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Fucking cigarettes...

tommy34

tommy34

Bluelighter
Joined
Sep 13, 2010
Messages
313
Hey everyone, I feel pretty stupid for making this in TDS due to the abundance of people suffering from much deeper things than this. I came here because I am sick of cigarettes and I can't seem to bump the habit by myself. I'm 21 years old and I've been smoking daily for just over a year now. With Asthma and heart problems I know I should give up straight away. I've been trying to kick the habit pretty much as soon as it became habitual. I have been smoking the 4mg smokes and lately I've been able to stretch a 20 pack 2-3 days. I have gone 3 an 4 days recently without a smoke because I was away with family and it didn't really bother me. As soon as I could but, I went to the servo and got a pack even though I said to myself that's a good 4 days head start. The problem is, I've been with my girl about 10 months now and she thinks I only smoke when a drink and literally no one knows that I smoke. I've kept it a secret for over a year haha. So since I can't tell anyone I smoke because I have severe anxiety and am very secretive about allot of things I need some support here.

Cheers
Tom
 
Try patches.
In my experience, cold turkey is an epic fail.
And remember, even if you slip and smoke one cigarette...doesn't mean you have to smoke the whole pack
 
Cigarettes are a bitch, no way around that. The most successful story I have heard when is comes to quitting is from my mother, who was a heavy smoker for two decades before she got into a severe car accident and was stuck in the hospital for a good month and then some :(.

But, because of it, she could not smoke by force, she was bedridden for the duration of the hospital stay and about four months at home. So, her remedy was CT (and the morphine probably helped) :).

I have also had friends who have been successful complete CT, or with the help of the patch or the gum at times. My two friends who are now married with family struggled to quit, but ultimately did because of the arrival of their daughter.

So in my experience, it is life changes which force you to discontinue use. I think you are already on the right track recognizing the ills and the prediliction you have for complications due to cigarette use. This is your first step I believe.

Have you tried patches or gum or other routes besides CT? Perhaps they can ease the pain of quitting. Recognize that I have never been a smoker, but have had plenty of experience with those who do and who no longer do. Another example would be my good friend who quit for her husband, again CT.

You just need to find the right direction in how to tame this beast and quash it. Methods are different for everyone. I suggest you just start giving some a try.

Also, moral support does wonders. The fact that you've kept it secret kind of eliminates this possibility, but perhaps there is a third party you can confess to and get in contact with when you feel urges.
 
Personally patches didnt work for me... I smoked on them anyway, and was really sick lol.

I've been smoking since I was 14... It's been almost a decade, and I have recently quit. The first time i've quit and not cheated by having one here or there. It's shit lying to people, my parents always guilted me, and you realize how much you reek once you do quit.

Having a few here or there with a drink may work for you (in the long term) if you do really enjoy smoking... (?) Lol.

Imho... Unless there's a huge motivating factor for wanting to quit, one wont.
 
if you've only been smoking for a year, I don't think you need patches or anything.. the only thing that will work is cold turkey, you won't have any w/d symptoms anyway.
I've been smoking for 6 years non stop. I only quit for a month once coz I had pneumonia and then bronchitis and had no prob with that. I kept on smoking though coz I like it haha
 
I agree, I don't need patches or anything. Its not the nicotine that I'm really addicted too. I mean I only smoke weak ones so I don't get that addicted but my will power is discharging. I have a chest infection at the moment, last week I was gasping for air and my oxygen saturation was around 85-90 and that couldn't even slow me down. Fucking shameful
 
No need to feel stupid, any addiction can screw up your life and smoking is a bad one. I've defeated a few addictions in my lifetime but the one I've tried the hardest at is smoking and made very little progress.

You can do little things to remind yourself of everything you lose and gain by smoking. Start keeping your smokes in a certain place, maybe something that's not fast to get to, and keep a note there that reminds you of what you most hate about smoking's effect on your life. Don't keep a lot of smokes on you, it can slow your pace if you don't stock up. Every time you refuse yourself a smoke is a small victory. When you want to smoke, think about why that is and if you could maybe go without that cigarette. Nicotine inhalers can help some people with the habit part, which can be worse than the actual addiction.

What little progress I've made has been with little mental tricks like those, I associate smoking with a lot of other habits and I doubt the physical addiction to nicotine is the worst part of the problem. Habits are hard to break so you're in a better position to quit now than you will ever be again if you keep smoking.

Good luck!
 
Cigarettes aren't easy to stay away from for good. I've never been a heavy smoker, half a pack per day at my heaviest, and have quit several times cold turkey, but never for more than a year. Then I'm bumming a few, and buying a pack now and then, and before you know it I'm back where I started. I'm just glad I never got as addicted as most.

 
Cigarettes are often called the most addictive drug in the world.
Not to be taken lightly...

Not only does the nicotine have its own sub-class of dopamine receptor, but over time the network adjusts, causing problems if you lower your intake. That is why the first cig of the day or after a big meal is the BEST one. The balance was altered by either food or sleep....or maybe sex.

When you allow this balance to correct itself, these starved receptors cry out!

However, without carbon monoxide the nicotine is a LOT less immediate.
The flavor is great, but the sensation experienced during inhale is one of temporary suffocation. Thats right, the CO is what causes the wonderful burn that you are so familiar with. On its own, this produces a neuro-endocrine response.

The patches and gum are simply a way to achieve the nicotine without the CO.
People often claim they feel sick on them, especially if they smoke a cig with it.
Try an electronic cig. It would more closely resemble the original process, but would still deprive you of the CO.

Separate the two addictions, and see if it helps.

Suggestion: try avoiding the first cig of the day for as LONG as possible.
This temptation may be difficult for you, but you don't have to think of it as quiting.
Just call it practice, and make yourself wait at least an hour.
Then two....before you know it you might go 4 or 5. Its not as impossible as you think.

In fact when I quit, 5 years ago, I realized that thinking about quiting was far worse than actually quiting. Its like waiting in line for a roller-coaster, one that you are really nervous about. The suspense is the worst part. Once you get on the damn thing, it is intense, but before you know it, its over.

The first few days are the hardest.
If you can make it through the first 2, you have a chance.
Do it now, before you spend another year or ten smoking...
 
artic said:
Cigarettes aren't easy to stay away from for good. I've never been a heavy smoker, half a pack per day at my heaviest, and have quit several times cold turkey, but never for more than a year. Then I'm bumming a few, and buying a pack now and then, and before you know it I'm back where I started. I'm just glad I never got as addicted as most.

Click to expand...




^^^^^^


LMAO@ that guy in the picture.
 
I quit in 48 hours using an Inferno e-cig from Volcano E-cigs. They are a great company and even have their own Bluelight-like forum on the board to get support and community from the other users. For a starter kit I would recommend the Magma (T) kit, which is more cigarette sized and has refillable tanks. Good luck!
 
Smoking is really an obnoxious addiction, I find it more difficult than almost any other. Maybe not the life disruption or mental health issues, but it becomes so deeply engrained in everyday life. It seems to become associated with just about any activity. The the thing is that it doesn't even really have a high, except the occasional light headedness which isn't really pleasant. So really it's just creating a need in order to feel the relief of satisfying it. Creating an itch to feel the relief of a scratch.

I do find it interesting as a model for addiction because to me the purpose that it serves is that no matter how may day is going, at constant intervals I feel feel the relief of satisfying a gnawing urge. So the pleasure is just the reduction of the craving, really.

It also seems to be an emotional regular by keeping our breathing more shallow over time and providing less oxygen.

Anyways, it's a topic that I find frustrating because I've yet to successfully quit long-term.

So if you're gonna quit then quit man. Can only be better for your health. But please try not to beat yourself up about it :)
 
its difficult, I wish I could give some good advice. I have minimal difficulty getting over the physical withdrawal symptoms. but being around people who smoke, or not smoking when I drink. that is what screws me up.

good luck
 
I have no scientific feedback but have thought about the mind-boggling amount of chemicals in cigarette smoke. Considering very little of the nicotine gets absorbed in the first place even with the chemicals in place to help absorption, it's hard to accept that the habit part makes up the rest of this king of addictions. Although I can see how it could, it is FU*#¤& HARD to quit.

I've been very serious about it 3 times this year already and I am always smoking the next day before I even realize I was supposed to abstain. I know the risks in detail and haven't wanted to smoke for years now. I hate cigarettes with all my heart and will probably die way too soon thanks to them. But I promise you I will light up within the hour. No addiction has even been this hard for me.
 
Bupropion is ineffective for a lot of people because it is a nicotinic receptor antagonist at the same receptor site that nicotine is an agonist at. In short, bupropion is like naloxone for cigarette smokers.

Nicotine by itself isn't extremely addictive. When nicotine is coupled with the naturally occuring MAOI's in tobacco - nicotine is then way more addictive.

You will want to have to quit self-administering nicotine with or without MAOI's to successfully quit. You'll have to do your best to carefully taper and when you quit for good, you will have to have a multi-faceted approach to living a healthier life which includes healthy eating, exercise, potentially pharmacological treatments for minimizing negative withdrawal symptoms (scopolamine, chantix, etc), and also possibly psychological approaches such as better coping mechanisms, therapy, support groups/sponsors/peers, etc.

The more you do now to quit, and the more serious you are about improving your life, the more likely it will come true for you. Perseverance is key. I would also recommend educating yourself about the dangers of smoking, so you can educate others about the potential and actual harms of smoking, as well as trying to form as many aversions to the addiction itself to discourage yourself from relapsing.

Although I do not smoke cigarettes and refuse to be around the 2nd hand smoke (I won't allow anyone to smoke in my house or car), I understand how difficult any addiction is to beat. Best of luck.
 
Hope you don't mind this in your thread, OP. =)

I never had the willpower to stay off drugs for long, I had to rely on bipolar meds, bupre, weed and total seclusion for over a year while I worked on it in tiny steps and began to regain some basics aspects of 'normal' life (but it has worked). It looks like the same goes for smoking, I need to create alternate ways of coping without it and not just try a medication or replacement alone.

Recently started a Paleo diet and exercising to speed up the after-shittyness of long-term opioid dependency and thus be able to stay off. The feeling I get in my throat after 5 minutes of working out is a nice reminder of how bad smoke is, the idea of smoking sickens me afterwards. When clean air hurts your throat, alarm bells should ring. Despite being told on numerous occasions I had no idea how much the 'high' of exercise improves both mood and mental well-being (sedentary lifestyle for years) and I might be able to abuse my own addictive personality here with the natural endorphines. Or maybe not, but it would be funny. In any case I'm sure the key to finishing this whole lifestyle change is a combination of many such factors and being aware of my weaknesses instead of an instant cure.

Cigarettes kill me slowly and surely, opioids don't let me live life in the first place. Both need to go. Perhaps it's cowardly to put it off but in the last 14 months I've made a lot of progress changing my drug life (no more alcohol, benzos, full opioid agonists, meth and random poly use) and still occasionally I get a craving for a something, usually when I associate it with an activity or memory. Smoking I associate with everything from taking a shit to finishing a meal. Based on this recent experience it becomes clear I can only quit when I have the mental fortitude and other needed supports to succeed than fail n+1 more times for the same reasons as every other time before. Otherwise it's just banging my head against the same wall and wondering why I keep failing. Isn't that the definition of madness? =)

I'm lucky to have an open minded psychiatrist who gave me the bupre in the first place and now even l-DOPA on my request just to see if it helps with staying off (I figured it's more efficient than l-tyrosine). I guess he trusts my recent results as he watched me dive to the bottom repeatedly for 12 years since I first met him and nothing like this has lasted long since. Pretty sure he will prescribe what is needed for smoking as well. Seeing him next when I am completely off the bupre so I'll look into the variety of options presented here. And I have you guys at BL to complain to when it gets hard ;)

I wonder what effect l-DOPA would have on cigarette cravings, isn't addiction in general based on the dopamine reward system? There's a few week/month period very soon when I'll be on it. Cigarettes are next in line regardless, doesn't matter if anyone understands the reasoning behind the priority.

Anyways thanks for the support and info. Recent effects of brain chemistry returning to normal produce verbose posts so I'll move on before I crash the internets. =)
 
Ugh I wish I never started smoking, though I'm not too bad now, when I started (12-13 I can't remember exactly... Wow thats pretty bad...) I'd smoke maybe 5 a day normal strength.
Took 'extended breaks' probably totalling 3 years between then and now, I'm 19 now, now I'm just a social smoker, maybe have a smoke or 2 on a weekday, but thats really only if I have left over fags from the weekend. Oh, and I smoke menthol now, less nicotine & tar in them than normal king size I've noticed.

What I've found, is that it's not possible to stop if you have no strong motivation, especially if your like me where most of your friends smoke, and even worse when your drunk with those friends!
 
Just go cold turkey. That's what I did almost about 2 weeks ago. And I feel great. I don't want another cigarette ever again. I broke the connection that my brain had with nicotine and feeling less anxious and nervous. I also have a pack of REALLY stale american spirits to remind me why I do not want to smoke, if I ever were to break.
 
Man I'm in the same boat as you here. Only been seriously smoking for about a year now, but I go through a pack and a half a day (I smoke a lot...) and I can't seem to quit either, it's a lot harder than I EVER thought it would be...

I've tried cold turkey, and honestly the withdrawals from them just isn't worth it.

I don't have the money for the patches or anything else to help me quit either... :S
 
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