I want to quit smoking but I'm afraid of being bitchy

[MengerFan]

If you need a support buddy, I'm in.

I'm on my second week of this cleansing diet where I have quit consuming all of my favorite things: beer, soda, tobacco, cheeseburgers, and pizza. Sometimes I drive by Wendys and stare at the poster of the Baconator, but thus far have not succumbed.

[Raineyrocks]

I smoked a pipe for years.  Like a chimney.  I can't measure it in packs per day.  More like an ounce a week.  Sometimes more.  This translates into hours of smoking per day.

I quit cold turkey back in the August of 2007 timeframe.  Not forever, but just for now.  No special gums, or patches, or hypnosis, or any of that crap.  Just put the pipes in a storage box in my closet and forgot about them.

Yes, I craved it.  Especially working with a bunch of smokers, especially knowing that we did our best work when we got outside and collaborated while smoking.  Tension levels would rise, and I just needed a good smoke.  But it's an urge, nothing more.  And it's an urge that is easy to resist if you don't carry smoking paraphernalia with you, or go outside where the smokers congregate.

Try quitting drinking cola sometime.  That is 10x worse than quitting tobacco.

Every now and then I still really feel like I can use a smoke but it's nowhere near as bad as the things a married man, father of three, has to go without for long stretches.   

I used to driink soda all the time when I was in my early twenties and I just stopped, switched to flavored seltzer water and lost 30 pounds.  I never would've dreamed back then that it was soda keeping the few pounds on me and it only took a month and a half to lose it.  As for coffee sometimes I will drink a cup in the morning for a couple weeks then just stop because I don't want any and it doesn't bother me at all.  But nooooo these freaking cigarettes are my downfall!

[Kat Kanning]

I bet people around you would be understanding if you were bitchy for a few days. 

[Raineyrocks]

Rainey,

Good luck!  I haven't had a cigarette in 2008 (18 days!)  I was up to almost two packs a day last year.  It's tough but the Nicoderm patch helps . . . ALOT!  I've had to quit doing things that reminded me of cigarettes.  Alcohol, caffeine, etc.  I'm not quitting drinking for good but just until I get over how I associate it with cigarettes.  Having a bag of Wint-o-green lifesavers nearby and a bunch of toothpicks has helped with the oral fixation. 

Thanks and alright for you!   I'm afraid of the patch because my uncle had a heart attack in his mid forties, and the only thing we could figure out is that he started wearing the patch.  I don't know, maybe he was smoking while wearing it.  Anyways my brother tried the patch and got real bad heart pains so he quit cold turkey about 7 years ago.  He's got way more willpower than me.

Hey by the way I've got, ( I think they are Nicoderm patches), for free and I don't want them so if you want me to find out if they are the kind your using, you can PM me your address and I'll send them to you.  They are unopened and I've got coupons too!

I hate my husband's cure for the oral fixation, he's such a perv!   I don't want to use sugary things because of the small fortune I paid to get my teeth fixed, so maybe cinnamon sticks or toothpicks would be good, thanks!

[Raineyrocks]

you wont be bitchy,  and if you are, we will tell you!

I quit 2 weeks ago, cheated a few times, but never purchased a pakc, just snagged puffs here and there.  Like tonight, 3 drags, and it made me say "Eww, this taste NASTY"

keep your mind busy, i am finding that going to the gym and working out has helped a TUN. 

good luck!

Congrats, Beth!    I know once I quit I can't ever even take a drag again.  I've tried that before and it's never worked so that sucks!

[Raineyrocks]

Yeah I quit all alcohol a couple of weeks before tobacco.  I didn't have an alcohol habit so that was no biggy at all.  But it might have been a contributing factor to my smoking.  So quitting the alcohol probably helped to quit the smoking.

I hear you on that!  I quit for 7 months one time and then went to a party, drank a beer and started right up again!  I guess I'm lucky now because when I drink I can only have 1 or 2 then I get a headache and my buzz goes away.  It sucks that I can't get drunk anymore, it used to be so much fun but maybe it's a message from the big guy upstairs.

[Raineyrocks]

Less smoke...more sex!

Okay is this my husband with an alias named Scott Roth?

[Raineyrocks]

A big prob for many folks who quit the evil weed is that  they gain weight.

they just trade one addiction for another..eating.

I quit those nasty cigs 30 years ago. ( 2 packs a day smoker). Quit cold turkey. it took several attempts.

About a year ago I started smoking a pipe (I do not inhale, real "pipers" do not inhale)). Some days I smoke 2-3 bowls and other times I go 2-3 days without any. It is more of a hobby for me, quite relaxing and I do not feel like a junkie like I did when I smoked those nasty stinky rotten expensive ciggies.

I smoke aromatic tobaccos, cherry, vanilla, brandy flavored etc and many non smokers actually enjoy the smell.

If you really want to quit just do it. ..just be prepared for a weight gain if you pacifiy the urge to smoke with food.

Kola

I quit one other time for about 3 weeks  and smoked cigars instead.  Rick begged me to just start smoking cigs again, he couldn't stand the smell of the cigars.  He's never smoked so that's good that I won't have anyone around me that smokes.

When my brother quit he was around my mom and his wife that smoke constantly but damn he still did it.  I wish that willpower thing was more heredity!

[Raineyrocks]

Food isn't just a replacement addiction. For long-term smokers who quit, food suddenly tastes like food again, and they can't get enough of it!

I speak as one who has never smoked a cigarette, but I watched my father fight that addiction from the time I was small, until smoking finally killed him in 1998, 14 years after his last smoke (two weeks in ICU on a ventilator is an effective means of breaking the addiction, apparently).

And Mary, my beloved, is addicted to cigarettes. We both hate it, but she hasn't had the motivation to break free yet. She's tried many times, and has cut down considerably several times, but always goes back to pack-a-day+. (The frustrating part for me is that she doesn't smoke cigarettes nearly as much as she burns them. Her burning smokes spend much more time between her fingers, or in the ashtray, than between her lips. One or two quick puffs per cigarette, quite often. Meanwhile, the rest of the cigarette smokes up the house.)

So, with only second-hand experience, I'll suggest that exercise, especially outdoor exercise, is a good way to either avoid food as a substitute, or to burn off its effects.

Yup, that's what I want to do exercise like crazy every time I want a cigarette.  I said that one time before when I tried to quit and never did it.  I sat around being depressed, eating like a pig and gained lots of weight so I really want to make myself exercise.

I'm surprised that none of the hypnotic quit smoking cds I have don't work at all.  I even have Paul McKenna and he's supposed to be great.  I even tried subliminal cds.   If you think any of them would work with your wife I can send you one, let me know!

[Raineyrocks]

Quitting is one of the best things you can do for yourself Rainey.  Good Luck!

Thanks Lloyd!

[Raineyrocks]

A big prob for many folks who quit the evil weed is that  they gain weight.

they just trade one addiction for another..eating.

Good point.  Better to replace a bad habit with a good habit than going from one bad habit to another.  Rainey, I was definitely grumpy after I quit but only for the first week or so.  It's been three weeks and I'm normal now. . . I don't even crave them much.  I'm still using the patch though . . . we'll see how it goes when i get off of that. 

Kb . . . you're right.  I forgot what food tastes like.  It's amazing how cigs destroy your taste buds.  You don't even realize it until you quit for a while. 

The kids are nervous because I get real bitchy for about 2 weeks.  Maybe they will be quiet so I can meditate when I'm feeling irritable.

[Raineyrocks]

Don't forget to start a rewards system for yourself. The long term health benefits are the biggest reward, I know - but a pedicure or night at the movies can give you the boost at the end of a tough week.

Good luck to you... and to Beth.

Thanks!   I'm not into that reward stuff though, it just doesn't help me even though I know it helps a lot of people.  I figure my rewards will be numerous just in physical ways anyways as long as I don't eat like a pig and gain more weight!

[Kat Kanning]

You could post here when it gets bad.  I'm sure someone would be around to encourage you.

[Raineyrocks]

Fasting is supposed to make breaking addictions easier.

I tried that with the Stanley Burrough's Lemon Diet or something like that and it helped me to cut down.  I only lasted 2 days on the fast because my sister was joining me and being a real bitch.  I told her to go home so I could finish it but she wouldn't and she quit the fast in 1 day, chain smoked and got a damn pizza!

The only problem with fasting is most of the time I get real achey,(sp?), and tired and I can't do everything I have to do on a daily basis.  I would love to go to one of those fasting retreats if I could afford it.

[Raineyrocks]

If you need a support buddy, I'm in.

I'm on my second week of this cleansing diet where I have quit consuming all of my favorite things: beer, soda, tobacco, cheeseburgers, and pizza. Sometimes I drive by Wendys and stare at the poster of the Baconator, but thus far have not succumbed.

Wow, you have great willpower!  My sister told me never to give up everything at the same time because I will feel too deprived and stop trying.  So I listened to her, but maybe I won't listen to her this time.  To me if I'm going to be a bitch because of not smoking why not go the whole 9 yards and get rid of all my bad habits at the same time.  Good luck and we can be support buddies!   Thanks!