Author Topic: a very rough day!!!! (Read 1853 times)

highwayman · « **on:** May 26, 2009, 01:36:53 PM »

ok i am trying to quit smoking. i went from smoking around a pack to 2 packs aday.i started taking chantix and went to about 4 cigs. aday almost overnight. for some reason when i went to work today i wanted to chain smoke everything i seen

this was the toughest day i had so far.it took everything i had not to light up. this is harder to do than i thought it would be

slim rem 7 · « **Reply #1 on:** May 26, 2009, 02:07:25 PM »

chantx worked for my wife.. heck i could just get the patch an quit anytime.. but didn t stay quit until smoking was hurting me bad..
if you drink beer with you buddies. or coffee just about makes it torture being around them .., drinking, you will likely fail..jmo. but i wish you all the success if you really want to quit more than you want to smoke.. thats what it finally came down to for me. slim

DDZ · « **Reply #2 on:** May 26, 2009, 02:11:29 PM »

When I smoked I tried just cutting back at first, but it never worked. I must have tried this five times but was never able to quit. I would just end up back at a pack a day. Or I would quit for a couple of weeks and then tell myself that one won't hurt. Well that never worked either. The only thing that worked for me was to quit completely. Its a tough thing to do. You just have to tell yourself no more, and don't touch any at all.

jjas · « **Reply #3 on:** May 26, 2009, 02:16:34 PM »

I quit 4+ years ago after smoking 1 1/2 packs a day (off and on) for almost 20 years.

My advice is to take it one day @ a time, realize the cravings will pass after a few minutes each time and after a few days your physical need for nicotine will be over.

Now the downside. You will crave cigs if you drink alcohol (I had to quit drinking too) and you probably will gain a bit of weight.

Bottom line, you can do it if you really want to and don't ever pick up another one thinking one won't hurt. Several years ago I had quit for a year and just picked up "one". A week later I was back to a pack and a half a day. Don't fool yourself.

Just remember why you want to quit, stay away from alcohol and people who smoke and take it one day @ a time.

Best of luck to you.

Jim

Dee · « **Reply #4 on:** May 26, 2009, 02:21:20 PM »

I started smoking when I was twelve and quit when I was thirty two. I stumble across the system quite by accident one morning, and the system had immediate results. I never picked up another cigarette, and am now 59 years old. Smoke free for 27 years now. It was the best plan I had ever come across then, or since, and had no PRESCRIPTION drugs or patches.

Questor · « **Reply #5 on:** May 26, 2009, 02:32:49 PM »

Today may have been bad, but tomorrow is another day. Just stay committed to the idea that you don't smoke and eventually you won't want one again. You will succeed.

ncsurveyor · « **Reply #6 on:** May 26, 2009, 02:39:02 PM »

Quote from: DDZ on May 26, 2009, 02:11:29 PM

When I smoked I tried just cutting back at first, but it never worked. I must have tried this five times but was never able to quit. I would just end up back at a pack a day. Or I would quit for a couple of weeks and then tell myself that one won't hurt. Well that never worked either. The only thing that worked for me was to quit completely. Its a tough thing to do. You just have to tell yourself no more, and don't touch any at all.

same for me, tried drugs, cut back programs, etc.

Finally went cold turkey. Took my last drag January 2, 2008. After 22 years, finished off the pack, and never looked back.

If you need a momentary crutch, rotate between a lot of different things, gum, celery, carrots, slam 8oz cups of ice water, jumping jacks, whatever. The big thing is to not develop a habit of anything else. Otherwise, you're brain will want to replace the new habit with an old familiar habit.

zombiewolf · « **Reply #7 on:** May 26, 2009, 02:41:11 PM »

Quote from: Dee on May 26, 2009, 02:21:20 PM

I started smoking when I was twelve and quit when I was thirty two. I stumble across the system quite by accident one morning, and the system had immediate results. I never picked up another cigarette, and am now 59 years old. Smoke free for 27 years now. It was the best plan I had ever come across then, or since, and had no PRESCRIPTION drugs or patches.

Allright Dee, I'll bite.

What is " the system"

ZW

slim rem 7 · « **Reply #8 on:** May 26, 2009, 03:41:14 PM »

i m betting his system is just don t smoke cigerettes anymore

you can t control the craven but you can control your hand .. just don t put one in your mouth.. how close dee. slim

mirage1988 · « **Reply #9 on:** May 26, 2009, 04:01:01 PM »

Highwayman-
Today is two weeks tobacco free for me. I used 1 to 2 cans of snuff per day for the last twenty years along with 2 or three packs of smokes per week. I had laser therapy on may 12th and quit that day. It is similar to acupuncture as it stimulates nerve endings in the hands, ears,and face to fool the brain into producing endorphins again. Some here will give me a hard time as it seems to good to be true, but it really works! Seven hour road trip yesterday (chicago to minneapolis) was no problem. I am not advertising for anyone, I am just telling you what worked for me as I had given up after trying the common methods.

Dee · « **Reply #10 on:** May 26, 2009, 04:04:00 PM »

Real close slim rem 7. I got up one morning at about 0500 hrs to go pheasant hunting with some buddies of mine. Made some coffee, sat down in my recliner, lit up a cigarette, and felt it drain my energy like it had done the last 20 years. After the second cigarette, I called one of my buddies and told him I didn't feel like going and to not pick me up.
I sat there and lit up another, and told myself how stupid I was for doing something that was going to kill me.
After finishing that third one, I got up, walked to the refrigerator, took down an unopened carton off the top of it, took out my pocket knife, cut the bottom out of the whole carton, went to the kitchen sink and filled the whole thing with water, and threw it in the trash.
Every time from that day on that I wanted a cigarette, I told myself how weak minded, and how weak my character was to want a self inflicted miserable death. Never smoked another one, and after a few weeks of self condemnation, stopped wanting them.
After thinking about it for the last almost 30 years, IT REALLY IS, a weak character, and poor to no judgement to ingest such a thing knowing the consequences. There is not one single positive thing involved with the procedure.
My dad had three brothers that all died of heart disease from smoking and none got out of their forties. Infazema and heart disease from smoking slowly killed my Dad over a six year period. We suffered while watching him suffer. If you don't buy'em you can't smoke'em.

Questor · « **Reply #11 on:** May 26, 2009, 04:11:27 PM »

Dee:

That's a bit more radical than when I quit smoking, but I did something similar. I went fishing one day a couple of months before my first child was born and decided I never wanted to have smoking around the kids. So instead of buying a pack of my usual Marlboro Lights I got a pack of regular Marlboros. I smoked four while I was driving home and then I threw the pack out the window. I never wanted another cigarette again.

Yankee1 · « **Reply #12 on:** May 26, 2009, 04:13:53 PM »

Hi
I wanted to stop smoking about 36 years ago and found that after about two days my thinking was kind of foggy and I would lose sight of my goal. After giving it much thought I decided I needed a list of the reasons I wanted to quit.
I love to hunt at high elevations and smoking was not helping me.
I started a list out in the shop where no one but me saw it.
Well I kept adding reasons to the list and it kept growing longer and longer. Every time I would look at it I would light up again. Finally after about a year I looked at it one night and said to myself. “ Either I’m stopping or that list is going in the trash can.
I am supposed to be an intelligent adult and I’m letting these cigarettes rule my mind” I kept the list and every time I wanted a smoke In my foggy thinking periods I referred back to the list.
I thought about all the reasons I wanted to quit and the list motivated me to not smoke. Every day it gets a little easier than the day before. So if its going to get a little easier every day then it
Can’t be any worse than the first couple of days.
After about a week I heard my wife say to one of her friends.
“He just got up one day and stated he was not going to smoke any more .” I walked in the room and said. “ That is not the way it actually happened “ Then I told them both how long I had prepared to stop. Yes it took me a year to motivate myself.
I was 40 then, I’m 76 now. Believe it or not there will be a day when you could not care less about lighting up.
Best regards in your efforts.
Yankee1

Graybeard · « **Reply #13 on:** May 26, 2009, 04:58:33 PM »

I've been smoke free for 64 years two months and three days.

Dee · « **Reply #14 on:** May 26, 2009, 05:02:33 PM »

Quote from: Graybeard on May 26, 2009, 04:58:33 PM

I've been smoke free for 64 years two months and three days.

So that means you quit when you were saaaaaaaaaay? THIRTY!?

Graybeard · « **Reply #15 on:** May 26, 2009, 05:14:09 PM »

Just a little younger than that.

Dee · « **Reply #16 on:** May 26, 2009, 05:23:02 PM »

GB, have you taken your Geritol today?

I have, and all the iron in my blood, seems to have turned to lead, and settled in my butt anyway.

Graybeard · « **Reply #17 on:** May 26, 2009, 05:25:25 PM »

Now THAT'S a problem I've long had. However smoking has never been a problem as none have ever touched my lips. Faye started once and I told her she could either stop or find a new place to live. She stopped.

zombiewolf · « **Reply #18 on:** May 26, 2009, 07:35:22 PM »

I posted this on another site I frequent... sorry, the photo of the electronic cig didn't make it after cut and paste

...It is the chemical byproducts that are produced in the burning of tobacco,not the Nicotine, that have the most impact on your health.
Number one is Benzine...arguably the most carcinogenic and mutagenic chemical on the planet.

However PURE NICOTINE used in very small doses has been shown to have a relatively benign effect on the body.

I like the effects of Nicotine, however I am also aware that smoking tobacco can negatively impact ones health. Even in the short term.

Quitting smoking doesn't necessarily mean a person has to give up Nicotine.
Gum and Patches are a really expensive way to get nicotine, but there are alternatives.

There is an oral tobacco product called "Snus" or "Swedish Snus" that has been available in Sweden and is recently being marketed here in America.
Studies have found no connection between the use of snus and oral cancer, chronic high blood pressure or heart disease.
Regular smokeless tobacco is linked to oral cancer, whereas this Swedish smokeless product isn't. It's available online and in some tobacco stores.

Oral tobacco grosses me out, so this is not for me.... but it might help someone else...

I'm gonna try this...
"Crown7 'Electronic Cigarette' Delivers All the Nicotine with None of the smoke"

"Do all these smoking bans have you feeling down? Do you miss being able to puff away on your death sticks with impunity, no matter where you were? Well, this Crown7 "electronic cigarette" will allow you to enjoy some piping-hot nicotine wherever you are, be it a place that allows smoking or not. It's basically a nicotine vaporizer, using nicotine cartridges to give you the drug you so badly crave. They market it as an answer to smoking bans, but it seems just as suitable for helping you quit your disgusting habit as well."

http://gizmodo.com/300682/crown7-ele...e-of-the-smoke

ZW

aflineman · « **Reply #19 on:** May 26, 2009, 07:46:56 PM »

You might try what my Grandfather did for cigs, and I did for cigars/Beachnut. We didn't quit, we are just seeing how long we can do without. Worked for him for over 25 years (until the day he died). It has worked for me for about 11 years. Everytime I get the craving (and I still get them) I say to myself; "Well, I have been without for x amount of time (11 years), I can go another 5min, 20min, hour, 2hours"; whatever it takes to get me over the immediate craving. I can't quit, but I sure as heck can go without for another 5 minutes.
Sounds crazy, but it is what has worked for me. (That, and the promise I made to my Son).

Sourdough · « **Reply #20 on:** May 26, 2009, 08:58:48 PM »

I quite Cold Turkey. It was hard, but like Dee said, when I wanted one I told myself how dumb it was. The guys I worked with at the time were very supportive. At times I cried, screamed, and wanted one so bad, and would have given in if they had not helped me. I think it was the third day, they locked me in an underground room for 8 hours to stop me from going to the BX to buy more cigarettes. With their help I beat it. That was 1972, been smoke free ever since.

Hodr · « **Reply #21 on:** May 27, 2009, 03:30:46 AM »

Hello Highwayman,
If you need reenforecement, sit down with your kids or grandkids and remember that every time you light up those who you cherish are being taught that it's ok to start smoking.
Here's hoping you beat it,

blindhari

guzzijohn · « **Reply #22 on:** May 27, 2009, 04:05:48 AM »

After 35 years of smoking my wife and I have been off it for four months and doing well. We did use Chantix for about six weeks. The Chantix really helped to get through the physical withdrawal and the period need to just break the habit. The rise in cigarette taxes at the time helped too as I am a tightwad. Chantix has several side effects which were kind of a pain at first but worth it. One kind of good side effect was very vivid dreaming. Almost every morning I felt like I had taken a vacation the night before and never had to leave the farm.
GuzziJohn

Chilachuck · « **Reply #23 on:** May 27, 2009, 04:36:24 AM »

"Taper off"? I don't think that works for anyone. I went cold turkey and it nearly killed me. I was depressed for several months, but just toughed it out. The cravings were just as strong 10 years after, but came around less often but started getting weaker after that. I think the last time I had cravings was 15 years after quitting.

Now, I also drank heavily from time to time. I quit that cold turkey and never had a bit of trouble.

Some of my relatives are tobacco addicts and cannot quit, I swear some of them will climb out of their coffins to bum one last cigarette, but I don't think any of them are alcohol addicts, even considering how heavily some of them drink. I think it's just in the genes what is going to sink it's hooks in you.

Beers · « **Reply #24 on:** May 27, 2009, 05:28:48 AM »

Quitting smoking is indeed a tough thing to do. It takes exceptional willpower to quit cold turkey w/ no drugs or patches/gum.

Smoking is mainly a habitual addiction. If you can make it 24-48 hours without a smoke you've already beaten your physical chemical dependence. After that your dealing with years of habit. Try to avoid activities with which you associate smoking. As others have mentioned, if you drink, don't. Coffee? Try tea for a while (even if you hate it, I know I do). If you've smoked for any amount of time you've built up an entire pattern of behavior that involves cigarettes. Examine that pattern and change it up as much as possible.

Slow periods at work were the hardest for me. Boredom is your worst enemy, keep busy. If possible take your break at work at a different time than when your smoking coworkers are gonna be standing around blowing big gray clouds of temptation all over the place. If you live with another smoker things can get real tough if they're not quitting as well. If that's the case, see if you can't get them to smoke outside for a while. I now find the smell of cigarettes unappealing, but when I was quitting it could small as great as any steak I've ever grilled.

Good luck and stay strong. Once you've been smoke free for a month or two you'll be amazed at how much better you feel.

rockbilly · « **Reply #25 on:** May 27, 2009, 06:49:53 AM »

I have to agree with Beers. I quit cold turkey, it wasn't easy but I don't regrete it now.

Any method you try will require you to change some habite that normally went along with your smoking, even association with some friends who may "offer" you one when they light up. It ain't easy, but I assure you, you will feel much better and have tons more engery after being off them a while.

Good luck in you efforts.

Rustyinfla · « **Reply #26 on:** May 27, 2009, 07:35:58 AM »

I met my wife and asked her for a date. She said no you smoke. I said I'll quit, and I did 31 years ago. I guess what I was getting was better than what I was giving up. It has been so far.

It was cold turkey for me.

Good luck.

Besides, every pack you don't buy is less of a tax cut those thieves in Washington get.

Cement Man · « **Reply #27 on:** May 27, 2009, 07:49:53 AM »

After watching my Dad suffer and die after years of smoking-related illness, I realized that putting off quitting was just dumb on my part. I really enjoyed my smoking but I didn't want to die from it. Just that simple. So after smoking from 1 1/2 to 2 packs a day for over 25 years, I just quit altogether - no gimmicks. To me it was a simple, no BS proposition: smoke and die younger/quit and live longer. That was 19 years ago this week. Glad I did. I don't know what happened to all the money I have saved by quitting, but I sure am glad I don't get up in the middle of the night and look for useable butts in the ashtray, frantically search all of my pockets for a pack, etc. any more. No more burn holes in my shirts or upholstery either.

And I still enjoy sitting in a good saloon - even without the smokes!

Slowhanddd · « **Reply #28 on:** May 27, 2009, 12:30:43 PM »

I tried to quit last year.Told the wife"More sex or cigarettes"!!She got up and said"What brand?"Still smoking.Slow

Dee · « **Reply #29 on:** May 27, 2009, 12:38:45 PM »

If ya wanna quit smokin, then quit smokin. It isn't that big a deal. Playing like your quiting is just that. Playin. If you don't want to quit, or think you can't then by all means KEEP SMOKIN. It will save more oxygen for the rest of us when you finally try to quit smokin yourself to death.
This ain't rocket science, it's a matter of smokin or not smokin. It's like sayin you want to lose weight but can't. Same principal. Good grief stop puttin stuff in your mouth. It's all about SELF CONTROL or LACK OF IT.