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Albicorp posted:How long did you smoke for? I smoked for about 8 years and never noticed any sexual dysfunction. 13 years thereabouts. I'm probably just an oddball when it comes to smoking.
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| # ? May 2, 2013 00:36 |
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| # ? May 18, 2013 20:46 |
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Want to hop on the ecig is awesome for quitting smoking train. Been about a week now without an actual cigarette and it feels great. I had one earlier in the week and it actually tasted pretty gross. No more smelling like shot, having the black interior of my car covered in ash, nasty breath, etc. I had started using disposable ecigs and pen style ecigs a few weeks ago with intentions of quitting, but they were almost more expensive than actual cigarettes - a 7 dollar one barely lasted me a day. I have a ego battery + tank set up now that works for me because it lasts and is satisfying to smoke. I was still pretty tempted to get butts with the disposables. The ugly factor of the ecigs also helps because I don't huff on it all day at class like I did with cigarettes, so I figure it will be helpful in the long run of actually breaking the habit. Currently I mostly use it while driving and at home. I've already gone down from 21g/L to around 18g/L nicotine in the two weeks I've been using them.
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| # ? May 3, 2013 05:11 |
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Hopping in to say that I have to quit smoking for my job. I smoked when I was a teenager because I thought I looked cool (trite I know) for about 3 years. I quit for 5 then cranked back up. Been smoking for almost 2 years now, and this pack I have right now is going to be my last. I actually HAVE to quit because to get a job with a fire/rescue service in my area, you have to sign an affidavit that you're tobacco free for at least one year, which would be right around the time that I'm finished school and ready to apply. I seem to remember last time I smoked it was easier to quit cold turkey then to try and ween myself off, so I'll be trying this tactic again. My biggest problem is the multiple friends I have that actively smoke their faces off. So I don't know whether to totally stop hanging around them, for fear that I'll relapse, or just limit my association until I've been smoke free for a few weeks. Also, nothing is better then having a cig with a cold beer, so I guess it's time to slow my drinking way down too... Hm, this may be harder then I thought...
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| # ? May 3, 2013 07:00 |
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I smoked heavily for 8 years until 4 weeks ago when I just decided it wasn't doing it for me anymore. Complete cold turkey and no issues so far. The biggest thing for me is how clear my sinuses are now, even after only a month.
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| # ? May 3, 2013 07:14 |
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One whole month clean, £200 saved, I feel loving great. Stop smoking goons, it's the best thing you'll ever do.
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| # ? May 6, 2013 19:11 |
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plecostomus posted:One whole month clean, £200 saved, I feel loving great. Stop smoking goons, it's the best thing you'll ever do. One month here too B)
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| # ? May 6, 2013 20:15 |
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Twenty years of pack-a-day non-filters checking in to commit to my quit date of June 1st. 10 attempts to quit, with my longest "success" being 6 months. I'll be going the vape route. I work in a bar/nightclub with an outoor smoking patio, so the combination of drink, stress, and proximity have been big deterrents to me. But 2 co workers and 3 customers have gone the "giant cigar shaped one with a glass resovoir on top" route with great levels of success in the same environment. I'll keep checking in with the thread to see everyone elses progress and commit to keeping my quit date and posting about it. My goal is to be cigarette and craving free by my 40th birthday in July. Thanks for the thread!
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| # ? May 6, 2013 21:13 |
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It wasn't until I read this thread that I really decided. I was ambivalent about my habit, truly. I knew the bad things, but I properly loved smoking. I had tried half assed before but when I read this thread - just a few of the first pages really - I realized I hadn't tried properly. I had just tried stopping smoking but I hadn't tried quitting, do you know what I mean? I stopped smoking again and I started using snus to quench the need for it. I knew that I was replacing one habit with another, but I thought I'd have a go. And it worked. It was an emergency handle to pull when the need for a smoke got too heavy but it developed into another habit, just as I thought it would. But the new habit stretched out my former habit. If I felt like I needed a smoke I'd just have a bit of snus and when I felt like I was done I'd spit the little package into the slightly distasteful but kindly contrived compartment in the lid and that was that for the moment. What happened then was that, hampered by the social awkwardness of sticking things in your mouth and spitting them out, I just used snus to settle my most immediate smoking needs, i.e. I metered out my nicotine consumption exactly to its minimum demands instead of abandoning the social context and then inhaling a full-length cigarette even if I just needed parts of it. What this did was break my habits and reduce my intake. I needed the buzz of nicotine after meals, along with coffee and when frowning my brows at work. But it wasn't a ritual anymore, it wasn't a constant-size reward that meant leaving my workplace, it was just something to suck on while I worked until the minimum need was pleased. I'm sure my employer applauds. Habits, broken. I took a piece of snus in my mouth, held it till I was content, then spat it politely in the container until I next needed it. It weaned my body off I think. Eventually I bought fewer and fewer of the snus cans, then one night something really changed. I went to a friend to drink, brought a nice bottle of wine (low range Chateauneuf du Pape, nice for me) but forgot to buy snus. When you're drinking is when you really need it right? I wanted to go to the store and buy some, but I kept postponing it. In the end I didn't. I got drunk, then forgot about it. I haven't bought snus since. I quit smoking on April 30th 2012. I changed to snus. I quit snus, I don't know, four months maybe. Since April 30th though, I have smoked maybe 15 smokes. I bought a 20-pack of cigarillos on an SA-themed motorcycle trip in July. The pack is right next to me with 11 left. I won't say that I won't smoke another, but I will say I have quit smoking them instead of stopped smoking them. If I smoke them all in a year, no habit. In two days? A habit. I have smoked since I quit. But I went from 10 a day to 9 a year. To me, that's quitting. Summary in numbered points: 1) Thanks Something Awful and this thread. This forum has done many things for me, maybe some bad things but I can only think of good. I wanted to stop smoking, I didn't know how but had read a lot about it - the first 10-12 pages of this thread was enough for me to get on with making and completing a plan. Yours will be different, but this was mine. 2) I haven't truly stopped. I have smoked maybe 15 since then. But I have quit. See? 3) Nicotine alternatives are good for breaking habits. Yes you make new habits, but they break more easily than old ones. Then the thing I miss. I knew it while I was smoking. And I do miss it for real. It is the moment of Zen, to be standing somewhere, doing nothing apart from smoking, observing the universe while it is churning around you. I can't really do that as a non-smoker. I mean of course I can, I still love nature, I can climb a big mountain, see a grand view and elate. But what I'm talking about is just standing somewhere in the city, around concrete, seagulls and poo poo and still see nature. I don't really do that anymore. I can do, of course I can. I know it still exists. You don't have to smoke to do that! That insight, that wonderful YES! button you press on the life machine when you enjoy seeing pigeons perfectly adjusting to the aerodynamic punch of a garbage truck - that is still available to me. But I just don't do it. I don't go outside to just stand for 10 minutes and look at seagulls making GBS threads on concrete next to a traffic jam. Such a big part of human time, but I no longer see it. I think those moments of grey traffic are great moments. Wonderful moments of seeing the cosmos manifest itself in the carefully adjusting wings of a seagull reacting to the gust of a garbage truck. I don't spend time with them anymore. There is no "but now I do this!" solution. I don't do it anymore. But I chose it, I decided it and I achieved it. The seagulls, the garbage trucks and the cosmos is still there to be enjoyed. But I just don't see them at the same moments anymore. I can see whenever I want of course. But maybe I'll be most grateful for the things I didn't know I was going to see, at a time I didn't believe I was going to live. Whichever way it goes, I achieved my goal. I started smoking when I was 13, I don't now, I am pleased and I'm proud. Thanks for the help goons!
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| # ? May 8, 2013 21:43 |
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Just had my "Welp, that's my cue" moment. Visiting my grandmother's condo last night, I decided I wanted to sneak out for a cigarette before we watched Jay Leno together. Since she lives on the 7th floor and won't let me smoke on her balcony, usually I have to go down to street level, which takes about 4-5 minutes to do. Plus, San Francisco is loving cold at night, so going outside didn't sound appealing. So instead, I snuck into the emergency stairwell where I have smoked before. Literally 30 seconds after lighting it, security opened the door. Busted red handed. I get a phone call from them this afternoon while I was at work, and they said they would like to speak with me in the home owners association office. I go (didn't want my grandmother to get into trouble for what I did), and found out that my cigarette set off a silent smoke alert and security was able to pinpoint where I was within seconds. Got popped with a $250 fine. Most expensive cigarette of my life. Haven't smoked since last night, and I don't even have the ability to buy cigarettes regardless as I lost my wallet the other day as well. No ID means no ability to buy, and I've been due to quit for awhile but never found the right motivation. Turns out $250 was more than enough! Two months worth of cigarettes because I couldn't wait 10 minutes for her to go to bed and go out on balcony made me realise how dumb I was about it all. This won't be anywhere near the first time I've quit, but I have a feeling that bill will be enough to call the habit off for good.
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| # ? May 9, 2013 03:10 |
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snowcrafta posted:Just had my "Welp, that's my cue" moment. Visiting my grandmother's condo last night, I decided I wanted to sneak out for a cigarette before we watched Jay Leno together. Since she lives on the 7th floor and won't let me smoke on her balcony, usually I have to go down to street level, which takes about 4-5 minutes to do. Plus, San Francisco is loving cold at night, so going outside didn't sound appealing. So instead, I snuck into the emergency stairwell where I have smoked before. Literally 30 seconds after lighting it, security opened the door. That's pretty funny. Any reason is a good reason to quit though! Good luck. 
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| # ? May 9, 2013 06:39 |
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Thanks to this thread, I am now two weeks nicotine free. I can finally smell and taste again. Due to my ability to breath now; exercising is now something that I'm currently getting in the routine of doing again. I have no urges whatsoever to go back to smoking; especially after breaking down all of the associations I had with smoking and turning them into more positive things. I'm really glad and proud of myself for doing this. It's been the best decision I've made in a long time. Thanks for all the tips and help posted from the people in this thread. It has really helped a lot.
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| # ? May 9, 2013 09:16 |
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I think one of the biggest things this thread gives is support. That's what most smokers need to fully quit.
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| # ? May 9, 2013 14:56 |
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Well its been almost a month and I believe I am finally over analog cigs. I did smoke one a week ago because I was out of carts and it was one of the nastiest cigs I have ever smoked. Tasted terrible and got no satisfaction from it. A buddy and fellow vapor-er at work spotted me some e-juice(he has one of the big ones with a tank) and refilled my spare carts so that saved me from buying a pack or bumming more. No real change on my sense of taste yet but my sense of smell has gotten notably stronger. And cigarettes STINK! When the smokers walk by my cubical I get a nice whiff of stale tobacco. I think, "Man I used to smell like that?!!" Major yuck! I feel a whole lot better too, no coughs, I'm not sluggish and strung out anymore, it really is great. I even went nearly a whole day without a vape due to running out of refills-(there is no store nearby that sells carts, I was broke, and only could afford one disposable) , and I will be honest, the cravings were not that bad. Although I did bloat up to the size of a semi-truck for some reason. I'm having one of those moments where I can't believe I am actually doing this...its a real weird feeling. I smoked for 14 years and hopefully by the end of the year I won't even vape anymore. Wow...just wow. Hang in there guys, this is actually doable. If my weak-willed rear end can do it, anyone can. An extra bonus-since I don't smoke regular cigs anymore and I usually just eat at my desk while working, I can take a walk around the campus at work during my lunch. Well, as long as the weather is endurable, anyway You can't smoke in front of the building but there is no problem with vaping. ladymikochan fucked around with this message at May 12, 2013 around 18:07 |
| # ? May 12, 2013 18:04 |
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5 weeks clear; £244.73 saved. Feeling great still, although had a particularly lucid dream a few nights back where I was smoking. Woke up feeling like poo poo until I realised it was just a dream and then was all like "haha gently caress you brain!" If there's anything I'm struggling with it's the lack of punctuation in my life now - like when I finish a particularly grueling piece of work or difficult task I like to take some time to reflect; smoking filled this reflective time perfectly. But yeah gently caress off smoking, you're dead to me now.
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| # ? May 13, 2013 11:07 |
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I've been a smoker for 8 1/2 years. I had my last cigarette last Tuesday, so it's been almost a week. I am so loving irritable today. I've always heard the first 2 to 3 days are the worst, but today has been unbearable. It didn't help that I had a bad day at work. One of the girls at work kept looking over at me and laughing, saying that by the look on my face it looked like I was about to start throwing chairs, which is out of the ordinary for me because I'm probably one of the most laid back people at work. Anyways, the way I'm quitting is because I went on vacation a few weeks ago to Denver. I have a few friends who live out there. They don't really know each other. I was staying with the one, and texted my other friend, J, to see if she wanted to meet up. She said she wouldn't be able to hang out at all while I was in town, because she was in the hospital and had been diagnosed with cancer a few days earlier. I was pretty crushed. We dated for a while, and she was a good friend. I still went to see her in the hospital, and it was really good to see her. I just wish they weren't under those circumstances. So any time I want a cigarette, I just think back to my "vacation," hanging out in a Denver hospital, seeing my friend in a hospital bed while nurses come in and draw blood and take vitals. She has lymphoma, for those who are curious. Not caused my smoking, but it's still cancer. I've had family members who have died from cancer caused by smoking, but there's something different about it when you see your good friend laying in a hospital bed, and pictures on facebook with a shaved head, as opposed to an older person. It can be really hard at work to not smoke. Lately, I've had a lot of down time. I've been doing about 20 minutes of real work a day the last few weeks, and while that sounds awesome, I'm not allowed to use my computer for any internet activities at all, and playing games on my phone gets pretty boring. I used to go out and smoke cigarettes all the time just out of boredom. On the bright side, I've been going out to throw footballs around instead. monsieur fatso fucked around with this message at May 14, 2013 around 01:49 |
| # ? May 14, 2013 01:47 |
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There has been a lot of people at work switching to the e-cig so I figured I'd fire mine back up. I'm off of work today and have just passed the 24 hour mark on not smoking a real cigarette. I haven't done this in maybe a month of trying to quit smoking. For the last week I've been bumming cigarettes at work. One day I had two, another four. One day a co-worker gave me a pack of a brand she didn't enjoy and I had to soak those down later that night. I wish I could boast the success many people have had with the e-cigarette. The best way for me to describe it is like this: Imagine being really hungry, almost too hungry to function, and you're only able to eat a couple crackers and drink a glass of water. It helps out a lot, but you know within an hour or two you're going to be reduced to a shaky mess and eating another couple crackers and drinking another glass of water won't do you a bit of good. However, the two hours pass, you eat your two crackers and drink your water and your hunger never worsens. You're constantly at a stage where you say to yourself, "This sucks but I can tough it out well enough, however in two hours I know I'll be absolutely hosed." Time passes, the day ends, and at no particular moment did I find myself pulling my hair out or gritting my teeth. Now I have to figure out how to work and socialize without smoking. Its a pretty neat step though. Spending time at home without cigarettes and waking up without having a cigarette in my morning routine has become the norm. I've definitely played the "no smoking at home!" game before but back then it was more of a self-imposed punishment instead of an accepted fact. Hell I want to go buy some smokes right now but I don't because I would feel silly "needing" to smoke so I can nerd around on the internet or watch netflix. I can imagine justifying smoking to either someone else or my future self and I'd have to say something like, "Yeah, I bought some smokes last night, I couldn't handle the stress of browsing through recommended workplace comedies." I've also found some literature about the effects of the actual inhalation of burned tobacco rather than just the effects of nicotine and its been pretty interesting. The reason NRTs dont work is that they don't freak your body out nearly enough so you don't get the endorphine/adrenaline release that smoking gives. This has helped my mentality because in past attempts to switch to the e-cig I felt like I was suffering for no reason at all. I was still just as addicted but not enjoying anything. Now I know I'm breaking my brain's system of saving up hormones and making me feel like poo poo then flooding me with hormones when I give it the manual signal to.
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| # ? May 14, 2013 07:56 |
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Well, I have been thinking of trying an e-cig. The gum isn't working, and it might work for me. Isn't there a thread on e-cigs?
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| # ? May 15, 2013 04:30 |
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Bash Ironfist posted:Well, I have been thinking of trying an e-cig. The gum isn't working, and it might work for me. Isn't there a thread on e-cigs? Yes it can be found over in TCC here.
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| # ? May 15, 2013 04:37 |
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I made a promise to my dad a long time ago that I'd never smoke-- but here I am, going back on my word, sucking down cigs, cigarillos, and obscene amounts of beedies every day. I feel like a worthless piece of poo poo, and I want to quit smoking right now. I have a feeling that I'm going to gently caress up somewhere down the line, but I want to at least make an effort. I'm going to try to quit again, starting today. Wish me luck, guys.
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| # ? May 15, 2013 07:09 |
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It's been 6 days for me now :0 I'm finding it ok.. I first had a smoke in 2004, and have only smoked here and there since then, but only recently began smoking every day.. maybe for a year..
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| # ? May 15, 2013 14:55 |
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Any ex- clove smokers? I smoked 1-2 cigarettes a day when I was in college, because I was a goth. I quit when I graduated, but every so often I find myself really missing the way they taste. I thought I was going to be OK because they banned "flavored" cigarettes, but then Djarums came back as "cigars." Any advice on staying away from them? I hate regular cigarettes, and have only smoked them once or twice. It's the sweet taste of the cloves that I find myself craving every so often.
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| # ? May 16, 2013 02:04 |
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ChickenOfTomorrow posted:Any ex- clove smokers? I wish I wouldn't have read this. I used to love Djarum blacks. It's been nine days for me since my last cigarette. I'm pretty much over the cravings of having them. I still go outside with my smoker buddies at work for breaks (it's been too nice out to not go outside) , but I've been strong and haven't had one. Even went out drinking this past weekend and didn't have any, while a few other friends who are "quitting" had 3 or 4. The weird dreams are starting, though. I do miss having a smoke with my morning coffee. Whatever. I'd rather live.
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| # ? May 16, 2013 14:17 |
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ChickenOfTomorrow posted:Any advice on staying away from them? I hate regular cigarettes, and have only smoked them once or twice. It's the sweet taste of the cloves that I find myself craving every so often. Keep on not smoking them like you haven't been since however long it's been since you graduated? Every so often you missing them is just you waxing poetic bullshit. You've romanticized smoking in your head when in reality it loving sucks. You have to search out cloves anyway, so you are staying away from them just by default, unless you still hang out with your goth buddies.
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| # ? May 16, 2013 15:14 |
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Twat McTwatterson posted:You've romanticized smoking in your head when in reality it loving sucks Great point. I smoked my "last" clove when I had a terrible cold and try to remember that horrid experience whenever I crave them. Mad Men certainly doesn't help. (IMG: PEGGY OLSEN SCOWLING.)
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| # ? May 16, 2013 17:02 |
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| # ? May 18, 2013 20:46 |
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Sure wish I could convince my fiancee to quit nicotine. She's had multiple quitting attempts, but always seems to come back to it, usually when people continually let her bum cigarettes when we drink. Gah, I just want her not to die like pretty much everyone I've ever known who has died (it's been from smoking) 
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| # ? May 16, 2013 17:09 |
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