Nicotine is hard. The gum kinda worked for me on my last quit attempt, but I had to stop chewing it because whatever was in that gum also gave me nasty rashes on my hands and feet (!)
I recently quit smoking after having smoked for over 20 years. I took a week off from work to go visit my folks and my sister and her two kids. I just quit cold turkey and it was as if I had never smoked before in my life. I’m not sure what it was that did the trick but I just stopped thinking about it and apart from a few initial urges here and there after meals I haven’t had any troubles. Part of it I think is that I had the realization that I like running more than I like smoking and no longer having that feeling of knives in my lungs during my daily runs just put it over the top. I’m still in shock over how much money I’m saving.
Terribly sorry to hear about your father, Balasarius.
So sorry about your father, Balasarius. I know how hard it can be waiting for something like this to end. Hang in there.
Sorry to be the one to tell you this, but that’s secondary syphilis.
On the positive side, just get some penicillin and you can try quitting smoking again!
Jesus god. This might go without saying, but the wikipedia page for syphilis should be avoided.
I was wondering why I had this gaping, pustulent hole where my nose used to be. I was hoping it would be something I could just clear up with some Proactiv.
Hitler feared it for a reason. If we had internet as off the 1920s, WWII would have never happened due to suicide of its most evil main actor.
This thread is awesome without pictures.
Arise! A co-worker is distraught that her son has taken up smoking. He’s an adult (early 20’s) and she wants advice.
My first advice was that he’s an adult and can make his own terrible decisions like the rest of us! She somewhat knows this at heart.
My second point was that down the road, he’ll remember her opposition and concern and think of it as her love for him… as long as she doesn’t push it too far so back off a bit!
But it’s really bothering her and she wants some other tips or advice, and she’s exhausted the health angle and money angle. I’ve been thinking of how to articulate the time angle - time wasted smoking and the time wasted in terms of future health issues, but not sure. Any insights?
What got me to quit smoking was the realization that I would be quitting eventually, everybody ends up quitting, the only question was whether it was right then or later on, when I had damaged my health to such an extent that I had no choice. I don’t think that sort of intellectual argument works with most people, though.
Good luck to her. In my experience, people pretty much do whatever they were gonna do to begin with. I know when I smoked, no rational arguments would have made me quit.
On the plus side, it’s not alcoholism or drug abuse that’s fucking up your life every day. Smoking is a very long walk off a short pier.
That’s why it’s called addiction. People don’t fucking understand that. I’d be off the snoose in a heartbeat if I could just cold turkey it with a snap of the fingers.
I had a funny relationship with smoking. There was a time in my life when I would have a couple smokes a day, just a thing I did. I don’t mean two packs a day, I just would have one, maybe two cigarettes. Kind of my reward, my end of the day unwinding ritual. I wasn’t addicted, I just enjoyed the tactile sensation of holding a cigarette, lighting up, just sort of pausing to inhale and think.
Of course, I was also living in North Carolina where it was more or less mandatory to smoke. But still, I knew the risks and the downsides and I did it anyway. Eventually my wife got me to quit, told me I was stupid and gross. Which was true, I just didn’t think of it that way.
It’s kind of like that with drinking too. I love a good beer, like to have one in the evening every other day or so. Hate getting loaded, I don’t bounce back from hangovers so good anymore. But the act was bellying up to the bar, asking for a pint, lifting it to my mouth and getting that first whiff and sip, it’s just magic. I hope I never have to give that up, but then again, it’s not like I’m addicted I guess.
Tell her to ask him if he wants his life controlled to the point where he will always ensure he had smokes, that he will make up some lame excuse to get gas at 9:30 at night, or how he’s not getting work done because he’s out in the smoking area puffing away, or how he had some stupid excuse for all the burn marks on his car window trim from burning it while diving, or why he has too step outside for a “break”.
The point is none of these things are actually his decisions. It’s the nicotine controlling him. Keep pointing out that he’s no longer in control of his life.
I quit. A few years ago, after having taken in on smoking at 14, I quit after 25 years of love-hate relationship with the so-called silent killer.
For the background, I have an addiction inclined personality. I literally took on smoking to quit on sucking on my thumb (don’t laugh—scratch that, forgot you ever read that!). I am aware of my addiction disorder, which is why I avoid touching any drop of alcohol.
I tried a couple of times for the last 10 years to quit smoking, but each time, I failed after a few weeks.
The first time was like the original poster. My motivation was mainly in the savings. I was buying myself a daily Appstore app in lieu of my cig pack, and I was still saving! But because I became so irate, I was the architect of a personal hell for all my relatives. It struck me the day when I made my mother burst into tears. Better smoking than ever doing that to her ever again.
The second time, I gave up because of the weight taken. I have back issues, and stopping tobacco led to a permanent, unstoppable craving for food. Taking on too much weight basically turned me into an unmovable lump of pain.
I saw the light thanks to electronic cigarettes. Electronic cigarettes were awesome for me because while you give up on the cigarette, you don’t give up on the smoking gesture, which was so important to me and my obsessive-addictive nature. The other nice part is that you get the nicotine intake, which prevents you from jumping on all the food you can put into your stomach.
I used the electronic cigarette for a little over a year, when something magical happened. I wasn’t having the pleasure of the cigarette (so much of it is in its smoke, its paper burning…), and I was feeling more and more a slave to the now quite absurd nicotine intake. It just happened naturally. I remember getting off a plane, and thinking “that’s it”. And it has been it. I was somewhat missing the cigarette at first. I took on drinking a glass of water when it happened (it worked!). I have taken a little weight, but not that much. Then, quicker than I can remember, I didn’t miss my sexy smokey bit anymore.
I have been exposed to stress beyond any measures since then. I won’t go into details, but I have, in all honesty, experienced what are some of the worst nightmares of about any man in my last 2 years. Never, once, I have felt the need to go back to smoking. It’s just gone from my body.
5 years ago, you’d have told me that, I would have never believed it. For me, where all else failed, the electronic cigarette made it happen naturally. I didn’t even intend to stop smoking totally when I started using it: I was convinced I’d keep on smoking those unidentified fluids for the rest of my life.
Anyway, that’s my story, thank you for taking the time to read it!
I’ve been wanting to try using e-cigs for that, but I don’t have a degree in Vape Engineering.
Off the shelf stuff like Blu doesn’t cut it for me and past that it’s all Ohms and Wattage and chaos.
I did find a disposable that was pretty decent, but hell if I can remember what it was called.
As far as “forcing” someone to quit. It wont work. Period. Even people who desperately want to stop struggle with it. Trying to make someone who doesn’t do it will just make them angry. And that’s before any withdrawals kick in, which can make normally very relaxed folks want to throw people off a bridge.
The best thing she can probably do is voice her concern and distaste for it and leave it at that. And let him know if he ever wants to stop she’ll help. At some point he probably will and then she can be there with an arsenal of help.
I stayed casual with e-cigs from start to finish. I tried Joyetech’s newcomer cigarette (Edit: 510T, I think?), which seems to look like the blu (I looked that one up) you are referring to. Despite its looks, it wasn’t very comfortable, and like you - I’ll allow myself to guess - the battery and filler were too small for my usage, and the “kick” wasn’t really there.
I kept going with Joyetech and grabbed a basic Ego, which I used the whole time. I thought it was nice and easy to use. I gave up quickly enough on trying to clean or recycle stuff after experiencing a couple tachycardial trips - better just buy replacement parts all the time. I never bothered trying to dip into the customizable, advanced cig parts: that part of my brain is busy enough with computers.
I didn’t realize how awesome the mouthpiece of the cigarette I picked was until a friend later showed me his e-cig, which featured some metallic, unappealing thing that was trying to break his teeth, I’d swear. Had I not been lucky picking the cigarette I did, I am unsure I would have stuck with the e-cig. I was also very lucky to spot a liquid with a fairly neutral taste I was fond of. It was of dubious origins, but perfect for me. All the sweet or tobacco-like stuff I tried was just horrible.
Now that I write about it, it seems I have been very, very lucky in my experience with those toys!
Thanks everyone, she knows she’s going to have to move into acceptance soon, she just has that whole “he’s throwing his life away” depression going on for a few days now. I like a couple of the tips and stories and will pass them on.
…or reading the forums at 2:45 am and suddenly waking up with his shirt sleeve on fire.
Yep. I’ve done that.