# The SDMB Ex-Smoker’s club, 2001 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 19, 2001, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ex-smoker-s-club-2001-edition/62548 "2001-04-19T14:49:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Eohippus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Eohippus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eohippus)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2001, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ex-smoker-s-club-2001-edition/62548/21 "2001-04-20T12:32:42Z")
Two months and a half, cold-turkey smoke free and counting. Tried this before, but I cheated every time, and subsequently went back to it. This time it seems to be working. The main difference this time is that I stopped weed at the same time as cigarrettes, and found I don’t crave either as much as I feared I would. Every other time I tried, I’d use joints to replace the cigarretes I wasn’t smoking: problem was, as soon as I finished the joint, I wanted a cigarrette to follow it. ---
**Author:** ![Eohippus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Eohippus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eohippus)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2001, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ex-smoker-s-club-2001-edition/62548/22 "2001-04-20T12:35:07Z")
Hey, it must be working! I seem to have forgotten even how to SPELL cigarette! ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2001, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ex-smoker-s-club-2001-edition/62548/23 "2001-04-20T13:22:41Z")
I caved. Big time. But my other choice was decking my General Counsel in front of the Board of Directors, so I’m trying to be philosophical about it. ::sigh:: Day 1: No cravings so far on account of the nicotine overdose I gave myself last night. ---
**Author:** ![Francesca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@Francesca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francesca)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2001, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ex-smoker-s-club-2001-edition/62548/24 "2001-04-20T14:00:33Z")
Oh dear. Well Manny (can i call you that btw?) - the door’s open - come back on in. You know what i think we should also do? Use this thread as a i-have-to-rant-or-i’ll-punch-someone thread. Nothing i or you can say will make yesterday’s slip-up go away, so put it behind you and move on. You don’t have to smoke today - the nicotine demon is evil and lies. Grab your patches and get rolling again. Fran I’m not making any sense am I? _brain addled_ ---
**Author:** ![Wartime\_Consigliori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@Wartime\_Consigliori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wartime_Consigliori)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2001, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ex-smoker-s-club-2001-edition/62548/25 "2001-04-20T14:12:44Z")
Don’t give up the ship, Manhattan. Some of the best hunting dogs are gun-shy the first time out in the field (or something like that). Stay with it. Don’t give Philip Morris any more of your hard-earned money. We’re all rooting for you. To everyone else who is trying to quit–Hang In There! ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2001, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ex-smoker-s-club-2001-edition/62548/26 "2001-04-20T15:36:00Z")
No, no. I’m back on the wagon. As opposed to prior attempts, which I made because I _ought_ to quit, or my company’s health plan offered a quitting bonus, or I was dating a non-smoker or whatever, this time I really _want_ to quit. And I’m going to, dammit! You guys rock for making it as far as you have. ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2001, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ex-smoker-s-club-2001-edition/62548/27 "2001-04-20T16:16:38Z")
I quit 4 years ago, for 3 years. Last year was a very rough year: My mother died, I turned 30, and my SO and I broke up. All in about 4 months time. After the last event I said to hell with it and started smoking again. I knew I had missed smoking, I had just forgotten how much. I smoked a pack that first afternoon and didn’t even get sick. I quit again Feb. 18 at 9pm. I did it the same way I did back in 97: cold turkey. It’s not the nicotine that really gets me, it’s the physical act of smoking that I miss, that I crave. I lovingly inhale when walking by someone smoking (still do this), I open my co-workers packs and take a deep whiff, I’ve even found myself getting up from my desk at work to go have a cig, remembering a few jarring seconds later that I don’t smoke anymore! For me the craving never went away when I quit the first time. I don’t expect it to go away this time, it does lessen though. Instead of craving one every day, I’ll crave only once a week, then once a month, then only when something stressful happens. Good luck to all of us! ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2001, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ex-smoker-s-club-2001-edition/62548/28 "2001-04-20T17:00:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mauvaise \* > \*\*I quit 4 years ago, for 3 years. Last year was a very rough year: My mother died, I turned 30, and my SO and I broke up. All in about 4 months time. After the last event I said to hell with it and started smoking again. > \*\* It was turning 30 that actually made me want to quit. Not consciously, I don’t think, like on March 16 I just suddenly said, “I’m 30. I think I’ll quit smoking.” But I do think that it was that double digit rollover that made me seriously think “I don’t enjoy this anymore. Do I really need it?” Well, one physically incapacitating vice down, one to go. I guess I’m still waiting for the turning point for the weight…40, maybe? 🙂 I hope it’s sooner… ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2001, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ex-smoker-s-club-2001-edition/62548/29 "2001-04-20T21:49:31Z")
My best friend and I quit when her mother died (28 months ago) of lung cancer. One thing we found was that if you can manage to get through one of the serious high-tragedy periods of your life, it makes the rest so much easier. After that you always think “Look, if I didn’t smoke at the funeral, I can’t smoke now.” It puts all the other temptations into perspective. I honestly think that if I were to start smoking now, the me of 25 months ago would find away t ocome forward thru time and kick my ass for causeing her so much pain and then wasting it. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ex-smoker-s-club-2001-edition/62548/30 "2001-04-21T01:27:40Z")
Well, three weeks ago, I could’ve counted myself in with y’all, but unfortunately, I succumbed to stress and pressure and started smoking again. My goal is to quit again by my birthday two months from now. This assumes a lot. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Wartime\_Consigliori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@Wartime\_Consigliori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wartime_Consigliori)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ex-smoker-s-club-2001-edition/62548/31 "2001-04-21T03:53:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MsRobyn \* > **(U)nfortunately, I succumbed to stress and pressure and started smoking again.** MsRobyn, please realize that a slip is not a slide, when it comes to rejecting cigarettes. There is no penalty for a “do over”. Put those cigs down, and don’t let “stress and pressure” allow you to believe that you are not stronger than the cigarettes. BTW…I define stress and pressure as **"having to walk down to the unemployment office, praying to God that I can find a temporary muscle job that will give me cash now, so I can provide for my children"** So, quit smoking cigarettes. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ex-smoker-s-club-2001-edition/62548/32 "2001-04-21T03:59:07Z")
WC… I define “pressure” as “cross-country move, living with parents, and a marriage that’s not in very good shape”. I can say that I’m adjusting to life in Texas, the 'rents and I have worked out our differences, and the marriage is still up in the air, but we’re working it out. So, I will quit again just yet. Robin ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ex-smoker-s-club-2001-edition/62548/33 "2001-04-21T14:21:43Z")
good morning friends, i quit a 35 year habit. at the end i was smoking three packs a day, usually lighting one with the butt of the last one. i had tried cold turkey a few times, but couldn’t seem to get past the first week. determination won out though. sunflower (mrs. longhair) and i quit the same day. we put the money we had been spending on cigarettes aside, and spent the week of our 25th wedding anniversary at a resort hotel with an ocean view balcony in san juan puerto rico. I have been cigarette free for: Two years, four months, three weeks, 9 hours, 16 minutes and 44 seconds. this means 52343 cigarettes not smoked, saving $7,197.19.@ $2.75 a pack Life saved: 25 weeks, 6 days, 17 hours, 55 minutes. get your own smoker’s quit meter [here](http://www.silkquit.org/main/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Pedro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/919ad9/32.png) [@Pedro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pedro)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ex-smoker-s-club-2001-edition/62548/34 "2001-04-21T15:02:00Z")
I realize my attempts at quiting were quite feeble, one week or so because it’s a dumb, filthy vice but a lot of things don’t help, mainly **mindset** of course, but the fact that I’m still young and reasonably healthy (18), my best friend smokes, the odd joint here and there (free for a month for no special reason), the stop over at the bar with friends, etc. I’ve been smoking for 2 years and I would happily quite if it were just like that. The withdrawl symptoms are there but I also think the worse is the psychological/physical aspect of the habit, not the addiction itself. I’ll manage 1 week without smoke reasonably well and then feel a real craving, nothing new here I guess. Something that I MUST do when I really go about quiting (soon I hope since my girlfriend doesn’t smoke and that’s a lot of support) is quit beer and mostly coffee… _there’s are few things better than a smoke after a good meal and a expresso coffee_ and that’s a major pain in the ass, dropping it. Anyway I enjoyed reading this thread and best wishes to those trying to quit. Like a friend of mine said “it will always stay in the back of your head” but it really is worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ex-smoker-s-club-2001-edition/62548/35 "2001-04-21T22:00:21Z")
I have been made an offer I can’t refuse. So I’ll continue my weaning (I’m down to 7 a day) and will be clear by the time finals are over for this semester. In 3 weeks. I’m surrounded by chain smokers so staying off is going to be the hardest part. That’s what made me start again after both my kids were born. But, like I said, it’s an offer I can’t pass up. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wartime\_Consigliori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@Wartime\_Consigliori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wartime_Consigliori)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ex-smoker-s-club-2001-edition/62548/36 "2001-04-22T00:14:54Z")
To **MsRobyn** for my extremely callous previous post on this thread. I honestly did not mean to make light of the pressures facing you or anyone else in this community. I honestly didn’t mean for that remark to sound as jerky as it came across. I resolve to make better use of the “preview” button in the future. Having said that, I hope everybody trying to quit is still hanging in there. Stay with it! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Francesca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@Francesca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francesca)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ex-smoker-s-club-2001-edition/62548/37 "2001-04-22T18:54:38Z")
Checking in for Sunday evening. Still nicotine-free, so that’s now 10 days and 3 hours since my last cigarette. It’s also 4 days since my last bit of gum. Hurrah for me. I think it might be getting easier and i’m thinking about it less constantly now, although weekends are easier for me anyway since i spend them with my SO and i’ve never smoked around him so i’m used to that. I know i’ve got a difficult week ahead since it’s my first week unemployed and therefore i shall be unoccupied. So i shall be trying to keep myself busy - obviously, i’ve got to jobhunt, and i’ve also got the gym and The Sims to entertain me. I was quite impressed on Saturday night when down the pub with SO and friends who were viciously smoking at me. I used this trick (and yes, i know it’s a bit lame but it helped me) - I was picturing each of the people sat there with cigarettes in their hands as having an invisible chain linking them to the cigs. They are chained! I am free! I concentrated on the ludicrousness of sitting there inhaling from a small white stick and blowing smoke out of your mouth. If you think about it, it’s really quite a bizarre thing to do. So i’m telling myself. **Manhatten** how’s it going? How was your weekend? **Arden Ranger** how’s the cutting down going? Hope we’re all funkalicious. Fran ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ex-smoker-s-club-2001-edition/62548/38 "2001-04-22T19:02:45Z")
Well, **Francesca** , all I can say is bribery is a strong motivator. I’ve been up since 7AM and have only had 1-1/2. Way down from the 14 I would have normally had. I’m impressed. Going out to the bars is going to be tough for me. I _always_ smoke _alot_ when I drink! ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ex-smoker-s-club-2001-edition/62548/39 "2001-04-22T19:17:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wartime Consigliori \* > \*\*To **MsRobyn** for my extremely callous previous post on this thread. I honestly did not mean to make light of the pressures facing you or anyone else in this community. I honestly didn’t mean for that remark to sound as jerky as it came across. I resolve to make better use of the “preview” button in the future. > > Having said that, I hope everybody trying to quit is still hanging in there. Stay with it! 😉 \*\* No offense taken, WC. Friends? Robin ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ex-smoker-s-club-2001-edition/62548/40 "2001-04-22T19:51:52Z")
I’ve been “quit” for a while, but I still have the occasional relapse, especially when drinking. I do have the occasional cigar, and I don’t really count them, as they don’t make me want to have a cigarette. But the last time I had a cigar, the taste was so crappy that I couldn’t smoke it all the way through. It was fresh, and of the better variety, so maybe I’m leaving even this habit by the wayside. Most times when I cave and light a cigarette, I get a few puffs and put it out 'cause it tastes so @#$%&\* nasty. A good reminder of why I quit in the first place. Unlike most people I _lost_ weight when I quit, as I took up regular exercise at the same time; and while I did eat more, I managed fairly successfully to keep it healthy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ex-smoker-s-club-2001-edition/62548.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-ex-smoker-s-club-2001-edition/62548.md?page=3)