It’s been 59 days since I stopped smoking now. I was going to start a thread the day I quit but I never thought I’d actually make it this far. You see, I have the willpower of a shrubbery. I know one of you smoker is going to sneer at me and go "listen to that bastard, he actually made it for 59 days when I can’t make it 59 hours and he has the nerve of saying he lacks willpower. Ima b*sh that m********er’s head in and rip his eyes out!! Ok, so maybe you didn’t think that last part and I’ve been listening to too much eminem recently but my point stands. “What point is that?” you ask, to which I say “Good question indeed! Yes…jolly good then, carry on”. But seriously, I think i’ve only managed to get this far because I’m so lazy and I used that laziness to NOT go buy cigarettes when I wanted them. Anyways, moving on…
I’ve gained some much needed weight, I’ve just started going to the gym and swimming. These are two things I could never have done while continuing to smoke. so I figure I’m on the right track (for now at least, we’ll see how long it lasts…) I still get cravings but I can deal with them (breathe deeply, drink something).
No, my problem is that since I stopped smoking, I have a lot of trouble focusing and tackling tasks that require prolonged concentration periods. I’ve been wanting to backup all my data and reinstall winXP for ages and I still haven’t done it. I’ve been wanting to play several videogames but I don’t do that either. I’ve been wanting to list some items on ebay and I’ve postponed that as well. This annoys me to no end! I can still read for hours or watch motion pictures all day long without trouble so I guess interactivity is a factor there.
This makes me afraid I’ll start smoking again when there is a task I absolutely must stick with (homework, studying for tests, etc.).
I wonder if this happens to many quitters. Either way, thanks for putting up with my rambling and remember kids: “Don’t do drugs!”*
… and I quit nine weeks ago last Sunday. I wasn’t on a strong habit, so it makes sense that my craves stopped being absolutely constant about four or five weeks ago. I still get miserable once in a while, particularly when I’m around my school for student government events or something - the post-SBA-meeting smoke was always something to look forward to.
I was foggy and disconnected four about four to five weeks afterwards, but now, aside from the occasional craving, I feel much more normal. I also don’t recommend doing this, but at the six-and-a-half-week mark I had one of those government events and had a cigarette right after. It didn’t hit me at all, and I’ve really had no desire for a cigarette since.
Gozu, I completely understand where you’re coming from. Ah, a shrubbery you say. If only I were that strong. I have tried cold turkey willpower type way. Lasted around 3 days. Zyban - 3 months. Made me go a bit nuts tbh. Hypno - 3 days. Gum - 3 days. Always the best intentions and then for some stupid reason, go straight back.
Anyway, I just wanted to say that I also suffer loss of concentration. If I am doing some heavy analysis work it takes twice as long and may contain errors. Not sure why tbh. This has to be a temporary thing otherwise the non smokers out there wouldn’t get anything done. Perhaps your brain is just going through a period of transition.
I’m the last person in the world to give advice on quitting (or maybe the best), and can only say that smoking that cig will not make everything better. Quite the opposite. Keep with it, and stay an inspiration to me.
Bout time I set my quit date again…
“Giving up smoking is easy, I’ve done it hundreds of times.”
I quit in April last year (please don’t hate me)… I still miss it, from time to time. Probably always will. However, I don’t regret giving up. I did it cold turkey, with willpower only. If you can do it that way, I think it’s the best way to do it - that way you can show yourself from day one that you can do it. If you use some gum or similar, you can find yourself thinking that it’s down to the gum, not you.
It gets easier, is all I can tell you. And it’s worth it. The health and monetary benefits are worth it. It gets easier, slowly at first, but it gets easier. Well done on 2 months - I’ve been told that the chemical effects on your body can last about 3 months, so you’re well over half way to being free of the addiction. Then there’s still the habit breaking (I still want to have a smoke when waiting for public transport), but that’s easier.
Reading the book (the whole book, so you can’t get by on just reading a quick outline) replaces the feeling you still want and need to smoke, with the feeling you’re really glad you don’t smoke anymore.
Reading the book also helps when you’ve quitted smoking already.
I quit six years ago (go ahead and hate me), and you do get past the point of wanting one – well, wanting one desperately. I think I was at the six month point when I was stuck in traffic and found myself absent-mindedly reaching for a cig because, hell, that was the reflex.
As Fromage says, it really does take several months for the last of the immediate chemical stuff to get out of your system. You will get to the point where you can concentrate on complicated stuff without nicotine, though, really. I personally am still oral as hell, so I’m a chewer – not gum, particularly (despite the three flavors of Extra in my cubicle as we speak), but pens, etc. I tend to walk around the office with a pen in my mouth, longwise.
Hang in there, it does get better, really. You’ll get to the point where you’ll walk past a gaggle of smokers and not want to join in, really.
And the whole sense of smell thing is pretty damn cool. Have you started noticing yet that smokers stink?
Ah yes, the EasyWay ™. That’s what got me to stop smoking to begin with. I purchased Allen Carr’s book and I stopped smoking right after I finished reading it. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to take the easy way out he describes. Instead, I’ve been using the willpower method that he raves against. See, Allen’s book is basically positive brainwashing. It doesn’t work for everybody. In my case, i guess it partially worked which is a pity. Still, I’m not complaining.
That said, I would like to thank you all for your kind words of encouragement and wish good luck to those of you who are trying to quit. I do recommend you try Allen Carr’s easyway if you haven’t already. You may not believe in it but it really can’t hurt. It’s a short book and you can smoke while reading it.
It’s been almost nine months since I stopped now and I just don’t see myself picking it up again. I’ve had stressful tests, my beloved grandmother died, I’ve had many a fight with my SO and I’ve been depressed. Throught it all, the allure of the cigarette was never strong enough to break me. Not by a long shot. I’m not saying I never will start again. We all know God loves humbling the arrogant. Or does He? Am I being arrogant by claiming to know what God loves and what he does not? Do I have to take everything I said back? Am I getting sidetracked? The answer to the last question is a resounding YES.
So, do I still get the urge to smoke? Sometimes when I see someone enjoying a cigarette. But it has the same appeal to me as sucking on a candy THEN shoveling two tons of standard issue shit in my mouth. To use less fancy words, tis’ totally not worth it. The urge is weak and fades quickly. And I get them less and less often. I remember when I used to be a smoker wishing to quit, I’d read people who had quit admitting to occasional urges and I’d despair. It’s really not that big a deal. It’s like the urge to punch someone in the face. You’ll definitely feel it from time to time for the rest of your life but it’s an easy one to supress (for most people anyways…) and it really doesn’t affect your life in any significant way.
Funnily enough, every few weeks, I will dream I’m smoking and I will feel guilty about it when I wake up. Stupid dreams!
I kept on gaining weight and I’m now into normal-people category at 150 lbs. It’s funny because I didn’t really notice any alteration of my eating habits. Go figure.
On the negative side, I stopped going to the gym and swimming. I have fairly good excuses for that but they don’t justify me stopping cold turkey in the least. the same inertia that helped me not go buy ciggies is making it hard for me to get my ass up and go to the gym.
Congratulations! You did an extremely difficult thing, and you succeeded. Now you’re one of the ex-smokers all smokers envy. Have they started getting unpleasant to you yet?
Good for you, Gozu - I’m at the six week mark, almost, and the desire - even the allure - is still there. It’s not a constant craving, I’m past that now, but sometimes I just want a cigarette - I have to be vigilant about not giving in to it. It’ll be some time before I’m truly an ex-smoker, I think.
Six months here, after smoking for over 10 years. Still miss it very much. Alot harder since my coworkers all smoke. Just remember, You don’t do that anymore.
One year ago I stopped smoking after 31 years with the habit and I miss it. Didn’t have any relapse because I have one hell of a reason for not smoking again, no matter how much I want to (and some days, I DO want to). You see, last June, I was diagnosed with high blood pressure. Phfft ! you say, lots of people have high blood pressure and still smoke. Yes, but my father also had high blood pressure and stopped for a while and restarted again. He is now 15 years dead.
All that time I taught he was stupid to restart smoking knowing that it caused his problem and figured he deserved to die because of his stupidity. I figure I learned something from his death.
I quit 11 months ago and still get the occassional craving. I’ve quit several times for up to a year, once for four years, so I’m doing my best to remain vigilant, and not use stress as a reason to give in. Drinking lots of water really helps, as well as deep-breathing, and finding something with which to distract myself.
It’s really not that tough at this point, but early on it was hell. I used the patch, which made the nicotine withdrawal easier, but also made for some wild and extremely vivid dreams.
Anyway, my best to everyone here who’s quit or is trying to.
Coming up on 5 years for me, man that is hard to believe. I VERY rarely get a craving, usually if I do it’s because I catch just a whiff of a particularly good cigarette.
One weird thing that happened with me , after about 3 years smoke free, was I got up way earlier than usual one morning and walked into my local gas station for a cup of coffee.
When the cashier said “Anything else?”
I said “Yeah, a pack of Marlboro Red box” and didn’t even realize it until she set them down on the counter. My mind boggled and then I had to explain that I didn’t really want the cigs, just the coffee.
I think I was at the six month point when I was stuck in traffic and found myself absent-mindedly reaching for a cig because, hell, that was the reflex.