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-God- posted:....emptiness and boredom... There was a bit of time when I first quit smoking where I felt this way. I almost felt like part of my identity was gone, and that made me sad. I was always zombie duck, gamer, sports fan and a smoker. Once I realized that it wasn't something I should use to identify myself to others, it started helping that emptiness I felt. About a month to 2 months later, I started to feel better mentally when I started noticing body/physical changes (sense of smell is better, food tastes awesome, I could breathe better). As far as the boredom: smoking took up a lot of my time, as well as spending time with others who smoked. It was mostly getting used to not smoking when I normally would; breaks at work, waiting for the bus, smoke after a joint, etc. The best thing to do is try to replace the time you would normally be smoking with more enjoyable activities. That's a bit difficult at this time of year, with it being winter and all, but it's probably the best thing you can do. Start trying to do things that smoking would have made more difficult before. i.e. going to the gym, hiking, etc. Even taking up a new hobby to keep your hands busy could work. That's the best advice I can give you. I hope that helps some.
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Jan 7, 2011 06:40
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| # ? Apr 16, 2024 20:34 |
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I haven't smoked in 5 days now. I've tried quitting a few times, and by far this is the longest I've managed. Pack a day for 10 years I guess.. poo poo eh. Judging from some of the other posts I appear to have a long way to go yet, but I'm trying to employ the "I'm a non-smoker" Alan Carr mindset, also reminding myself that "You don't smoke anymore, remember?" luckily I'm easily persuaded and actually seem to be taking it pretty well. So, go me, and if your thinking about quitting, all I can say is, it's never going to get any easier than it is right now. So, why not?
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Jan 7, 2011 10:39
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I quit a couple months ago cold turkey, and I have absolutely no desire to go back. It was one of the easiest things I've ever done, as far as things go that are supposed to be hard; it takes like two days or something to beat the physical addiction and after that it's all just in your head. I feel like anybody could do it if I could do it, and for anybody who's really serious about it I'm more than willing to lend emotional support. It can really help to have somebody to chat with or text with while you're quitting, who's been through what you're going through and made it!
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Jan 7, 2011 10:57
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I just stopped smoking today. I'm chewing the 2MG Nicorette. It's OK but I've been getting nosebleeds now and I never have before. Anyone ever get any nosebleeds from nicotine gum? I've only heard of it happening with nicotine nasal sprays. Maybe the nosebleeds are totally unrelated.
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Jan 7, 2011 11:21
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Turtle Watch posted:I just stopped smoking today. I'm chewing the 2MG Nicorette. It's OK but I've been getting nosebleeds now and I never have before. Anyone ever get any nosebleeds from nicotine gum? I've only heard of it happening with nicotine nasal sprays. Maybe the nosebleeds are totally unrelated. Are you using the Nicorette like you're supposed to? You're not supposed to chew it like bubble gum, but kinda just chew a little bit and then park it in between your gums and cheek, then chew a little bit more, repeat. On that note, I quit smoking yesterday and bought a box of Nicorette. After going a full day now, I don't think I'm even gonna need the Nicorette. Last night trying to sleep was the worst it's been so far... the only side effects I've noticed with myself is I keep inadvertently speeding. I'll just casually look down at my speedometer and I'm going 15mph over. It takes a conscious effort not to speed.
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Jan 7, 2011 18:03
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Just wanted to say I have now gone 48 hours smoke free. While this may seem insignificant to some, this is the longest I have been without a cigarette in over 7 years. Reading this thread is great motivation to stay quit. Thanks for all the posts everybody.
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Jan 7, 2011 18:23
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I've been smoke free for 2 months now and I know I've reached the point of no return. Once you reach that point things get easier. ^^Keep it up! Never give in and just take it one day at a time.
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Jan 7, 2011 18:42
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electricsugar posted:Just wanted to say I have now gone 48 hours smoke free. While this may seem insignificant to some, this is the longest I have been without a cigarette in over 7 years. Awesome. Congrats man, stick with it. You're almost over the hardest part. Regarding Nicorette, I basically wasn't able to quit until I bought a box of the stuff. I realized then that my inability to quit wasn't so much a matter of giving into the withdrawals, but anxiety out of knowing that I might not be able to control my mood over the coming days. Like, if I was going into a meeting, I was afraid I'd have a massive craving and butcher whatever I was presenting. Knowing I had the gum for times like that made quitting hardly a problem at all for me.. I don't think I chewed more than 2 or 3 for a week or so, then I was done. A few cravings afterward, but they weren't a problem. The cravings while drinking on the other hand... 
fyo fucked around with this message at 19:03 on Jan 7, 2011 |
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Jan 7, 2011 19:00
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its hard but u can do eh guyz
AKP fucked around with this message at 15:32 on Mar 24, 2014 |
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Jan 7, 2011 19:06
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AKP posted:I haven't had a smoke since the 1st of January and at this point there really isn't much want/need for a craving, same thing with weed. However, seeing others smoke in the streets makes me want to gag and punch them in the face.. How long does it take for that desire to go away? 5 months and counting. I never realized how strong they smell - I can smell people smoking when I am driving in traffic and they are smoking in the car in front.
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Jan 7, 2011 21:00
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Well, I'm back at it again. Maybe this time for good? I quit for 4 months last year, picked it back up, quit and started about 5 more times, but this time I'm serious. The hardest problem is going to be boredom.
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Jan 8, 2011 05:11
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9 months and counting. you guys can do it if I can. I have the weakest will. What really helped for me is writing down all the "triggers* and notice that yes, this is another hump I need to get over. My grandfather just passed away. I couldn't even make it to his funeral. If I didn't smoke, I would have had the money to go see him one last time. Never again.
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Jan 8, 2011 05:21
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Good luck, my friends. I am a smoker. I have smoked since I turned 18, which makes it over 6 years now (hard to believe). My lungs are only medium rare at this point, but I do feel the effects. I get short of breath easily and I have next to no sense of smell. I would like to quit, and obviously it would be in my best interest, but as of now I have no will to do it. I enjoy smoking and it's ingrained into my everyday routines...despite knowing better, I don't want to stop. I hope that someday soon I can find the willpower to do it, but for know I'll just keep on keeping on with my menthol lights.
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Jan 8, 2011 05:26
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Just bought an e-cigarette and am enjoying it quite a bit.
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Jan 8, 2011 05:42
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I was a pack a day smoker for 12 years and finally managed to quit last summer after atleast 10 unsuccessful tries over the years. I tried cold turkey, the gum, the patch and that weird inhaler thing. Finally last June a friend of mine recommended to me a magical little pill. Champix in Canada or Chantix in the States and I'm sure named something similar outside of North America. Seriously this pill is pure magic. Basically it works kind of like this: 1 - Start taking pill. 2 - Keep smoking. 3 - Pill magically makes you unconsciously cut down and learn to not enjoy smoking anymore. 4 - Week 2 to 3 rolls around and you just stop wanting to smoke and thus quit. 5 - Keep taking for 10 more weeks and never have the urge to smoke again, even when drinking or any of the usual triggers. Yes it has some rather scary side effects you can read about on it's website and you probably shouldn't take it if you are prone to depression or suicidal thoughts. However, the only side effects I had for the 12 weeks I took it was some minor stomach upset and some extremely vivid dreams for the first 2 weeks. Also, if you're worried about the price it costs about $70 Cdn for a 2 week supply. Much less than 2 weeks of smokes for a pack a day smoker. Try this stuff or at the minimum at least read up a bit about it. Good luck on quitting goons!
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Jan 8, 2011 05:57
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Update: Day 5 bitches! Cigarettes can go eat a bag of dicks. That is all.
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Jan 10, 2011 18:01
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I haven't had a cigarette since January 7 and so far it hasn't been too bad. I'm going cold turkey and the worst part is driving. It feels wrong to be going on my commute without a cigarette. Let's see how long I last this time, previously I've gone 4 months, but only relapsed due to hanging out with friends and drinking.
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Jan 10, 2011 19:19
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Woohoo! I haven't really been thinking about it, but counting from my first post in here, it looks like I've been smoke-free for 6 months!
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Jan 10, 2011 19:28
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ExcessiveForce posted:I haven't had a cigarette since January 7 and so far it hasn't been too bad. I'm going cold turkey and the worst part is driving. It feels wrong to be going on my commute without a cigarette. driving was definitely the worst for me. there would be times i was driving around and reached down to my pocket to grab a cigarette before i realized that i wasn't going to find one. Ten days strong! I still get cravings, but really only when my roommate smokes. I was so scared that I would end up asking her for just a puff of one of hers, but i've resisted. Still never had the raging, hate-filled, going-to-kill-someone-if-i-don't-smoke-right-now feeling!
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Jan 10, 2011 19:46
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Haven't smoked since about a week before New Years. Still going strong. Had a couple of strong cravings, but it's going well.
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Jan 10, 2011 22:11
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You know, I think this is a good time of year to quit anyway, depending on the climate where you live- who the hell wants to go outside 20 times a day to stand around and smell bad for a few minutes? Not much appeal in that. And then where I live, in the summer it's consistently over 100 degrees by noon just about EVERY GODDAMN DAY for months... gently caress going outside then, too.
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Jan 11, 2011 00:58
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Talby posted:driving was definitely the worst for me. there would be times i was driving around and reached down to my pocket to grab a cigarette before i realized that i wasn't going to find one. Yeah driving this morning was the worst so far, I was stuck in traffic with nothing to do to keep my hands busy. Guess I'd better start buying a ton of gum to chew on when I'm driving.
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Jan 11, 2011 14:58
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Two weeks in: fags smoked = 0, booze boozed = 0 Hell yeah
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Jan 14, 2011 17:01
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plecostomus posted:Two weeks in: fags smoked = 0, booze boozed = 0 Keep it up mate! Chiming back in this thread, I quit around 5 months ago (July was it?) after posting here. So far I've not had a single smoke and that's the way it's going to stay. I smoked around thirty to forty rollies a day and had been smoking just over a decade before that. The first four weeks I used Champix which, while effective, made me feel like hell psychologically so I dropped that. The cravings were worst for the first few days but calmed down a lot over the following weeks. I still have the occasional craving but it's more of a "It would be nice to..." rather than "my body is going to crush itself into a ball if I don't" feeling. I get one every couple of days and they last around three minutes each. Totally manageable. My parents smoke so I avoided them for a couple of months when I first quit which helped a great deal. As general advice I'd suggest avoiding people/places you associate with smoking; keeping yourself out the way makes it way, way easier for the first stint. Here's a timeline for my cravings: 1-4 days: Admittedly tough. Chewed a lot of gum and clenched my fists repeatedly. 4-10 days: On my mind frequently, but the cravings became manageable. 10k peanuts consumed. 10 days - 3 weeks: Cravings ever three hours or so. At 5 mins each they're simple enough to ignore, but smoking never really left my mind. 3 weeks - 2 months: Increasingly infrequent cravings. Sometimes on my mind. I considered myself a "non-smoker" by this point. 2 months - 6 months+: I think about smoking sometimes now, maybe once every couple of days. I don't get cravings anywhere like near as bad as what they were. I'm confident I'll not start again, because being a non-smoker is soooo much less hassle. No cravings. No late night shopping trips to buy smokes. No smelling bad. No sore chest in the morning. Nothing at all =) Much much better! You can do it guys. All the cravings and withdrawal is just temporary. For each craving, just wait 5-10 mins and it's gone. Chew some gum, have a some backbone and self respect. You can kick this fucker down the line.
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Jan 15, 2011 02:49
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Just some words of advice as an ex pack a day smoker who hasnt smoked in at least 6 years and is thankful every day for it: 4mg commit lozenges did it for me. normally 4mg is for 2packs a day but i have a tendency to overdo and i recommend it. Bored? Lozenge. Stressed? Same. girlfriend/boyfriend pissing you off? Drinking? You get the idea. Dont give in to any temptation. It gets way easier until, as others have noted, you begin feeling sorry for smokers. Be strong. Its worth it. I remember buying lozenges every week and the sweet old lady at the cvs would ask me why im buying these didnt i know "jesus was the answer?" Lady thats why jesus makes 4mg commit.
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Jan 15, 2011 04:26
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Today made a fortnight for me, not a single smoke! My girlfriend made me a little card saying how proud of me she was and everything  i feel so much better about myself, mentally and physically. I still get cravings, but someone earlier put into words exactly how I feel. It's more "it sure would be nice" rather than "sweet sweet nicotine i need it in my veins!"
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Jan 15, 2011 05:36
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I haven't smoked in 11 days. I was at half a pack a day, and I also smoked cigars and pipes. I'd like to go back to those two, but avoid cigarettes. I just can't yet, because I know one will lead to the other right now.
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Jan 15, 2011 06:02
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I'm currently on track for a career in law enforcement, and smoking puts up a pretty huge obstacle for that. Last summer, I was scheduled to take a physical fitness examination for the Ohio State Highway Patrol. The standards were something like 40 pushups in a minute, 35 situps in a minute, and a 1.5 mile run in 13 minutes. The run killed me. I went out to a track every night for a week, and I felt like I was going to die after two minutes. I just collapsed on the track, out of breath and cursing myself. I had to call to cancel the examination.  I knew that I would have to quit smoking, but I kept putting it off until recently. I tried nicotine gum at the beginning of December, but it did nothing for me. I got the same effect from some Wrigley's. The insane prices on the stuff put me off of it as well. A few months ago, I downloaded The Easy Way To Stop Smoking audiobook. I forgot about it until last weekend. I had a 8 hour roundtrip drive ahead of me. I was going to be alone, and I thought it would be the perfect time to listen to it. Not even halfway through the book, I lost the urge to smoke. I felt like I never wanted to smoke again. The book never said to stop smoking until the very end, which is what I stuck with. I wish I didn't do that, because as soon as the book ended I had the feelings the book warned against. I felt like I was giving something up, and I felt like that quitting process was going to be horrible. I have school all week, so I decided it was the best to time to start my process. I decided to wait until Thursday. I told myself that I was going to smoke one last cigarette and be done with it. I haven't stuck to my promise, and I have probably smoked 5 or 6 cigarettes since then. From 8 am this morning to 11 pm tonight, I didn't smoke one cigarette. Those 15 hours have been the longest I have ever been without a cigarette. I caved in about 30 minutes ago, and smoked 2 cigarettes in quick succession. I've been having insane cravings all night, though I'm not sure why I decided to smoke those cigarettes. I almost didn't want to, but for some reason I went ahead and did it. Right now I'm dealing with another craving, and I'm trying to get through it. I NEED to do this. I really wish I had health insurance, I would love to try Chantix.
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Jan 15, 2011 07:01
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You need to find some sort of activity to replace your smoking. If you get a craving, go do some push ups. Hell, go run, do something else. Get that wheezing feeling and remember why you quit. Also remember: There will be failures. Something like 30 or 40 percent of smokers actually quit on their first try. Key here is to not give up.
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Jan 15, 2011 15:38
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18 days in. 0-5 days - was Ill and didn't miss it. 5-12 days - depression, grief, emptiness, didn't want to do anything I enjoyed. 12+ better every day with the odd bout of feeling lovely for a few hours. This feels great though, I keep thinking of the money and thinking of the Canon 550d im going to get as a result of it. No more coughing, no more stinking of smoke. Smelling people smoke and getting the whiff of it doesnt make me want to smoke, it makes me realise how much it stinks. The smell is so different when you don't smoke and it reminds me of being young when I didnt smoke. Quitting was easy, the psychological aspect is the hardest. Heres to another 18 days.
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Jan 16, 2011 21:01
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-God- posted:The smell is so different when you don't smoke and it reminds me of being young when I didnt smoke. I'm 16 days in and both of these things are true. It's crazy how much it stinks now, just as bad as it stunk when I was young and my dad smoked.
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Jan 17, 2011 05:12
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Talby posted:I'm 16 days in and both of these things are true. It's crazy how much it stinks now, just as bad as it stunk when I was young and my dad smoked. Fresh cigarette smoke smells awesome as poo poo, and I think it always will smell awesome to me. I know a guy who had quit smoking for 10 years and said he still loved the smell of fresh cigarette smoke. As soon as the cigarette goes out, the story changes. Stale smoke (Ironically enough) has always disgusted me.
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Jan 17, 2011 06:26
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I'm about a day and a half in to my life as a non-smoker now. I only smoked a half a pack - pack a day for 3 years or so, so my withdrawal is probably mild compared to most. I decided to go cold turkey, since I wanted to kick the nicotine habit as quick as possible. Right at this point in time I'm having a huge craving though since I just had dinner. The after-dinner smoke always felt like one of the best ones of the day. However, I have none in the house and no way to quickly get any, so I won't break tonight. The thing that has always broken my quit attempts before though is that there is a tobacconist right across the street, staring me in the face when I leave the grocery shop. Does anyone have any tips on how to block out this trigger?
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Jan 17, 2011 22:09
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5 months. Still want a smoke. Still haven't had one. On the other hand, approx $1700 saved.
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Jan 18, 2011 00:53
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Elliptical Dick posted:The thing that has always broken my quit attempts before though is that there is a tobacconist right across the street, staring me in the face when I leave the grocery shop. Does anyone have any tips on how to block out this trigger?
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Jan 18, 2011 06:43
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Problem is that aside from that all the supermarkets have a cigarette desk anyway, so even if I avoid that tobacconist specifically I'll still be tempted in the supermarket. How do you suppress the urge to buy a pack when you are so close and it is so easy?
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Jan 18, 2011 16:47
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Elliptical Dick posted:Problem is that aside from that all the supermarkets have a cigarette desk anyway, so even if I avoid that tobacconist specifically I'll still be tempted in the supermarket. How do you suppress the urge to buy a pack when you are so close and it is so easy? It's called willpower.
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Jan 18, 2011 17:00
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XK posted:It's called willpower. yeah thanks.
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Jan 18, 2011 17:41
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Elliptical Dick posted:yeah thanks. You sound like me when I'm being a pussy and wanting an excuse to smoke.
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Jan 18, 2011 17:52
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Gothmog1065 posted:What do you want? Someone to hold your hand? Beyond that, it's all you. Hell, I used to walk into convenience stores and buy them automatically out of habit. I'd get all embarrassed, but I'd return them and say I quit, most of the time the cashiers would be like "good luck" and take them back. Unless you take your mom or a serious girlfriend, nobody is going to stop you from buying but you. Just looking for some good tips to help me shift my mind from the temptation of buying smokes. When someone posts "it's called willpower" I get a bit testy because guess what, I'd got that loving far. If there are no tips but to stick it out, then I'll have to make do but I gotta wonder what I did or said to invite 3-word unconstructive replies. edit for clarity: if you think my question was a stupid one, fair enough. I'm not trying to get into an argument here, really. I'm not looking for an excuse to smoke, nor am I about to break, I am trying to make things easier for myself. Elliptical Dick fucked around with this message at 18:01 on Jan 18, 2011 |
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Jan 18, 2011 17:58
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