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People have different experiences when giving up smoking. It is not fair, or truthful, to call those people liars. Just as I have no reason to disbelieve you when you say the craving did not go away, I have no reason to disbelieve other people who report different experiences.
Good going, by the way, and good luck. If your "one puff" is working for you, I'm all for it.
Yes, everyone DOES have different experiences which is why it should not be a blanket statement that cravings go away after 3 minutes. Exactly. It is not fair NOR is it truthful of them to say that.
Even the strongest cravings last less than 3 minutes. The urge will go away whether I smoke or not, and smoking now will just make it even harder for me to quit later. I can find something else to do—anything—until the craving goes away.
Not true. Mine do not go away. It's been over three minutes since I started writing about my cravings being strong...and guess what, they are still JUST as strong. It is NOT true. If something is not true, it's a lie.
Thanks for the luck.
Last edited by Three Wolves In Snow; 11-04-2012 at 06:27 AM..
Three Wolves, have you considered the nicotine gum or patches?
That way you could accomplish the same tapered nicotine dose you are trying to do with the cigarette.
The advantage of the patch is that it divorces the nicotine from the physical act of putting something in your mouth.
The gum also maintains the connection to putting something in your mouth, as does the candy.
The trick is to not only wean off the nicotine but also to give up the physical act of smoking. So every time you put the cigarette in your mouth, you may be reinforcing the craving.
Another thing you can do is find something else to do with your hands. I don't know what your new daily schedule will be like (congrats on the job!), but now might be a good time to start a messy project. Paint a room. Work outdoors if the weather permits.
For the car, get one of the devices that athletes squeeze to improve grip strength. If you use a simple rubber ball, you can keep one every place that you would normally keep a pack of cigarettes.
Just about everyone who quits smoking gains weight. You can combat that by increasing exercise, as your lungs recover.
Good luck! This is one of the best things you could ever do for your health!
Welp, even though this morning was tough, the rest of the day went pretty well. Only puffed four times. Not bad, not bad.
Course, I've been eating like a fricken pig so, there will be THAT to contend with once I become an official, successful non smoker. One thing at a time....one thing at a time.
I have tried to quit two other times in my life. Both times, by this day, it was getting a little hard. But I usually was ok until the beginning of the 2nd week...that is when things got really bad. I'm hoping that this time it will be a little easier....but I'm telling myself not to get complacent just because the first four days were relatively painless.
Painless...it is, but in a way, it isn't. It's more like an empty feeling. Today, I was waiting for the cats to finish eating, keeping the dogs away, and while we all stood there in the kitchen, I realized I wanted a smoke. I had to put the urge off because the lighter was upstairs and if I left to get it, the dogs would eat the cats' food so, that wasn't going to work. While I waited for the cats, and dealt with the urge, I realized, it felt empty.
Like..you know how when you're really hungry...you're past the hunger pangs...those are so removed because you're hungrier than hunger pangs...that empty feeling you have...
I don't mean, "Oh my stomach is empty and I'm hungry" and your stomach growls or you feel the pangs. I don't mean that at all.
I mean, you are so hungry, you've already been through the pangs, you're beyond those...you just feel empty. Like...really light and empty. Once you get some food in you, you feel whole again. No, not full, not like, "Oh my stomach is full now", I mean, you feel whole.
I don't know how else to explain it. If you've never felt that, consider yourself lucky.
Tomorrow is going to be rough. I have an assignment that requires I do a bit of driving. It's easy to drive a few blocks or a mile without a smoke but an hour's worth....I've never NOT had a smoke while driving.
I will have to tell myself that no matter what, I can't smoke because I cannot be light headed while operating a vehicle. And it will be day 5...when things are getting harder...I wonder how I'll do.
Three Wolves, have you considered the nicotine gum or patches?
That way you could accomplish the same tapered nicotine dose you are trying to do with the cigarette.
The advantage of the patch is that it divorces the nicotine from the physical act of putting something in your mouth.
The gum also maintains the connection to putting something in your mouth, as does the candy.
The trick is to not only wean off the nicotine but also to give up the physical act of smoking. So every time you put the cigarette in your mouth, you may be reinforcing the craving.
Another thing you can do is find something else to do with your hands. I don't know what your new daily schedule will be like (congrats on the job!), but now might be a good time to start a messy project. Paint a room. Work outdoors if the weather permits.
For the car, get one of the devices that athletes squeeze to improve grip strength. If you use a simple rubber ball, you can keep one every place that you would normally keep a pack of cigarettes.
Just about everyone who quits smoking gains weight. You can combat that by increasing exercise, as your lungs recover.
Good luck! This is one of the best things you could ever do for your health!
I missed this one. Yes, the last time I tried to quit, I tried the patch. I went with the lowest one and would have to wait to get to work before I could put it on. The first 15 minutes it would itch...oh man it itched so bad. Then? I would be sick for an hour.
It DID work in a sense but I would still get that craving from when you initially inhale. You light up, you breathe in, that part. That's the part I couldn't get past. So, the patch didn't work for me and for that reason, I have no faith in the gum.
What I'm doing right now I think is going to work. I am weaning off the nicotine. I may allow myself to light up and take a drag or two but then I put it out. I do this about twice a day. I get about 4-5 puffs of a cig a day. Compare that to about a pack a day habit, that is enormous.
The second week is the hardest. I know this from experience. However, if I can make it past the second week, in to the third week, there is NO WAY I'm going to lose. It will be the longest I've ever made it and I'm not about to mess up that track record.
I think allowing myself a puff or two when I just can't take the cravings any more, (like I said, about twice a day right now), is going to help me be successful...I'm not smoking an entire cigarette and frankly, the more time that goes on that I don't smoke a cigarette, the more light headed I get when I allow myself a puff or two...which, is not nearly as enjoyable as it was when I was younger.
I like the rubber ball idea for the car. That's brilliant! Gonna have to swipe one of the dogs' toys for my drive tomorrow!
As for weight gain, I kind of told myself that I was allowed to do whatever this weekend just to succeed. I am getting strict starting tomorrow about how many fricken lollipops I down and yes, once I get to week three and four, I'm going to start working on doing some exercises.
I just want to make it past the 2nd week. I've never done that before so I don't want to add too much all at once. I just want to get there...that's my first goal.
I sincerely wish you luck...but honestly, I've not heard of anyone quitting the way you are attempting to do. It's like an alcoholic still having a nip or two to stop the DT's...
Quite possibly, in fact, probably, there will be a stressful time in your life when you will qualify the need to smoke an entire cigarette...and the same process of full addiction kicks in again.
Been there, done that. All that worked for me was to go through one week of cold turkey hell and a course offered by the American Lung Association on behavior modification. After a week of NO tobacco, the cravings did begin to retreat into oblivion...(two pack a day former smoker, off the evil weed for 15 years now).
Taking just a puff or two still keeps tobacco in your body and prolongs the agony and the cravings.
Why not become a full non- smoker, instead of a very light smoker?
I sincerely wish you luck...but honestly, I've not heard of anyone quitting the way you are attempting to do. It's like an alcoholic still having a nip or two to stop the DT's...
Quite possibly, in fact, probably, there will be a stressful time in your life when you will qualify the need to smoke an entire cigarette...and the same process of full addiction kicks in again.
Been there, done that. All that worked for me was to go through one week of cold turkey hell and a course offered by the American Lung Association on behavior modification. After a week of NO tobacco, the cravings did begin to retreat into oblivion...(two pack a day former smoker, off the evil weed for 15 years now).
Taking just a puff or two still keeps tobacco in your body and prolongs the agony and the cravings.
Why not become a full non- smoker, instead of a very light smoker?
Wishing you the very best of luck....
It's no different than someone using patches. They still get nicotine in their system. It weans them off the nicotine but they are still getting nicotine. No one seems to have an issue with patches.
I know what does not work for me and what does. This way, so far, is working well.
As for "stressful time in my life"....lol, you don't know, it's ok, I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing because I've had extraordinarily stressful times in my life and no, I won't be grabbing a smoke to deal with them. That's not a trigger for me. Triggers are...well, almost boredom.
Edit: My past two experiences...the first time I tried to quit I did cold turkey. My cravings got WORSE in the second week. So, as was pointed out before, it's different for everyone. In total, the past 4 days I've had....maybe 20 puffs. Total. PUFFS, not cigarettes. Compare that to 80 cigarettes I would have had...oh, I think this IS working. (Weed? I suppose you mean the Mary Jane? I've never had that problem.)
Last edited by Three Wolves In Snow; 11-05-2012 at 03:58 AM..
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