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

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  • vizviz Frets: 10647
    Yep you can deal with the weight another time :)
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • LastMantraLastMantra Frets: 3822
    It takes a while for the nicotine to leave the body so the first day can be deceptively easy. 

    It is strange how detox feels so much like grief/broken heart. I remember that. Must be very similar things going on inside you.

    Don't get complacent. There will be tricky times ahead, just when you think you're getting there, but you can do it, and then you'll never need to go through it again. 
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  • stratologystratology Frets: 181
    edited March 2021
    Smoking is a strong addiction. One effect of the addiction is that it completely screws up smokers' sense of reality. Another effect is that smokers get extremely angry very quickly if confronted with even the most cautious criticism.


    So - reality check:

    - smoking is antisocial. Recent research indicates that for every 52 smokers, one non-smoker gets killed by second hand smoke

    - smoking is antisocial. Cigarette smoke stinks.

    - smoking is antisocial. If you spend any time in the company of a smoker, or even just walk past a group of smokers, your clothes and hair start stinking, and the stink persists even after that person is gone. This is unspeakably disgusting.

    - smoking is antisocial. Smokers are completely unaware of their surroundings. Sometimes, when you stop at a traffic light, and the driver in front of you smokes with an open window, the stink goes into your car, even with the windows closed, and takes forever to disperse. Disgusting.


    There are bizarre, funny side effects of the reality distortion. I remember (pre-covid) a group of smokers sitting around a table, smoking indoors with complete disregard of the non-smokers in the group, and ranting about the dangers of 5G. 



    BTW, did I mention that smoking is antisocial?


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  • PolarityManPolarityMan Frets: 7273
    Good work so far dude. Keep up it up.
    ဈǝᴉʇsɐoʇǝsǝǝɥɔဪቌ
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  • vizviz Frets: 10647
    This is amazing - have a great day today! You’re halfway through the first week of the rest of your life!
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • VibetronicVibetronic Frets: 1036
    Well done! I just woke up one day and decided I was so, so bored of it (and the expense) that I just stopped. Switched to vaping for a while, and now I just have a bit of nicorette spray. That was 6-7 years ago and I'll be stopping the spray this year. Filling the time - those little breaks - is actually the hardest thing. You just get used to it really. Part of what helped for me was changing career 4-5 years ago - no longer had the temptation for smoke/vape breaks to get out of the office for 5 minutes, so a change in the routine might help. I can't stand the smell of normal cigarettes now; roll-ups still smell nice, but I've never had the temptation since. Stick with it!  =)
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  • DopesickDopesick Frets: 1507
    I totally connect with the ‘don’t know how to fill up the time’ instances. I used to smoke quite heavily from my early 20s to my mid thirties. I calmed down a bit at some stage but still a smoker.

    Last year I had a cigarette about two weeks after lockdown started. I didn’t have one for three months and was assured that without even trying, I would kick this filthy habit. One day though out of nowhere, this craving hit me like a ton of bricks. I was just sitting there watching TV and I needed a fag. I relented and fought against it. Then the next day it hit me again. I caved in, bought a pack of fags and had one in the blazing sunshine. I felt great but also felt ten times worse afterwards. I was so convinced I was off them but they clawed back from the depths.

    I still smoke now but generally just once a day (before I go to bed), and a few more when I have a few drinks, but I’d love to drop them again altogether. Afraid it’ll get worse once socialising returns but I’ve done it once I can do it again.
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  • stratologystratology Frets: 181
    While I wish the OP the very best of luck and success with quitting, I cannot help noticing that in a long thread with smokers and ex-smokers offering advice, the word 'cancer' has not appeared once. 

    Facing the unpleasant realities of the addiction is tough, and probably causes reactions of fear or anger, but - I'm hoping - facing them can be a motivator to overcome the addiction.
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  • skunkwerxskunkwerx Frets: 6838
    Zero nicotine replacement today. 
    Only had one spray yesterday. 

    Bought the gum but its not been touched. But its there for emergency lol. 

    Been getting thru about 2 tubes of Trebor mints a day though. 
    The only easy day, was yesterday...
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  • Philly_QPhilly_Q Frets: 22516
    horse said:
    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.

    Nothing to do with smoking, but that's how I felt when I first got my hair cut short in my 30s.
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  • mbembe Frets: 1840
    I gave up about ten years ago following surgery to remove part of my right lung along with a 6cm tumour. I remember coming home from the hospital with tubes sticking out of my side with a bag to collect the blood. Well, under the circumstances, it would have been rude to roll a fag and smoke it.  :3

    @skunkwerx l@@k into my eyes, not around the eyes, straight into my eyes and repeat I DO NOT SMOKE...... 1-2-3 you're back in the room!
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  • vizviz Frets: 10647
    skunkwerx said:
    Zero nicotine replacement today. 
    Only had one spray yesterday. 

    Bought the gum but its not been touched. But its there for emergency lol. 

    Been getting thru about 2 tubes of Trebor mints a day though. 
    Terrific!!
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • skunkwerxskunkwerx Frets: 6838
    Well today marks 7 days. 

    No nicotine replacement for the past 2. 
    Getting there! 

    I always hear people say they feel better after quitting.. I feel legit no difference except I'm irritable as fuck all day lol. Maybe it takes a while to feel anything. 
    The only easy day, was yesterday...
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  • SpringywheelSpringywheel Frets: 941
    edited March 2021
    Well done for making the decision to quit. Don’t let your mind attempt to trick you by justifying a reason to go back! Haha, the number of times I relapsed...

    I do miss smoking sometimes, but I always felt a slave to it. Like my well being depended on having to spark up constantly. Letting that go was very liberating. 
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  • NiteflyNitefly Frets: 4902
    skunkwerx said:
    Well today marks 7 days. 

    No nicotine replacement for the past 2. 
    Getting there! 

    I always hear people say they feel better after quitting.. I feel legit no difference except I'm irritable as fuck all day lol. Maybe it takes a while to feel anything. 
    Yes it takes a while before you notice feeling better, and I think that's one of the reasons so many fail - no instant results.

    Great effort to get through a full week - well done, it will get easier.

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  • skunkwerxskunkwerx Frets: 6838
    Cheers all for the advice, support and kind words! 

    Deffo made it easier :) 


    The only easy day, was yesterday...
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  • vizviz Frets: 10647
    This is the best thread of 2021, how are you doing now?
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • VibetronicVibetronic Frets: 1036
    You will feel better for it but it takes a while, I certainly felt no immediate benefit, but it does come - any slight cough you have will go, heavy feeling in your chest/lungs will go as all that tar gradually clears, breathing gets clearer....plus your clothes won't smell anymore. And you'll have more money for guitar stuff!
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  • vizviz Frets: 10647
    Yes! Plus you’ll have escaped from the grip of one of the most invisiously addictive substances there is. A good feeling!
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • GrunfeldGrunfeld Frets: 4028
    skunkwerx said:

    I always hear people say they feel better after quitting.. I feel legit no difference except I'm irritable as fuck all day lol. Maybe it takes a while to feel anything. 

    It varies person to person what "better" actually boils down to.  In terms of one's body, to be honest most people don't notice that much at first.  It's not like an instant feel better physically and run a marathon switch. 

    The big feel better for a lot of people is the thought, "I'm finally free of that shit. I never have to do that again."
    When I finally nailed that one I felt f*cking great.  I knew.  In that moment I knew and nearly 30 years later I still know and still feel great about it.  I beat the f*cker!
    But I've also had to work at enlightenment in other habits -- and the feel good is more gradual.  More of a daily increment.  And the thing that makes the difference is persistence.  There can be a big white space left when you leave a habit behind.  It's okay.  It's just a desert for now.  The desert gradually changes and you'll fill the white space till you can't even recognise what it was like.

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