Terminalcoffee discussion

Hi guys. I mentioned on the "Right Now I'm..." thread that I am attempting to quit smoking. In an effort to keep myself on track, I've started this thread to post my angry rants and cries for help that are sure to arise in the next few weeks. I also didn't want to co-opt the other thread.

I would like to say that my primary motivation for quitting is my health, but I would be lying. Health is a concern, but it's a long-term motivator. My primary drives right now are more immediate: money and (sorry) vanity. I don't want to spend $40 a week on cigarettes, and I don't want to be a leather-faced crone with yellow teeth and a hacking smoker's cough before I'm 30.

So far, not so good, but I'm also allowing myself to finish my last pack before going "official." I'm looking into different options, because I don't think cold turkey is going to cut it-I have no willpower. The lovely Sarah Pi suggested acupuncture, which I am looking into. Also, I think my best option in the short-term is going to be a nicotine inhaler or something similar, since half of the battle is the ritual of smoking, rather than just the chemical dependence.

Feel free to completely ignore this thread, but knowing that I have to post something on progress every once in a while will definitely help motivate me, since I will have to be answerable to more than myself.

One of my biggest hurdles will be living with other smokers. Luckily, my husband has agreed to quit with me, so the only issue will be our roommate and he is not as much of an accidental-enabler, thank god.

Hey, I have a suggestion for you. Do you have any passionate hobby? If yes, like love for music, cooking, movies, dance, sketching, guitar, or anything you are passionate about, just go peruse that right at the time when you feel for a whiff. It will diverge your mind for next 15min, and you are set.

Good luck! and yes, keep posting your progress / non-progress, I'll always stand by!

I have a friend who replaced the tactile need with cinnamon sticks. While they don't address the nicotine fix, they fit right in your hand, you can hold them between your lips, etc.

Oh boy, Phil is going to pop in here any minute with a TWSS, but...

One of the hardest things to get over is the oral fixation.

I used to have a nervous tic in my mouth, where it would twitch oddly and I wouldn't even be aware that I was doing it. Smoking helped to get rid of that, so I'm a little freaked out that quitting will cause it to start up again.

It's a hard thing.

Good luck, Amber. I will be here to cheer you on.

The only addiction I've ever had to quit was biting my nails, and that was sooooo hard. I feel for you, but you can do it!

Barb wrote: "Larry wrote: "It's a hard thing."

TWSS
(bait, but I'll nibble just the same)"

TWSS

Hee. Yup. Nicotine addiction, coupled with strong behavioral cues for smoking, make it quadrupally difficult.

I've heard the patches help with stepping down the addiction. But you have to find some things to do instead of smoking with you encounter the cues. Something that you like.

Larry wrote: "Hee. Yup. Nicotine addiction, coupled with strong behavioral cues for smoking, make it quadrupally difficult.

I've heard the patches help with stepping down the addiction. But you have to f..."

I'm trying to resist the urge to eat rather than smoke. I don't usually eat when I'm not hungry, but I can see chocolate and I developing a difficult relationship in the next few weeks.

Try using very small amounts of chocolate instead of smoking. Very small bits savored in your mouth for a few minutes until the smoking urge passes. I think the patch is important, too, in order to ease the addictive responses.

Be sure to praise yourself whenever you have the little bit of chocolate. Self talk is a critical part of the whole pattern breaking process.

I quit smoking when I got really sick. I had an upper respitory inflammation and I was too sick to even think of smoking for 5 days. After the 5 days, I just kept going without the cigarettes.

I wouldn't recommend that method of quitting to anyone. I thought I was going to die.

What about the patch?

I'm thinking about the patch, nicorette gum, or some form of low-dose nicotine inhaler/electronic cigarette, just not sure which is the best option. I've been researching them all day, but I haven't come to a set conclusion yet.

Larry, Barb and J-9 were ready to step in for the TWSS.

Nice work, gang.

Now to find Jim and tell him to get cracking!

PS The title of the thread makes me want to ask "Why do you smoke thread?"

Sarah Pi wrote: "PS The title of the thread makes me want to ask "Why do you smoke thread?""

I don't know why I inserted the word thread into what is obviously...a thread. But my brain is all muddled.

It's fixed now.

Good luck, Amber. We're rooting for you.

This is awesome, Amber. You better quit smoking or we'll harass you mercilessly.

Love,

RA

We'll beat your butt.

Larry wrote: "We'll beat your butt."

Is this a good spot for TWSS Phil?

Good luck Amber - we are here for support, we will help whether you are doing well or not, so keep us posted.

Nice work, Jim. Gold star.

You guys are all fantastic! Thanks for the support, I can sense I am going to need it.

Good luck, Amber. I'm keeping positive thoughts out there for you.

I know different personalities and all that, but I think cold turkey is the way to go. Yeah, you'll be miserable for a few day or so but then the nicotine is out of your system and you're on the downhill side. With nicotine gum/patches and stuff you're only delaying the inevitable and with e-cigarettes you're not breaking the psychological link. Three things that really helped me were Tootsie Pops, a rubber band on my wrist that I snapped whenever I wanted to smoke and one of those little pencils they use when they play golf that I kept in my pocket so I could putz with it.

I did it cold turkey. What made it much easier was that I had lost the taste for tobacco; cigarette prices and taxes were rising, which annoyed me no end; and none of my friends at that point smoked. At some point after that, maybe 5-6 months, I had one cigarette which I bummed off a friend of a friend. It was so harsh to inhale it after my months of no-smoking that it wasn't even an enjoyable experience. After that, I was done for good.

I quit for love (sigh) my soon to be husband grew up with his Dad smoking and had a real aversion to it.
So I quit cold turkey. I had not smoked for long but I had a two pack a day habit.
We are rooting for you! Hang in there!

The successful person falls down 10 times but gets up 11.

Every time I quit, and I've quit successfully quite a few times, I brush my teeth when I have the urge to smoke. The delicious clean feeling persuades me to put off lighting up for a while every time, and the urge passes.

My wife quit for love (me) and didn't smoke for 15 years.

Last year she started again from pressure, pain and grief when her dying mother moved in with us. Now she smokes with her dad as a bonding thing.

Icky, icky, ick!

Good luck, Amber!! I'm a pack a day smoker and I'm ready to try to break the habit.....yet again. I've tried everything except the e-cigarettes. (my sister is currently trying those, and she says it is helping her ease away from the real thing). The patch? No. Gum? No. Cold turkey? Oh, God, please save us all!!!! I will never ever try cold turkey, again and I have nothing but respect for everyone who has been able to quit cold turkey. I even thought of the need to have something in my hand, so I'd sit with a straw cut to the length of a cigarette hoping that would help. I've try Chantix once, and while it worked to a certain point, I did not quit completely. I've got a new scrip for Chantix and I'm going to try it in combo with an e-cigarette. I've spoken with a counselor (while in the hospital) and he declared that I have a deep, strong psychological addiction to smoking after he asked the question, "How do you feel when you cannot have a cigarette?" and I calmly replied, "About like I feel right now. Like I wanna kick somebody's ass!" I get so sick of non-smokers saying stupid shit like "All you have to do is want to", "Just put them down", "Think of your family". Mother fuckers, don't you realize we have already thought of all of this?!?!?!?! Don't you realize we are disgusted with ourselves for not being able to "just put them down"?
I saw a tv program that stated to quit smoking is harder than quitting hard drugs. I'm prone to believing that.
It's great your hubby is willing to make the attempt with you. That will be a huge help. Maybe your roomy would be willing to smoke in another room or outside, even, in order to help you out. I have a big cheering section here at home so I'm hoping this next attempt will be the one that finally works.
Amber, we can doooo iiiiiit!!

Wow, I never realized how many people here have had to do this! We can definitely do it Angela, it will just take some time. I'm not doing too badly today; I've had two cigarettes from 10am to 3pm, much much better than usual and I haven't lost my cool. Being at work will be a different story, but if I can keep it up over the weekend, it will give me a head start.

I really like the idea of brushing my teeth instead of smoking Sally, gonna give it a shot over the weekend and see if it helps.

I've realized, when I posted in the cigarette warning label thread, that I am not a half-pack-a-day smoker. I think that was a fantasy I convinced myself was true; I've definitely reached a pack-a-day at this point and I never realized it until I had to keep track of every time I wanted one.

Thanks everyone!

If you believe that to quit smoking is harder than quitting hard drugs, then it will be.

It is not an insurmountable task. I've been there, many TC'ers have, and lots of my friends have.

Phil wrote: "My wife quit for love (me) and didn't smoke for 15 years.

Last year she started again from pressure, pain and grief when her dying mother moved in with us. Now she smokes with her dad as a bondin..."

Oh noes, Phil. Not good.

I don't smoke or do drugs, but I c do have plenty of dirty little habits that I try to break. The way I deal is finding something productive to replace the habit with. Chew gum, suck on a peppermint, or get a bottle of water when your mouth feels empty or dry. And reward yourself every once in a while. Every week you haven't smoked, reward yourself with a movie or dinner out. It won't be 40 bucks' worth most likely, and you'll have another reason to stick with it.

Did you quit yet, Amber? C'mon, get your shit together! Quit motherfucking now!

(I will be the bad cop, ladies and gentlemen...)

Ha ha, hee hee!

Did RA quit pissing off his porch yet? Surely that is killing a few innocent woodland creatures now and then.

Thanks RA, nothin' says lovin' like a swift kick in the ass!

Is RA on a bender?

Amber wrote: "Thanks RA, nothin' says lovin' like a swift kick in the ass!"

Don't you have a cigarette this morning! Don't you fucking dare!

(You're welcome!)

And no, Sallers. I've been more in the "have a beer while watching baseball" mood lately.

Did RA quit pissing off his porch yet? Surely that is killing a few innocent woodland creatures now and then.

I did. Did I mention what happened? I was sleeping on the front porch a few months back and, at about 3AM, a cop knocked on my door. My first instinct was "HOLY FUCK, I'm about to get busted for pissing off my porch." But, instead, the cop was informing me a drunk driver hit my wife's parked van. So that's scared me off of porch-peeing.

Ha!

Sounds like a good move, RA.

Amber, good luck quitting cigarettes. It's a hard habit to break, but so worth doing.

Good luck Amber! I have a sister who is quitting again and hopefully for the last time. She has tried everything, but this last round of bronchitis was finally a red flag for her. She used Chantix a couple of years ago (prescribed by her DR and paid for by insurance for the most part). She quit for at least 6 months and then started again. She tried the e-cigs over the winter and that didn't work. E-cigs just deliver the nicotine without lighting up - they don't wean you off. I have never been a smoker and I am thankful because both my sisters smoke and I watch their struggles with nicotine. When you feel like a smoke, pop on TC. There is always someone here to talk you through it. :)

So far, cutting back significantly but haven't been able to make it more than 5 hours without one. I think I'm going to work out some frustration playing Dance Central, that usually distracts me for a while and makes me to winded to want to smoke.

http://youtu.be/AHIJ8lRmfYo

(Not me in the video, but you get the idea)

if you lived close to me, I would suggest coming over and pulling weeds in my garden as a distraction ;)

ms.petra wrote: "if you lived close to me, I would suggest coming over and pulling weeds in my garden as a distraction ;)"

Lol, I would totally do that. Granted, I hope it's not as hot at your place as it is here. 98 degrees, 60% humidity.

RandomAnthony wrote: "Did RA quit pissing off his porch yet? Surely that is killing a few innocent woodland creatures now and then.

I did. Did I mention what happened? I was sleeping on the front porch a few month..."

Oh yeah. I forgot. You did tell that story. But you will relapse....porch-pissing is a VERY hard habit to break. Just ask Lyndon Johnson!

Today is going to suck. I knew being in the office was going to be the worst part of all of this. I can't just do something to take my mind off of anything, and my work is so dull it doesn't work as a distraction. I'll be super proud of myself if I make it two hours.

Amber, YOU CAN DO THIS! pop a piece of gum in your mouth right now!

Ditto what ms. petra said. Gum, peppermints, pen... whatever it takes.

Office memo I really wish I could send out: Today is NOT the day to be taking things out of my desk without asking and not returning them. Some one has taken my ruler, and misplaced it. When I find it, whoever took it will be beaten with it. Thanks, have a nice day.

I really don't want to snap and get fired today, it would not be helpful.