Tips for Avoiding Triggers....

[notsmokinjo]

So it doesn't matter what stage of our quit we are in we are going to face triggers to wanting a smoke. The earlier you are in your quit the more triggers you will face and you will be surprised how many things you will learn were triggers and you didn't even know. So first rule of triggers avoidance... don't expect your triggers to be concurred over night, it took time to program your brain with all your smoking triggers its going to take time to unprogram them.

 

The first few days of quitting are often the most challenging. You’re likely to have strong regular cravings due to nicotine withdrawal and also from smoking triggers. Being prepared and knowing what to expect can make things easier. As each day passes the cravings occur less and less often. They grow weaker until you’re not thinking of smoking for days, then weeks, then months at a time. You just need to beat the triggers, outsmart the little buggers, and beat them into oblivion one by one.

 

Triggers are all those little habits, experiences, situations and feelings that you have learnt to associate with having a smoke. Some can just be avoided but some can't.

 

So change your routine.... I used to get up, fill the kettle and put it on as I went outside for my first hit... every morning it was the same thing....didn't matter if I needed the loo.... nothing happened before that first smoke.... so I switched it up... get up, go to the dunny, have a shower, then a coffee.... I changed the pattern, and the trigger lost its strength and went away. The whole first year was a master class in avoiding triggers, re-writing them, and deleting them from my mind. Everyone who quits faces triggers, some are the same, some are different.... so oldies and inbetweenies share you tricks of the trade with our newbies... how did you deal with your triggers.

 

Here are some tips from the quit people down under:

 

[Doreensfree]

Great post Jo.!!!!

Change your routine ...

Change your thoughts to positives ..instead of negatives .....

[MLMR]

2 hours ago, notsmokinjo said:

 ...and you will be surprised how many things you will learn were triggers and you didn't even know. 

If there's something like the secret to quitting, this is it! 

 

Take the surprise and emotion out of  triggers and you are left with what they really are: patterns, patterns and more patterns. Once I saw that, it was so much easier to deal with triggers, or to respond in different ways other than lightening up.

 

 

Example, from back in october. At that point I thought I was done with morning triggers: 

'Started with the SAD (seasonal affective disorder)  lamp this morning,  third year in a row. Made myself a nice coffee and had some papers ready, to prepare for today. So I am sitting behind this absurdly bright light and suddenly this intense crave hits me... omg!!! In a flash I see myself lighting up, immediately having that 'Ahhhhh'moment, so at first I'm all 'wtf is this, where does this come from, oh nooo'. Panick, 'Will this ever st....'   And then it dawns on me. The lamp is HEAVILY connected with morning smoking rituals. Waking up, coffee, lamp, one or two cigarettes (the only onesduring all seasons I allowed myself to smoke IN the house,  as to ease and boost myself for REALLY doing this lamp thing, waddajamean fvcking up my reward system), and I kidd you not, the crave eases out the second I understand  the connection.

 

Knowing this intens 'wanting' is nothing more than a brainfart, a result of programming. Knowing that here and now, in this moment, I cut yet another tie with this darned addiction! 

 

My tip would be to try to remove the emotional aspect of triggers, try to detach from that. Ofcourse, cry if you need to, because of the sudden surprise, or scare maybe. And after that comes healing. Each time a little bit more. 

 

 

Edited March 26, 2019 by MLMR

[jillar]

Great post Jo, thanks!  

[Paul723]

There is a saying-

 

"There is no extra credit for making quitting harder."

 

I avoided places where I would smoke for the first few months of my quit.

[catlover]

I walked away from my husband if I thought an argument was brewing, as that was always a green light to go and smoke.

I refused to let myself get worked up to the point I knew I would be checking my purse to see if i had enough for a pack!

 

Great post Jo..Thank you.

[Martian5]

I also tried changing my routine but the biggest thing I always did when a trigger hit was to identify all the circumstances around the trigger to identify and to learn so that I could handle them.  Also I had to learn the the farther into the quit the more "out of left field" that the triggers came from and that triggers come from anywhere.  Learn to live with them and to conquer them -- it gets easier!!!!

[JB 883]

If a big trigger happens to be excitement, maybe pester a room mate instead. Or aggravate the neighbor's dogs.

 

Yeah, my biggest emotional trigger is when I get excited, say like finding some awesome deal on ebay

[notsmokinjo]

1 hour ago, Jet Black said:

Yeah, my biggest emotional trigger is when I get excited, say like finding some awesome deal on ebay

 

Oh you could have just mastered a victory/happy dance for moments like that....the exercise would have even given you an endorphin hit.

[Tammy]

Excellent post Jo as usual.

 

I always, always ask my trigger ( I actually have a mental conversation with it :p) what does it need? My attention on a memory? My celebration for something good? My anger on something wrong? Anxiety at work?

Post the answer my trigger gives, I'm like, hmm and where would that be after the 7 minutes of puffing like a defunct coal engine? Nowhere so how about instead I give you a nice walk, or a cool drink (It's hotter than a pig's backside here right now) and by that time, my trigger has left the building.

[PorkandPancakes]

I love this Tammie. It’s actually enlightening listening to our minds trying to tell us something we always deadened it with cigs buts it’s actually something to be heard. Every day is a learning day

[Lilly]

Jo thank you for such a helpful post. 

 

I always remember Jillar saying don't smoke in places you usually smoke before you quit. I stopped smoking in the car, at my smoking spot in the garden and my work grounds. I didn't find new regular spots, I smoked in completely different spots each time so none became habitual. 

 

This really helped break associations before I'd even quit.