JB 883

If you are able, get those people out of your life. It is not just to help quit smoking but to improve everything about your quality of life. Some pains in the ass we simply cannot avoid (like a crotchety boss) but if you are able to sever ties with those who are toxic, you need to do so. It can be lonely though because when we examine those in our lives, we discover that most of them are toxic. If someone is not adding anything good to your life they got to GO. It is better though to be alone and lonely than to have relationships and be miserable in them. You might be thinking, "But I can't just..." Well, yes you can. They might try to worm their way back in but when you shut them out, it is the same relief as taking a big dump. Except without the stink.

I said pretty much the exact same thing when I tried to quit last time. I thought I was so tired of all the BS related to smoking. I thought I could quit. Well, almost 11 months later, I guess I was right. So for you, before long, if not already, the night time lung rattling will stop, taste and smell will recover (be ready to enjoy food again), blood pressure will eventually drop to something healthy, and it will seem like you have a little more money than usual. Your life will have a lot less daily interruptions to go smoke. And just think, you are ALREADY reaping a few benefits of quitting. Oh yes, benefits come quick. Day three? So if you are in America, you have saved at least $15. Plus it should be easier to breathe at night, AND isn't food starting to taste a little better? Oh and yeah - though there are craves, all the nicotine is out of your system by now. Please do not throw it away.

Oh yes, craves during the beginning are pretty rough. I am not sure if they ever go away entirely but they do decrease as time goes by. At least you relapsed after a couple days instead of throwing away several week, month, or year quits like some knuckleheads out there. Something that someone told me that helped me in the beginning. We were talking about God knows what and, she goes - "I have GOT to have my ambien" Of course she is not hooked on it. Riiiiight. How that related to my smoking habit was this - I thought, "Am I that dependent and desperate for tobacco? Am I that much of a slave to it?" Then I thought - Holy crap that is pathetic! I decided to tell the craves to go to hell and starve. Screw that, I would power through any struggles just to break free from that (string of vulgarities) smoking habit. It could go screw itself.

One thing I notice though is that smokers who are otherwise clean tend to not smell as strong as smokers who are generally gross. By "generally gross" I mean someone who drives around in a rape van, doesn't look like they have shaved/bathed/combed their hair this month, missing half their teeth, etc. So if you are the clean type, you probably didn't smell as nasty as you imagine. Well like these guys, you KNOW they stink of stale Marlboros and probably have bottles of chew spit laying around.

Nothing. I am not in the habit of asking permission to do things. Though it is true that i gave it up nearly a year ago, but when I was smoking, i felt like it was my right and my business.

I remember the initial quit. Come time to smoke, it was like someone was punching my ribs and saying, "Cancer time!" I felt sleepy all the time for a week or two. I never got much irritated though. I guess it is hard to get mad when you are in a daze. I felt stoned. There was some depression but it wasn't unbearable. So about 6 weeks after quitting, i was at the doctor and my blood pressure was like 145 over 90. Even at about three months, my BP was always between 140 - 150 over 80 - 90. I thought it was suppose to return to normal after two days of not smoking? But anyways, I didn't have it checked for months, but have been to the doctor for unrelated things a few times in the past couple months. And, my BP is typically 125 over 80. Yeah i am sure some medical chart says I will drop over dead of a heart attack but in past decades, this pressure was normal or borderline, but definitely better than 140 to 150. It is suppose to take a few days for breathing to return to normal and for smoker's cough to stop. Mine actually stopped pretty much overnight. When i go to the doctor, they say my lungs sound perfect. Sometimes I would cough up really gross stuff but it wasn't a whole lot. It wasn't like that scene in Poltergeist 2 where he pukes up that demon. Smell and taste returned to normal in probably three or four days. I was obsessed with food for a few weeks but that toned down. Today i often still do think about smoking, often wanting one, but it is not a strong crave. I exercise a lot (physical job) but my diet is sad. Even so, my BP numbers lowered by 20 top and 10 bottom. I haven't done anything else different, just not smoking. So yeah, I suppose quitting is kind of healthy.

The thoughts and craves are probably not as frequent or long-lasting as they seem. They seem worse though because they stand out more than other thoughts. Think though - you have been 10 days without a smoke. That is 10 full days worth of proof that you CAN make it without one. Also think this - some people are of the mind-set "I will not smoke today" instead of the daunting thought of "I never get to smoke again". Like the quit one day at a time.

When I was about to quit, I thought, "So what to do instead of smoke during brief pauses? Like times you would stop and do nothing else except smoke a cig. It does take some getting used to, trying to get through those pauses without a cigarette. It never was as bad as I had imagined. I guess anticipation is usually worse (or better) than the actual event. One gets used to it pretty quick though. I know these days when it comes time that I would stop specifically for a cigarette, I do not often even think of smoking.

That is one of the reasons I quit. I figured what if I were in a situation and unable to smoke? But for the trial... Was it like on TV where things happen like - - this mind-blowing evidence is presented? Like the remains of a dead bug off the windshield of a toyota hybrid cracked the case? - lawyers screaming back and forth "OBJECTION!" and the judge shouting "OVER RULED!" and just a circus of anger and yelling? - parties crying on the witness stand? - lawyers asking these weird-ass questions like, "Ms. Garcia, Do you remember what your dad ate for lunch on President's day back in 1987?" I just wonder because i have never been on jury duty. Yeah I have been in court a few times but it was never exciting. I think the most interesting thing i ever heard was this - one of the parties before me was there to get his license re-instated. The judge asked the guy, "...and you were not driving while your license was suspended?" The guy answered "no" and someone in the chair behind me said quietly, "Of course not". So might we ask what the trial was about or did they specifically instruct the jurors to not talk about it outside of court?

three days, three weeks, and three months are times when craves tend to hit hardest. These are the hardest tests of one's willpower. But now before you go worrying about the three month mark, just when you get there (and until then), try to avoid any and all temptation to smoke. I never had the three week battle for some reason but three months - I was scrap booking some old magazines which are chock full of tobacco ads. For you - You are right at the three week mark. Yeah it will take a couple days for the nicobitch to shut her trap but then the craves will tone down to a low roar again. Junk food? Hell yeah! When I quit, I was obsessed with food. You probably won;t gain nearly the weight you are imagining. Maybe five pounds, maybe. Look, the nicobitch (voice in your head telling you to smoke) is throwing a shit fit right now. Cussing, demanding, throwing things, acting like a spoiled small child. So then, tell her to go back to hell and starve some more. You won't believe this but one day the "negotiations" with her will be more like this - Nicobitch - "Linda, you know, I was wondering if maybe, if it is ok..." Linda - "Go fcuk yourself" And the crave will go away. It won't have the energy, due to starvation, to fight or have tantrums. We have had several people who come in, have quit for several days or a few weeks and then just give up, go back to smoking, and vanish. Do not be one of them. REFUSE to give in to craves. It is hard at times but you cannot give in.

I guess the main one - I thought I should quit while I was ahead instead of developing some horrid illness. I didn't have any real health scares but I was tired of hearing my lungs rattle at night when falling asleep. A lot of times when I would laugh, I would start coughing. "Morning mouth" was super disgusting instead of just normal gross like a non smoker. Others were - Inconvenience. What if I were in a situation, like staying in the hospital, and couldn't smoke? Plus things like having to roll the smokes. Just a PITA. It was just getting gross. Everything stank, was turning yellow, cigarette ash and butts. Cost was not really a problem. RYO cigarettes costs maybe $10 a week which is nothing really. But then that is $10 more that I am now able to spend on other crap I don't need.

So we know what a smoking one is like. It is like even close to a year later and some of us still get craves. Though mine are not strong like at three months but lately I want to set a bag of tobacco on fire and just breathe deep. with my face close to it. Anyways, so when people get hooked on other crap like booze or hard drugs, do they also have a long fight ahead of the dealing with withdrawals at first then on/off craves from months? I have never been addicted to anything other than tobacco (unless you want to count sugar and shopping as addictions) Yeah one could probably look this up but just wondering what people say first hand. You know web sites blow things out of proportion. I still remember reading how nicotine addiction was worse than trying to break addiction to crack, heroin, weed, speed, meth, huffing glue and paint, alcohol, and sniffing homeless people underwear combined. So what of it?

Did you speak any four letter words when it happened?

You mean you don't look at it and say, "what the heck, I have time. Nothing like listening to her B.S. to start the day".

They brought in some pretty good food. So while the video played, I think most of us were concentrating on our food anyways. TBH i am not even sure if the boss was paying any attention. Would have been hilarious if the banner wasn't about safety. With people scrambling, why am I getting this image of someone diving away from an explosion like in an action movie?

Yeah but how does someone stay smoke free if even after four years they want one? I know the craves are no where near as bad as a new quit but still... I wonder of maybe it is the same thought I have about dating which is "Yeah it would be nice but not worth the problems that come with it".

Jim it is nice to see some other people here with an established quit also still sometimes crave a smoke. Some people act like it is an abomination to so much as miss it. Sometimes I would love one. I suppose it is like any habit or hobby that does more harm than good. Just missing/craving something isn't the same as actually doing it.

We get to watch this motivational video pout together by the company! AND, we might even get to hear a speech about team work! I know what would just be the icing on the cake. If someone stood up and started singing.... "Sometimes in our lives we all have pain We all have sorrow But if we are wise We know that there's always tomorrow..." It would be an emotional moment, people singing, clapping, crying tears of joy, feeling motivated to work harder so the big boss gets richer... It should be a cinematic experience like no other. On the good side - there will be free food. And whatever, if we are getting paid to watch some bullshit great inspirational material, so be it

Not all things that come from quitting smoking are good though - Ok so we know within a few days or couple weeks we get our senses of smell and taste back. Well great, so food tastes good again. But jesus christ, for 15 years (how long I smoked) I had NO idea my farts stank that bad! I just thought nothing stinky came out.

Maybe stay away from smokers if possible. Do not have any tobacco laying around. If cold turkey does not work, maybe go through a few days of decreased smoking, like taking a few hits only when the crave hits hard. I did that, I allowed myself three cigarettes a day (down from 30 a day) for four days then when I was done, I was done. For me it was like a big cleaning project. A couple days before the big Quit I gave away what cigarettes I had left (maybe three packs), tossed the ash trays, and started cleaning things that had a lot of tobacco film. What helped me the most is that I really wanted to quit. Basically i got pissed off at the cigarettes and decided to rid them. That and it was getting harder to breathe. Figured i should stop killing myself.

Ok this isn't going to be easy - I know what everyone is thinking. I can explain though. Reci let me sit on his lap because all the other seats were taken. I enjoyed it, ok? Can't i just have this ONE without hearing a lecture?

I would just like to say that i was moved to tears from this beautiful post.

Lighters and matches are just tools anyways. Much like tape, a knife, sandpaper, whatever.

Sadly though peoples' lifestyles do carry a certain "fragrance". Drunkards, smokers, stoners, just whatever. Yes, stoners too. Stoners smell like someone ate a skunk and spent the night farting out the odor. What is strange though is that smokers who are otherwise clean (like showering each day) tend to not smell as bad. When it is some gross-ass nasty haired hasn't changed clothes this month looking slob, THOSE are the ones that typically stench the worst of tobacco. But yeah sometimes i would smell some nasty smoker and think, "Do I smell that bad?" That alone should be reason enough to quit smoking. Not be STANKIN'

My step parents used to have some ash tray that was the size of a dinner plate. It had an eagle engraved on the bottom. Who the hell needs something THAT big?