I'm quitting smoking . . . sigh

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I promised my husband I would quit as soon as we moved into the new house. That was two months ago. I haven’t smoked in the house-- I stand outside and shiver.

I’ve been trying to wean myself off of cigarettes. Every pack I buy, I say with grim determination “This is the *last * pack I’m buying.”

My plan was this: to gradually increase the time between each cigarette. I’m up to three hours now, but when I go to work, all of my good intentions are blown to hell. Everyone here smokes, and I find myself doing well if I space them out to one an hour. I tried only bringing two cigarettes with me to work, and found myself bumming one off of my happily puffing co-worker. Strangest thing is that at home, I don’t have a problem. In fact, I don’t even think about smoking most of the time.

Another problem is the fact that I really don’t * want * to quit. I am going to, because I promised, but I really enjoy smoking. If it weren’t for that promise . . . Oh well, I made a committment, right? And I’m determined to keep it.

So, will my plan work, or am I just deluding myself? I really don’t want to go into a harsh period of nicotine withdrawal, so cold turkey is out of the question. Any suggestions, guys?

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http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=20927

Some good advice in the above link from our pal Satan.

Good Luck.

3

Lissa, I just posted a thread to Cristi and anyone else interested in quitting smoking with us. Our original plan was to make Monday, May 1st our quit day. I know it’s not much notice for you to join us full force if you don’t want to go cold turkey, but if Cristi’s willing to take this plunge with me, I guarantee we’re going to have at least one hyper-bitching-pulling-our-hair-out-give-me-a-damn-cigarette thread to commiserate in and you’re welcome to join us.

Unlike you though, I really do want to quit. I’ve come to hate being a smoker. My house stinks no matter how much Febreeze and Glade Plug-ins I use. My hands, hair, clothes and breath stink. Here in California we can’t smoke anywhere in public, so I’m constantly excusing myself to go outside and missing half the fun while I’m gone.

It is a filthy, disgusting habit that is not at all attractive and I desperately want to become a non-smoker. I’m just terrified that I won’t have the strength to do it. I’ve tried the patch, the gum, hypnosis, accupuncture, relaxation tapes - the works - all with no results. I’m on Zyban now and praying it takes the edge off come Monday.

I hope you’ll quit with us, as I’m sure you’ll feel so much better once you do. And won’t it be nice to have your husband kiss you without feeling like he’s licking a dirty ashtray? I bet you get more kisses out of him! That would certainly be inspirational enough for me - if I had a husband - LOL.

4

Well, I’ve known people who quite cold turkey, and even though you are trying to ween yourself gradually off the nicotine, it’s really the same thing.

Go see a doctor (if you are serious about quitting) and ask him for help. I did that. The doctor prescribed me Zyban. It rocks. Look at my sig below and you will see how much it helped a 2-pack a day Marlboro man…

Yer pal,
Satan

http://homepages.go.com/~cmcinternationalrecords/devil.gif

TIME ELAPSED SINCE I QUIT SMOKING:
Two weeks, six days, 16 hours, 52 minutes and 37 seconds.
828 cigarettes not smoked, saving $103.51.
Life saved: 2 days, 21 hours, 0 minutes.

5

Lissa you can’t quit because someone else wants you too. IMHO that is just setting yourself up for failure.

Quit because You want to. Here are some reasons to quit free of charge from an ex-smoker.
You’ll be healthier,
Your breath will smell cleaner,
You’ll live longer,
Your teeth will be whiter,
You’ll smell better to others,
Your kids ( if any ) will appreciate it
You won’t be “segregated” in public places,
Food will taste better,
Your car will smell better,
Your clothes will smell better
After sex, instead of having a smoke, you can just roll over and do it again…that’s gotta be healthy! :slight_smile:
It will save you and yours tons of money
You probably won’t die a slow agonizing death from emphysema or lung cancer.
Your heart will be healthier

Well I could go on but I think you get my point.

Good luck and I will be thinking about you and hoping that you win the battle.

6

Lissa, here is a link to another quitting smoking thread.

I’m going to try & quit too. I can’t promise it will be on May 1, but it’s going to be soon. There’s more of an explanation in there. Trust me, though, you’ll have plenty of support!

7

Whoops. Try this.

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This isn’t really about smoking, but it’s the same concept. I was… well… fat. and i couldn’t stand it. I finally realized that i get so bored that that’s all i had to do, so i got into some other activities and stopped eating things that were so bad for me. I was the same as you, i would say “I’m going to eat healthy” or something like that, but i never would. Once you reallize that it’s the best thing for you it’ll be easier. It also helps to get involved with other things. It made it a lot easier for me once i realized that i’ll feel so much better when i’m done… and i do. sorry if i was preaching…

9

I have some experience on this and there are two levels you will have to deal with here, but at least at the level you are dealing with now, which is trying to stop I might be able to help. Nico-derm patches work real well in the circumstances where other people smoking around you cause the urges you are trying so hard to resist surge to an unbearable level. I wear them on the top of my shoulders because they bug me on my arms and pull a bit at my skin like a band-aid when you move your arm or your shirt rubs or whatever. I find they work very successfully.

There is a second level I am having a harder time dealing with and as a long-time smoker you may too. That is in times of very heavy stress I break down and buy some cigarettes even though I don’t have a nicotine addiction but instead want the buzz or stress relief provided by cigarettes. I went over 3 months without smoking using the patches, the last 2 months I wasn’t even wearing the patches, well past the point where I am feeling any nicotine addiction. But my life is rough right now and smoking is sometimes the only release that works for me, so I smoke to relieve the stress. But in your case, your determination or your support system may be enough to get you through these hard times of stress or familar circumstances where you used to smoke.

The patches will end up costing you about $4.00 a day, but you can buy as little as a 7 day supply at any pharmacy or drugstore to see if they offer you any help and you won’t be out a whole lot of money if they don’t. They are a whole lot easier than will-power. They come with these audio cassettes that I imagine tell you what to do or something, but I just pitch everything but the patches into the garbage. They really work for me and I hope they might work for you.

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Satan - almost three weeks! Great! Question: Are you still taking the Zyban?

I quit last summer – for a whole week – after a sort of botched Zyban program. I took it for awhile, found myself losing the urge to smoke, decided I didn’t really want to quit, and stopped taking it. (Guess I wasn’t ready.)

Then I started taking it again and quit painlessly for a week. I was amazed – I’d been visiting mom in Seattle, which is always stressful, and my “quit day” was the day we flew back home, also stressful. But absolutely no problems.

Vacation over, back to work (also stressful), and a week went by with no cigarettes and no problems. Then the prescription ran out, I didn’t get it refilled, and within a few days, I was smoking again.

So what I’m wondering (and I guess I could ask my doc but I think I trust you more – you’re actually doing it) – how long can you stay on the Zyban? Like forever, maybe? Sometimes I think that’s what I’m going to need.

Heck, I wouldn’t mind staying on it. I liked that nice calm feeling, without having to worry about where to keep the pipe.

11

AuntiePam:

For more detailed information go to the Zyban website, but I can tell you as someone who quite for seven months a couple of years ago my experience with it.

It takes away the addiction to nicotine for a while by telling the part of your brain that gets addicted that it’s not. As such, cigarettes taste horrible once the drug kicks in, because you are no longer addicted (while on the drug).

The hard thing is the physical part - the packing the tobacco before breaking open a new pack, the hand and oral fixations… Some peopel chew gum for this. I prefer toothpicks, since I can also use my hands with them.

After the first three weeks, you are no longer addicted to tobacco physically. The perscription is usually a month plus a refill. Even the refill is kind of up to you (I didn’t get it when I successfully quit last time), since it’s there juast to make sure.

The phycological things will stay for a longer time. I know people who have quit for years who will, every once in a while, get the urge to smoke. That’s what happened to me seven months later, and that’s why I started again.

After you stop taking the drug (doctors do NOT want you to be on it more than 10 weeks or so at the most usually), it gradually leaves your system, but you are no longer needing nicotine when it subsides. So, any more than two months is because of a special thing your doctor decides.

I feel great, and I love looking at the meter everytime I post or send an e-mail because it shows me how much I’m gaining in real terms - money and life!

Good luck! If you need support, let me know…

Yer pal,
Satan

http://homepages.go.com/~cmcinternationalrecords/devil.gif

TIME ELAPSED SINCE I QUIT SMOKING:
Three weeks, 20 hours, 24 minutes and 8 seconds.
874 cigarettes not smoked, saving $109.25.
Life saved: 3 days, 50 minutes.

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I figured I should have gotten the refill after quitting for just a week – but it was so easy, the quitting – I fooled myself.

I read in that Physician’s Desk Reference (the Big Book of Drugs) that another side effect of Zyban/Welbutrin is that it has a slight numbing effect on the mouth. That’s probably one of the things that made quitting easier.

I’m gonna do it again. I know the lung cancer risk will never go away, but at least it’ll be easier on the heart and lungs, and I need to put on a few pounds too.

Thank you! And thanks for the offer of support too.

13

TwiLiTe wrote:

Congratulations on your healthier eating habits, TwiLiTe. The hardest part about losing weight is that unlike most other addictions, you can’t simply STOP EATING. You still have to eat; just eat “healthier.” It makes it so much easier to go on the slippery slide down to french fries. [and that is from someone who has done both – quit smoking, as well as lose subsantial amounts of weight.]

Cristi, as far as the quitting smoking thing goes, the two times in my life I quit, I quit cold turkey. I finished smoking my last cigarette. Then instead of saying, “Oh man, I can’t ever smoke again…” I simply threw everything out. All the ashtrays, all the butts, all the matches, the lighters. I discovered that my craving was compounded by HABIT (I always smoked after a meal, etc.) so when those habit moments came, I just did something else so I wouldn’t think about it. Quitting cold turkey, my cravings went away within a couple of weeks.

These days, I am amazed at how expensive cigarettes are! Why don’t you put your cigarette money into a piggy bank? If you’re a pack-a-day smoker, at the start of the day put your $3.00 in your piggy bank, and say “I can’t smoke today; I already spent my smokes money.” At the end of the month you’ll have an extra $100 you can spend. Could I suggest you spend it on a fancy dinner? After a month of not smoking, you will be in joyous rapture as you appreciate all of the subtle fragrances of your sumptuous meal.

– Baglady