• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

I need to quit smoking...

#21
I quit cold turkey about 22 years ago. Here are your enemies:

1) Smokers. Few of your smoking friends will turn you down if you ask them for a cigarette, and even fewer will refrain from smoking around you. Tell all your smoker friends you need to stay away from them for a couple of weeks.

2) Meals. Eat, but make sure you have something to do that will occupy your hands AS SOON as you put the last forkful of food into your mouth.

3) Bars, especially if they still allow smoking in bars in your area. If you are sitting in a bar, your hands are idle and lots of people are smoking around you, and this is a terrible situation in which to try to resist smoking.

4) Idle hands. As addictive as smoking is, it's as much a hand/mouth habit as it is addictive. Keep your hands busy with something that will make it really hard to smoke. Pottery is great... it's awfully hard to smoke with wet clay all over your hands. Play your bass non-stop. Do something to keep your hands into somethat that makes is very hard or impossible to smoke.

5) drinking, Smoking and drinking go together, and generally your hands are idle when you are not sipping on your drink.


Focus on this idea: You've quit. It is a hard, uncomfortable journey. You have completed a portion of the process, be it a second, a minute, an hour, day, or week. If you smoke a cigarette now, YOU WILL HAVE TO REPEAT THIS PORTION OF THE PROCESS ALL OVER AGAIN!!! If you can make your brain buy into this concept, every second you remain quit makes your investment in quitting bigger and bigger, and hopefully harder to "throw away".

Always remember: You are one cigarette, one puff, one flick of the lighter away from starting back. The earlier in the process you are, the more true this is. I really, really hate smoking and cigarettes, but it's true for me as well. If I got drunk and crazy and had a cigarette.... well, I don't want to think about it.

All the best to you a707780, I hope you are successful. I can testify that it's worth enduring the process.
 
#22
a707780 said:
Anybody out there beat this demon? I started when I was in 6th grade. Stopped when I got married, quit for 14 years! When I got divorced, I started again. ( my rationalization? They tasted like "freedom" psheeeewww!" Not more than a pack a day. I've tried gum, patches, cold turkey, Chantix ( the drug was bad. side effects made me a lunatic.) I need to stop. It's expensive, my girl won't kiss me with any enthusiasm, I'm tired of going outside in the minnesota winter to feed the monkey. I can't sing with as much oomph as I used to. I'm tired of being a slave yet every effort I make falls short...Any advice on techniques or a mindset? I work in a hospital and regularly see people drowning in there own mucus from emphasema (sp?), dragging around an oxygen tank, yet I JUST DON'T GET THE MESSAGE! I need to stop before it kills me. Help?:help:
Click to expand...


Very simple. Your mind is strong enough to do anything you want, provided it is a solid determination, and you are dedicated to it. If you want to quit badly enough, quit. Do not let yourself have "a quick one on the way to work", or "just one more before I stop", etc.

Crumble up your pack, throw it out, and don't smoke any more.

You might be a bit grumpy for a bit, but you'll realize you are stronger than your desire to smoke.
 
#24
I haven't read the whole thread, but I'll chip in my $0.02.

Some people can quit cold turkey; others can't. Addictions are called addictions for a reason. I come from the camp of those that really really have to work at it... Took me years and years to finally break free of smoking (legal and otherwise), alcohol and other substances.

Last smoke if I my memory doesn't fail me was around 1989.

I'd say, don't let the successful stories of those that could quit faster undermine your self-worth. It's not quite black and white as many people think... there are many shades of gray in between.

Do it because you're worth something to you, to those that love you, and to Him that made you. And when you slip, flush it down, get right back up and keep on keeping on.

May I volunteer that you may need to surround yourself with the right support network. Flee from negative influences, even if that means reevaluating your friendships and other associations.

Maybe substitute that habit with a healthier one, like working out, jogging, walking with your significant other, etc.

I've been there. Now I'm 100% smoke and alcohol free (not dissing anyone who drinks, just that alcohol turned into a problem for me). I know that if I go to a bar, the smell of cigarettes and beer will flash me back in a second. I'm not fooling myself into thinking I'm now immune. That's why I flee those environments like the plague.

Best wishes to you. I'm sure you can beat it.
 
#26
Do volunteer work at your local hospital's palliative care cancer ward and get to know some of the folks there so well that you cry at their passing. Being choked with tears may help to keep you from choking on smokes.

BTW. 1 in 3 Americans will get cancer and that figure is rising. You poor souls have a major problem with unregulated and unlabeled GMO garbage being dumped into your food supply by the likes of Monsanto etc. For a collection of links on this and other health related subjects click the first link in my sig.

Seriously OP take it from yet another TB'er on chemo: start looking out for #1 or you're done.
 
#27
lucas vigor said:
Cold turkey. Everything else is just delaying your progress. within 2-5 days, the physical side effects of withdrawal are done. But, the mental aspects will go on for quite a lot longer.
Click to expand...

+1 I smoked over two packs a day for over 10 years and decided one day that I was done. I put it down and haven't had a smoke in over 10 years. Once you decide you really want to quit, you will.
 
#29
I have had to quit a number of substances! Cigarettes was the hardest. It has been over 19 years now. It took me a while. I quit on numerous occasions. This is what I believe:

#1 It takes about 7 days for the nicotine to leave your body. After that all cravings are mental. You have to just be strong. After 19 years my mind still tries to tell me it would be nice to have a smoke. I ignore it.

#2 Nicotine is so addicting because every time we take a drag, we are taking a hit of a drug. At 15 drags a smoke and 1 pack a day, you are taking 300 hits of a drug a day. Yes, it is addicting! (If you do not smoke for a while and take a drag off a cigarette, you can tell that it takes about 7 seconds for that drug to circulate through your body. Kind of amazing and kind of creepy.)

#3 Stay away from other smokers. Second hand smoke will re-ignite physical cravings. Watching will re-ignite mental cravings.

#4 Go light on drinking for a while. Alcohol puts layers of your brain to sleep. It impairs judgement, and you will rationalize picking up a smoke. One drag and you have the physical cravings back for a while.

#5 You have to go cold turkey. If you use some method to help that keeps nicotine in your system, at some point, you will eventually have to stop that as well. (I know a guy who has not smoked in over 3 years, yet chews nicotine gum all the time! He would have to start smoking to quit the gum!)

#6 Fill your life. Play more. Exercise (more). Start cooking better food. Drink better coffee.

#7 Your taste buds will awaken! You will save a ton of money! Girls will want you! All true!
 
#31
Well, Two days ago I threw my pack of smokes in the garbage can. Aftre listening to your opinions and advice and also the advice from others, here's what I've come up with.

1. Ricnroll, I agree, the only way to stop smoking is never to put nicotine in my body again. Simple tough love for sure, but brutal truth also. I can't do gum patches, vape. If the craving fror nicotine is there, the danger of starting again is multiplied. So, cold turkey it is.
2. I'm looking honestly at my head games. I don't want to smoke. I have an addiction to nicotine and some ingrained habits that look like a "want". I'm recognizing these things for what they are. It's helpful to see this for what it is. Past attempts have been sabotaged by the thought "It's not fair, I want to smoke, but I know I shouldn't" I DON'T WANT TO SMOKE ANYMORE.

So anyway, I'm going through withdrawal. It's bad. I can't think clearly, My tongue hurts(weird, but I guess I'm not the only one who's had this) Sleep is all messed up. I'm clumsy....ah...you know...it sucks. I can deal with that what I really hate is the voice!

Yes, you heard me, the voice! The little nagging thought that flits across your mind. It's really quite insidious. Just a casual thought as I get in my car "time for a smoke, where are they?" "breaks coming up, smoke time" "do I need to stop at the gas station? Just about out" It's amazing how often these thoughts come up! You don't really notice them when you are compliant with them. In an attempt to deal, I've named the source of these voices/ thoughts "RJ" . RJ is not my friend :).

Anyway, MAny have told me the most valuable piece , doesn't matter what I did in the past or what i'll do in the future....Just focus on not smoking right at this moment.


Wish me luck, guys, thanks. I'll keep ya posted.

Russ
 
#33
Way to go Russ - A707780! 3 days in you've obviously developed winning strategies with everything you've written about getting through this.

You've already crossed the biggest hurdle when you say "I DON'T WANT TO SMOKE ANYMORE".

The physical symptoms will eventually decrease in intensity and frequency (although obviously not as quickly as you'd like). Be thankful they aren't as intense as what some people have to go through to overcome dependency. Sorry to hear about the tongue. I found I started sleeping more soundly after a few weeks, hopefully you'll get that too. One huge benefit was that I remember some weekends (after I'd had a few, usually) where I'd have to get up and leave my nice warm bed to go get more smokes (I smoked them all the night before). Nowadays I just roll over and get in a few more dreams.

You are winning the psychological battles. Excellent observation that "You don't really notice them when you are compliant with them". That will likely help a lot more people who are monitoring this thread and may be embarking on the same journey you are.. Stay the course, you are calling the shots! Interesting to note that voice can re-appear years later to tell you that it is OK if you just have one drag, just borrow one, just have a cigar to celebrate X, etc..just always treat it how you are treating it now.

RJ...that's funny. That is exactly who is talking to you. RJ and everyone else linked to the profit of addiction. Tell em where to go.

I can't wait for a future post to tell us that you've saved a years worth of smoke money and are buying an awesome new bass or taking your loved ones on a vacation.

I'm hoping this side effect from a previous post has been rectified now that you don't reek like cigarettes..."my girl won't kiss me with any enthusiasm"

Keep up the awesome fight, you know what you are in for know and you've dealt with the toughest challenges you are going to face. A single drag of a smoke would make you have to repeat the hellish last few days you faced so stay the course.

You are making us all proud, let us know how you are doing!
 
#34
I quit back in high school. I said to myself I needed to quit and started by cutting back. I was never a pack-a-day smoker, but I smoked a few every day (especially at lunch). During the summer I would smoke a little more.

I quit during the school year by deciding that I would smoke one on the way to school, one at lunch, and either one on the way home or one at night. Then it was just one on the way to school and one at lunch.

I didn't find it very hard and I never had cravings for just "one more". I quit smoking and doing drugs at the same time.
 
#36
I'm in an HIV & cancer ward and three days ago this poor woman with lung cancer was put in a nearby room.

OP if you had to listen to what I've heard almost non-stop for the past three days and nights from this poor soul: the rapid gasping for life-giving air, the wheezing, the coughing & hacking you'd likely fling your smokes away like a Frisbee.

The ghastly suffering said poor woman is enduring at death's door is spine-chilling.
 
#37
Hey, I'm Back. Tomorrow at 12 noon is a week without a smoke. I'm not counting days, but others seem to be doing it for me:). Joined a health club and have been working out. Feel pretty good....But the interior voice, the one I named "RJ", is maddening. I'd love to share with you all some of the stupider things "RJ" has tried to sell to me.

But first a little disclaimer...

I've been wandering around here and have seen some of you sharing REAL tragedies. Infidelity, Death, LOSS! My heart goes to you all. My struggle with a problem I created myself seems rather insignificant. So I'm not here to boo-hoo for myself. Only to share some things that I think are interesting about my journey. Hope they help someone else.

That said, here are two of the finer rationalizations my nicotine brain has tried to pull.

1. I was in the garage when I saw an OLD butt I had put on a shelf months ago. My mind literally jumped to "Hey! couple good drags left on that one. At least you wouldn't be buying a pack! Fire it up!" Really? No, come on, REALLY? :eek:It was almost as if it was another person saying it. What an asinine thought, totally produced by my nicotine starved, habit addled brain!

2. I snagged a sub gig two weeks out from now. 2.5 hours away. While I was thinking about this gig, I thought arose, "Hmmm, ain't gonna be no one you know there! No one to disappoint should you falter." MY GOD, who writes this crap? I mean it's not like I actually hear the voice say these words verbatim, but they are wholly formed thoughts and concepts designed to break me down. The best I can do now is be amazed by the process and share. Thanks to all who have been supportive, I'll keep ya posted.
 
#39
I think you bring up a very important point. You give nicotine the same respect you give any hard drug. I think maybe most think "They're JUST cigarettes! I'm mean, you can legally buy them, how bad can they be? It's not like it's HEROIN!"

I'm really trying to look at this as a dangerous drug. It helps me.
 
#40
Unfortunately, the reasons that liquor, smokes, perscription drugs and fast food (generalization) are legal for sale and not weed, coke and mdma (generalization) is more or less a result of sucessful lobbying and politics from 100 years ago into today.. nothing to do with degrees of harm done to society, loss of life or health risk. Industries that had influence ensured their products stayed in the market and tobacco was one of the biggest..
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back