Quitting smoking and the ensuing effects

My nails are in pieces yeah.

Anyway, the first two weeks were the worst, the first two months were kind of bad, too, but I stuck with it and it was one of the better things I have ever done in my life. Hang in there!

x-post

Dear god, you can overdose on WATER?!

Ronan, if you feel a twinge, take an aspirin or paracetamol as it dulls that nagging but gross pulling-in-the-veins sensation that you're meant to have for about a week of not-smoking. Don't take more than 3 a day though. Also, the steam room is your friend, if you have access to a gym-type thing. Take a bottle of water in there and spend at least half an hour in total (out of, say, an hour - you go out and cool off for a bit every 10 minutes or so) and you'll clear yourself right out, especially lungs-wise.

Oh, and as far as your brain is concerned, a mile run and a small hit of smack are essentially the same thing, except for the running not being a dangerous drug.

I dunno, last time I got that feeling of actually wanting to stop for a while, I gave up for 6 months.

Along the same lines as toothpicks, try those plastic coffee stir sticks you get pretty much everywhere (can't remember if they have them in UK/Ireland, though). They last longer than toothpicks, you can really chew the living shit out of them.

- Eat buttons. Chocolate ones
- I used to lean out of my building having a fag; I just did this, and breathed deeply in some voga type fashion - I figured the benefit of a fag break was the break, so made sure I did it. I was also able to look down at all the fags I'd smoked.
- Got some disgusting herbal ones; my desire to not smoke a fag became a desire not to smoke a rancid herbal one

Hang in there. Read Allen Carr. Remember that having a fag puts you in a state of not needing a fag; bite the bullet and you can be in that place all the time.

I did smoke some joints the other night but that doesn't count.

As for the not-smoking thing itself, it's been quite easy, after the one day of stomach cramps. Once you're actually into not smoking, rather than trying to resist it, you wonder what the big deal with quitting is.

Not drinking a lot and not having any big nights on anything else is pretty much urgent and key until you're over the the first horrors. I found much the hardest thing was getting used to not smoking whilst out on the piss or clubbing.

-- Ricardo (boyofbadger...), March 23rd, 2004 10:47 AM.

Moi aussi; but have managed it and is a very nice feeling

-- Dave B (dave.boyl...), March 23rd, 2004 10:51 AM.

Yeah - I was drunker than I've been in ages last Saturday, but didn't even come close to smoking. And it felt great - esp. the next day. I was so afeared of being able to socialise without the prop of a cigarette, but it's actually easier in a very important way. I tended to view sitting smoking a fag as a valid pose, which it it, but a very limiting one. Not having one makes me alert, vibrant and somehow in touch with my whole body.

This belly thing is really bugging me. I've got this urge to do sit-ups. Like I have the urge to run, but with a slightly gammy foot from atlas-dropping injury, I shall leave this a while.

Can we arrange sporting activities for the Dublin weekend? I'm a new fitness evangelist. Lauren is going to hate me.

My friend, who I am staying with, in Dublin, plays ULTIMATE FRISBEE. Should we try to play that?

Perhaps football is easier. And I can actually play that, a bit.

(or, we need to settle this man to man, in the boxing ring)

Don't eat or do anything else to compensate for it, either!

I've also realised that I appear to have been defined by others by my smoking pikey Lambert and Butler and smoking lots of them - lots of people have commented how impressed they are by it and express admiration that they didn't think I could do it (although this could mean that we have little to say to each other and its a useful neutral gambit to avoid embarrassing silences).

i will punch someone in the face

I did that thing last night where I purposefully left my cigarettes at home before going to the bar (I'm not trying to quit, just to not smoke too much) and then by the third beer was scanning the room to see what strangers looked kind enough to let me bum one.

i've sort of given up on the concept of ever properly giving up. i feel a lot happier now.

i had it down to about 3-4 a day, but i was making them count.

Have other quitters developed an allergic reaction to smoke? Within minutes of going into a bar or smoker's home, my sinuses start to clog up something fierce.

im gonna quit smoking today

that never happened first time i quit. probably because i lived with a heavy smoker. lol also bars won't be smokey from this sunday.

crosspost

Smoking ban comes in here in 2 dayz. Wondering if I should try and quit.

Probably wont, cause I'm hopeless.

i'm sure it was easier first time round :(

Wait Oz is banning it the same day as us? Coincidence?

I think theyre CRUEL becoz it is WINTER here and WTF, making us have to go OUTSIDE to SMOEK in the COLD, barstools. Grr.

I dunno, I was planning to quit when the ban comes in, but I know it probably won't help because it's summer and going outside won't be a hassle. I think I'll probably just cut down naturally as the weather gets colder and set myself the new year as a deadline.

I'd probably be able to quit easily if I gave up pot, cos I only smoke cigarettes when I'm drinking, but I'm still getting nicotine in spliffs which keeps me hooked.

Yeah pot is what got me onto the smokes in the first place :( I feel like such a tool.

lol smokerz

Almost all my friends smoke, which doesn't help. Probably why I still smoke anyway, I gave up proper full time smoking 10 years ago!

caught this last night between two other things i was half-watching:

Child Chain Smoker:
http://www.channel4.com/health/microsites/C/child_chain_smoker/

kid looked like little jimmy krankie but the cigarettes were, i think, the least of his worries.

It took me seven years of non-smoking before I finally got to the stage when I knew I'd never want a cigarette again, whatever the circumstances.

Pot-smokerz - get a pipe! It worked for me, now I only smoke the tabs when I am full of drunk. I don't even like smoking cigarettes at any other time really. This is a big change for me as someone who couldn't conceive of driving a car or going to work without having a cigarette. (<weak>I am totally dependent on nicotine gum at certain times of day, though!</weak>)

man i did these yogic breathing excersises last night. smoking afterwards felt weird at first - it felt foreign in my lungs. but actually the breathing excersises left me very ungrounded. smoking is grounding and afterwards i went to bed.

Have other quitters developed an allergic reaction to smoke? Within minutes of going into a bar or smoker's home, my sinuses start to clog up something fierce.

i wouldn't go so far as to call it an allergic reaction, but yes - my sinuses immediately plug up in smoky environments.

i think i'm done. i had this idea that i could accept it because it really helped with certain physiological issues with me (diet, sleep), but...i couldn't really accept it.

i only smoke when i'm drunk -- the concept of having a cigarette when the sun is out and i am sober is alien and sort of disgusting to me. then, two beers happen and it's night out, and all i want is a cig. a big chunk of this, though, is that smoking is a great way to chat with strangers. go outside (banned here, mostly), ask for a light or a smoke, make a friend

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t73/rubyred79/MEK10goingon20II.jpg

I gave up the time at the top of this thread.

Whose that pic by? I have seen it beforee but can't remember the photographer.

Yeah pot is what got me onto the smokes in the first place

Hah! My husband was the same.

I didn't smoke for a long time - about a year - but it's enough to have my hooked for life, I fear. I don't think I'll pick up a cig *full-time* but the craving will never disappear.

I quit because I wanted to have a baby, but, damn, it was hard. Even now I crave for cigs. :-(

http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v79/122/108/656252132/n656252132_131623_7309.jpg

I didn't find it too difficult to quit but must admit I've been craving them lately.

I quite smoking after something like 15 years. I eased into a pretty heavy habit in college and eased out a few years after. It took me 12 years to get through college. Just kidding about that part. The little girl smoking up above makes me want to ban smoking. No smoking in my house! If quitting is so hard, why do smokers not try every option open to them? I know many who draw the line at buying the $40 pack of Nicorette a couple times a year. In other words, they draw the line at being retarded.

-e

Based on that pic: smoking doesn't fatten you. (just kidding)

nathalie, the photo is by mary ellen mark - it's one of my favourites.

Yes! I absolutely LOVE her photography. Especially this picture.

GUYS i havent had a cigarette in nearly 3 months! its great so far. i smell good.

the last time i quit i made the mistake of having a few while drunk which eventually lead up to me starting up full stop. i am hoping i dont make that mistake again...

but i was super cranky after quitting cold turkey in april. mega nic-fits.

I don't have any problem stopping, I have a problem staying stopped. I've been smoking like crazy lately because I know that I'm going to have to quit soon. *sigh*

teh_kit to thread tbh

Every conversation outside the pub is "Hey this is some bullshit". It's boring tbh.

Uh, and how is that different from the boring talk inside the pub? Right, no smoke. Which is a good/bad thing. :-)

I'm just waiting for the day when people outside will have sump'n different to say.

so far i have uh... cut down. i am rubbish.

there's this really fucked-up ad for nicotine patches at the moment, with all these monsters in yr lungs or something making life hell for the recently non-smoking. i mean get 1x grip, yeah it's not fun but you survive.

This reminds me of a friend who plastared a gazillion patches during a flight to the US. She's a chainsmoker and was scared of the withdrawel effects during the flight. Stupid cow had a nicotine overdose of course. She had to lay in for a day or so feeling utterly crap. hahahahahahahahaha

Also, I still really can't squirm a little when I am chatting with the pregnant smoker during our break (in knitting class). :-(

kinda glad to have excuse not to go to pub anymore though.

u MAD!!

I'm disappointed to learn that some of my favourite people on this board smoke. I guess it's good we can talk over the internet so I don't have to breathe it! I used to be quite attached to the little buggers myself but now I would never go back, even in the thickest drunken state.

weird

does anyone remember, of the first three days of quitting, which was the hardest? is the first day pretty easy, and THEN the real nicotine withdrawl kicks in?

haha so now i think it means cutting out coffee, tea, alcohol, and big meals for me, too. because those were the things that were causing what a lot of people would refer to as "bloating" or what in chinese medicine is known as liver qi stagnation - the thing smoking was clearing.

anyone tried Chantix?

Matt, I think the first day is pretty easy, its the next 14 days that are pretty tough.

I still kind of want one when I'm drunk. It doesn't help that a lot of my friends are social smokers if they are out drinking. Also, now that I am a non-smoker, cigarette smoke really smells like burnt popcorn to me... which I kind of like! I have a faux-cigarette that I made out of a rolled-up beer label that I hold onto sometimes, just like a security blanket (I even pretend to flick the ash for old times sake).

one of the more difficult moments of the last 48 hours was about 15 minutse ago, drinking a cup of tea with a mate who was smoking a cigarette. i don't think the real physical problems are too bad at the moment (though i haven't had alcohol yet). the worst part at the moment is the feeling that there is no release or relief of any sort.

thank god die hard 4 was all 21st century and didn't have bruce smoking the whole time. i would have gone nuts.

a friend who plastared a gazillion patches

Har that reminded me of the abfab when
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39293000/jpg/_39293301_vodka203.jpg
did exactly that, but they had "emptied" so she smoked like hell to "recharge them" or something.

Oh noes reading this thread made me light another one oh well.

This is my 9th day of no smoking, coming to a close. First week sucked throughout, but it's getting easier. Also: mustn't drink, because it makes me want to smoke.

Oh Jesus, I almost had it after a week of severe mega-hacking, got over it, and then smoked one. Fuck. Decided I'd really for real give up last night when walking the dog. 1/5 of me wants to pull the tin of tobacco out of the garbage. I'm just getting sick of waffling about this & I won't regret quitting, so goddamnit I'm tying myself to this chair until I'm over it.

Smoked one = and then reverted to my old smoking habits pretty much full force.

It's ok, you can start again!

I've heard that each time you try to quit, the chances of you actually quitting the next time drop exponentially.

I doubt his is remotely true. Well, it may be, but it's the kind of thing people just shouldn't say to those quitting, it makes me fear I'll head into some spiral of quitting & starting again with ever-quickening fluctuations until one day I'm telling my eight-year-old daughter I'll Never Smoke Again and an hour later demanding she run to the corner store for some USA Golds.

why you say that roxymuzak?

You can just start over! Start over QUITTING, I mean!

My mother has quit again -- about damn time, she turns 75 next month. I think she's taking some sort of craving-suppression drug. I'm afraid to ask her about it in case it's a severe test of will that she'd rather not think/talk about.

Fuck it, once you hit your seventies, smoke 'em while you got 'em.

I can kinda see that, but she had a cold earlier in the summer that took a lot out of her -- scared her a little.

haha so now i think it means cutting out coffee, tea, alcohol, and big meals for me, too. because those were the things that were causing what a lot of people would refer to as "bloating" or what in chinese medicine is known as liver qi stagnation - the thing smoking was clearing.

Wait, is this true? Becuase this would explain a lot. I dont really crave smokes, but I smoke them at night out of habit and I drink along with it and I am driving myself into a grave right now, my whole system feels so overloaded and broken.

And I dont want to completely quit cigs and find I just get sick from liver overload cause that'll just send me right back onto them.

I only smoke when I'm drinking, but i make sure I buy my own packet, I never bum any, that is totally uncool doing that. I used to smoke at uni p heavily.

(^_^)y-~~

My husband quit about nine days ago as well. He's doing exceptionally well, certainly considering he has an inportant job interview. You'd pick up a cig for less! That said, he takes a variation of Champix which is very mild anti-depressant. Still I'm extremely proud of him. He has been smoking for about 16 years. Hurrah for him I say. I'm mega proud of him. I tell him that, even if he lapses, he can quit again. Of course that's not the way to think, really, but you gotta see it in the long run. It is possible. Our doctor showed him the stats and apparently only 15 procent can quit with Champix. That scared me a little, but at least there's 15 procent that do quit. :-)

i'm not really quitting, i'm just visiting my parents right now, so i've been smoke-free for three days now. i'm antsy to have one, but i'm not a real smokah. i keep a pack of tobacco around and smoke a skinny cigarette once a day, more if drinking. i talked to my doctor about it, and he told me that he doesn't consider a patient a smoker (he doesn't check the box on the chart) if they smoke less than four cigarettes a day. i smoke them unfiltered tho, so maybe that's why i still feel like crap.. oh, and i have asthma.

This weekend we played a music fest and I was worried that free drinks would make me drink for the first time in 2 weeks (it did) and that that would make me want to smoke (it didn't).

I can already breathe so much deeper!

what's cool is that if you quit for long enough - like a few weeks - cigarettes taste EXTREMELY NASTY if you try them again

whee!

Gave up e-cig at the start of COVID because of lung paranoia but then at peak COVID misery (peak COVID misery SO FAR) I bought an American Spirit loosie when I bought a tallboy... that quickly progressed to almost a pack a day again.

Went back to the e-cig to cut that shit out, gave them up Sunday afternoon. It's so much easier to ditch the vaping than it ever was to give up cigarettes - maybe because I'd have to go buy batteries and a tank and juices and so on but I never feel the unconscious urge pulling me to the vape shop like I would stopping to buy a pack of smokes when I was quitting them cold turkey.