Please pray for me :(
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Akron, OH
Posts: 83
Please pray for me :(
After being quit for 6 months I am back right where I started. One turned into two and two into three. Im now on a two week cig binge. Quit, smoke, quit, smoke just like the old days. Over the past two weeks I quit for a week, quit for a couple days but have gone back. God I dont want this anymore. I really need some prayers guys. I just wanna quit. Im so scared, my lungs hurt. I can feel it killing me. Its killing me. I need help.
-TiM
-TiM
Knucklehead
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Davenport, WA
Posts: 4,005
Tim,
I'm allergic to nicotine or I would probably be addicted to that too. I've heard it is harder to quit than heroin. I'm not a religious person so I can't pray, but there are some good medical programs for quiting smoking. Check around. I know when my dad quit smoking exercise was a big part of it. Best of luck.
Paul J
I'm allergic to nicotine or I would probably be addicted to that too. I've heard it is harder to quit than heroin. I'm not a religious person so I can't pray, but there are some good medical programs for quiting smoking. Check around. I know when my dad quit smoking exercise was a big part of it. Best of luck.
Paul J
Guest
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 780
Hi TIM!
Prayers coming your way, and you can do it!!! I did, and it's been over 5 years nicotine free for me. You can do it, yes! Don't beat yourself up, give a break and start over. You can and will--yes you can!! Every time you get closer and closer...keep it up! You are getting there.
Prayers and good healing thoughts sent your way,
Wolfstarr
Prayers coming your way, and you can do it!!! I did, and it's been over 5 years nicotine free for me. You can do it, yes! Don't beat yourself up, give a break and start over. You can and will--yes you can!! Every time you get closer and closer...keep it up! You are getting there.
Prayers and good healing thoughts sent your way,
Wolfstarr
Member
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Baltimore Md.
Posts: 31
I'm praying for you. Why not try the patches they work. The patches is what got me on the road to being smoke free so far. I also use a chico stick. I chew on the stick when I get stressed. They both help me to stay stop. Please don't beat yourself up, if you fall get back up and try it again. Just keep trying until you get it righ OK.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: North Vancouver, British Columbia
Posts: 1,714
((((((((((Molendie)))))))))) You're right on target there - the eneny IS our thinking. And it's the enemy that's trying to bring you down. Towards the end of my smoking days (and I'm just 15 days free) I was starting to accept that I'd probably done damage that couldn't be undone so why bother quitting. That's definitely insane thinking. When I really started to think about what I seemed willing to accept was when I started to come out of denial about what my habit was doing to me and I knew I had to do something about it. I was still terrified at the idea of quitting, though - I'd smoked for 30 years, up to two packs a day, and didn't know how to live without cigarettes, even though they were killing me. I'd quit in the past, several times, and always started again. To quote Mark Twain: "Quitting is easy - I've done it a thousand times." I can definitely relate to that - it's the staying quit that's hard. What I did this time was to read all I could about smoking, the health effects, and what I could do to help myself. I identified my smoking triggers (which seemed to be just about everything) and planned on ways I could deal with them when they came up. I decided to use the patch this time instead of going cold turkey. Although I'm still getting a small dose of nicotine each day, it is without the hazards of cigarette smoke itself. I didn't use the patch in the past and I didn't make it. This time I am and so far I've made it. I started writing down all the reasons I wanted to quit, no matter how small, and started keeping a journal. Doing these things has helped me to not smoke for the past 15 days, something I thought I would never be able to do. Whatever you think might help you, use it.
I've seen your posts in the AA forum, so I know you're familiar with the 12 Steps. Think about doing Steps 1, 2, and 3 to help you through the initial phase - many recovering alcoholics and addicts have found this to be extremely helpful when quitting smoking, and some go on to do a complete set of the 12 Steps. There are some "sticky" threads at the top of this forum that go into the process in more detail - take a read through them when you've got some time. In "thread tools" you can chose a printable version and print them out to have on hand.
I'm posting the Nicotine Anonymous pamphlet Facing the Fatal Attraction below for you - it's good reading and a lot to think over. The most important thing is to give yourself a break and not to despair - you are not alone in this and there IS freedom from this addiction.
Stay in touch, Molendie - post here about how you're feeling and we'll do our best to help you along. Love and hugs to you!
Facing the Fatal Attraction
You Are Not Alone
Most people who continue to use nicotine products do so because they cannot stop. Smoking tobacco is the most common method of nicotine delivery. Worldwide 47% of men and 12% of women smoke a total of 6 trillion cigarettes a year (World Health Organization, 1999).
If you desire to be nicotine-free, it may be comforting to know you have a lot of company. In 1994, an estimated 69% of U.S. smokers wanted to quit. In fact, 46% attempted to quit for at least one day (American Cancer Society).
It might be encouraging to learn that, in 1994, 46 million people in the U.S. were considered former smokers. Surveys indicate that 1.3 million nicotine users manage to quit each year. With our recovery program of mutual support, we have found a way to live nicotine-free, one day at a time.
What Is Nicotine?
According to the American Lung Association:
• Nicotine is a poison used as an insecticide.
• When inhaled, nicotine gets to a person’s brain in seven seconds, twice as fast as intravenous drugs.
• Nicotine affects the brain and central nervous system. It changes the level of neurotransmitters and chemicals that regulate mood, learning, alertness, and ability to concentrate.
• Nicotine increases the heart rate, but it constricts the blood vessels, which reduces circulation.
• Nicotine can act like a stimulant or a sedative, depending on the level of nicotine in the body and time of day. Smoking also causes the release of endorphins, which create a tranquilizing effect.
• A tolerance for nicotine begins to develop with the first dose. Therefore, the level of use must increase to maintain its effects and to prevent withdrawal symptoms.
Why It Isn't Easy To Stop
It is now widely accepted that nicotine is an extremely addictive and mood-altering substance. However, one of nicotine’s baffling qualities is that its grip is not the same on everyone. Although there is genetic and biochemical research that describes some of the various and powerful effects of nicotine, such complex issues and controversies are outside of Nicotine Anonymous.
Some nicotine users may have only a behavioral habit, others are nicotine-dependent, while the vast majority experience the full-blown addiction where nicotine generates a physical compulsion combined with a mental obsession to continually use it. These effects may be masked by how easy it is to acquire and maintain an adequate supply. Often, only when a nicotine user "runs out" and he or she has to suddenly "run out" to get their drug in the middle of whatever they are doing, do the telltale withdrawal symptoms reveal the truth.
You can review the pamphlet Introducing Nicotine Anonymous for further information about the behavior patterns of a nicotine addict.
Here are just a few reasons why it isn’t easy to stop using nicotine:
". . . while the odds on those trying crack or alcohol becoming addicts are 1 in 6 and 1 in 10 respectively, they’re 9 in 10 for cigarette smokers," reports the chief of clinical pharmacology, National Institute on Drug Abuse.
". . . Scientists have found, for instance, that nicotine is as addictive as heroin, cocaine or amphetamines, and for most people more addictive than alcohol," states the article "Nicotine, Harder to Kick than Heroin," published in the New York Times Magazine.
About half of all nicotine users start by age 13, and 90% of all users begin by age 19. Dr. David Kessler (U.S. FDA, 1996) said that nicotine addiction is a "pediatric disease."
Tobacco use is familiar behavior that still occurs in many public areas. This may give the false impression, especially to children, that tobacco is safe to use.
By the time nicotine users are ready to quit, they are not only physically hooked, they have had years of powerful psychological and cultural associations stored in their memory, which can act as familiar "triggers" to prompt the use nicotine.
Our Addiction
Our use of nicotine made our lives unmanageable and most likely affected others. We have come to accept that nicotine addiction is a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual disease.
Nicotine use affected our behavior and attitudes. The continual desire for nicotine patterned our thinking and we believed we could not live without it. We invented many rationalizations and excuses to maintain our supply of nicotine.
The biochemical effects may have instilled a false sense of pleasure or control, but we were out of control. One puff or chew was too many, and a thousand were never enough.
Left to our own devices, we would have continued to destroy our bodies, suppress our feelings and alienate our families, lovers, and friends.
The Impact on Physical Health
Although our focus is on recovery, we are an honest program. We no longer live in denial of the dangers of nicotine.
More than 50,000 different scientific studies have documented that a direct link exists between tobacco use and disease. The Surgeon General said, " . . . smoking represents the most exclusively documented cause of disease ever investigated in the history of biomedical research."
The World Health Organization reports that the worldwide toll from tobacco use is 4 million annually. This is far greater than the number of fatalities from all illegal drugs and alcohol combined. They project that by 2030 the annual toll could be 10 million.
According to the Surgeon General, cigarette smoking causes a long list of cancers as well as heart and lung diseases. In addition, women experience menopause 1 to 2 years earlier and smoking contributes to abnormal Pap tests and cancer of the cervix. It is associated with premature wrinkling, especially around the mouth and eyes. In both men and women, smoking may reduce sexual function.
For smokeless tobacco users, the risk of cancer to the cheek and gum is nearly 50 times greater than non-users. (American Cancer Society, '98)
Smoking also causes injuries and deaths due to house fires, forest fires and various accidental incidents.
More studies are continually finding links to many other health problems.
The Impact Of Secondhand Smoke
Tobacco smoke is as dangerous to non-smokers as firsthand smoke is to smokers themselves. The EPA has classified tobacco smoke (containing 43 carcinogens) as a Class A carcinogen- a known cause of human cancer.
Secondhand smoke kills as many as 62,000 Americans annually from heart disease (CalEPA, 1997). Secondhand smoke causes 3,000 to 5,000 lung cancer deaths per year in the U.S., more than all regulated hazardous air pollutants combined (U.S. EPA, 1992).
Children exposed to tobacco smoke in the home: increased pneumonia and bronchitis cases in the U.S. by 300,000; are more likely to develop asthma, severe middle-ear infections, and other health problems (U.S. Surgeon General).
Two studies published in 1991 in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that:
1.Children whose parents smoke are three to four times as likely to develop serious infectious diseases requiring hospitalization;
2. Children exposed, prior to birth, to either of their parent’s smoking have an increased risk of luekemia and lymphoma.
Pregnant women who smoke double their risk of having a low birth weight baby and suffer a much greater risk of fetal and infant deaths than women who don’t smoke. Pregnant smokers increase the likelihood of severe complications of pregnancy and delivery, including bleeding during pregnancy, tearing and bleeding of the placenta, and preterm delivery (U.S. Surgeon General).
Pregnant smokers increase the chances for mental retardation in their newborns by 75 percent (Pediatrics, Apr. 1994).
Dilution, ventilation, or air cleaning are all unacceptable methods for the control of the lung cancer or heart disease risks of secondhand smoke (OSHA, 1994).
Some 88% of the non-smoking U.S. population has cotinine (indicator of exposure to tobacco smoke) in their blood (Pirkle et al., 1996).
Awareness of these dangers become important in our Fourth, Eighth, and Ninth Step work. Setting our "excuses" aside, we may identify various character defects that enabled us to smoke and disregard the health threat to others. A new awareness can lead us to make appropriate amends and promote our own spiritual healing.
Other Nicotine Delivery Systems
We offer a recovery program to gain freedom from nicotine. We accept that nicotine is a toxic, addictive substance that endangers our quality of life. According to our Tenth Tradition, "Nicotine Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues . . ." We neither endorse nor oppose any method or mechanism that delivers nicotine, e.g., nicotine gum or patches. Such issues are for each member to decide for himself or herself, but we are a fellowship of men and women helping each other to live our lives free of nicotine.
We seek clarity and honesty as part of our personal recovery, and unity of purpose for our common welfare. We support each other toward the goal of nicotine abstinence as we share the benefits of our individual journey toward a spiritual awakening.
What You Gain By Quitting
Although there may be lasting consequences from our past behavior, we find our recovery is well worth whatever lengths we must go to. We have found that we must remain honest and vigilant in our process
If we are to remain nicotine-free. The steps of action we take give us the gift of recovery.
There are physical benefits. The Surgeon General’s 1990 Report, "The Health Benefits of Smoking Cessation" reaches these major conclusions:
1. People who quit smoking live longer than those who continue to smoke;
2. There are benefits to quitting smoking for those quitting at older ages, even those who already suffer from a smoking-related illness;
3. Women who stop smoking either before pregnancy or during the first 3-4 months have infants of the same birth weight as those born to women who never smoked;
4. The health benefits of quitting far exceed any risks from the average 5 pound weight gain or adverse psychological effects that may follow quitting.
In addition to the many physical benefits, Nicotine Anonymous members also discover many other benefits when they become free of the demoralizing cycle of nicotine addiction. For example:
1. Our self-esteem rises as we engage in these steps of action.
2. We feel the relief of having a threat to our lives removed.
3. We have more gratitude for the support that others can provide.
4. Our renewed hope inspires us to make other improvements.
5. We have more attention, time, and energy for enjoyable activities.
6. We sense a new clarity and certainty about our emotional lives.
7. We learn to take care of our life rather than take chances with it.
8. We have a new strength to face and embrace life on life’s terms.
9. We appreciate being more fully conscious and conscientious.
10. We develop a wiser trust in ourselves and others.
11. We experience a closer spiritual connection with a Higher Power.
12. Our lives improve in many ways we previously had not even imagined.
Copyright Nicotine Anonymous World Services
I've seen your posts in the AA forum, so I know you're familiar with the 12 Steps. Think about doing Steps 1, 2, and 3 to help you through the initial phase - many recovering alcoholics and addicts have found this to be extremely helpful when quitting smoking, and some go on to do a complete set of the 12 Steps. There are some "sticky" threads at the top of this forum that go into the process in more detail - take a read through them when you've got some time. In "thread tools" you can chose a printable version and print them out to have on hand.
I'm posting the Nicotine Anonymous pamphlet Facing the Fatal Attraction below for you - it's good reading and a lot to think over. The most important thing is to give yourself a break and not to despair - you are not alone in this and there IS freedom from this addiction.
Stay in touch, Molendie - post here about how you're feeling and we'll do our best to help you along. Love and hugs to you!
Facing the Fatal Attraction
You Are Not Alone
Most people who continue to use nicotine products do so because they cannot stop. Smoking tobacco is the most common method of nicotine delivery. Worldwide 47% of men and 12% of women smoke a total of 6 trillion cigarettes a year (World Health Organization, 1999).
If you desire to be nicotine-free, it may be comforting to know you have a lot of company. In 1994, an estimated 69% of U.S. smokers wanted to quit. In fact, 46% attempted to quit for at least one day (American Cancer Society).
It might be encouraging to learn that, in 1994, 46 million people in the U.S. were considered former smokers. Surveys indicate that 1.3 million nicotine users manage to quit each year. With our recovery program of mutual support, we have found a way to live nicotine-free, one day at a time.
What Is Nicotine?
According to the American Lung Association:
• Nicotine is a poison used as an insecticide.
• When inhaled, nicotine gets to a person’s brain in seven seconds, twice as fast as intravenous drugs.
• Nicotine affects the brain and central nervous system. It changes the level of neurotransmitters and chemicals that regulate mood, learning, alertness, and ability to concentrate.
• Nicotine increases the heart rate, but it constricts the blood vessels, which reduces circulation.
• Nicotine can act like a stimulant or a sedative, depending on the level of nicotine in the body and time of day. Smoking also causes the release of endorphins, which create a tranquilizing effect.
• A tolerance for nicotine begins to develop with the first dose. Therefore, the level of use must increase to maintain its effects and to prevent withdrawal symptoms.
Why It Isn't Easy To Stop
It is now widely accepted that nicotine is an extremely addictive and mood-altering substance. However, one of nicotine’s baffling qualities is that its grip is not the same on everyone. Although there is genetic and biochemical research that describes some of the various and powerful effects of nicotine, such complex issues and controversies are outside of Nicotine Anonymous.
Some nicotine users may have only a behavioral habit, others are nicotine-dependent, while the vast majority experience the full-blown addiction where nicotine generates a physical compulsion combined with a mental obsession to continually use it. These effects may be masked by how easy it is to acquire and maintain an adequate supply. Often, only when a nicotine user "runs out" and he or she has to suddenly "run out" to get their drug in the middle of whatever they are doing, do the telltale withdrawal symptoms reveal the truth.
You can review the pamphlet Introducing Nicotine Anonymous for further information about the behavior patterns of a nicotine addict.
Here are just a few reasons why it isn’t easy to stop using nicotine:
". . . while the odds on those trying crack or alcohol becoming addicts are 1 in 6 and 1 in 10 respectively, they’re 9 in 10 for cigarette smokers," reports the chief of clinical pharmacology, National Institute on Drug Abuse.
". . . Scientists have found, for instance, that nicotine is as addictive as heroin, cocaine or amphetamines, and for most people more addictive than alcohol," states the article "Nicotine, Harder to Kick than Heroin," published in the New York Times Magazine.
About half of all nicotine users start by age 13, and 90% of all users begin by age 19. Dr. David Kessler (U.S. FDA, 1996) said that nicotine addiction is a "pediatric disease."
Tobacco use is familiar behavior that still occurs in many public areas. This may give the false impression, especially to children, that tobacco is safe to use.
By the time nicotine users are ready to quit, they are not only physically hooked, they have had years of powerful psychological and cultural associations stored in their memory, which can act as familiar "triggers" to prompt the use nicotine.
Our Addiction
Our use of nicotine made our lives unmanageable and most likely affected others. We have come to accept that nicotine addiction is a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual disease.
Nicotine use affected our behavior and attitudes. The continual desire for nicotine patterned our thinking and we believed we could not live without it. We invented many rationalizations and excuses to maintain our supply of nicotine.
The biochemical effects may have instilled a false sense of pleasure or control, but we were out of control. One puff or chew was too many, and a thousand were never enough.
Left to our own devices, we would have continued to destroy our bodies, suppress our feelings and alienate our families, lovers, and friends.
The Impact on Physical Health
Although our focus is on recovery, we are an honest program. We no longer live in denial of the dangers of nicotine.
More than 50,000 different scientific studies have documented that a direct link exists between tobacco use and disease. The Surgeon General said, " . . . smoking represents the most exclusively documented cause of disease ever investigated in the history of biomedical research."
The World Health Organization reports that the worldwide toll from tobacco use is 4 million annually. This is far greater than the number of fatalities from all illegal drugs and alcohol combined. They project that by 2030 the annual toll could be 10 million.
According to the Surgeon General, cigarette smoking causes a long list of cancers as well as heart and lung diseases. In addition, women experience menopause 1 to 2 years earlier and smoking contributes to abnormal Pap tests and cancer of the cervix. It is associated with premature wrinkling, especially around the mouth and eyes. In both men and women, smoking may reduce sexual function.
For smokeless tobacco users, the risk of cancer to the cheek and gum is nearly 50 times greater than non-users. (American Cancer Society, '98)
Smoking also causes injuries and deaths due to house fires, forest fires and various accidental incidents.
More studies are continually finding links to many other health problems.
The Impact Of Secondhand Smoke
Tobacco smoke is as dangerous to non-smokers as firsthand smoke is to smokers themselves. The EPA has classified tobacco smoke (containing 43 carcinogens) as a Class A carcinogen- a known cause of human cancer.
Secondhand smoke kills as many as 62,000 Americans annually from heart disease (CalEPA, 1997). Secondhand smoke causes 3,000 to 5,000 lung cancer deaths per year in the U.S., more than all regulated hazardous air pollutants combined (U.S. EPA, 1992).
Children exposed to tobacco smoke in the home: increased pneumonia and bronchitis cases in the U.S. by 300,000; are more likely to develop asthma, severe middle-ear infections, and other health problems (U.S. Surgeon General).
Two studies published in 1991 in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that:
1.Children whose parents smoke are three to four times as likely to develop serious infectious diseases requiring hospitalization;
2. Children exposed, prior to birth, to either of their parent’s smoking have an increased risk of luekemia and lymphoma.
Pregnant women who smoke double their risk of having a low birth weight baby and suffer a much greater risk of fetal and infant deaths than women who don’t smoke. Pregnant smokers increase the likelihood of severe complications of pregnancy and delivery, including bleeding during pregnancy, tearing and bleeding of the placenta, and preterm delivery (U.S. Surgeon General).
Pregnant smokers increase the chances for mental retardation in their newborns by 75 percent (Pediatrics, Apr. 1994).
Dilution, ventilation, or air cleaning are all unacceptable methods for the control of the lung cancer or heart disease risks of secondhand smoke (OSHA, 1994).
Some 88% of the non-smoking U.S. population has cotinine (indicator of exposure to tobacco smoke) in their blood (Pirkle et al., 1996).
Awareness of these dangers become important in our Fourth, Eighth, and Ninth Step work. Setting our "excuses" aside, we may identify various character defects that enabled us to smoke and disregard the health threat to others. A new awareness can lead us to make appropriate amends and promote our own spiritual healing.
Other Nicotine Delivery Systems
We offer a recovery program to gain freedom from nicotine. We accept that nicotine is a toxic, addictive substance that endangers our quality of life. According to our Tenth Tradition, "Nicotine Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues . . ." We neither endorse nor oppose any method or mechanism that delivers nicotine, e.g., nicotine gum or patches. Such issues are for each member to decide for himself or herself, but we are a fellowship of men and women helping each other to live our lives free of nicotine.
We seek clarity and honesty as part of our personal recovery, and unity of purpose for our common welfare. We support each other toward the goal of nicotine abstinence as we share the benefits of our individual journey toward a spiritual awakening.
What You Gain By Quitting
Although there may be lasting consequences from our past behavior, we find our recovery is well worth whatever lengths we must go to. We have found that we must remain honest and vigilant in our process
If we are to remain nicotine-free. The steps of action we take give us the gift of recovery.
There are physical benefits. The Surgeon General’s 1990 Report, "The Health Benefits of Smoking Cessation" reaches these major conclusions:
1. People who quit smoking live longer than those who continue to smoke;
2. There are benefits to quitting smoking for those quitting at older ages, even those who already suffer from a smoking-related illness;
3. Women who stop smoking either before pregnancy or during the first 3-4 months have infants of the same birth weight as those born to women who never smoked;
4. The health benefits of quitting far exceed any risks from the average 5 pound weight gain or adverse psychological effects that may follow quitting.
In addition to the many physical benefits, Nicotine Anonymous members also discover many other benefits when they become free of the demoralizing cycle of nicotine addiction. For example:
1. Our self-esteem rises as we engage in these steps of action.
2. We feel the relief of having a threat to our lives removed.
3. We have more gratitude for the support that others can provide.
4. Our renewed hope inspires us to make other improvements.
5. We have more attention, time, and energy for enjoyable activities.
6. We sense a new clarity and certainty about our emotional lives.
7. We learn to take care of our life rather than take chances with it.
8. We have a new strength to face and embrace life on life’s terms.
9. We appreciate being more fully conscious and conscientious.
10. We develop a wiser trust in ourselves and others.
11. We experience a closer spiritual connection with a Higher Power.
12. Our lives improve in many ways we previously had not even imagined.
Copyright Nicotine Anonymous World Services
Member
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia
Posts: 47
Im praying for you
Hi, Glad your trying. Be strong & it will get easier.
I've got 5 years & 11 months. I tried slowly reducing the nicotine mg's & got myself down to 2mg's THEN I went to the USA & at the time they didn't advertise the mg's on the packet (they do here in Australia) I had no idea which ones to buy so back up to 20mg or whatever lucky strike & malbrough are !!!! They spun me out - badly but I kept smoking them.
I got home & began again to slowly cut down the mg's...back to 2mg again & began to panic about stopping altogether. I got very sick (HP stepping in) & I just couldn't smoke - it literally made me sick.
But my head was saying "when I feel better I can't wait for a smoke"...
I tried to get patches & they laughed at me (they thought 2mg habit didn't warrant the patches) & sold me nicorettes. I gave them away thinking I'd have to be on them forever.....I was so angry
I don't know how I found out about herbal smokes, Honeyrose was the first brand I found & as they had no nicotine I gave them a try. They smelt disgusting & everyone thought I was smoking pot. They worked - FOR ME. I don't know if it would work for everyone.
I still have cravings when Im stressed or depressed & still have the herbals on-hand. I find something else to do to get my mind off the cravings.
Good Luck
T(focusontoday)
I've got 5 years & 11 months. I tried slowly reducing the nicotine mg's & got myself down to 2mg's THEN I went to the USA & at the time they didn't advertise the mg's on the packet (they do here in Australia) I had no idea which ones to buy so back up to 20mg or whatever lucky strike & malbrough are !!!! They spun me out - badly but I kept smoking them.
I got home & began again to slowly cut down the mg's...back to 2mg again & began to panic about stopping altogether. I got very sick (HP stepping in) & I just couldn't smoke - it literally made me sick.
But my head was saying "when I feel better I can't wait for a smoke"...
I tried to get patches & they laughed at me (they thought 2mg habit didn't warrant the patches) & sold me nicorettes. I gave them away thinking I'd have to be on them forever.....I was so angry
I don't know how I found out about herbal smokes, Honeyrose was the first brand I found & as they had no nicotine I gave them a try. They smelt disgusting & everyone thought I was smoking pot. They worked - FOR ME. I don't know if it would work for everyone.
I still have cravings when Im stressed or depressed & still have the herbals on-hand. I find something else to do to get my mind off the cravings.
Good Luck
T(focusontoday)
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Akron, OH
Posts: 83
hey thanks for the info and support. That reading reinforced some stuff. and focus on today, if u have 5 yrs clean, why have the those herbal cigs on hand??? Anyways, 2 days now. Its rough cause tomorow ill be working in an AA sober club ALL NIGHT so all ill be breathing is smoke, so thatll suck. Buts Gods helping me a lot so Ill be okay. Im trying to work out more cause I still havnt lost the weight I gained from my last quiting spree! Any suggestions on that? Thanks for the help gang.
Don't get undies in a bunch
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: South Shore MA
Posts: 7,120
12 steps work for smoking as well.
As to any weight gain. Digestion speeds up once the nicotine is gone from our system. The stopping the smoking is healthier then 50 lbs added. To drop the weight once the smoking is under control will be easier then if still smoking.
As to the pain you may be feeling, when we stop and start and stop and start, the body is starting to heal itself on day one. Ciggerette one starts to hurt the body right away. A sore throat, bronchitis, heavy feeling in the lungs. The body has gone into repair mode and then we put a smoke inside again, the body needs to change gears.
A cough does increase when first stopping. That is part of the healing. The body is fixing itself with each cough.
As you have found... don't pick up that first one is the best way to remain stopped.
As to any weight gain. Digestion speeds up once the nicotine is gone from our system. The stopping the smoking is healthier then 50 lbs added. To drop the weight once the smoking is under control will be easier then if still smoking.
As to the pain you may be feeling, when we stop and start and stop and start, the body is starting to heal itself on day one. Ciggerette one starts to hurt the body right away. A sore throat, bronchitis, heavy feeling in the lungs. The body has gone into repair mode and then we put a smoke inside again, the body needs to change gears.
A cough does increase when first stopping. That is part of the healing. The body is fixing itself with each cough.
As you have found... don't pick up that first one is the best way to remain stopped.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: North Vancouver, British Columbia
Posts: 1,714
Molendie! Good for you! We are so proud of you for making those three days, even while working in a smoking environment. That is awesome and you should feel really good about that. Way to go, girl!
Happy Easter! :e19p
Happy Easter! :e19p
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Akron, OH
Posts: 83
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! just had to get that out 
so tonight starts the school week inwhich every 10 minutes we take a freakin cig break so this will be exciting and fun for me. Plus, tomorow morning I start a new job, so no stress there or anything lol. Im just hurting right now i guess. But I CANT smoke over it. I normally dont like to cry and moan to people, havnt even done it that much in recovery from alchol and drugs but with cigs its a totally different ball game. So far posting here daily has helped so Im just gonna keep doing it weather anyone reads it or not lol.
-TiM
so tonight starts the school week inwhich every 10 minutes we take a freakin cig break so this will be exciting and fun for me. Plus, tomorow morning I start a new job, so no stress there or anything lol. Im just hurting right now i guess. But I CANT smoke over it. I normally dont like to cry and moan to people, havnt even done it that much in recovery from alchol and drugs but with cigs its a totally different ball game. So far posting here daily has helped so Im just gonna keep doing it weather anyone reads it or not lol.
-TiM
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Akron, OH
Posts: 83
still here. still sober. Started the new job and my boss and coworkers smoke alllllll day right next to the grill im cooking at alllllll day. I hate the job but its a job. Just for today. Somewhere around a week now from cigs.... ive lost track. love u guys.
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