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afterburnt

BlueFox

I was smoking 2-3 packs a day, and would sometimes smoke a pack just in a night of drinking. Finally quit cold turkey and felt terrible for a few months. Then one night I was out partying and I realized I hadn't thought of a cigarette all night. That was in 1980 and haven't touched them since then.

Tony M

This is a nice timeline.

vmaxer

steveinaz wrote: »

Week 6 of being a non-smoker. I got this.

I guess I will be joining the club. Haven’t had one since I went to the hospital on Monday.

Tony M

That's the way my dad quit smoking too. He shortly belonged to the zipper club and years later, my Father in Law joined the zipper club too. They both lived many years afterward.

charley96

Tony M

afterburnt

Viking64

I had one of those during my childhood.

steveinaz

Nightfall wrote: »

steveinaz wrote: »

Week 6 of being a non-smoker. I got this.

I need help. I smoke way too much and it makes me feel like a POS. I have quit things that made me feel extreme depression and physically ill during withdrawal and I still followed through but I can't do this even though I know I need to. I wonder about Chantix even though I know the easier answer is to man up on the willpower.

Work on cutting down first.The way I did it was time based. I spaced smokes out every 2 hours. You can start at every hour, then in 3 months move to every 1.5hrs, then every 2 hrs.

tonyb

When I was in the hospital, they wanted to put me on one of those nicotine patches. Mainly because your body starts throwing a fit for that nicotine fix and was throwing off my numbers so they couldn't get a clear picture of how I was actually doing.

I told them no way. Knowing that my smoking days were over due to my condition, I didn't want to leave the hospital still craving a smoke. I wanted the rough patch to be over when I left the hospital.

Does it still smell good ? yep
Do I still want one after I eat ? Yep
Do I still want one when having some adult beverages ? Yep

But.....you learn to train your brain into focusing elsewhere and that's more than half the battle. Smokers have routines, have that hand to mouth thing too. One of the hardest things you'll ever do is breaking addictive habits. Train your brain, re focus, tell yourself you were never a smoker to begin with and don't dwell on it or give it a second thought. Obviously different methods work for different people, trial and error.

In my case, I was forced, tied to a hospital bed until those initial urges passed. Nothing stopped me from lighting up the day I left though. You have to look at it in a different light because by quitting, your giving yourself a second chance at life. Don't squander it. Rock on Steve and anyone else trying to quit. Yeah, none of us are getting out of this thing alive, but it would sure be nice to soak it up as long as possible.

joecoulson

Kudos to you Steve and Billy (and anyone else trying to stop) as I know how hard that is.
Gum is your best friend, so is water - more than you can stand.

steveinaz

Same with me Tony. I didn't want any kind of nicotine replacement, because I wanted to be done with it. Glad I went that route. We won't fail this time---we're done and feeling really good. We're walking, I am starting to work out again (been about 23 yrs since I left the Army). I'm retiring 30 July 2021 and I intend on fully enjoying our travel.

afterburnt

steveinaz wrote: »

Nightfall wrote: »

steveinaz wrote: »

Week 6 of being a non-smoker. I got this.

I need help. I smoke way too much and it makes me feel like a POS. I have quit things that made me feel extreme depression and physically ill during withdrawal and I still followed through but I can't do this even though I know I need to. I wonder about Chantix even though I know the easier answer is to man up on the willpower.

Work on cutting down first.The way I did it was time based. I spaced smokes out every 2 hours. You can start at every hour, then in 3 months move to every 1.5hrs, then every 2 hrs.

Cold turkey was the only thing that worked for me. Why pull off the bandaid slowly? Like I said the cravings don't last very long and if you don't obsess they just come and go. The first 48 hours were the hardest, relatively speaking. It wasn't that hard at all besides my attitude was "I am not letting a cigarette punk me."

steveinaz

Agree, first 48hrs ROUGH, first 2 weeks not fun, after that I was good to go.

Have have to retrain your brain to deal with the "boredom cigarette" time. For me, this was the hardest. I didn't realize how much I smoked out of boredom. Be patient, you will develop new ways of coping; going for a short walk helped me.

OleBoot

GIANT grocery stores has the answer to your concerns about Holiday gatherings.

steveinaz

We're traveling to Colorado to kill our children and grand children over Thanksgiving. Should be fun.

maximillian

We're thinking of having a peaceful protest in our home with food and friends.

mrbigbluelight

I might have a turkey leg and set the neighbor's trashcans on fire. Again.

nooshinjohn

afterburnt

TEAforONE

vmaxer wrote: »

steveinaz wrote: »

Week 6 of being a non-smoker. I got this.

I guess I will be joining the club. Haven’t had one since I went to the hospital on Monday.

That’s how I quit also. I told my wife,if I make it to my 75th birthday,I’m going to a 7/11,buying a pack of Newports. Then I’m going to sit in the parking lot and smoke the entire pack! Only 18 years to go!!

charley96

steveinaz wrote: »

Agree, first 48hrs ROUGH, first 2 weeks not fun, after that I was good to go.

Have have to retrain your brain to deal with the "boredom cigarette" time. For me, this was the hardest. I didn't realize how much I smoked out of boredom. Be patient, you will develop new ways of coping; going for a short walk helped me.

How bout your sense of smell returning? Do oders smell more intense now?

afterburnt

I smell a rat.

afterburnt

afterburnt

TEAforONE

afterburnt wrote: »

Where would someone get one of those? I’m asking for a friend.

nooshinjohn

afterburnt wrote: »

That is the sights, sound and smell of freedom right there!

mhardy6647

https://twitter.com/spiritnght/status/1329566329750368257

tonyb

charley96 wrote: »

steveinaz wrote: »

Agree, first 48hrs ROUGH, first 2 weeks not fun, after that I was good to go.

Have have to retrain your brain to deal with the "boredom cigarette" time. For me, this was the hardest. I didn't realize how much I smoked out of boredom. Be patient, you will develop new ways of coping; going for a short walk helped me.

How bout your sense of smell returning? Do oders smell more intense now?

Absolutely, not only are the good smells more intense, so are the bad ones.

Ya know, right away the smell thing was noticeable to me. After 2 weeks in the hospital I came home and the smell of smoke that permeated my home was horrible as I opened the door. This told me what other people smelled who were non smokers who came into my home. I was totally embarrassed by the stench. Spent the next month washing everything, wiping down walls, etc.