Giving up smoking

[Em]

Heh, yeah, vigilance is important in the beginning I imagine. Also, I have no idea what would happen if I took this handy patch off, but I don't need to worry about that yet.

[Bernard]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7gLJr03vNQ&feature=related

posted already?

[Em]

So my fall 2011 attempt to quit smoking was a failure. BUT I took advantage of the NYC Quits program they had going on at the beginning of March and I got like $80 worth of quit smoking stuff in the mail this weekend! Maybe trying nicotine replacement isn't the world's greatest idea since it didn't work last time, but I don't really have any other tricks up my sleeve, so I'm ready to give it a go. I'm really, really committed to making it work this time. They sent me patches and gum. Apparently you can use them at the same time, according to the instructions? Which might be a good thing for me since a) I smoke a lot and b) I found I couldn't use the patches overnight because they gave me nightmares, but the cravings were so strong when I woke up they kinda derailed my whole day. I actually don't know if I can chew nicotine gum with a lip piercing--that just occurred to me. It's well healed but still, is that a good idea? I imagine a doctor would not know the answer to that question so perhaps it's Ask A Piercer time. Also, pollo, I know you had some success with the gum so if you have any tips as to when/how often to use it I'd love to hear 'em. Gonna make this happen!

[elpollodiablo]

My strategy was to chew the gum, all the time, hatefully, and swallow the burning & acidic saliva that pooled in my mouth and have pretty bad low-level indigestion for a couple of months. But it worked. For almost 20 months, I didn't have even one single puff of a cigarette, then back in June or July I smoked a few at a bachelor party. Since then I'd say I've averaged 1-2 cigarettes a week, almost exclusively while out at the bar or in another similar social situation. So I guess you could say I've been gradually backsliding, but given the other avenues I've pursued to improve my health incrementally, I'm pretty happy being an occasional social smoker who doesn't even think about cigarettes throughout the week.

[Em]

Day two. This is not so bad. I do find that I really want to smoke after I eat, though, so I'ma buy a toothbrush and some toothpaste for the office 'cause I think that'd help. STRATEGY.

[Nick Ink]

Keep it up, Em!

At the risk of repeating myself, but in the hope of offering encouragement, I smoked 20-a-day for 25 years and I haven't touched one for 3 years, 4 months and 3 weeks, as this thread testifies.

[peacocks]

Dang! That's a lot of cigs! Good  job quitting!

[Nick Ink]

Dang! That's a lot of cigs! Good  job quitting!

More than 20,000! Ta.

[Ignatius]

Considerably more than 20,000!

[Nick Ink]

Considerably more than 20,000!

I was deducting the 6,000 joints from the overall total, Iggy.

[cold before sunrise]

I'm on day 3 and in a vile mood. Weed usually helps but this time I've given them both up at once and being demonically possessed would probably enhance my interpersonal skills at the moment.

[milly balgeary]

Cold turkey worked for me. I tried everything before that, and it took me about 10 tries to quit on cold turkey and ... I LOVED cigarettes. I'll smoke again, when I'm 80 and don't give a flying fuck.

[cold before sunrise]

Without a doubt, the day I give up on life is the same one I pick up where my life of crime left off and start up with delicious little Cohiba Mini-Panetelas.

[jebreject]

Cold turkey worked for me. I tried everything before that, and it took me about 10 tries to quit on cold turkey and ... I LOVED cigarettes. I'll smoke again, when I'm 80 and don't give a flying fuck.

Same here! Cold turkey sucks at first but it's the way to go!

[Nick Ink]

Cold turkey worked for me. I tried everything before that, and it took me about 10 tries to quit on cold turkey and ... I LOVED cigarettes. I'll smoke again, when I'm 80 and don't give a flying fuck.

Same here! Cold turkey sucks at first but it's the way to go!

I think you're right in that when people go cold turkey, it becomes a clear statement of determination, which can help to keep you going. Having said that, for me the patches really helped with the physical withdrawal, just in those first few weeks.

Beyond that, the other main factor was being away from temptation. I had young children, lived in a non-smoking household, worked ina non-smoking environment, and rarely went out in the evenings where people were smoking. Had I tried to give up 6 or 7 years earlier, when I was sitting in a smoky Korean bar every other night, I'm not convinced I would have made it.

[Em]

Shrink says he'd rather me not go cold turkey, because while there aren't really studies on it, he thinks the nicotine is interacting with my brain in such a way that when I try to go cold turkey it --> mood cycling, which has been my experience in the past. I mean, not like, normal, "I'm pissy because I quit smoking cold turkey mood stuff," but you know, the other less manageable stuff. So I defer to his opinion and use the replacement options! Hopefully they'll work out.

[elpollodiablo]

Cold turkey worked for me. I tried everything before that, and it took me about 10 tries to quit on cold turkey and ... I LOVED cigarettes. I'll smoke again, when I'm 80 and don't give a flying fuck.

Same here! Cold turkey sucks at first but it's the way to go!

I think you're right in that when people go cold turkey, it becomes a clear statement of determination, which can help to keep you going. Having said that, for me the patches really helped with the physical withdrawal, just in those first few weeks.

Beyond that, the other main factor was being away from temptation. I had young children, lived in a non-smoking household, worked ina non-smoking environment, and rarely went out in the evenings where people were smoking. Had I tried to give up 6 or 7 years earlier, when I was sitting in a smoky Korean bar every other night, I'm not convinced I would have made it.

I also wonder how long/how much milly & jeb smoked? I was a pack-a-day smoker for about ten years, and I just don't know that I could've done cold turky.

[cold before sunrise]

slipped up last night but today is the first day of spring + my life as a non-smoker. i've been tapering off for months, only having the occasional ciggy, but no more.

[Em]

The first day of spring is an auspicious day to quit! Good luck!

[elpollodiablo]

Yes! Find some sort of prop to help you out, even if it's not nicotine replacement stuff. Gum, carrots, a yo-yo, a cane. Aside from the oral fixation, I was always hard-pressed to find something to do with my hands in social situations.

[jebreject]

Cold turkey worked for me. I tried everything before that, and it took me about 10 tries to quit on cold turkey and ... I LOVED cigarettes. I'll smoke again, when I'm 80 and don't give a flying fuck.

Same here! Cold turkey sucks at first but it's the way to go!

I think you're right in that when people go cold turkey, it becomes a clear statement of determination, which can help to keep you going. Having said that, for me the patches really helped with the physical withdrawal, just in those first few weeks.

Beyond that, the other main factor was being away from temptation. I had young children, lived in a non-smoking household, worked ina non-smoking environment, and rarely went out in the evenings where people were smoking. Had I tried to give up 6 or 7 years earlier, when I was sitting in a smoky Korean bar every other night, I'm not convinced I would have made it.

I also wonder how long/how much milly & jeb smoked? I was a pack-a-day smoker for about ten years, and I just don't know that I could've done cold turky.

I started when I was 13. I oscillated between smoking heavily (at least a pack a day, if not two) and making a pack last a week or so. I'd say it's safe to say that I averaged about a pack a day for most of that time.

I officially quit for the final time (though there was some backsliding, but nothing too serious) when I was 28. So I had been a smoker for more than half of my life at that point.

[jebreject]

Shrink says he'd rather me not go cold turkey, because while there aren't really studies on it, he thinks the nicotine is interacting with my brain in such a way that when I try to go cold turkey it --> mood cycling, which has been my experience in the past. I mean, not like, normal, "I'm pissy because I quit smoking cold turkey mood stuff," but you know, the other less manageable stuff. So I defer to his opinion and use the replacement options! Hopefully they'll work out.

This makes total sense, yes.

It's worth noting too that withdrawl symptoms are different for everyone. I had one friend who had very intense physical withdrawl for about a week after quitting smoking, the kind of thing you would normally associate more with kicking dope than you would quitting smoking. I never had that.

[Nick Ink]

Shrink says he'd rather me not go cold turkey, because while there aren't really studies on it, he thinks the nicotine is interacting with my brain in such a way that when I try to go cold turkey it --> mood cycling, which has been my experience in the past. I mean, not like, normal, "I'm pissy because I quit smoking cold turkey mood stuff," but you know, the other less manageable stuff. So I defer to his opinion and use the replacement options! Hopefully they'll work out.

This makes total sense, yes.

It's worth noting too that withdrawl symptoms are different for everyone. I had one friend who had very intense physical withdrawl for about a week after quitting smoking, the kind of thing you would normally associate more with kicking dope than you would quitting smoking. I never had that.

I used to get a kind of gripping tension around my jaw, which was somewhat umpleasant, but it was almost completely absent with the patches.

[milly balgeary]

Cold turkey worked for me. I tried everything before that, and it took me about 10 tries to quit on cold turkey and ... I LOVED cigarettes. I'll smoke again, when I'm 80 and don't give a flying fuck.

Same here! Cold turkey sucks at first but it's the way to go!

I think you're right in that when people go cold turkey, it becomes a clear statement of determination, which can help to keep you going. Having said that, for me the patches really helped with the physical withdrawal, just in those first few weeks.

Beyond that, the other main factor was being away from temptation. I had young children, lived in a non-smoking household, worked ina non-smoking environment, and rarely went out in the evenings where people were smoking. Had I tried to give up 6 or 7 years earlier, when I was sitting in a smoky Korean bar every other night, I'm not convinced I would have made it.

I also wonder how long/how much milly & jeb smoked? I was a pack-a-day smoker for about ten years, and I just don't know that I could've done cold turky.

I smoked...sigh... 16 years, about 1.2 packs per day, guesstimate. Quitting was the hardest thing I ever did because I fucking LOVE cigarettes. I tried everything, but I couldn't stay quit. I used smoking aids and quit for about 8 months once, but then slowly got suckered back into the life of a smoker, by "smoking a few on weekends when I drank", or when I hung out with people who smoked, I'd have one. Then I bought a pack for those occasions so I didn't feel like a low life, bummin' em all the time, and that's how I tricked myself back into the Life. I love those little death wands, with their nicotine wizardry.

Then I kept trying to quit, kept trying and trying. I'd quit cold turkey for a few days and eat like entire cakes because I was trying to STUFF things inside me to stop the void of my addiction from spilling out my guts.

I got fatter and fatter and kept backsliding into smoking. Then one day I just quit cold turkey. Hardest thing I ever did!

I took St John's Wart religiously while quitting, and I don't know if it helped, but I think so. I took it for like 6 months. I was a compulsive mess, I'd lost my best girl (cigarettes) and cigarettes help with stuff like depression.
Then I got prescribed Zoloft and got fatter! I got up to 295 lbs!

Shit got Cray! Too much info?

 

[cold before sunrise]

it's called 'engaging' and i know, caring is creepy. i always feel odd about divulging personal information but this is a sharing circle so if you don't want to spill your guts out then scram, is the gist of it i think. this place is a small, secret part of my life that's gradually become a regular part of it.



edit: i should probably go before it's too late.