[Update: 5 weeks in!] I quit smoking.. and I’m confused and sad.

boogieman

viz said:

bobblehat said:

Wishing all the best with this. In my experience stopping smoking is a very individual thing so its hard to give advice about what works and what doesn't. 

That’s actually a v good point. It’s so easy to give advice from one’s own perspective. 

Anyway, still crossing fingers! (Which makes it very hard to hold a fag)

Yup, you need to find what works for you. I just went cold turkey and stopped. I felt grumpy as fuck for a day or two and had a bit of a headache but that soon passed. Patches or sprays work for some, but not all. 

TheBigDipper

Snags said:

The physical cravings only last about 2 days anyway - the chemical addicition in fags is tiny. The psychological addiction, that's the bastard.

<snip>

This. I've never smoked myself. Like some others I grew up with two parents who smoked like chimneys and that put me off ever starting. 

When I was about 11, my Mum was very ill and spent a couple of weeks in intensive care. When she got better, the craving for nicotine had gone, so she didn't restart smoking ...  for about 6 months. She said she needed something to do with her hands. 

Hope it carries on going well for you, obv. 

mudslide73

I've been finished with them for 22 years. I found it very difficult and replaced them with food/caffeine and still struggle with this even now. There's no reason to go back once you come this far - you'll start feeling better shortly also. 

digitalscream

Totally normal - it's that "empty" feeling, as though something's missing.

I've just switched to vape, mainly because I know I'll struggle if I don't. It's been just over a week, and I can already feel my breathing's easier.

My problem is social interaction. I can't maintain it for long 'cos of the whole ND thing, and going for a smoke was my escape hatch. It didn't even matter if others came with me, because that is - by definition - a time-limited interaction.

I don't know how I'm going to handle that when lockdown's over, and it's worrying me.

gubble

If I can share my own giving up smoking journey...

I tried lots of times to give up but always cracked. Mainly due to stress at work. Getting out of the office for a few minutes to get away from the stress and that hit of the nicotine which really did help to bring the the stress levels down.

Two things then happened, firstly the global pandemic and then being given the green light to start IVF.

Having my entire daily routine changed really helped me. The habits and routines that the cigarettes had become part of weren't there anymore. No longer was I commuting into work, stopping along the way to watch the sea and have a cigarette.

Living in a rural area during lockdown #1 meant i couldn't really just pop to the shops to buy a packet of them either.

The IVF looming really played on my mind as well. I'd had a sperm sample tested a couple of years previously and was told that it was on the low side, but in my late 30's this wasn't unusual and it was still enough to do what needed doing. But i wasn't going to jeopardise anything so I stopped. 6 months later had another test and my sperm count was now way higher and healthier than average.

So that was just shy of a year ago. 

In November I had something really stressful going on in my personal life and was craving a cigarette really badly. I went to the Petrol Station and bought a packet. My wife was so cross with me. I lit it and instead of experiencing the instant hit of the nicotine all i got was this horrible taste and smell. After about three drags on it i had to put it out. Threw the rest of the packet away and was so shocked that I used to enjoy it. £10 well spent I think !

I worry that When/If we go back into the office and When/If gigs return that I'll be tempted again but I'm determined not to crack. 

Snags

digitalscream said:

My problem is social interaction. I can't maintain it for long 'cos of the whole ND thing, and going for a smoke was my escape hatch. It didn't even matter if others came with me, because that is - by definition - a time-limited interaction.

I don't know how I'm going to handle that when lockdown's over, and it's worrying me.

@digitalscream Just tell people you're going for a wank. That way you can justify a longer break away, and be guaranteed solitude.

skunkwerx

Cheers all some great stories here. 

Today is going well. In the sense I have not caved. 

I’m trying to constantly think about the achievements so far this year. 

1. Cutting all sugar out of my drinks (except the odd coke once a week with a curry).
2. Quitting smoking. 

The spray does seem to help actually, I’ve only used it once this Morning. 

Usually I would have had about 5 cigarettes by now. 

It does feel really odd, doing things without a cigarette before after or during. 

Like someone else said, its like for every task I did, I’d smoke lol. 

But for 10:30 so far, things are going well. 

Cheers for the support all. will keep ya posted!

Emp_Fab

JezWynd

I feel like it was too easy so far. I have had to use hardly any willpower whatsoever. 

Do not, on any account, give in and start again, thinking 'it wasn't hard to quit, I can do it any time'. This first quitting is a gift; it won't be given a second time. Trust me on this.   

Move forward into your smoke free future where you, your clothing and your surroundings do not smell like an old ashtray. Women, men and dogs who previously never gave you a second glance will be drawn by your newly revealed manly musk. Enjoy.

McSwaggerty

JezWynd said:

I feel like it was too easy so far. I have had to use hardly any willpower whatsoever. 

Do not, on any account, give in and start again, thinking 'it wasn't hard to quit, I can do it any time'. This first quitting is a gift; it won't be given a second time. Trust me on this.   

^^ this is 100% bang on....

skunkwerx

Half 2.. still not caved. 

Going ok but much harder now Im working! 

I booked in an extra day off next week, so I only have 4 more days this week of work, then 2 next week and 6 days off.. which will help. 

Also ordered pizza for lunch which helped lolz

earwighoney

It's been about 4 or 5 years since I stopped smoking, I probably smoked on and off for 15 years or so?  On and off, as I'd had a few attempts to stop smoking in that time including a few attempts where I went just under a year

IMO, overcoming the cravings for nicotine is only part of the addiction. Well for myself anyway a significant part of the addiction is the hobby aspect of smoking, the habitual aspects of smoking, it is something to do.  @skunkwerx ;I can understand why you feel confused and sad, by taking out those cigarette breaks you are taking out moments from your day which could often be quite meditative moments (well they were for me).

I found the physical aspects of stopping smoking take a few days or a few weeks to subside, I can't remember exactly, but the habitual/psychological ones took a little longer to address. The current time I stopped smoking I made a greater attempt to address the habitual aspects, like replacing the morning cigarette with 'a wet shave' (traditional shaving with a shaving brush and so on), wearing gloves when I'd go outside for a walk (to avoid the sensation of not having a cigarette in my hands, a little more difficult to do in the middle of summer than winter!) and also having a guitar nearby where I'd be sitting when watching tv or at my desk, again something for my hands to do.  Doing some exercise if you can also helps.

Good luck my friend, and if you relapse, and start smoking again, don't punish yourself, it's part of the process of overcoming an addiction.

grungebob

I’m just over a year in. 

I stopped smoking actual cigarettes 3 years ago but switched to a vape stick in an attempt to quit. 

Well the vape stick just made it easier to have nicotine all the time. It was always in my hand. 

Last Christmas I decided enough was enough and chucked it all in the bin. 

First three days I was a little restless but that was it.  

I do not miss them, I do not think of them and I’m glad to be shot of them. 

It’s only when I see an actor light up do I realise I’ve just copied him and took a big breath in lol. 

You are 100% better off without them. 

Don’t use the gum unless you have to, all it will do is prolong your dependence on nicotine. 

Hattigol

On the plus side, you won't stink. Not of cigarettes anyway.

horse

What you said about feeling like part of your identity is gone - I remember feeling that exact same thing - like it's part of who you are being a smoker, and for me it was also part of how I related to other smokers.

I also remember a while later realising what an odd thing that was to have felt, and how it is very much part of the trap. Now it seems strange that I ever was a smoker.

Shrews

I have never smoked (asthmatic), I did have a puff or two when I was 16 and everyone was doing it in the pub but it made me short of breath, so just stayed away from it and just chose to breathe the fumes of others. It sounds daft now, but back then I 100% would've smoked if I could.

Fast forward nearly 40 years, my best mate has given up smoking and has gone a year now without a fag. He was a 20 a day guy.  Plasterer by trade (dust) it was never a good mix and he was diagnosed with COPD.  He can't say he wasn't warned and neither can anyone who smokes.  He knows it too, no excuses on his part.  But even though he is healthier now (runs a kids football team), the condition isn't going away. 

One of the saddest things I have heard recently (and bought a tear to my eye), was when he text me to say he was proud of me for travelling the world at such a difficult time but it was likely that if he got Covid it would kill him. 

I joked back that I would be next because I've breathed in his shit for 40 years!

Seriously, you've done the right thing giving up.  Don't let anything make you put that fag back in your mouth again.  Don't let your health restrict your freedoms.  Don't let COPD or worse come knocking on your door.  And yes, you will probably live longer, have more money and not smell.

Advice: Go walking!  I've said this many times on here, but the singlemost positive change I made to my life following my wifes passing in Feb 2019 was to get out and walk.  Breathing in that air, realising that my body was fit and well aged in my fifties, taking in the magnificent British countryside, losing weight from 17st to 14st and enabling myself to get off my backside and travel, all for free has been a revelation.

Beat this cigarette shit into the ground with double power...giving up and walking. 

viz

^ agreed

how’s it going?

Funkfingers

Emp_Fab said:

just how fucking awful smokers stink … Imagine a friend with a really bad b.o. problem, the kind that makes you gag when you get near them … They splash on aftershave or perfume and think they smell nice....  They pop in a mint and think their breath is nice and fresh.  No.  They stink like an ashtray sprayed with aftershave with a mint dropped in it.

I know somebody EXACTLY like that. Roll-ups + B.O. + appalling taste in after-shave/deodorant.

A guitar shop proprietor near me keeps joss sticks in the back room, ready to burn after visits by similarly fragrant customers.

GuyR

Well done mate, your much-older self will be thanking you in years to come. Great for your self-esteem, as well as your health and pocket.
I gave up on the spur of the moment 30 odd years ago. At today's prices, that puts me about £100k up and still breathing. Keep it up!!

skunkwerx

viz said:

^ agreed

how’s it going?

All good! It was no easier today, but its been easy to stay home (working here) and not visit a shop, so takes away any temptation. 

Had a pizza for lunch and some pepsi which deffo helped take the edge off! Only used a few nicorette sprays today, and the gum turned up so might give that a go tomorrow. 

I’ve been sucking on Trebors like no tomorrow lol.. 

I think some temporary weight gain is unavoidable,  but easier to shift that than give up again right? Haha