Myth, I understand that you’re trying to be helpful… But as a “dirty rotten junkie” I kind of resent that whole idiom. Nobody starts an addiction on purpose. Junkie is fine, I was one. But dirty and rotten don’t help the discourse.
Sorry didn’t mean to offend anyone, and didn’t mean to suggest that anyone who is addicted to nicotine is dirty and rotten. For my own struggle I found it beneficial to characterize my habit in such a negative way as it really made me focus on how destructive it was to my health, finances, etc.
That’s cool. I didn’t mean to jump on you about it. The thing is that when I was going through my drug times, there was a stage that’s known as rock bottom. That’s when a druggie in general (alcohol included) finds that he or she has no recourse. There is no place to go. You’re broke. You have no friends. All of those people that used to enable your drug use are finally tired of your shit. Your family has smartened up. They don’t let you in anymore. The odds are that you’ve been in and out of detox a few times.
In my case I did the detox thing but I still had a girlfriend that I was in love with. Then she dumped me. She would have kept enabling me but her mother hated me. So bye bye me.
I also still had parents that would take me in.
Until I decided to go on a cocaine and alcohol binge one week. I ended up leaving an after hours bar at around 7 or 8 in the morning. I could barely walk. I literally couldn’t see straight. I went to a pay phone in Manhattan and tried to make a call, but I couldn’t see the numbers.
I had to ask a total stranger on the street to call my mother. At home. They dialed the number and gave me the phone. I honestly don’t recall the conversation. But there I stood, for over two hours (I was later told) hanging onto the phone for dear life. And trying not to piss myself in public.
My mother drove from Brooklyn to Manhattan. Picked me up. And drove me to Maimonides Hospital Detox. She said to call her when I got my shit together. They put me in a wheelchair and my life started again.
So yeah, nicotine is a tough thing to quit. But a fucking junkie has a different road to follow.
No disrespect intended to those who want to quit cigs. Just my story, as they say.
I totally get what you are talking about Myth. That’s what worked for you, and is very similar to what worked for me too (on quitting smoking). I used negative imagery too (thinking of smoking and all things related, including myself, how I smelled and felt, as vile and reprehensible).
It was different quitting drinking and drugging though, I tried quitting that way, but trouble was, I loved that too much to ever hate it. So, those of you who move on to trying to quit something else, the lesson learned there is that may be a fatal flaw, it doesn’t always work that way and may in fact be even more difficult than you could imagine.
I’m on hour 34. I was about to slaughter someone. I somehow made it through a game of DotA 2 (any 30- or 60- minute gaming experience is to me an enabling device) with no problems, but after that I had the overwhelming urge to kill something.
Yesterday was so easy, I almost laughed at myself for thinking this would be tough. Today… mother fucking TODAY, I will probably remember for the rest of my life. I needed to know that what I was feeling right now wasn’t going to stick around forever.
So I read this thread on the advice of someone who quit saying I should try reading ex-smoker stories and experiences. It helps. And for this thread I want to thank everyone who contributed.
And I will probably end up reading this thread again tomorrow.
Good luck Pogo…I quit (i am somehwere in here) 14 years ago- I still get an urge now and then but it does get easier but don’t be fooled. It is tough. You have to WANT to quit. If you really want to, you can keep yourself from lighting up.
Heh, now 14 years later, I put on weight, ate like crap and now I have to completely redo my eating habits…BUT my daughter just turned 14 and she didn’t have to live with a smoker.
Remember, you are no longer a smoker.
Hang in there Pogo. It’s definitely true that it does get easier, though the tough part is that it doesn’t happen immediately.
It should get easier after a couple / few weeks (which are an eternity, in addiction time), so keep on telling yourself that you won’t smoke today, at least today, you can go without smoking. Keep making it through days and don’t worry about more than that at this point, that would be my advice, and support.
Keep it up, Pogo. Think of it like a poorly-designed RPG: The beginning is the hardest it’s ever gonna be.
Good luck Pogo.
Here’s a list of benefits you will gain after certain time intervals after quitting smoking. I often found myself coming back to this to refresh my memory of why I was going through withdrawal. My “junkie thinking” was constantly reminding me of what I was missing; I found that this let me focus on what I was gaining both short and long term. Keep it up, you can do it:
Smoking cessation timeline – the health benefits over time:
In 20 minutes, your blood pressure and pulse rate decrease, and the body temperature of your hands and feet increase.
Carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke reduces the blood’s ability to carry oxygen. At 8 hours, the carbon monoxide level in your blood decreases to normal. With the decrease in carbon monoxide, your blood oxygen level increases to normal.
At 24 hours, your risk of having a heart attack decreases.
At 48 hours, nerve endings start to regrow and the ability to smell and taste is enhanced
.
Between 2 weeks and 3 months, your circulation improves, walking becomes easier and you don’t cough or wheeze as often. Phlegm production decreases. Within several months, you have significant improvement in lung function.
In 1 to 9 months, coughs, sinus congestion, fatigue and shortness of breath decrease as you continue to see significant improvement in lung function. Cilia, tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs, regain normal function.
In 1 year, risk of coronary heart disease and heart attack is reduced to half that of a smoker.
Between 5 and 15 years after quitting, your risk of having a stroke returns to that of a non-smoker.
In 10 years, your risk of lung cancer drops. Additionally, your risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas decrease. Even after a decade of not smoking however, your risk of lung cancer remains higher than in people who have never smoked. Your risk of ulcer also decreases.
In 15 years, your risk of coronary heart disease and heart attack in similar to that of people who have never smoked. The risk of death returns to nearly the level of a non-smoker.
nice list Myth! I heard somewhere that after 7 years your lungs were back to normal.
I quit smoking almost 2 months ago now, after being sick for 8 days. Couldn’t smoke for those 8 days, so I figured I had the hardest part of quitting the cigarettes handed to me, and havent smoked since!
Can’t wait to be “normal”!
Damn, good luck Pogo. I applaud anyone who struggles to give up that disgusting habit.
Yeah I’ve seen that list before, and it’s definitely good motivation. I’ve been disgusted with my lack of stamina and really look forward to getting that back.
The first 3 days are really really tough. So much so, that it should be motivation enough to never want to go through this again.
Keep busy - wash your car, clean your house, play games.
I’m not ashamed to say that a few tokes got me through those first few days. Some purists will say there is some nicotine in pot, but it’s not nearly enough to satisfy the craving.
Confront your triggers head-on. Put those motherfuckers on notice that you’ve had enough and you’re not going to avoid them. For me, I used to dip and sitting down at my computer was very ritualistic - get the can, take a pinch and put my spit cup in that perfect position just to the left of my keyboard.
When I quit - I had a nice tall glass of ice-water where that spit cup was at. I didn’t stop or avoid gaming.
Another thing that helped me is I wrote an email to myself reminding me why I quit. You might try that. Continue replying to it as you need to. The reason I did this is any time in the future where I had the urge, I knew i could read that email to remind me why I wouldn’t go down that path again.
Props dude. Keep it up.
Thanks for the motivational shoves everyone.
Right now the mornings and afternoons aren’t tough… I pop in half of a 4mg lozenge after waking up (I just went out and bought 2mg lozenges, 4mg is just too much, it works out to about 6 of the Camel Blues/Lights I was smoking).
It’s the after-eating crave that is kicking my ass mentally, and then the evening time is just ridiculous. I’m trying this with as few lozenges as possible, since I don’t want to come out of this still addicted to nicotine, but by 7pm this becomes nearly unbearable.
Someone earlier in this thread posted about oranges helping to curb cravings, and I have to say that orange juice kind of works. Maybe it’s the acidity in the mouth that makes the thought of a smoke so unappealing. Or maybe it’s a placebo. Whatever, it sorta works.
Learn to hate it. It’s the only way to make it stick.
That’s definitely the way I quit smoking (almost self hypnosis, with me reviling everything about smoking - the smell, the butts and ashes, others smoking in my presence, what I was doing to myself, and the effect on my ability to be in good shape).
I would caution folks on using this method, only because it may or may not work (if it does, it works very well). I quit doing things in reverse order, you usually don’t find people who quit smoking, then quit other non-legal sources of oblivion, and then quit drinking. For a long time I considered quitting smoking to be the hardest thing I ever did in my adult life. But, the other things I quit turned out to be far harder, in fact (I wouldn’t say I quit them entirely myself, I had to have others help). One of the issues I was having (there were many) was I thought I could use the same method of quitting that I did for smoking (i.e. hating drinking in my mind, for example). But it didn’t work, because I loved drinking too much.
My suspicion is that quitting any addictive habit will work differently for different folks and you need to find what works for you, so you have to be willing to seek out what works if what you have been trying isn’t working.
Quitting smoking: Still one of the best things I’ve ever done, up there with marrying my wife. Reminding myself of all the awesome things about not smoking was a huge part of my successful quit attempt three years ago or so. Not just the health stuff (though that was definitely a part of it), but the not having to interrupt my activities to go burn one. Out at the bar with my friends, not having to leave the conversation every 30-60 minutes to go stand outside and smoke. Not having to ninja afk during raids to step out. Not timing a cigarette for right before the food came at a restaurant. Et cetera, et cetera.
Flying. Fucking flying as a smoker was the worst. So glad I don’t have do deal with that any more.
I’ve spent the last three days sitting next to my 63-yr old father’s bedside as he succumbs to the final stages of small cell lung cancer caused by smoking. There are no words to describe what I’m feeling right now, but I shall make a vain attempt anyway.
If you are a smoker, you are an INCREDIBLY STUPID HUMAN BEING.
So sorry about your father, Balasarius. I can’t imagine how difficult it is for you. But good on you for being there with him right now.
I’m sure most smokers agree with you. Sorry about your father.