The first day without a cigarette

[radou]

Some studies have shown nicotine to be more addictive than cocaine or heroin.

Such studies may be good in order to discourage people to start smoking, but they may as well be bad for people trying to quit smoking, and the reason is more than obvious.

 

[Moonbear]

I tried to post in an old "quit-smoking-thread", but it was locked. So I'll continue in this one.

Well, the attempt to quit smoking which made me start this thread a few months ago didn't result in quitting, of course (lasted 3-4 days, if I recall correctly).

So, today it's been two weeks that I didn't smoke, and it's actually my first "serious" attempt to quit smoking. I'm not ill (which used to be the only time I didn't smoke during the past 7 years), so that's why I call it " "serious" ". The best thing of all is that I don't miss cigarettes so much as I thought I would. At least not for now, though.

Anyway, any of you going through something similar?

One of my students has been quitting (he's been smoke free most of the current semester). He swears by sunflower seeds to get him through the cravings (the ones with shells on so it takes time to eat each one, which prevents you from gaining a ton of weight while trying to keep your mouth busy). He jokes that his wife sometimes says she'd prefer him still smoking over listening to the cracking of sunflower shells all day, and I tease him he's just traded in his nicotine addiction for a sunflower addiction. It might be something to try if you find yourself needing something to do with your hands or mouth while fighting cravings.

Good luck. It's common for people to have to try a few times before finally quitting, so maybe this time will be the charm.

 

[usahockey]

What makes a good cigar good? Obviously the taste, but what is better about the taste as opposed to a 'cheap' cigar?

Good cigars are handmade, and use much higher quality tobacco leaf...as opposed to tasting smoke, you will usually taste different flavors throughout the entire smoke, depending on what kind of cigar you get. They will also burn more slowly and evenly than cheaper cigars, and typically contain higher amounts of nicotine.

Any tobacco is bad for you if used frequently, but I figure a nice cigar every month or two can't hurt me...

 

[radou]

I found that it helped to pick up a new 'temporary' addiction to replace smoking. I bought a bunch of mints and every time I felt the need for a ciggarette I would suck on a mint, try it! Assuming you like mint, heh.

One of my students has been quitting (he's been smoke free most of the current semester). He swears by sunflower seeds to get him through the cravings (the ones with shells on so it takes time to eat each one, which prevents you from gaining a ton of weight while trying to keep your mouth busy). He jokes that his wife sometimes says she'd prefer him still smoking over listening to the cracking of sunflower shells all day, and I tease him he's just traded in his nicotine addiction for a sunflower addiction. It might be something to try if you find yourself needing something to do with your hands or mouth while fighting cravings.

Sunflower shell cracking! Well, I can't say I don't understand his wife.

Anyway, I use to chew gum, which seems like a good solution, since I always hated the combination of mint/cigarette smoke when smoking after chewing a gum.

Any tobacco is bad for you if used frequently, but I figure a nice cigar every month or two can't hurt me...

Of course it won't, if you know how to control yourself.

I used to cmoke cigarillos for a while.

 

[light_bulb]

i know i shouldn't but i was thinking of picking up one of those shelock homes type pipes, not to smoke all the time but every once in a while. it does relax and pipe tobacco smells good plus your not really inhaling.

 

[radou]

i know i shouldn't but i was thinking of picking up one of those shelock homes type pipes, not to smoke all the time but every once in a while. it does relax and pipe tobacco smells good plus your not really inhaling.

Depends on how old you are.

I knew a guy who used to smoke a pipe in high school, and he pretty much looked like a moron.

 

[Moonbear]

Folks, there are NO safe amounts of smoking. Once every month or two is still a LOT of smoke over a lifetime.

 

[Pythagorean]

I'm trying to quit too!

I'm not going cold turkey though, I turn down my urges 3/4 of the time now (used to do it 1/2 the time)

I just started working out too, and that has helped immensely. I don't even want a cigarette right now (just got back from gym).

I smoke pot, too, which I'm psychologically addicted to. It's really hard to quit both at the same time.

 

[radou]

Folks, there are NO safe amounts of smoking. Once every month or two is still a LOT of smoke over a lifetime.

I agree that there are no safe amounts of smoking, but for a different reason - you can always become addicted again easy enough.

 

[radou]

I just started working out too, and that has helped immensely. I don't even want a cigarette right now (just got back from gym).

I started running, it seems to help.

I smoke pot, too, which I'm psychologically addicted to. It's really hard to quit both at the same time.

I wouldn't go public with that fact if I were you.

Btw, how do you know you're just psychologically addicted to pot?

 

[JasonRox]

Folks, there are NO safe amounts of smoking. Once every month or two is still a LOT of smoke over a lifetime.

I agree! Smoking isn't one of those things that you can take in moderation, like eating ice cream. It's bad period.

 

[dontdisturbmycircles]

I agree! Smoking isn't one of those things that you can take in moderation, like eating ice cream. It's bad period.

How about Breyer's strawberry frozen yogurt? :!)

 

[radou]

I agree! Smoking isn't one of those things that you can take in moderation, like eating ice cream. It's bad period.

And who said ice cream can be taken in moderation, huh?

 

[JasonRox]

How about Breyer's strawberry frozen yogurt? :!)

Of course! Frozen yogurt is better than ice cream!

 

[JasonRox]

And who said ice cream can be taken in moderation, huh?

If you can't take ice cream in moderation, than your health must be in severe danger.

 

[dontdisturbmycircles]

Of course! Frozen yogurt is better than ice cream!

I don't know to what extent that is true, but I think I'd rather not find out.

( I know its true, but frozen yogurt isn't 'healthy' :P)

 

[usahockey]

Plenty of people smoke pipes or cigars and are not addicted at all. I smoke cigars when I feel like it, but that craving usually only hits me a few times per year. If you are just trying to get a buzz, the cigarettes are much cheaper and quick...you would have to be pretty rich to be addicted to high-end cigars as well.

New studies also show that nicotine helps to combat alzheimer's. Alcohol has been shown to be heart-friendly...neither of these will hurt you in moderation. People just need to learn some self-restraint.

 

[Moonbear]

New studies also show that nicotine helps to combat alzheimer's. Alcohol has been shown to be heart-friendly...neither of these will hurt you in moderation. People just need to learn some self-restraint.

Again, that's untrue. Just because there is one small benefit of something, it doesn't negate all the harmful effects. It drives me nuts when that's what people end up taking home from such studies, the assumption that something is good for you because there was a benefit on one small area of function.

 

[JasonRox]

Again, that's untrue. Just because there is one small benefit of something, it doesn't negate all the harmful effects. It drives me nuts when that's what people end up taking home from such studies, the assumption that something is good for you because there was a benefit on one small area of function.

I concur again!

Yeah, I rather make my heart and body healthier by being healthy. Not by drinking alcohol and say, well my liver is shot, but my heart is in a tad better shape.

 

[light_bulb]

Depends on how old you are.

I knew a guy who used to smoke a pipe in high school, and he pretty much looked like a moron.

lol, I'm not going to be walking around with it hanging out of my mouth in public.

 

[usahockey]

Again, that's untrue. Just because there is one small benefit of something, it doesn't negate all the harmful effects. It drives me nuts when that's what people end up taking home from such studies, the assumption that something is good for you because there was a benefit on one small area of function.

It is TRUE that correlational studies have shown this for cigarette smoking. I never said smoking was good for you, and of course it isn't. But smoking occasionally isn't going to be measurably bad for you either. I've never smoked a cigarette in my life and don't plan to, because I think it's disgusting, and I also care about my athletic performance/health quite a bit. It is possible though that nicotine, or a similar chemical, could be used in the future to treat or prevent alzheimer's, safely and effectively. Morphine, cocaine, and other "bad" drugs still have legitimate uses in medicine. So you can't rule it out.

 

[JasonRox]

It is TRUE that correlational studies have shown this for cigarette smoking. I never said smoking was good for you, and of course it isn't. But smoking occasionally isn't going to be measurably bad for you either. I've never smoked a cigarette in my life and don't plan to, because I think it's disgusting, and I also care about my athletic performance/health quite a bit. It is possible though that nicotine, or a similar chemical, could be used in the future to treat or prevent alzheimer's, safely and effectively. Morphine, cocaine, and other "bad" drugs still have legitimate uses in medicine. So you can't rule it out.

Sure, you can do that, but I highly doubt a doctor will smile when you tell him you're smoking because it can help prevent Alzheimer's even if it runs in your family!

 

[edward]

lol, I'm not going to be walking around with it hanging out of my mouth in public.

But it beats laying around in a mortuary twenty years earlier than you should.

I got off of cigarettes at age 24 by smoking a pipe.

 

[Pythagorean]

I wouldn't go public with that fact if I were you.

I don't like that sort of policy. I think it's harmful society and to our own wellbeing to sweep stuff like that under the rug.

Btw, how do you know you're just psychologically addicted to pot?

I've tried quitting both nicotine and tetrahydrocannabinol either one at a time or both. It's matter of ambition and school course-load. During school, I can't get anything done if I don't smoke because it interferes with your thoughts. Your receptors are firing off sending you urgent signals as if you're hungry or something. Both are very distracting, especially with physics.

It's also a matter of ambition. For instance, this week, I've been started a strength/cardio workout, and I never feel like smoking after working out, so it's definitely a big help.

I still get decent grades (third year 3.0 physics student) but I'd like to be at least a 3.5 by the time I graduate and more importantly, I really want to prove to myself that I have willpower.

I'm going to try to reduce my intake for now (only smoke when it's distracting me from my homework) and try to totally quit this summer (I'll just be taking a class or two so it should be considerably easier)

edit: I didn't notice the 'just', so I thought you were asking how I know I'm psychologically addicted. I'm sure I'm physically addicted to it since I have thc receptors in my body, but it's definitely not as raging of an addiction as cigarettes. With pot, I don't really have a problem with it, it's not as threatening to me, I like it. Unlike cigarettes, which I don't like. I think the physical addiction to pot is insignificant in comparison to the psycological addiction, and i know it is compared to the physical aspect of cigarette addiction

 

[usahockey]

Sure, you can do that, but I highly doubt a doctor will smile when you tell him you're smoking because it can help prevent Alzheimer's even if it runs in your family!

It doesn't mean smoking cigarettes...which, by the way, contain many added chemicals that make cigarettes quite a bit more harmful than just straight tobacco, or especially just nicotine on its own. Nicotine patches could be used to help offset alzheimer's in people who are genetically predisposed to the disease. With this information, people are starting to see ways to prevent and possibly treat the problem, which will spark more research in medicine...perhaps a drug could be synthesized which is similar to nicotine, and which acts effectively to halt alzheimer's, without causing other harmful side effects. There is a problem when people see the results and automatically say "smoking is bad", because that's what TV ads have programmed you with. This has nothing to do with smoking, but just the way nicotine works in the brain, and its relation to alzheimers. Medical marijuana is another similar issue, although not many real studies or advances can be done with it, as it is a class 1 substance.

 

[JasonRox]

It doesn't mean smoking cigarettes...which, by the way, contain many added chemicals that make cigarettes quite a bit more harmful than just straight tobacco, or especially just nicotine on its own. Nicotine patches could be used to help offset alzheimer's in people who are genetically predisposed to the disease. With this information, people are starting to see ways to prevent and possibly treat the problem, which will spark more research in medicine...perhaps a drug could be synthesized which is similar to nicotine, and which acts effectively to halt alzheimer's, without causing other harmful side effects. There is a problem when people see the results and automatically say "smoking is bad", because that's what TV ads have programmed you with. This has nothing to do with smoking, but just the way nicotine works in the brain, and its relation to alzheimers. Medical marijuana is another similar issue, although not many real studies or advances can be done with it, as it is a class 1 substance.

I think you misunderstood what I said. I didn't disagree at all.

 

[edward]

The cigarette companies sneaking under the radar have done a number on the public in recent years. And they did it while supposedly trying to produce cigarettes lower in tar and nicotine.

Cigarette manufacturers are increasing the level of nicotine in cigarettes, according to an analysis of cigarettes sold in Massachusetts from 1997 to 2005. The independent review found increases in smoke nicotine yield per cigarette averaged 1.6 percent each year, or about 11 percent over the seven-year period. Nicotine is the primary addictive agent in cigarettes.

In addition to confirming the magnitude of the increase, first reported by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health MDPH, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) extended the analysis to:

http://psychcentral.com/news/2007/01/18/tobacco-companies-increase-nicotine-levels/

Companies like Phillip Morris (now Altria) have also divested into other areas. Until recently Kraft Foods was owned by Altria.

 

[hypnagogue]

In my experience, just trying to quit on will power is tough and often not enough over the long haul. I quit about a year ago, because at the time I was going through a string of panic attacks (now long gone, thankfully) and somehow the attacks came to be associated with smoking. Well, that did a number on my smoking habit right quick.

The lesson to take home from that, I think, is to use the behavioral conditioning that can come with aversive emotions to your advantage if you want to quit smoking. Not to say you want to try to induce a panic attack of course. But for instance, disgust is often quite effective in conditioning behavioral avoidance. Now, I don't know exactly how one might implement that advice-- use your imagination-- but I imagine it could a very effective supplement to a willful decision to quit.

 

[usahockey]

My town now has a no-smoking law in all of the bars and restaurants...it's pretty nice to be able to go out to eat/drink/watch a musical performance without breathing in large clouds of cigarette smoke. The smokers were all up in arms though, angry that their "right" to smoke had been taken away...more like the rest of us all finally received the right to breathe clean air.

 

[BillJx]

Neitzsche wrote, "What doesn't kill me makes me stronger." Hopefully, quitting smoking won't kill you!

I do believe that pain and difficulty can make us stronger, but I think our attitude to it is paramount. If we can meet it willingly, instead of pulling back, then it makes us stronger.

May you succeed in your struggles and find peace in your victories.