The Giving Up Smoking Thread!!

JoeHel

OMG yellowmonkey that could have been horrendous I am doubly glad you've quit so you didn't walk in the door smoking!!!!!!!!! :eek: I know they warn that smoking kills but I don't think they meant THAT quickly!!!!!

Well today I reached my TWO MONTHS QUIT! :j Also quit booze for January so I'm feeling very "clean and virtuous" today :rotfl: :rotfl: Will probably spoil that with some chocolate later but nobody's perfect, eh.. heh heh

IDA I know exactly what you mean about the adverts. The worst one was that one with the white fat oozing out of the cigarette. I had to physically turn the TV over when that one came on. And the woman wheezing so hard she could barely talk. Now I just smile when they come on (except for the Nicorette ones with the nicotine "demons" going crazy because that one makes my blood boil!!!)

Oh - and re the going to the toilet thing about quitting - I remember quite vividly that for the first few days things went a bit "irregular", but after about 6 or 7 days things were back to normal, no problem. The thing is, your body learns to rely on your routine ciggies as little signals. My first ciggie of the day meant I was awake and a fag after a meal meant I'd finished eating, etc. Once the chemicals are out of your body, your own natural hormones kick in and start doing the jobs they USED to do before you used chemicals instead. With me it was 22 years since they'd been put to work so I can hardly blame them for taking a week to get back in action :rolleyes:

JoeHel

oops_a_daisy wrote: »

wasnt me :whistle:

Day 4 for me too - not in a good mood so far though

Wassup oops? This is a good place to offload if you need to let off some steam... You are using patches, yes? Well, the patches will be giving you a constant dose of nicotine, so you KNOW that any cravings you have for cigarettes are completely and utterly IN YOUR HEAD AND NOT REAL!

If you get a craving - think positive. Say to yourself how happy you are that you don't need to smoke any more, then find something to keep you busy. Have you downloaded a quit meter and can you see every day how many you HAVEN'T smoked and how much you HAVEN'T spent? I found that a brilliant motivator (although very scary which I realised how much I actually spent on such a vile habit!!)

melbury

Thank you all for the butt kicking - I definitely needed it. I know I should stop regretting giving up and be totally positive about the advantages.

JoeHel

melbury wrote: »

Thank you all for the butt kicking - I definitely needed it. I know I should stop regretting giving up and be totally positive about the advantages.

I know it's a cliche but it really IS the only way... The first week can be really hard and I do remember wondering if I would EVER stop thinking about smoking!! It seemed to be in my every waking thought. But all I can do is PROMISE you that you DO start to forget about it. And the times when you do think about smoking you are just filled with relief that you've got yourself off that hamster's wheel of misery!

I accept that not everyone is equally addicted to nicotine, but those of us who smoked around 20 per day definitely are/were. It's horrible to think of yourself as a drug addict, but that's what helped me be so relieved and happy about stopping. According to a lot of doctors and scientists, nicotine is more addictive than heroin or cocaine. It is NOT our fault that we got hooked on smoking! And the worst bit is that the nicotine keeps us subtly hooked (we believe that it is our choice to smoke!), while the 4,000 poisonous chemicals in the cigarette get to work at destroying our body from the inside out. If we could physically SEE what harm they are doing we would never start smoking in the first place!

If you see a cocaine or heroin addict - or an alcoholic - and see the state they get themselves into. And they don't want to stop any more than we wanted to stop smoking. You look at them and think how COULD you want to do that to yourself??! The cigarettes may seem more socially acceptable (because they are - amazingly - legal and can be bought in a corner shop) and they don't make you pass out or act differently. BUT there is no escaping from the fact that they are STILL A DRUG.

So when you think of it like that Melbury, you are not "regretting giving up" - your body is going through a very understandable process of drug withdrawal. You have a choice to feel miserable about that withdrawal and wallow in it. Or you can accept that your body needs to get over being addicted to a very powerful drug and you can enjoy feeling yourself recover.

I chose the second option. Yes, I had a few days of feeling giddy, a bit spaced out, not able to concentrate very well and I had an ocassional pang for something to relieve all those feelings. But I took every single feeling as a step closer to getting better. I tried to picture all that oxygenated blood running through my veins and arteries and I imagined my brain, heart, lungs and other organs going "ahhhhhhhh" because the chemical poisoning had finally stopped.

And now I have a tickly cough now and again and I'm not whinging about it because I know it is the cilia - little hairs inside the lungs and throat - growing back, so they can keep bacteria and viruses out of my lungs and I won't catch nearly so many coughs and colds!

No matter how you are feeling, try and think of something (ANYTHING!) positive to attribute to that feeling. You are doing the most amazing thing for your body that you have ever done and you should be so proud of yourself. I bet your husband is!

My grampa used to say "You can be an optimist or a pessimist. The journey is the same but an optimist has a lot more fun getting there".

MJay

Hi Basilcat7
I am off on the jolly non-smoking bus again, too! Absence of nicotine can certainly have that effect but it is just as likely that one of the thousand other 'bad boys' they also contain may be sorely missed by your gut....

No, it is not just you.... many of my friends have said the same thing over the years. Drink plenty of fresh water as well as taking whole fruit and fruit smoothies of course. The water swells the stool in the gut so constipation is much less likely anyway... Fruit and juices just taste good!!

This won't last long... a few weeks and your system will adjust and won't you feel so much better all over..!! I gave up last year and bought a beautiful shitzue with my first ten weeks savings!

Sadly, a death in the family gave me an excuse to reach for the packet so have just packed in again... Day 3 so far.. Not too bad and I know it gets easier from here on..

G'luck hon.

MJay

Mmmm

MJay

Yo Melbury
Just read your mail after replying to basilcat7.......

A great book for helping positive thinking is "How to stop smoking and stay stopped for good". Cannotr remember the author but think it was Carol something.

The thing I recall is her message that we are choosing not to smoke therefore not depriving ourselves and feeling we are missing out because we are"giving it up..."

It is a really good message for me and hope it help you too.

I am adult, can pay for cigarrettes and they are not illegal but I am choosing not to do that anymore!!

G'luck

MJay

melbury

JoeHel wrote: »

I know it's a cliche but it really IS the only way... The first week can be really hard and I do remember wondering if I would EVER stop thinking about smoking!! It seemed to be in my every waking thought. But all I can do is PROMISE you that you DO start to forget about it. And the times when you do think about smoking you are just filled with relief that you've got yourself off that hamster's wheel of misery!

I accept that not everyone is equally addicted to nicotine, but those of us who smoked around 20 per day definitely are/were. It's horrible to think of yourself as a drug addict, but that's what helped me be so relieved and happy about stopping. According to a lot of doctors and scientists, nicotine is more addictive than heroin or cocaine. It is NOT our fault that we got hooked on smoking! And the worst bit is that the nicotine keeps us subtly hooked (we believe that it is our choice to smoke!), while the 4,000 poisonous chemicals in the cigarette get to work at destroying our body from the inside out. If we could physically SEE what harm they are doing we would never start smoking in the first place!

If you see a cocaine or heroin addict - or an alcoholic - and see the state they get themselves into. And they don't want to stop any more than we wanted to stop smoking. You look at them and think how COULD you want to do that to yourself??! The cigarettes may seem more socially acceptable (because they are - amazingly - legal and can be bought in a corner shop) and they don't make you pass out or act differently. BUT there is no escaping from the fact that they are STILL A DRUG.

So when you think of it like that Melbury, you are not "regretting giving up" - your body is going through a very understandable process of drug withdrawal. You have a choice to feel miserable about that withdrawal and wallow in it. Or you can accept that your body needs to get over being addicted to a very powerful drug and you can enjoy feeling yourself recover.

I chose the second option. Yes, I had a few days of feeling giddy, a bit spaced out, not able to concentrate very well and I had an ocassional pang for something to relieve all those feelings. But I took every single feeling as a step closer to getting better. I tried to picture all that oxygenated blood running through my veins and arteries and I imagined my brain, heart, lungs and other organs going "ahhhhhhhh" because the chemical poisoning had finally stopped.

And now I have a tickly cough now and again and I'm not whinging about it because I know it is the cilia - little hairs inside the lungs and throat - growing back, so they can keep bacteria and viruses out of my lungs and I won't catch nearly so many coughs and colds!

No matter how you are feeling, try and think of something (ANYTHING!) positive to attribute to that feeling. You are doing the most amazing thing for your body that you have ever done and you should be so proud of yourself. I bet your husband is!

My grampa used to say "You can be an optimist or a pessimist. The journey is the same but an optimist has a lot more fun getting there".

Thank you for the long and very helpful reply. I don't really know that I buy this theory about nicotine being more addictive than heroin. Again a surgeon (and don't get me wrong he was totally opposed to smoking) said to me that if that were the case, why don't people wake up in the night desperate for a cigarette suffering bad withdrawal symptoms?

Since my husband stopped smoking 16 years ago I had become what I would class as a relatively light smoker. I smoked about 8 tiny roll ups per day, which I would consider to be the equivalent of about 4 factory made cigs, and never had my first cig of the day until after 11.00am.

However, I had always intended to stop "one day" and kept being reminded of that fact by my son. So I suppose getting ill at Christmas just seemed the perfect opportunity to really have a go.

By the way, unfortunately I am one of life's eternal pessimists - always worrying about everything before it happens. Mind you I have had the most stressful year of my life, but that is another story.

Thanks for the pep talk, I haven't given in yet and don't intend to. If I do then all of that deprivation will have been for nothing.

xxx

melbury

JoeHel and MJay - hOW long have you both been non-smokers for? I do like that idea MJay of choosing not to smoke, not being deprived.

I still have this stupid sense of disappointment when I sit down with a drink and suddenly remember that I can't have a smoke with it. It is totally pathetic, but 36 years is such a long time to have a bad habit! I WILL MAKE IT THOUGH - I AM NOT GOING TO BE DICTATED TO BY A LITTLE WHITE STICK!!!!

debrag

smoking question:

Why do some people smell like they live in a cigarette factory? I don't know how to say it but you got those that smell of smoke or something. I hope that doesn't come off rude.
I used to live with a mate & his wife who both could have smoked for England but they were fine.

I was told resently that everyone has a smell, English apparently smell are dairy lol

JoeHel

melbury wrote: »

I don't really know that I buy this theory about nicotine being more addictive than heroin. Again a surgeon (and don't get me wrong he was totally opposed to smoking) said to me that if that were the case, why don't people wake up in the night desperate for a cigarette suffering bad withdrawal symptoms?

I suppose it doesn't really matter whether it's true or not, but if you believe it is then the thought is powerful enough motivation to keep you from wanting another "HIT"!! It's working for me, anyway!

I've googled "nicotine addiction compared to heroin" and recieved 222,000 hits. I would never be arrogant enough to say that I'm 100% right, but there is a little too much information and case study notes to call the relative addictions just a "theory". I know it is hard to accept but it does explain why nicotine keeps millions of us hooked for years and years. My uncle was within 1 hour of losing both his legs due to a stroke and his circulation being cut off, but they managed to get the blood back to his feet just before he lost them. HE STILL SMOKES!!!!

This is from the Royal College of Physician's site:

"Reports of addictiveness by drug abusers

Two studies specifically asked polydrug abusers to compare their addictions. The first asked drug abusers to rate their liking on an increasing scale from 1-4.53 Tobacco, cocaine, heroin and alcohol liking scales were 4.3, 4.2, 4.7 and 2.9, respectively. On the need scale, tobacco was rated most highly (3.3) and alcohol most weakly (1.3), while heroin was rated at 2.8 and cocaine at 1.5. A second study54 found that tobacco, when compared to other substances, was associated with equal or greater levels of difficulty in quitting and urge to use, but that its use was not as pleasurable. Using a laboratory-based approach, Henningfield et al55 found that cigarette smokers who also had histories of other drug abuse rated intravenous (IV) nicotine as similar to cocaine on key measures of addiction potential. These findings were recently extended by Jones et al56 in a direct, double-blind comparison of nicotine with cocaine given IV to human volunteers. This study also found similar effects of the two drugs on key measures of addiction potential. Of particular note was the finding that subjects frequently misidentified nicotine as cocaine, and at high doses, as an opiate."


Something else which I will admit to you guys here (and why I do know a bit about this subject) is that my partner's son - who now lives with us - is an ex heroin addict. He's been clean for a year because he's been in prison (for the 3rd time) and he's done so well since he moved in with us in August. He now has a good job and is working hard. He's determined to never touch heroin again, but he can't quit cigarettes. He has tried quitting smoking but says he just can't and it's harder than quitting heroin, although he can't explain why...

The point I've been trying to make for weeks on this thread is that withdrawal pangs from nicotine AREN'T awful and the only thing that makes quitting hard is the psychological panic that you are giving up something you truly need and enjoy!

Anyway, there is plenty of information on the effects of nicotine on the brain on WhyQuit.com and in the books like Allen Carr's EasyWay. Whether you believe it or not, there is an awful lot of evidence piling up that is pretty compelling