I started smoking in the 10th grade. 17 years later I quit; that was just this last July 4. While I have had one or two since then when out with my boys, I have otherwise not been smoking at all.
The last 6 months or so before July 4 I had managed to get myself down to just 1 a day, when I was waiting for the bus home after work. Then on Independence Day this year I declared my own independence from tobacco. I still kept an unopened pack on my dresser just because having it made me feel better. I would actually lose the urge to smoke if I could just pick up that pack and hold it for a minute; I would hold it and stare at it for a few minutes then put it down and go on with my day. Well I gave that pack away last week and now all I can think about is lighting one up. I’m not going to go out and buy another pack, I’ve certainly the willpower to resist going to even that small effort and that’s a good thing I know, but dammit if someone were to offer me one right this moment I would take it in a heartbeat.
I’d always justified my smoking by reasoning that if one manages to live long enough cancer in one form or another is pretty much inevitable, so I might as well know the reason (whether that’s technically correct or not). But I just wasn’t enjoying it anymore; it eventually felt like a chore, so I quit. But dammit every now and then I just want one. Not gonna do it though. I promised myself and others, and I’m a man of my word.
My story was the same, except I probably smoked for 25 years. I quit several times. The next to last time I convinced myself I could have one and not resume smoking. It was anther year before I quit again, and this time for good (9 years and counting).
You still have some psychological urgings. Fight them. You will regret it if you give in, and you will be glad if you persevere.
But you know all that. You’ve been a non-smoker for over four months. You’re benefiting already from being a non-smoker. Good luck.
There’s a counter program out there that lets you input how many cigarettes you’re smoking and will show you how much money you’re saving from day to day. It kind of puts the expense in perspective in a neat way. I’ll try to dig up a link.
I quit two and a half years ago, and I thought I could have the random cigarette now and then, but then when I did I would feel horribly nauseated and nasty inside. Then, the last time I tried to smoke, I threw up my just-eaten restaurant meal, and I’m pretty sure that will do me for life, now. I don’t know if I just got used to the nastiness when I first started smoking, or if cigarettes are more full of vomit-inducing things now than they used to be, but that’s pretty gross.
You certainly don’t need a cigarette now, or ever again. Commit to it. You can do this!
We work and we make cigarettes all hidey-lidey day,
So folks can get a breaky from their stressful lidey lives,
and relaxy with the cigarettes we make all day and night!
I was told by one of my attendings, a family practice doc, that it takes smokers an average of 5 attempts to successfully quit. Whatever the numbers might be, it stands to reason that you’ll have false starts. Your formula for success will be your very own, but here are two things I read on the Dope that helped me:
1.) You have to make multiple decisions before you smoke your next cigarette. You’ll have to decide to go looking for one, whether you bum one or buy a new pack. You’ll have to take the smoke into your possession when you find one. You’ll have to find a light at some point during this process. Then you’ll have to light up, and so on. When you break it down into steps, the decision isn’t as simple as “smoke? Y/N.” At the same time, you’ve given yourself a buffer, so it actually can be simpler to resist the cravings.
2.) Someone compared the time that’s passed since their last smoke to earning equity. That analogy might work for you. I like to think of it as my high score, and I don’t want to start the count over again*.
Hope that helps you too.
*Just for fun, I went and figured it out: 475 days since my last cigarette, 399 since my last lozenge.
Agreed. Essentially drowning in your own blood is horrible for the person and truly horrifying for the family to have to watch.
I am a 30 year smoker and I quit September 2nd. I am a “no will power” and “easily addicted to almost anything” person so my theory is if I can do it than anyone can.
Good for you DCnDC and stick to it. You’ll be happier, and healthier, in the long run.
I quit over a year ago. As of late, I’ve been fighting the urge to smoke once again.
I remember, back in the day, the actor who played the “Equalizer” character was on the Johnny Carson show. He had quit smoking something like 20+ years ago and Johnny asked him about it. He said that he had the urge “every freaking day”, or words to that effect. He just didn’t smoke.
I’m not sure if that helps, but I just wanted to say that the recurring urge seems to be normal.
Let’s both hang in there. I’m pretty sure I don’t want to start smoking again, but the flesh seems to be weak.
Smoked about 40 years and quit 22 Feb 2010. The previous time I quit was maybe 20 years ago, and it lasted 6 weeks.
God, those urges for a smoke felt like forever. But in reality, I’m thinking they last (at least the really strong parts) less than a minute. This realization, at least for me, has helped me stick with it. And the last few months have been better. I still get urges, but fewer than before.
My husband works on the locked dementia unit of the state veterans’ home.
Most of the people on his floor don’t know whether they’re afoot or horseback. But because of patient’s rights, if they smoked when they knew who they were, they’re allowed to smoke now. Some of them can’t even hold a cigarette. So the ward has what they call “smoking robots” – essentially a hookah. The cig goes on a little plate, and there’s a rubber tube that the person puts in his/her mouth to take a drag. Some of them fall asleep while they’re smoking, even in this state-approved manner, so someone (hubby – a lifelong nonsmoker who hates cig smoke – among them) has to sit there and supervise while these people take 20 minutes to smoke their state-sanctioned-and-scheduled cigarette.
Would you like to end up as one of these old codgers?
You would think at a health care facility, they’d be able to say, “Hey, you know what? If someone’s so far gone that they have to be moved to the locked dementia ward, guess what? They just quit smoking. Say hello to Mr. Patch.” But for some reason that won’t fly.
Girl Hermit, as an “easily addicted to almost anything” person myself, I liked reading this. Can you tell me more? What got you to the point of quitting? How did you deal with breaking the addiction? What did you do that very first day? How are you doing now — two months after the fact?
