Just sayin’.
Smoke free since Friday, and my temper’s equivalent to the head of a match. I’m snapping at everyone. And the patch is a big wad of bullshit. $45 (for the STORE brand) and I don’t feel any less of a craving than without it.
Oh, and some of those “quit smoking” sites claim that cravings last 3-5 minutes, that’s just a load of BULLSHIT. My craving has lasted since I got up this morning.
I secretly believe that people who smoke are fucking retarded.
/violin
When my friend Tim came to realize the harm he was causing himself by smoking, he just up and quit that same instant. Take your cravings and shakes like a man.
Impressive turn-around. From 0 to 2 hostile replies in 1 post!
Edit for possibly helpful advice: Exercise until you’re too tired to be angry
Post-edit: Oh wait, no lung capacity… Well, passing out on the side of the road while trying to jog 50 feet outside your front door ought to calm you down.
Keep it up friend.
(announcer) After that brief message of support comes a few words from inevitable know-it-alls…
So, I went with the gum.
Oral fixatation? Check
Feel the medicine working (tingling tongue)? Check
Not waiting for a patch to “kick in”? check
Urge to kill lowering? check
Also. One of the hidden joys and physical reminders of smoking is the deep inhalations, using every part of the lung in rythmic scheduled periods. Next urge to kill time, walk around (outside preferably) and take long deep breaths and slowly blow out as if enjoying a fine tobacco product.
Also. Cinnamon sticks from the grocery store. Reminiscent of butt in size and shape. I now have a cinnamon stick chewing habit when stressed at work.
Lastly. Have something to do with that money you are not spending on cigarettes. I buy an assload of CD’s now.
Seriously though…the physical cravings will pass and soon it will be just you and your mental crutches. Enjoy!
Keep with it, man. I quit smoking eight years ago in August. I can tell you that after six months or so the cravings went away for me. I somehow managed to quit on my first try, too, which is good because I don’t think I had it in me to try a second time. I used Zyban to stop, but it fucked with my head something fierce.
Besides wanting to randomly kill people, quitting smoking also made me noticeably dumber and fatter. Plus it makes your days seem infinitely longer because you don’t have those little breaks all the way through the day. On the plus side, you can put all that money you’re saving into more games, comics, movies, hookers and blow. Also, when you get your tastebuds back, food will start tasting way, way better.
There’s three tests to find out if you’re a non-smoker, in order of difficulty. First test: Watch a classic film noir without lighting up. Second: Eat a HUGE meal and don’t smoke afterwards. Three: Get laid and don’t smoke afterwards. Once you’ve done the last one, you should be home free.
Also - having worked along side smokers for the last 10 years, I’m thinking of telling my boss that I’m going on a smoke break.
Next year.
And that I’ll see him in 2010.
It’s only fair, right?
The lozenges worked well for me, mainly for the reasons snowcrash mentioned.
I secretly believe that people who never smoked were friendless high school losers.
Thanks for the support (and fuck the purveyors of hostility right up their puckering, hungry assholes).
I’ve quit about 10 times, but I plan to make this one stick. Partially because of a deal I made with my wife. I light up, she sends our brand-new HDTV back to the store.
I’ll trade a Sharp Aquos for a pack of Camel Lights right fucking now.
Nah, really…I’ll do it. I’m just not having fun. And venting here (and chuckling at the spite-filled responses) is kind of fun.
My advice: start smoking again. I tried to quit a few times and it never stuck, but then it did. No cravings, no backsliding, no nothing, it just stuck. You’re probably not ready to give it up.
I would suggest paying very close attention to smokers (maybe visit a trailer park or a really shitty bar) and your general health, plus lots of research on all the correlated diseases. You need to convince yourself that smoking is ridiculous, and it sounds like you haven’t done that yet.
H.
Heh. I quit a few years ago one day when I had run out of cigarettes, couldn’t afford to buy another pack, and no one I worked with smoked. By the time I got home that night, I was so miserable from nicotine withdrawal that I just decided to be miserable for a couple more days and be done with it. The only times I ever want a cigarette now is when I’m out drinking with friends.
Ex-smokers tell me you know you’re done with smoking when you realize how terrible people smell when they’ve been smoking.
When I quit, it made me really angry that I wanted one sooo bad when I was trying to quit. So I got pissed at smoking, and didn’t.
Does that make sense?
I even smoke a couple times a year now, like on New Year’s or something. Doesn’t stick with me for some reason.
Sometimes random strangers deserve to die. See John Woo movies to satisfy this craving. Perhaps 30-40 innocent civilians die in Face/Off, all so our hero can have a happy family life again. Thank GOD!
Don’t start again; Do follow this advice.
Also, support groups can really help. And this thread doesn’t count. Being able to talk directly to someone else about what you’re going through can really, really help.
Look into Wellbutrin (bruproprion). Amazingly helpful in evening out mood swings.
Stick with it man. I’ve been smoke free for 2+ years after 10 years of smoking every day. Once I was ready, it worked. Also I joined a study through the local Habit Abatement Clinic at UCSF Medical Center and got drugs and counseling for free. And got paid a little. Go for that, if you can. Back page of the Guardian will hook you UP!
I quit cold turkey almost a year ago, and I realized the other day that I hadn’t even thought about smoking for more than a week. It takes awhile to get over the cravings, but I agree with the post above that says that at some point you’re just done with smoking or you aren’t…and no amount of nicotine gum or patches or whatever is gonna help you quit. Just keep fed and hydrated for the first week or so, and avoid alcohol for awhile. You can do it…fuck the haters!
www.smokenders.org. Only way. It was the best class I ever took. Great organization, great people, they are all ex-smokers they don’t tell you why you shouldn’t smoke, they help you quit and stay off. Best thing is that for the first four weeks of the six week class, you can smoke all you want. I can’t recommended it highly enough. I was an 18 year 2 pack a day smoker and I quit and it was easy.
I don’t smoke, but nothing shocks me more than the ridiculous anti-smoking people. It is a choice, let someone make it, jeeze.
Also, keep it up!
I had a weirdly easy time quitting. I smoked for rougly 10 years, and last September I finally decided to quit after I got bronchitis and couldn’t inhale the smoke for a few days. I used that as a springboard, and after a week or two of not smoking with a fresh pack sitting on my coffee table at all times I declared myself smoke-free. OK, I’ve had a drag off of someone else’s cig when I was drunk a couple times since then, but it didn’t reignite my cravings or anything. Hell, even when I first quit the cravings weren’t really all that bad for me. There are days where I’d still love to have a cigarette, but the physiological urge to smoke hasn’t stayed with me at all. I did put on about 10 pounds as a result, which is annoying, but I’ve been stepping up my exercise regimen and trying to improve my diet, so hopefully in a couple months that side effect will be gone.
So I guess I’m probably one of those random people you’d like to kill for fun.
Heroin is good for quiting smoking, but there are drawbacks to this approach.