Smoking
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 230
Smoking
Hello folks i need advice ...i gave up booze and self medicating stress but since last June since split with my husband i started smoking at age of 44 was not smoker before ...i cannot afford it and i feel i had enough it is emotional response to chronic stress ... like recovery paws not enough i am on sick husband as wrote before dissapeared left me in the house stopped paying mortage anything ...legal advice was he had responsibilities but i cannot do anything about it ...welfare works slowly still waiting for support or help ...alone no family in foreign country just sticking to recovery and to survive thinking with every month of sobriety i maybe start sleeping and be able to breathe eventually ...so guestion i am determined and motivated to give up smoking ...sometimes i get up at night if stressed and smoke its awful ...i want to do this tomorrow just going cold turkey as i did with beer ... with alcohol it worked out i knew it was path to death and now feel ciggarettes the same ... anybody gave up ...i am a bit concerned about putting on weight not for vanity but practical reasons as cannot afford changing size already first time in life put on weight about 3 kg maybe its hormonal ? This age ??? but i train and always watched my diet eating often but healthy ... any victory stories ??? To add at the moment i am like a chain smoker 20 ciggarretes a day ...its very bad ...more emotional ...scared of homelessnes ..its a joint mortage but i do not know where my husband is lawyer from goverment do not do too much waiting for appointment this friday ...i am no clue very dependent on advice as never been in such situation ... first time in life living alone and every day trying to start positive despite fatigue insomnie and constant anxiety and no basic needs i used to have but i stick to plan thinking what i do now will affect the future so do the best what you can with what you have where you are in life ... so i have last half packet i m finishing it and end ... who managed to give up like this just being determined ...i know if i pass 72 hours cravings will dissapear as i m not 20 years smoker its one year ...thank you for help and advice and sukcess stories X
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Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 675
I continued smoking for 7 months after I quit drinking and it became a pack a day habit, I had to have a cigarette after practically ever single thing I did... it was miserable.
It took a few attempts but I quit cold turkey. I won't lie it was rouuugh, like I literally cried more than once. But I'm happy to say it's been over 2 months now and I feel way better, honestly would never consider going back to it.
About gaining weight, I made some changes in my diet/exercise at the same time and I've actually lost a few pounds. Things to know though.. nicotine regulates your blood sugar so when you quit your sugar cravings might be kinda out of control initially. Also when you first quit your metabolism will slow down, but not permanently. Not trying to give medical advice, those are just things I wish I would've known going into it. There's a "learning curve" as your body adjusts but overall the weight issue is very manageable.
So good luck! And sorry for writing a novel I just consider quitting smoking one of the single best things I did to improve my lifestyle and peace of mind in sobriety, since it's had such a snowball effect in positive ways. And no matter your situation you don't have to do it alone, there are a lot of free resources if you seek them out..
It took a few attempts but I quit cold turkey. I won't lie it was rouuugh, like I literally cried more than once. But I'm happy to say it's been over 2 months now and I feel way better, honestly would never consider going back to it.
About gaining weight, I made some changes in my diet/exercise at the same time and I've actually lost a few pounds. Things to know though.. nicotine regulates your blood sugar so when you quit your sugar cravings might be kinda out of control initially. Also when you first quit your metabolism will slow down, but not permanently. Not trying to give medical advice, those are just things I wish I would've known going into it. There's a "learning curve" as your body adjusts but overall the weight issue is very manageable.
So good luck! And sorry for writing a novel I just consider quitting smoking one of the single best things I did to improve my lifestyle and peace of mind in sobriety, since it's had such a snowball effect in positive ways. And no matter your situation you don't have to do it alone, there are a lot of free resources if you seek them out..
Member
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 304
Hi allishope73.
I quit the cigs 10 years sgo. I was a twenty a day smoker and had been for a long time. I signed up for an NHS quit smoking plan. The nurse at my local GP practice supplied nicotine patches and I had to go in once a week and blow in to a machine to prove I hadnt been smoking. That first week felt absolutely great when she said I had zero levels in me.
The cravings went away pretty quickly.
Also, I started to put a little coloured sticker on the calendar every day as a sign of my achievement. Husband said I wouldnt make it to the end of the month. Guess what. I put 365 of those stickers on that calendar. A whole year. It felt great. As I say, that was 10 years ago and I dont even think about cigs now.
Shame I cant seem to apply that resolve to giving up wine.
C
I quit the cigs 10 years sgo. I was a twenty a day smoker and had been for a long time. I signed up for an NHS quit smoking plan. The nurse at my local GP practice supplied nicotine patches and I had to go in once a week and blow in to a machine to prove I hadnt been smoking. That first week felt absolutely great when she said I had zero levels in me.
The cravings went away pretty quickly.
Also, I started to put a little coloured sticker on the calendar every day as a sign of my achievement. Husband said I wouldnt make it to the end of the month. Guess what. I put 365 of those stickers on that calendar. A whole year. It felt great. As I say, that was 10 years ago and I dont even think about cigs now.
Shame I cant seem to apply that resolve to giving up wine.
C
Hears The Voice
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Unshackled
Posts: 7,901
I did that, too. Started smoking at age 48 after I stopped drinking. Smoked for about 3 years and then I was like WTF am I doing!
It may have been more difficult initially than quitting drinking because my anxiety spiked worse than coming off the booze. I was so irritable I wanted to punch somebody in the face! My regular doc gave me welbutrin to get over the hump. I only took half the dose he prescribed, but it helped. I think i was on it for about 6 weeks or something. He wanted me on it longer, but I didn't want to be using that crutch any longer than necessary.
Good luck getting off those nasty things!
It may have been more difficult initially than quitting drinking because my anxiety spiked worse than coming off the booze. I was so irritable I wanted to punch somebody in the face! My regular doc gave me welbutrin to get over the hump. I only took half the dose he prescribed, but it helped. I think i was on it for about 6 weeks or something. He wanted me on it longer, but I didn't want to be using that crutch any longer than necessary.
Good luck getting off those nasty things!
Member
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 148
Giving up smoking was both the hardest thing I have ever done and my greatest accomplishment. To put that in perspective, after my first husband left, I bought my own house, studied for a degree and brought up four children. I used every aid possible and found patches very helpful.
I did put on a little weight but lost it again. No offense to any smoker but it is a foul and disgusting habit that kills you. Good luck you can do it.
I did put on a little weight but lost it again. No offense to any smoker but it is a foul and disgusting habit that kills you. Good luck you can do it.
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 230
Thank you everybody ...very apprieciating ..Strawberry we are starting tommorow im your buddy ...well done guys i am quitting .. i do not take sugar thanks god so its not a problem not having sweet tooth .. just to need deal with habit ...i considered patches and wanted to start from Wednesday as Wednesdays are days at my local health centre for weekly visits but got telephone just now that i m staring new maintanence group wednesdays mondays so i need to go cold turkey ...i just hope its been only a year not 10 or 20 so if manage 72 hours i ll be fine and cut back on coffee... whole life was 3 a day since split 4- 5 and ciggarettes ...so here is a plan ... Strawberry i make new thread day first tommorow on smoking and share the expierience ...mutual support is sooo important ... and every day chats we can do this x ... i heard people gave up booze but struggled with smoking ...for me its all or nothing ...like with everything else either i do or not ... kinda extremes ahaha ....thank you guys for responses and please share ...i ll incorporate plan the same i used with alcohol when detoxing hour after hour ... only that day ... it worked previously so finger crossed xxx
D♭7♭9♯9♯11♭13
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 336
Originally Posted by Nonsensical 
I did that, too. Started smoking at age 48 after I stopped drinking. Smoked for about 3 years and then I was like WTF am I doing!
No Dogma Please
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: SoCal
Posts: 2,562
I quit in 2009, a year to the day after my father died of lung cancer. It was hard AF. I used Chantix, which I was able to handle, and it made it much easier...but still one of the hardest things I've ever done.
I quit drinking 5/9/17, but that was inpatient rehab with a medical detox. I started smoking again and was soon back to a pack a day. Everyone smoked and I was quite sick, and quite bored, as anyone can attest that's done inpatient rehab.
Got home from rehab, started IOP about 6 weeks later. About two weeks into IOP I was on my front porch and I had two cigs left. I smoked 'em and thought I'd get more in a bit.
"In a bit" just never came. I just stopped, and it was pretty effortless. So I smoked about 3 1/2 months, but stopped again.
I had been on Wellbutrin, and I think it helped a lot.
I quit drinking 5/9/17, but that was inpatient rehab with a medical detox. I started smoking again and was soon back to a pack a day. Everyone smoked and I was quite sick, and quite bored, as anyone can attest that's done inpatient rehab.
Got home from rehab, started IOP about 6 weeks later. About two weeks into IOP I was on my front porch and I had two cigs left. I smoked 'em and thought I'd get more in a bit.
"In a bit" just never came. I just stopped, and it was pretty effortless. So I smoked about 3 1/2 months, but stopped again.
I had been on Wellbutrin, and I think it helped a lot.
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,435
My drinking, my pot use, and cigarette smoking were tied together so I quit all three at once.
I was lucky in that I always able to take or leave smoking - it never gave me the addictive issues of pot, or alcohol.
D
I was lucky in that I always able to take or leave smoking - it never gave me the addictive issues of pot, or alcohol.
D
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