This blog is way left of center...
you're right. it doesn't.
i haven't had a smoke in 2 months kona. no one i know can believe i've gone that long without smoking.
i used the step 2 nicotine patch for 2 weeks. i couldn't find the step 3 patch anywhere, so i went to the gum. the shit makes me sick to my stomach so after a couple days of chewing a couple pieces of gum a day, i went cold turkey and i haven't looked back.
i don't know if txrad smokes, or how much a pack of butts goes for there, but i know wen'l and i not smoking is saving me something on the magnitude of $400 a month. one month of not smoking is going to pay for the couch i'm going to buy this weekend. that's INSANE.
good luck to you if you decide to quit.
Smokes go up in price here every few months it seems. I said I was never going to pay $5 a pack when it got that high, and now here I am paying close to $7 if not more in some joints. That's just asinine.... especially when you consider that I ponder carefully spending $200 on something in any given month, and this just goes up in smoke.
I gave up 4 yrs. ago, hardest thing I ever did. Joolz is right cold turkey is best. Don't torture yourself with the promise of 1 or 2 smokes a day. Alan Carr's 'The Ezi-Way' helped me because it addressed all those psychological reasons why we smoke. Cigarettes are horrendously expensive here, I have since had 2 overseas trips on my savings from smoking! And don't worry life is just as enjoyable without the nicotine, it just takes about 3-4 wks. to get over it.
I didn't even start until I was 29, and smoked for about 2, maybe 3 years, and then quit for 7. Going on 10 or 11 now and that's ridiculous. My body will thank me when I make the break.
What were those 3-4 weeks like for you when you quit? What did you do to make it easier? I find that getting out of the house helps a lot (we NEVER take cigs with us when we go out unless it's to a party).
Working from home makes this more difficult so I have to overcome that somehow.
When I quit I started taking walks, which you're already doing, but that does get you out of the house.
I also had a sassafras twig that I kept handy, and chewed on it whenever the urge to light up hit me.
And I had Jen to urge me on, so....
Not lying to you, but it is HARD. However, like Bob says walking and keeping busy, also every time you feel like a smoke grab a drink of water and take a few deep breaths (better than chowing down on sweets to satisfy that oral craving). Generally I kept really busy, avoiding triggers. My biggest were coffee and alcohol, I found it hard to relax for a while, so I cleaned! My God, how the house gleamed! I cleaned out cupboards, scrubbed benches bathrooms etc. But every day got easier, now I enjoy coffee, alcohol and relaxing (sometimes all at once!) without cigarettes. Change your thinking, you are not giving up anything but gaining health, wealth and freedom, in the words of Alan Carr.
My Japanese GF smokes 3 or 4 cigs a day, and I don't beat her up about it - she keeps it at that level. If you can control it, no big deal. I think the Japanese smoke to maintain their small figures. But what do I know?
Good luck to you, Kona. Quitting cigs was the hardest thing I ever did. I went cold turkey during my senior year in college after smoking about a pack a day for 5 years. Even years later the cravings come back to you. And I swear I could tell when the car in front of me on the highway lit up.
For me the trick was a domineering partner. Smoke a ciggie, no sex. That, of course, led to other problems down the road (that have long since gone by the wayside as well.)
After ten years of no cigarettes I took a trip out East to visit Toast and friends. Had one butt in the car while Toast was driving and I couldn't finish it. It was awful. After that, I've never had the cravings again - at least not for tobacco.
I think the Japanese smoke to maintain their small figures.
No, I don't think so. Tobacco is a way of life for many people in Japan. Its like alcohol. Its a part of the culture, though it is starting to lessen. And for women smoking is not such an expected behavior.
you're wondering what i did those few weeks after i quit? well, i started smoking a lot more weed. good thing i had a grip of roaches to smoke or whatever savings i'd managed from not smoking would have gone to buying more weed.
my cousin deb is an ex-smoker, current toker like i am and she says the smoking additional pot phase lasts about 2 months, so i should be done with the binge any time now.
you must have triggers. most smokers do. mine were sitting at the computer and being in front of the tv. i cut down on both of those things and it made things slightly easier. not as much as the additional weed though. lol
I just got my PET/CT scan results from my radiation oncologist yesterday afternoon from the scan I had on Friday. The scans were clear and there were no spots that lit up. So I am officially in remission from lung cancer.
I smoked for 33 years( you and I are the same age by the way) and have spent since January 23rd, 2009 dealing with Stage IIA adenocarcinoma. I've had one third of my right lung removed; did 12 weeks of chemotherapy and had 33 sessions of radiation therapy. And I have an excellent prognosis as they caught it early.
You do not want these experiences-they are not fun. They take a tremendous toll on you and particularly those around you. This entire year has focused on my health and well being...in a sense I "lost" a year as I didn't do much else other than fight cancer.
I still have COPD (slight to moderate) to contend with and my pulmonary specialist has me enrolled in an intensive six week class designed for living with this condition. But I will always have some form of lung damage.
Quit now. Tough it out. Rely on all of us for encouragement and support. Do whatever it takes. You do not want to follow in my path, trust me.
That is a real eye-opener, CultureGhost. Not only do I not want to follow in your path, why would I want to pay $7 per step to do so?
And joolz, regarding those triggers, yes, being in front of a computer is one and one I cannot avoid so I'll have to make the best of it and find a substitute.
And Bob, yeah, when I started walking back in May, my thinking was that the exercise would make me feel better and therefore smoke less. I can see after six months, I need more discipline.
Good luck Kona. It's a tough thing, but you can make it. For some reason, cranberry juice seemed to help me +20 years ago when I quit (we're about the same age). Even after all these years, I still get the urge sometimes, but if I count to 30, the urge goes away.
FWIW, I found that quitting cigs was way harder than getting clean and sober, but there it is.
Better living through chemistry -- Chantix. Get it . . . it fucking works!
i quit years and years ago and it was one of the hardest things i've ever done.
i'm rooting for ya!
FWIW, I found that quitting cigs was way harder than getting clean and sober, but there it is.
phred
Of that I have NO doubt whatsoever.
I smoked a pack a day for 25 yrs, and it is the hardest drug to give up. More addictive than heroin. But you can do it, it is definately more pyschological than physical. You will not get any severe physical withdrawals as with other drugs, I promise you. A close friend of mine died of lung cancer at 49, that was my wake up call. Also my Dad died of lung cancer, he was in his 80's already, so not so tragic, but an awful disease to suffer from. I wish you all the best cultureghost in beating this disease for ever.
Cheers to you konagod! I wish you success and then enjoyment of all that money you will save. Best wishes, cultureghost.
Dude, your peeps love you. Stop smoking. We want you healthy and happy and smoking is (relatively, but painfully) optional.
I hope Culture Ghost's story is enough to put into your brain how important quitting is. Smoking can end your experiences of love and sex and food and music and weed and kitties pretty quickly.
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