getr345

I was looking back over some old posts of mine and I realize that I quit smoking a month and a half into quitting drinking. What a good and smart decision this was for me. Thinking about nicotine addiction in the context of recovery from drugs & alcohol, keep in mind that every time you put out another cigarette, your body immediately goes into yet another cycle of drug withdrawal, the only (temporary) relief from which will come with the next smoke. Then another round of withdrawal, another smoke, more withdrawal, and so it goes over and over...

Withdrawing from a drug, followed by taking said drug to alleviate withdrawal symptoms.

Rinse, lather, repeat...

This cycle of addiction has NO PLACE in the mind and body of a person trying to get sober.

super71

I appreciate all of the responses and views that I have received concerning this - I truly do believe that addiction is addiction no matter what the substance and that I want to be free of all of my addictions...I want to live a healthy and long life without (gross) cigarettes!

That said... I have failed today.. I have smoked 7 cigarettes so far today... didn't have my first until after noon, but this little experiment of mine was not a success..My goal now is to cut back and pick a quit date for a little bit further into my quitting drinking. I am on day 11, but hopefully soon I will be more able to have success with quitting smoking. I figure if I cut back each day then my body will get used to less and less nicotine and make it physically easier to quit on my selected quit date.

I will feel so much better about myself and I am sure physically once I overcome this! Thanks for all of the input.

boudiepitbull

You know what you want and need to do. It's not a race. Trust that eventually it will all be fine. People advise not to give up nicotine in early recovery because it might just stress you further than you can manage and have you end up going out for more research with both drugs/alcohol and nicotine. Be gentle with yourself and you may be more prone to succeed.

I have seen more than one person struggling with opioid or alcohol dependence leave detox because they wanted a cigarette that badly. They reject nicotine replacement therapy and crawl out of their skins when they could have been slightly more comfortable and might have completed detox and moved on. One 3 pack a day smoker attacked a security guard after insisting the patch gave him nightmares. That seems like such a shame to me.

That's why they say...

EASY DOES IT!

jazzz

I quit smoking when I was about 6 months sober and now I'm 10 months sober. So about 4 months without a cigarette!

I'm certain that the fact I worked the 12 steps, and still am, helped me quit smoking as well. It wasn't that hard, really. As someone said, if you treat it the same way as alcohol, you'll do fine.

Good luck!

topspin

Super,

Your awareness and desire to quit speaks volumes. The more time in sobriety will help you in your resolve I believe.

Stay strong, ....you can do it , like so many !


I've picked a quit date myself, ...but will probably get anxious and quit a little sooner, ...fear of relapse and all.


.

MelindaFlowers

Hi Super!

I was a half a pack a day smoker until I stopped drinking. Now I'm going through a pack a day! At this moment I am not too worried about that because I am so dam* happy (and bewildered in a good way) that I have somehow found the strength and resolve to stop.

I too feel funny being worried about my health and going to the doctor for bloodwork in a week, feeling good about not drinking, yet puffing away.

I've gone back in forth in my mind: Quit both at once? Wait til 30 days sobriety? 60 days? It sounds like people have done it by quitting both at once.

What I am doing for myself is staying in the moment and keeping my sobriety my number one and only priority. I feel like that is all I can handle personally at this moment.

super71

Melinda -

I am failing miserably with quitting smoking, but on day 13 of no drink - so still feel pretty good about things overall. I go to the Dr. this afternoon..I am scared (god, I feel like I use that term so often in my posts) of coming clean about my drinking to him, not sure if I will, but know I should. My bp has been up lately so I am hoping these 13 days have helped with that - not sure if it works that quickly. Thanks for your post - I plan to try to reduce my smoking and quit by August 1. We shall see... Hope you are having a great day!

CarolD

You may not be aware of PAWS re your sobriety

Post Acute Withdrawl - Relapse Prevention Specialists - TLC The Living Center

part of your discomfort could be PAWs.

All my best ...

MelindaFlowers

Hi Super!

I am planning on quitting smoking in August when my partner is gone for a two week vacation. I know myself and have gotten to know myself a lot better in the past 18 days of sobriety. My #1 and pretty much only withdrawal symptom has been irritability . I've tried to quit smoking before and it was actually much more difficult for me than stopping the drinking. That said, quitting drinking has been pretty trying.

I was thinking about your post today and gathered my thoughts for myself at this moment in time. We're supposed to think/live in the moment, right?

For me personally I am not worried about the smoking right now; today. Not one bit. It is taking every ounce of my resolve to not drink. And I'm not. I know there is no ranking system for alcoholics but emotionally, the frequency, and the quantity I was playing in the big leagues. The first three days were nothing short of h*ll, even with no physical withdrawal. I've needed to indugle myself in everything else I can whether it's laziness, the whole box of Kraft macaroni and cheese I ate tonight for dinner, or smoking (blah).

Anyways, to sum up this long post, congratulations on your sobriety. That's awesome and boy it takes so much work and self-restraint.

I tell myself that Rome wasn't built in a day and that I won't become the picture of health in a day. I hope to be in August.

catch-22

I have done all of it... smoking and not drinking, drinking and not smoking, drinking AND smoking... where was I at the happiest? When I was smoking but not drinking......
These days I'm still drinking (although in moderation) and I've quit smoking... it's almost a year and a half. Sometime I wish I just could start smoking again to be able to quit drinking... I'm finding quitting drinking without the crutch of smoking very difficult indeed. I don't know if I make sense... I can only say, though, that I feel much healthier without the cigs. I've also stopped the antidepressants and reducing the amount of alcohol has been great... my next goal? No more alcohol at all...