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Is cigarette smoke a trigger?

Old 01-07-2009, 04:52 PM
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Is cigarette smoke a trigger?

Sober since New Year's Day! I even got through that scary first long weekend by myself with no problems by keeping busy. Now I'm back to work and noticing something that I've noticed before when on the wagon. For some reason I can be chatting with my boss (he smokes like crazy) and all of a sudden my evil brain says "Yep! Soon as we leave work we're stopping at the ABC store!". (It's always very emphatic).
I don't think this is a stress reaction - we're good friends and it happens even if we're talking about non-business generalities. I've never been a smoker, so it's not a previous nicotene addiction kicking in.
Has anyone else had this happen? I recognize it now but it's scared me several times - it's like someone just pops onstage and says "Yo! Time for alcohol!" when I'm not even thinking it!
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Old 01-07-2009, 04:58 PM
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I have had that happen alot with certain songs on the radio. The good old rock n roll I use to party too. I hear it and think "Drinking time'

I finally have changed the station on all my radios.
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Old 01-07-2009, 05:20 PM
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Putting on my baldy wig, white coat and specs, I would say that any environmental sensory stimulus can be a "trigger" for a behavioural response in a given subject. Taking the wig, coat and specs off again - damn I can't see, I'll put the specs back on, ah that's better - I'd say yes it can be.
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Old 01-07-2009, 08:20 PM
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Anything can be a trigger. I made a list of my triggers once, it was almost humorous how the most innocuous things made it on there.

The thing with triggers is to recognize them and not take them seriously. They're merely our brains making unnecessary patterns. Avoiding cigarettes is not always possible, but you can teach yourself not to respond to smoke with craving thoughts.
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Old 01-08-2009, 04:36 AM
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It's not for me because the bars around here are non-smoking but I can relate to ridiculous triggers. I usually file my work away at the end of the day and when I was drinking, I'd be thinking "woohoo, only a few more minutes till I can open up a beer and 'relax.' " And the walk out to my car after work was the same thing. I obviously can't avoid those things but I've learned to tell myself that I'm going to go home first, grab some dinner, and then if I still want to drink I'll just run back out to the store. Of course once I'm past my trigger spots I realize that it was alcoholism talking. Luckily for me, my alcoholism is easily fooled -- I really do believe that I'm just going to postpone that drink for an hour or so and of course I'll still want it later.

On the other hand, alcoholism is cunning, baffling and powerful and I'm fully aware that "tricking" the alcoholic voice like that might not keep working. That's why I stick around here and why I go to AA. Without it, it catches me off guard and next thing you know, I'm drunk.
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