margbella

Aw thanks Coldfusion never been called that before, will have to try to live up to it now 😬

margbella

Good going with the meth Katelyn! You'll not find it that hard to pack up the smokes.Only the first 3 days are what I would call hard. The rest is just uncomfortable. The smoking urge I find, surprisingly is not as overpowering as the drinking urge for me. But in the first few day it was constant. Then the feeling of not knowing what to do with yourself is a bit disconcerting, but I'm sure that will wear off.

It was the drink that was ruining my life and relationships and mind, but there is no way I could ever want to drink and not smoke!! I have, up to now not had one urge to drink. Don't know if it's because I have been too busy missing smoking, or the way my life collapsed last time, and still is not put right? But when the urges do come, I'll know even an almost overwhelming urge can't kill you and will pass .
Well done on your 24 days Katelyn, that is fantastic 🙂 You'll have no trouble giving up the smokes when you are ready ☺️

margbella

9 days off the booze, coming up 6 days off the cigs/smokes, I always call them fags but some American forums blank out that word.

Was it only 9 days ago I got myself in such a state with the drinking? Everyone was sick of me. My 20 years of alcoholism had broken everyone's trust, belief, faith in me. It had been getting worse, the binge drinking and this last year I may as well say I was just chronic as there were hardly any free days amongst the day and night drinking.

Until last week, when I let my grown son down over something important, shattered my grown daughter over something else, spent the money I should have put on gas and electric meters on booze, and for good measure spent the rent on booze. I only stopped drinking because I ran out of money . I was really truly, frightenly gone that time.

As I said, when I came back from that bender, I felt broken. I had lost all control.. AGAIN, hurt people AGAIN, gotten into a hole with money AGAIN and couldn't remember most of it AGAIN.

Someone said to me when I was young, which I didn't understand that sometimes people are so stubborn, before they can heal, they have to break, so the light can get in through the cracks.
Reckon that's what has happened to me!

itshardtosignup

How did you ever quit nicotine? That's one thing... that owns me. If i try to quit i get fever dreams (like bizarre extremely lucid dreams that make no sense, like the dreams you may have had when you had the flu, somewhere between awake and asleep and hallucinating). I itch to the point of sitting scratching myself all day, I get angry beyond any reasonable description for nothing, nicotine is the hardest thing to quit. Congrats for doing it.

If i believed that there was a rehab that could help me quit chewing, Id check in tomorrow. Quitting smoking was easy, I just started chewing.

margbella

I don't know!! I was a slave to nicotine too, real hard core smoker. I have tried everything to pack in gum, vapour etc. I find cold turkey easier, I think I he nicotine replacement stuff just teases you and keeps you in a constant state of withdrawal.

I have had vivid smoking dreams and fantasied about going across the road and raiding the pubs ashtrays haha.

It only takes a couple of days for the nicotine to leave your system. The physical withdrawals are intense but just a couple of days.
The emotional withdrawal, is the thing that gets me. But Alan Carr's Easyway to quit smoking book helps a lot. He had smoking clinics all over the world and was on a 100 fags a day and a 30 year habit when he packed in cold turkey

I think you'll find cold turkey easier than that gum!!

margbella

I just realized, 9 days off the drink today, makes it the longest I have stayed off it in over a year. Even before last year my record was 2 weeks between benders. No the wonder I couldn't hold a job down ..and seriously I couldn't for the life of me think why haha

Hevyn

I know - it's amazing how we somehow justify that behavior. Congratulations on your 9 days off it margbella.

margbella

Thanks Hevyn, yes, it's true madness. Hope you are well 🙂

itshardtosignup

I will check out that book. And i'm honestly impressed to hear somebody made it off nicotine, I think park of the reason its such a clutching addiction is its fairly innocuous. Smoking is a little bit rough, you stink, etc... alcohol is just illegal at times, for example driving. but if you grab some nicotine lozenges you could sit at church or in the most proper company while indulging your addiction.

The first time I quit smoking was to qualify for a life insurance policy, I had no intention of quitting for good, my only intent was to pass the blood test. I had read that it was 3 days to pass this, I made it. But I was so angry ... there was this moment when my roomie at the time, and best friend to this day, and I were screaming at each other and he just said "would we calm down if we just had a smoke". We got a pack, the anger drifted away with each puff, and we still joke about it to this day. There wasn't actually anything to be angry about.

margbella

Yes, you really have to get Allen Carr's books! You already agree with a lot that he says. His clinics and books worked for people hooked on NRT too. He HATED NRT, said it was a big con by big pharma. He said it's not nicotine replacement, it's nicotine and there's no therapy involved, he has a point!!
He also said it's the brainwashing society does that makes giving up hard when it's not. You are not infact losing anything except an addiction to a drug ha.

He has 2 books about nicotine addiction. Allen Carr's Easyway to give up smoking. And The Nicotine Conspiracy.

Get the nicotine conspiracy off Amazon and you'll be off that nicotine in a day! ☺️

margbella

PS That was your nicotine Beast that was angry, itwanted it's fix haha. Nicotine is a stimulant, it calms nothing in reality, except the feeling s of withdrawals, as it is a short acting drug, which keeps you practically perpetually in withdrawal. But what causes withdrawals? Using nicotine constantly so you are physically dependant so it causes stress, not clams it!

margbella

Easter Saturday, I love Easter, time of death of the old way and resurrection in the new. I'm not religious, just love the symbolism of Easter.

11th day off the drink. Coming up later today 8 days off the nicotine and something like 6 or 7 weeks off the painkillers, I stopped counting.
AVRT is working out well for me, I started it 6 or 7 weeks ago to get off the painkillers and carried it over to booze and fags and it's becoming second nature to just ignore the 3 headed beast.

If I could paint picture of my life situation at the moment.

Imagine a tiny tiny wee ant, looking up at an enormous dog turd, knowing it has to clear it away with its tiny tiny wee ant shovel.
There that's my life that is 😶

margbella

12th day off the drink, coming up later today 9days nicotine free.

Did actually have a craving for drink last night. Using AVRT just ignored it. Think it was because it's a bank holiday weekend and spent the day (5 WHOLE hours) at IKEA with son and DIL. Has to be done on bank holiday weekend, nightmare. I have no money so just looked at all the things I would have loved to buy but couldn't..joy.

I wouldn't have drank anyways as I cannot drink without smoking.
Thought was good idea I read on here to have a list of things to do at the ready, to help see through an urge.

First on my list was play with the cat. The cat took a bit of persuading, but seemed up for it in the end. Result? Five minutes playing with cat, ten minutes stemming the blood. Hmm, maybe not as up for it as I thought. However the pain took the urge away.

Was pretty hurt by my son number 2 who asked son number 1 if he and wifey and grandson wanted to go for lunch at my favourite restaurant today. Invited both his sister's too.
Son number 1 said they should invite me too. Son number 2 said no, as I have fallen out with his girlfriend ( I haven't, she is pissed off cos daughter number 2 didn't invite her grown son to her wedding cos she doesn't know him and there is limited space..and a whole lot of other crap that I ended up being the go between for, that I didn't want to get involved with in first place) She and him are being childish in the extreme and I don't hold grudges or hang on to bad feeling, but apparently they do.

Must be why he didn't send me a mother's Day card or even a text!

Well he can get lost now, he only ever got in touch when he wanted something, and now I have nothing he wants, and he has other people to leech off, looks like I am redundant haha..Good!! He has been a pain in my arse for years, now I'm free of him. Hurt, but free.

margbella

13th day off the drink. Coming up 10 days off the nicotine. Allen Carr reckons at 3 weeks urges begin to disappear.
Weired, some days crave, some days don't, same with drink.
Which tells me, the times I crave are the times I am having trouble coping with my emotions. Seems like I have gotten into the habit of shutting down my emotions with external means.
Something to work on.

margbella

I thank you for all the support here, especially pointing out how impossible it is for you to give up nicotine..thank you

margbella

Smoking kills more drinkers than alcohol.

DriGuy

You're doing a good thing.

First, I went cold turkey on cigarettes years ago. I took a test that felt like something out of Reader's Digest, although it was a ligit test given by a doctor, and my recommended course of action was cold turkey. It worked. Also, as to cravings, unlike alcohol, I found nicotine cravings more intense, and I never knew if I was getting better or not, because as I've read, nicotine cravings don't diminish in a straight linear fashion. You go along feeling like your making progress and then out of the blue can be hit by the mother of all cravings. I would feel beaten, like all the progress I had made was lost. But these intense spikes (watch for them and don't be discouraged) diminish also, and eventually go away.

Second, something you said in an early post made me think about addictions. There's all kinds of reasons to want to quit smoking, drugging, and drinking, but one seldom discussed, but near the top of my list was the knowledge that I was addicted. Maybe it's just a bad word to me, but realizing I was addicted to something that was controlling my actions, angered and repulsed me to no end. I wanted to be rid of my addiction, as much, maybe more, than I wanted to be rid of hangovers or making an ass out of myself. I can't tell you how much I hated being controlled by a chemical substance.

margbella

Thank you DriGuy your post has helped me a lot!

I thought something was going badly wrong with me the reduction in cravings wasn't linear.
They are not physical now, but the mental cravings sometimes it threaten to sink me.
They don't come every day and don't stay long, they are worst when I have been shopping in a supermarket or bloody IKEA for 5 hours. Didn't realize how much I used to dash out of those places and light straight up!
It's great hearing from someone who is saying, I did it and succeeded!!

At least the smoke cravings are keeping the drink cravings at bay, think you must only be able to crave one thing at a time
☺️