.

Higherwisdom

I am also quitting. Today is my 1st day... again. I can go a day or 2 but that 3rd day gets to me it seems. It does seem easier to stop when you have less to do because you have less to worry about. When you feel stressed you go for the smokes and it seemingly calms you down but in reality it does not.

The right thing for me to tell you would be to quit right away but it has to be when you are most ready... maybe on Monday like you said.

DG0409

How is it going for you two?

upandup

I've just passed the 48 hr mark and am about to saw my arm off. Please tell me it gets easier after three days.

Startingover444

I quit 4 years ago after many attempts. It really does get easier. I am not sure when I started to feel more relaxed about it, but my determination must have won over in the end. Try drinking an ice cold glass of water. It must be really cold for some reason. I dont know why but that really helps with nicotine cravings.
Please keep going, the benefits are huge and the achievement is the best crutch, pacifier or any other false feeling we get from smoking.

Itchy

It gets easier. I quit three years ago a three pack a day habit. I had smoked for 46 years since I was 12. The desire is the head trip to hide behind them and not meet the world head on. I made it. Join me.

DG0409

Yep, 3 days and all of the nicotine is out of your system so the withdrawal is over.

It still takes a while after that to get used to it mentally, but it really does get easier come day 4 and continues to get easier after that.

2 days is awesome!!!

upandup

On day four now, the mental triggers are still firing. Dang it. Drinking ice water, thank you for the suggestion Startingover. I like adding things like sliced cucumber, mint, cherries, lemon and lime. Have you tried those or other things?

The desire is the head trip to hide behind them and not meet the world head on.
Oooh, Itchy, you hit the nail on the head. The things we run from by smoking come to light once we stop. I wonder if some measure of cravings stem from the desire to avoid something.

Alright, thanks for keeping me company, hanging in there! *grumble grumble* Have a good weekend, everyone.

DG0409

I found that stress and negative emotions definitely made me think of smoking. But what I slowly came to learn was that that was because nicotine withdrawal causes stress and negative emotions and I was used to the cigarettes 'curing' that. I learned the hard way though from quitting and relapsing when I was having a rough time that smoking didn't actually make the negative emotions or stress any less. By that point the stress and bad feelings weren't coming from nicotine withdrawal and so the nicotine didn't fix it. In fact, it always made me feel worse, because I was with the original problem and bad feelings plus the guilt and misery of smoking. As smokers, we confuse the negative feelings brought on by normal things in life with the negative feelings brought on by withdrawal. And when we quit, it takes a while for our brains to clear up the confusion.

I don't know if I'm explaining what I'm trying to say very well.

In any case, congrats on four days upandup. Keep up the good work!

Higherwisdom

I'm on day 2 now. I have not ever gone past 3 days since I started smoking regularly so I am determined to do it and I WILL do it.

DG0409

way to go nonalcho!

Pete55

Thanks for the inspiration,
The price of cigs. going up again is going to get me "madder" with resentments, I hope it will be easier to quit then to buy, paradoxically speaking.

I went 2 weeks a few years ago, but totally isolated myself just for that purpose.
Then my father visited and saw no cigs in my house. He thought I was "poor" and then bought me a packet.
I am tired of "announcing" to the world that I am quitting again, that is why I did not tell anyone.
Today, I will smoke the last cig, have plenty of raw chamomile tea to relax.

My last resort lately was electronic cigs, it did not work for me. One of the electronics part got so hot cos I was dragging it fiercely, melted the plastic!
YUK!

If I go 2 days, I'll start a new thread....
But yes, that insidious craving for nicotine is one of the hardest, if not THE hardest thing to contend with and rather costly.

DG0409

Pete way to go on working on quitting again!! Keep at it. You can do this.

Come join the 24-hour club for it. http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ng-club-6.html

You just gotta take it One Day at a Time.

upandup

Aaaand bust. For now. It took a few times before I quit drinking, and I celebrated six months sober this weekend! I am genuinely concerned that what led me back to smoking will lead me back to drinking. I guess all of the fears, anxieties, guilt, etc don't heal in six months.

What led to me buying a pack? I was looking at some old pictures from 10+ years ago and all I could see was this clueless, just oblivious person that I was. Combine that with my current situation, where I have some major decisions coming soon, the resolution of my mother's estate (house, estate sale, going through her things and life, she died last year), grief, needing to figure out where and what I need to do next in life, and I am an anxious, scared ball of nerves.

There is no perfect time to quit, and I want to live my life untethered to cigarettes. I do AA as part of my sobriety program, when I first got sober my sponsor said not to try to quit the first year. But so long as I'm improving my life I want to get rid of cigarettes too.

Well, thank you for reading and your continued support. I made it six days, I can make another go at it. Better luck to you all! The first cigarette didn't have as much of a "payoff" as I would've liked, and now I'm back at square one : / But I'll get back on the horse.

DG0409

The first one never does. The only good a cigarette ever is is when you're going through withdrawal and it helps with that... while ensuring you'll go through more withdrawal as soon as the cigarette is over. But once you've been quit for a few days, you're not going through withdrawal and all a cigarette can do is cause you to start going through withdrawal again.

Remember that feeling for next time.

AllieB

After 3 days the nicotine is out of your system, but that doesn't mean withdrawal ends on day 3. There's a difference between getting it out of your system and teaching your system how to get on without it.

(I know the NYTimes isn't, em, authoritative, but it has a good little summary: Nicotine and Tobacco*Symptoms of Withdrawal - Nicotine and Tobacco Health Information - NY Times Health)

Congrats on your 6 mo anniversary, that's brilliant! And good luck with the smokes when you restart your quit.

Btw: there's a thread on here somewhere with links to new research about dual quits (alcohol and cigarettes). Apparently, success rates are actually higher for people who quit both at once, if that makes you feel any better about quitting early.

I found this abstract quickly, but I'd have to dig to find the sober recovery thread. Smoking cessation and alcohol abstinence: what do the data tell us? - Abstract - Europe PubMed Central

Congrats again and good luck!

upandup

Thanks Allie! I would've been more thrilled this weekend about hitting a milestone, but my insides were saying Smoke. Smoke! Smokesmokesmoke! I agree that I need to teach myself a better way to do without - that was a great point. I'll check out the articles, thank you for the links

I gently beg to differ, DG, that the effect smoking had on me was to alleviate anxiety (my AV, perhaps). Without smoking comes a certain clarity of thought for me, and it took the hard edge off of the things I need to do. In the haze of cigarette smoke my life is in soft focus. That is one reason I had to stop drinking, I could no longer go through life seeing double, so to speak.

In a similar vein, I think I need to apply the tools I've gained in quitting drinking to cigarettes. I've declared to people that I'm quitting smoking, I'll be going on vacation with nonsmokers next week (vacation, yay!!) which was the impetus behind wanting to quit in advance of that, and I need to protect my nonsmoking as if my life depends on it. In the long run, it does.

Alright, have a good one everyone, thanks again for reading and support