How can we break free from addiction and truly be drug clean?

[wolram]

I am trying very hard to but patches do nothing for me and the lozenges make me sick, i still have the odd one
and that keeps me going but to give up entirely is like pulling teeth.
How did you give up?

 

[Borg]

I quit 20 years ago so my memory is a bit rusty. The first few weeks are the roughest but it does get better. You have to take an honest look at what your triggers are - when did you typically light up? One of my triggers was whenever I went into a bar and I would smell a cigarette. Once I got past my six month anniversary, I purposely went to a bar with my trigger in mind. That provided me with positive reinforcement for the times when I might not be thinking about the trigger. I do understand the difficulty - a week after I quit, I found myself in line at a store with a pack of smokes in my hand. I didn't even realize until that moment that I had even picked them up. Nasty little buggers.

Good luck Wolram. You can do it and you'll be happier for it.

 

[wolram]

I quit 20 years ago so my memory is a bit rusty. The first few weeks are the roughest but it does get better. You have to take an honest look at what your triggers are - when did you typically light up? One of my triggers was whenever I went into a bar and I would smell a cigarette. Once I got past my six month anniversary, I purposely went to a bar with my trigger in mind. That provided me with positive reinforcement for the times when I might not be thinking about the trigger. I do understand the difficulty - a week after I quit, I found myself in line at a store with a pack of smokes in my hand. I didn't even realize until that moment that I had even picked them up. Nasty little buggers.

Good luck Wolram. You can do it and you'll be happier for it.

I will be better off Borg for one i will be better off in my pocket.

 

[phinds]

I quit cold turkey about 30 years ago and like Borg I found that the first few weeks were very hard, but it gets easier as you go along and after a few months it's quite manageable and after a year or two you don't think about it any more.

 

[russ_watters]

No, I have not given up smoking.

 

[S.G. Janssens]

Neither have I, but I only smoke my pipe. It is an excellent substitute for true intellectualism.

 

[newjerseyrunner]

I've never smoked, so I don't have any first hand experience, but I've known plenty of people who've quit.

My mother was once at work (she's a CRNP) and she saw an older man who seemed to be having a smoke in the middle of the hospital. She went up to him to confront him and found that he was "smoking" a straw that had been cut to the size of a cigarette. He told her that he gave up smoking ages ago, but wasn't able to kick the habit of taking a smoke break, so he found a less poisonous way to deal with it. I've heard this type of anecdote from plenty of people, they can quit the nicotine (which I know in itself is very difficult) but once that's out of their system, they're still antsy because they need something to do with their hands/mouth. You'll notice a lot of times when people quit, they start biting their nails.

For the first few days, the ones where the nicotine addiction is the main problem, I've heard people say that switching to a different type of smoking helps them handle the physical effects of nicotine withdrawal. I won't specify what they switched to, because it's not legal everywhere, but you can probably figure it out, Carl Sagan was said to indulge in it on occasion. Obviously I'm not condoning it, or recommending it, just something I've heard.

 

[wolram]

newjerseyrunner, Smoking a straw to keep my hands and moth occupied , hmm, i have been told people eat more when they give up but i am on a diet right now i would lick
a ham joint for a fag, i absolutely hate ham.

 

[S.G. Janssens]

i absolutely hate ham.

Good for you. A few days ago man was told that ham, too, is carcinogenic.

 

[phinds]

Good for you. A few days ago man was told that ham, too, is carcinogenic.

EVERYTHING is deemed carcinogenic at one time or another including sex. My motto is, just don't eat any asbestos and you'll be fine.

 

[dlgoff]

How did you give up?

By smoking all night while surfing the web. Made me so physically sick I had no desire to buy the next pack.

 

[Loren]

Never smoked, but my wife did and quit before I met her (I would not have dated her if she had).

Her solution was to go to a hypnotist and she claims she never even had the urge to smoke after that session. Your mileage may vary.

I hope you do quit. I was married to someone who quit, but only because it killed her first at age 39. That left a hole in a lot of people's hearts and I hope you find your way free of it soon.

King regards.

 

[wolram]

Never smoked, but my wife did and quit before I met her (I would not have dated her if she had).

Her solution was to go to a hypnotist and she claims she never even had the urge to smoke after that session. Your mileage may vary.

I hope you do quit. I was married to someone who quit, but only because it killed her first at age 39. That left a hole in a lot of people's hearts and I hope you find your way free of it soon.

King regards.

How awful to lose a partner 39 is no age .

 

[Dadface]

Hello Wolram. As I understand it you're based in the UK and if so your GP and local pharmacy should be able to help and advise you and for free. I found my pharmacist to be a great help when I gave up several years ago. Amongst other things there were regular CO breath checks. Use whatever aids there are that may help you and of course, use will power. As others have said it does get easier.
You will feel so much better when you give up and you will be a lot richer. Your health should improve your teeth will not be as stained and you will not stink of stale cigarette smoke.
Good luck

 

[DiracPool]

With the exception of major psychedelics such as LDS, oops, I mean LSD:

I've been addicted to pretty much every mainstream drug you can think of, including cigarettes. I wear a t-shirt (virtually) today that says "drug clean body." And when I say drug clean, I mean drug clean, as in no "prescription" drugs included. The junkie logic mentality is that if it's prescribed for you, it's OK. That's a load of BS. This goes for non-addictive drugs such as anti-depressants also. Even though the abuse potential isn't there as much as other drugs, it's still a drug.

The bottom line, though, is that, at the end of day, it's all BS. Whatever you take gets you up for a bit, then you go back down, like a sea-saw. Then you take it again, and you get up again, and then you go back down, just a little lower than the last time, though, And so on and so on. It's a little more subtle with cigarettes or any tobacco product, and it may take a little more time to realize it, but it's the same thing. What are you getting out of this that's redeeming at the end of the day or end of the year or end of the cigarette butt? Nothing...