To those who have quit smoking

[Funny Girl]

To those who have quit smoking

Crocheting is good - I always wanted to learn that - I know how to knit - so I did a lot of that. Works great since it keeps your hands busy. Walk walk walk!!!!!

[rubywillow]

To those who have quit smoking

I've crocheted a bunch of things for my neice's expected daughter. My granddaughters have made me promise I'll make things for them, even though the youngest is 8!

[Lavande]

To those who have quit smoking

Quitting cold turkey is not recommended these days. Apparently studies have shown that who use a nicotine replacement product do better!
I quit nearly 10 months ago, used Commit lozenges (so do at times). I spent some time in a casino today surrounded by smokers & drinkers & wasn't bothered a bit - amazing!!!
I still post daily on www.quitnet.com

Wishing you the best!
Lav

[spuddleduck]

To those who have quit smoking

ive been a 'casual' smoker, apart from when i have a drink in my hand, then im a chain smoker. since being AF ive been smoking loads. im not too bothered at the moment as im just pleased to be AF and ill deal with smoking another day. i didnt even start smoking till i was about 34 (how stupid is that). i know this isnt really relevant to this thread but i do think drinking is my worst demon. maybe later ill have to find a wonderful site like this for my newly found chain smoking.

[JimBeam911]

To those who have quit smoking

To be honest, I have NEVER heard of nicotine withdrawal being hell, except for intense cigarette cravings. I was a very heavy smoker, and when I quit I actually felt much better almost instantly. I did have pretty intense cravings, and I was both irritable and experienced mild feelings of lightheadedness for a few days, but I also experienced an immediate improvement in appetite, perception of taste, smell, etc. In short, it was far less irritating than alcohol withdrawal.

[spuddleduck]

To those who have quit smoking

ive posted this somewhere else but i cant remember where. i smoke roll ups with a menthol filter. today i have discovered herbal menthol cigarettes. i took one apart and put the insides in a roll up with a menthol filter. im amazed it was ok. dont know about the nic cravings but im thinking about mixing it with the real tobacco.ive never been a big smoker but ive been smoking loads since being AF so any reduction is good.

[Funny Girl]

To those who have quit smoking

well Jim - you're very different than I was - nicotine withdrawal for me was a living hell every time -even with help. When I quit cold - I was a roaring bitch, ran red lights, couldn't thing (all that oxygen running through my system) - couldn't sleep, had horrible headaches, was fidgety, etc. lasted waaaay more than a few days. I smoked 3 packs a day at my height & had done so for about 10 years at my worst. Never smoked less than 2 packs a day. Used to wake up twice a night to smoke. Glad you thought it was easy - for me it was horrible - ask anyone who knew me - they were all very anxious to buy me cigarettes . . . .alcohol withdrawal is not the same for me at all. . . .it's hard for me to give up, but doesn't cause nearly the same level of anxiety and panic that nicotine withdrawal did . . .

[JimBeam911]

To those who have quit smoking

Funny Girl;821700 wrote: Glad you thought it was easy - for me it was horrible

FG,

I didn't think it was easy. Rather, for me the withdrawal just wasn't as bad as when I gave up alcohol. But I still had to deal with intense nicotine cravings for about 1 full year after I quit, which as you can well guess, were particularly hard to combat when I was out drinking with friends. To this day I still don't know how the hell I ever quit cigarettes without simultaneously quitting alcohol!

Admittedly, I didn't smoke as much as you did, which would likely explain our different experience. I smoked about 1 pack per day. Out of curiosity, how did you ever find the time to smoke so much!?

[Anotherday]

To those who have quit smoking

JimBeam911;821676 wrote: To be honest, I have NEVER heard of nicotine withdrawal being hell, except for intense cigarette cravings. I was a very heavy smoker, and when I quit I actually felt much better almost instantly. I did have pretty intense cravings, and I was both irritable and experienced mild feelings of lightheadedness for a few days, but I also experienced an immediate improvement in appetite, perception of taste, smell, etc. In short, it was far less irritating than alcohol withdrawal.

Gosh Jim,

For me it's way worse than AL. In fact, with AL I have no headaches, no nausea, no shakes, no anything, just a bad case of depression with some anxiety. With nicotine I don't even trust myself to drive. I can't sleep and I simply cannot function. I walk around like a zombie in another world.

Anyway, I decided it was a stupid idea to try to quit on a Saturday. I am only on day 8 of no AL and it is the weekend. I'll quit Monday. Good thing is that I haven't even thought of buying wine today. Bad thing is I went shopping for more stuff I did not need.

AD

[rubywillow]

To those who have quit smoking

Gosh, Funny, you've had it BAD. I never got over a pack a day, and thought that was awful, but you had SUCH a hook into that little bastard. I know what it feels like when you don't get them at the regular moments, and yes, it does feel harder than stopping AL. Somehow, the two seem to go together. Please, when your feeling weak, pop on here and look for ANYONE who might pass a few minutes with you, and help your craving pass. It's really worth it, in the long run.

[Funny Girl]

To those who have quit smoking

Jim - your question about the time smoking took is a big one - back then of course, we were allowed to smoke everywhere so I always had one burning. I used to reach a wet hand out of the shower & smoke. I lit one off of another at work at the desk. The only time I wasn't smoking really was when I was on the subway while it was moving & when I was actually asleep. Part of the trouble with quitting then was having all that empty time . . . I wondered what do people do? As Mark Twain said, "you don't really live longer, it just FEELS that way . . . ." I'm like AD - couldn't really function & didn't trust myself to drive. When I did go out to drink, what used to happen when I quit was I'd drink at the speed of light since I had nothing to do with my hands, so I'd just get really plowed. Problem was that I wasn't all that hungover - since I wasn't sucking on a tailpipe all night, I actually felt pretty good the next morning even though I'd have been drunk the night before - guess all that oxygen helped the hangover. . . . .

Over time as I quit, year after year, I cut back on the number of cigarettes I smoked each time I went back & of course, by the time I actually beat it in 2003, they'd taken smoking out of the workplace. A few years ago had pretty much taken it out of almost all other public places, so now I'm never around it anymore & never miss it anymore. But that dynamic of not missing it took me a full 5 years after stopping completely for the last time . . . .

Of course, there are studies that show that people differ in their difficulty in quitting based on when they started smoking along with other factors. (people who start prior to the age of 16 have a statistically lower success rate than those who begin later, and often men have an easier time than women since they often tend to have more of a physical addiction, while for women there is often a higher emotional component which makes it harder to kick)

Anyway - enough of my big 'thought provoking theories' - must be my ice cream laden thoughts kicking in - I've been hanging out with Ben & Jerry again tonight . . . . ;-)

[Anotherday]

To those who have quit smoking

Sheri,

Thank you so much for your post and the links. I just got done sending an email to a friend saying I don't want to go by lung cancer or COPD and I really do not.

So, it's been about 12 hours without a cigarette. I have mentally prepared myself for all of the bad thoughts I am going to have - what a loser I am, how much my life sucks, how I am doomed, a failure, etc. My addictive voice is going to pull out any and all stops to try to get me to go buy cigarettes only I am not going to.

I am also giving myself permission to not do one damn productive thing (and even say the word damn!) for four days. I don't care if all I do is surf the Internet and lay around. This thing, nicotine, must be beat down. For me, it is FAR worse than AL as it's a given I've cut my life short. PLUS, to not smoke anymore guarantees I will not drink, as the concept of drinking without a cigarette is an impossibility to me.

At any rate, I am so sorry for the loss of your friend. Terrible way to go.

AD

[Funny Girl]

To those who have quit smoking

Sheri's point is interesting - I too drank more after quitting smoking because I didn't know what else to do since I didn't take time out to smoke (drank faster) and I also felt ok the next day (no smoking hangover). She may be right that it might just as well be easiest to quit both - I never had entertained that thougtht at the time . . . .

Good for you AD - do whatever you need to do - lay around - be a slug - better yet - BUY ICE CREAM! That's been making me feel so much better for some reason . . . . . ;-)

[Anotherday]

To those who have quit smoking

Funny Girl;822699 wrote: Sheri's point is interesting - I too drank more after quitting smoking because I didn't know what else to do since I didn't take time out to smoke (drank faster) and I also felt ok the next day (no smoking hangover). She may be right that it might just as well be easiest to quit both - I never had entertained that thougtht at the time . . . .

Good for you AD - do whatever you need to do - lay around - be a slug - better yet - BUY ICE CREAM! That's been making me feel so much better for some reason . . . . . ;-)

Hmmm, are you admiring my avatar by chance?

I cannot, for the life of me, imagine having a drink without a cigarette and don't know how you did it. For me, once I stop smoking the wine battle is over and I don't even think about it as it's just not an option. When I quit drinking a long time ago I did stop smoking too six months after I'd quit drinking. I didn't pick up a drink for two years and by then the association had been broken. So, if I can conquer smoking at this point I am not worried about the drinking.

[Funny Girl]

To those who have quit smoking

Yes, I've been admiring that avatar ever since you put it up. Heeeyyyyyyy . . . maybe that's subliminally contributing to my new ice cream addiction . . . . . .that would explain things . . . . .

Well, if that's the way the drinking thing works for you with quitting smoking, then by all means quit smoking. For me, I learned how to drink without it - my attitude was that I was not going to give everything up - not me! I'd drink other things. I started drinking wine then since I"d always pretty much been a beer drinker & that was my strongest association with cigarettes. So wine wasn't associated, so that's what I drank the most of when I first stopped . . . I'm just sooo clever aren't I? I can find a million ways to kill myself slowly . . . . Luckily Ice cream is good for you . . . . . ;-)