SOS I keep romancing the cigarettes.

[Holski]

I just got home from work and the whole way home I kept thinking how I want to get one on my husband's cigarettes and smoke it.

It is the back and forth tug of war going on in my head.

Serious battle.

I don't know what I want right now so I figured I'd better get my fins to the board and post.

I am missing smoking very much right now.

 

 

Boooooo!

[beacon]

No, that is not going to happen tonight. What do you think is going on

[MarylandQuitter]

Start watching the videos to keep your mind where it needs to be.

 

Good Reasons To Take A Puff On A Cigarette After Having Quit Smoking

For people who think that there are no good reasons to take a puff on a cigarette after quitting, and more importantly, for people who think that there might actually be good reasons.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvHl-zwUdBo

Related video:
There is no legitimate reason to relapse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCm_5...

[beacon]

Really it is not going to taste good and you will feel sick and mad. You do not want to reset your ticker. Chew gum, eat, anything, run.

[MarylandQuitter]

Who Wants To Go Back To Smoking?

This video discusses how former smokers at times think they want to go back to smoking, but if they really remind themselves of the package deal that goes along with being a smoker, it will be easy for them to stick to their quit.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG9qGjf2hd8&list=PL76365B6CE2DA076B

[beacon]

My coworker is 63 years old, two heart attacks, still smoking, unable to quit. She came to me to ask to retire today after 20 years because she is unwell. She looks ill. My other coworker is 70, nonsmoker, doing bootcamp, running, more energy than me.

[Holski]

OK, I'm going to look at the links for a bit.

I think it is the change of seasons. That is my guess.

I'm tired of this stupid addiction. I'm sick of it rearing it's head.

I hate it.

Thanks you MQ & Beacon.

:)

[Devil Doll]

Oh no you aren't throwing your almost 3 month quit away.

[MarylandQuitter]

I think it is the change of seasons. That is my guess.

I'm tired of this stupid addiction. I'm sick of it rearing it's head.

I hate it.

Thanks you MQ & Beacon.

:)

 

How Holidays That Result In Three Day Weekends Effect Recent Ex-Smokers

While discussing labor day and fall kind of changes, issues discussed in this video applies to lots of holidays and situations like three day weekends and the end of vacations for recent quitters.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGCFdg9tY_w

[beacon]

It has taken me quite awhile to quit romancing the cig. The desire to smoke for me is a knee jerk reaction to stress, sadness, misfortune, even at times a desire to do something really bad. Yet in the end all a cig is an object that I project my emotions on, a coping technique. Some times you have to white knuckle the desire until it is the next day

[Devil Doll]

I find myself doing that too Beacon. While I white knuckle it I think about any cigarette that I ever smoked after a period of not smoking (whether it be quit, hospital stay, pregnancy). How did I feel? Sick, never good, never relief, always dry heaving, dizzy, coughing, sick. Then I think about how I would kick myself for smoking after not having smoked for so long, reawakening the addiction. The hardest part was always over and here I was again wanting to quit and having to go through the hardest part. 

You have almost 3 months, you don't want to awaken it, it isn't worth going through the first three crappy days and then hell week and the weeks thereafter. You are already at 3 months. Why give that up? For what? Sickness?

[Holski]

Call the waaambulance.

I am feeling like a special snowflake right now.

I know better but I just feel like I will never get this.

I feel like I'm missing out on something.

Mind bleeeep is what this is.

Course' if I keep relapsing, I will never get this.

Alright, alright.

I want to be like the lady in Beacons' post. The 70 year old healthy one.

[Holski]

I'm not going to smoke.

I'm going to go give my son a bath.

then I'm going to put him to bed and then

I'm going to bed too.

Stupid, damn, nicotine and cigarettes.

 

Thanks again everybody.

[beacon]

Hello this board is for the sos. Why are we here. I believe quitting success is nothing more than time. It is good to be educated, supported and reinforced. However, the longer you do not smoke, the easier it gets. If you can hold out, build positive memories and habits that do not include smoking, the smoking thoughts fade. The holding out, the nope, is the easy peasy philosophy.

[beacon]

I'm not going to smoke.

I'm going to go give my son a bath.

then I'm going to put him to bed and then

I'm going to bed too.

Stupid, damn, nicotine and cigarettes.

 

Thanks again everybody.

Ok I am going to bed and I am going to sleep well knowing that just for today you chose to nope

[Devil Doll]

That is what we are here for.. the wahhhhmbulance, kick in the pants, and warm hugs club. I still have thoughts too, but they pass, they aren't as frequent or as strong. Three months for me sucked Hols... I found that especially around anniversary time.  Get through it tonight you will feel different tomorrow. :)

[Jenny]

Don't you make me come over there Bruce!!!   You can't smoke because you DON'T SMOKE ANYMORE!

 

We've all been there and it sucks sometimes.  Smoking won't make you feel any better.  Remember when you smoked how you would plan the next cigarette before you put out the one you were currently smoking?  You smoke and smoke and smoke and you never really scratch that itch.  It couldn't be satisfied then and won't be satisfied now.  You addict mind is telling you it will but it's a lie.

 

The only way to stop the craving is to starve it.  No nicotine + lots of time = a peaceful smoke free life.  Just say NOPE and then give it some more time.

 

xx

[beacon]

I am sitting here sad because of my coworker and my mother and my neighbor because they are all sick from smoking. This demon addiction.

 

We did not choose to become a slave to this product for life when we started as kids not knowing really. I will not let this addiction get me again. I

[natalie_3]

Remember one cigarette is all it takes to become a smoker again!

I don´t know how to pass it but Beacon´s video really helped me calm down. Beacon? DD? You both know how to post it.

Be strong!

[natalie_3]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dbvckNVbK4

 

It´s this one. It helps a lot.

[Devil Doll]

http://youtu.be/5dbvckNVbK4

[natalie_3]

Thanks DD! 

[Chrysalis]

Hi, Holski. I hear ya, buddy, and I feel your pain. Literally.

 

I, too, am one of those people who periodically gets locked into obsessively thinking about and desiring to smoke a cigarette. The rational part of my brain says, "Absolutely not!!" but my junkie brain keeps bugging me and bugging me and bugging me until I'm ready to SCREAM!!. Frankly, I want to smoke not to relieve the cravings so much but to get relief from the constant mental battle. This doesn't happen to me all the time (thank God) but it does sometimes.

 

So what do I do to get through it?

1. Recognize that there is something going on in my life that is making me particularly stressed or anxious. There is some emotion that is triggering my thoughts about smoking. It is important for me to look at myself honestly and figure out what is bothering me--then start taking steps to fix the problem. That, really, is the only long-term solution.

2. Take serious steps to reduce your stress. Getting regular, moderate exercise is particularly effective. Listen to relaxing music or do yoga or immerse yourself in a favorite hobby or listen to a self-hypnosis tape. Do whatever works for you to reduce your stress.

3. (This was a biggie for me) Recognize that you do NOT want to go back to smoking. You keep thinking about having "one perfect cigarette". Just one. You just crave the relief of that one, beautiful inhalation and the feeling of  "a-a-a-h-h-h". Well, there ain't no such thing as "one perfect cigarette". One cigarette will lead to another and then 3 and then a pack and so on.... So your internal debate is not really between "should I have one cigarette or not?". Your internal debate is REALLY "should I keep my quit or throw in the towel and go back to smoking totally?" THAT is the real choice you have.

 

Joel  Spitzer said it in a way that really resonated with me. He said:

 

"Fixating on a Cigarette

What happens to some people is when off a certain time period they start fixating on a cigarette. By that I mean they forget all the bad cigarettes they ever smoked, they forget the ones they smoked without ever really thinking about them even at the time they were being smoked, and they start to remember and focus on one good cigarette. It may be one the smoked 20 years earlier but it was a good one and they are now wanting one again.
A common tactic is the ex-smoker will try to tell himself or herself that he or she does not really want that good cigarette. Well, the problem is at that moment he or she does want it. An internal debate erupts, "I want one, no I don't, one sounds great, not it doesn't, oh just one, not just one!" The problem is that if the ex-smoker focus on one there is no clear winning side. The ex-smoker needs to change the internal discussion.

Don't say that you don’t want one when you do, rather acknowledge the desire but ask yourself, do I want the others that go with it. Then do I want the package deal that goes with the others? The expense, social stigma, smell, health effects, possible loss of life. Do you want to go back to smoking, full fledged, until it cripples and kills you? Stated like this it normally is not a back and forth debate. The answer will normally be, "No I don’t want to smoke under these terms, and these are the only terms a cigarette comes with.

Normally if viewed like this the debate is over with almost immediately after pulled into focus. Again, if the focus is only on one, you can drive yourself nuts throughout the whole day. If they focus on the whole package deal, you will walk away from the moment relieved to still be smoke free and sufficiently reinforced to never take another puff!

Joel"

 

So in summary, to stop obsessing about cigarettes identify and fix the underlying problem, practice stress reduction techniques every day and realize that yes, you want a cigarette right now. But you only want ONE SINGLE cigarette. There ain't no such thing. You are torturing yourself with a fantasy. Lastly, when I was really afraid that I was going to relapse, I re-started Chantix for a week or two. That calmed the obsessive thinking and allowed me to get grounded again. I suspect that any NRT that worked for you to help you quit (if you used one) would work to help you avoid a relapse. 

 

Hang in there. You and I (and some others) are fighting this same battle. We are going to win! And little by little it does get better and easier. Keep the Quit, baby! 

[Colleen]

Holly...No way do you want to smoke...Really?  Do you want to?  What is that cigarette going to do for you?  It's a moment, maybe it feels like it is dragging on, but it is just a moment.  It's going to go away and if you were to smoke, you would be so angry with yourself.  

[natalie_3]

It´s not worth it