seekingpeaceinlove Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 I celebrated 5 years of being smoke-free last spring. Well, right now I have the strongest urge to smoke since I've quit and the feeling is getting stronger. I'm dealing with a lot of stress right now (dumped by bf, stressful business) and trying to cope with it in different ways but the little devil on my shoulder keeps reminding me how good it felt to smoke a cig...that all I need is just one. All I need is just one and I can throw the rest of the pack away. I know one will lead to 2..3...4..I know it's an unhealthy & disgusting habit but I can't seem to get it off of my mind. I'm f*cking struggling!!!! Any tips, fellow ex-smokers? Help! Link to post Share on other sites
S2B Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Delay... Keep saying to yourself "not now, maybe in 10 minutes". Have you found a way to deal with the emotions you've attached to smoking? If you have alternative coping methods - use those instead of smoking. I like chocolate :-) 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Author seekingpeaceinlove Posted October 12, 2015 Author Share Posted October 12, 2015 Thank you, S2B. I try to cope with my emotions thorough exercising, writing in my journal, meditating, etc. Yet, when I'm having a high stress day at work I can't help but think how nice it would be to step out for 5 min to take a breather..and smoke. Lol. I may have to find another short term fix in those high stress moments...chewing a wad of bubble gum..taking a quick 5 min walk..something..anything but smoking. Link to post Share on other sites
Clarence_Boddicker Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 Easy, just visit Quitters Inc. Link to post Share on other sites
Krieger Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 DONT DO IT. I only smoke a cig after good sex or when I am drinking . Also I used to chew when I doing homework to stay awake and focus LOL. Link to post Share on other sites
pureinheart Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 This is the third and last time I'm quitting. Each time I started back around the five year point w/ additives of stress to cause me to want to start also. One led to another, then another and I was back smoking my usual and each time it was harder to quit. Try and think of the negatives attached... please don't start again... 2 Link to post Share on other sites
whichwayisup Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 I celebrated 5 years of being smoke-free last spring. Well, right now I have the strongest urge to smoke since I've quit and the feeling is getting stronger. I'm dealing with a lot of stress right now (dumped by bf, stressful business) and trying to cope with it in different ways but the little devil on my shoulder keeps reminding me how good it felt to smoke a cig...that all I need is just one. All I need is just one and I can throw the rest of the pack away. I know one will lead to 2..3...4..I know it's an unhealthy & disgusting habit but I can't seem to get it off of my mind. I'm f*cking struggling!!!! Any tips, fellow ex-smokers? Help! Buy nicorette gum!! Don't take that one drag of the cigarette, you'll be smoking again all the time. That motto, you're a puff away from a pack a day comes into play here. Be strong and focus on the reasons WHY you quit. You smell good, you don't cough, you are healthier and have more $$ in your pocket. Fight the urge, don't give in...It'll pass. 3 Link to post Share on other sites
carhill Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 One thing I've noticed, being the non-smoking friend of those who have smoked for life, is that they tend to smoke more around others who smoke, particularly spouses, but very little if any around me when we're out doing stuff away from spouses (these are my guy friends) even though I never have made any comments about smoking in general. If group psychology has any play, this might indicate a further inhibition to smoking to be to choose to socialize and align socially with non or ex-smokers, where smoking in general is a non-issue. Quitting for the lifers, from what I've seen in my life anyway, is exceedingly difficult. Some have and some struggle, even after health issues which would cause another person to quit another habit without hesitation. My dad was like that. He smoked literally until the day before he died of cancer. Back then you could smoke in the hospital and, yup, he did. Being around a wife who quit many years prior did nothing for him, which underscores how we're all different. Perhaps looking at this as a one day at a time thing could help, with each day being a separate success. There are other things that day to focus on as successes, even with problems out there in life, and those, and not having a cigarette that day, can be the day's success. Tomorrow will get here and it can be dealt with then. Good luck! 3 Link to post Share on other sites
Author seekingpeaceinlove Posted October 13, 2015 Author Share Posted October 13, 2015 Thank you all so much! Great advice and I'm reminded how damn hard it would be to quit if I started again. The urge is still there but weaker than yesterday. I was close to buying an e-cig yesterday so that I could "smoke" but control the nicotine level. BUT I succeeded in stopping myself. I'll take it day by day...well, hour by hour in some instances. I think I'll celebrate each week that I'm cig free and hopefully sooner than later the cravings will cease again. Thank you thank you! 3 Link to post Share on other sites
pureinheart Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 Quitting for the lifers, from what I've seen in my life anyway, is exceedingly difficult. Some have and some struggle, even after health issues which would cause another person to quit another habit without hesitation. My dad was like that. He smoked literally until the day before he died of cancer. Back then you could smoke in the hospital and, yup, he did. Being around a wife who quit many years prior did nothing for him, which underscores how we're all different. Perhaps looking at this as a one day at a time thing could help, with each day being a separate success. There are other things that day to focus on as successes, even with problems out there in life, and those, and not having a cigarette that day, can be the day's success. Tomorrow will get here and it can be dealt with then. Good luck! My dad did too CH, replace the cancer with heart problems and emphysema. My 'evil' stepmother wouldn't quit and smoked around him all of the time, but bitched at him to quit and monitored his smoking... WTH???? You never smoked, but I can tell you, coming down off of heroin is probably easier. OP- visit that site that tells you all of the things and the time frame in which after quitting decreases. I'm pretty sure for me it's cleared out of my system after 6mo (AGAIN). I have a lot more energy ... and Lord the crap they put in cigs today... 1 Link to post Share on other sites
pureinheart Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 Thank you all so much! Great advice and I'm reminded how damn hard it would be to quit if I started again. The urge is still there but weaker than yesterday. I was close to buying an e-cig yesterday so that I could "smoke" but control the nicotine level. BUT I succeeded in stopping myself. I'll take it day by day...well, hour by hour in some instances. I think I'll celebrate each week that I'm cig free and hopefully sooner than later the cravings will cease again. Thank you thank you! This last weekend I wanted to smoke something, anything, didn't care what it was lol- but that passed! Link to post Share on other sites
HeartDesires Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Easy, just visit Quitters Inc. Easy, yes it's just so easy It's the hardest thing I've ever had to do. And the subsequent weight gain is a health issue in itself. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
bubbaganoosh Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Before you reach for a cigarette try a vape. You can at least control the nicotine level and not stink the joint out with the smell of the cigarette. They aren't hard to get used to and a lot easier to get off but if you went 5 years without smoking then you can go another day or so until you get rid of the stress. Buying a pack might help you but you have to remember that you'll still have the stress so if your dealing with it without the cigarettes then your winning the battle. Not to mention that it's 5 or more bucks up in smoke. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Maddieandtae Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Quitting smoking was the hardest life change I have ever done. I'm coming up five years myself this November. I still remember the first horrific 10 months it took to feel normal. Just thinking on those days stop me cold. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
froz Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Got to give up myself soon! 2 Link to post Share on other sites
night.cwtch Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Whenever you want to smoke, try dark chocolate, it really helped me the secret is to get busy and concentrate on some task right after you eat it Link to post Share on other sites
NGC1300 Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 The biggest problem with these scenarios is people keep operating under the belief that smoking is a zero sum situation. People aren't willing to distinguish between 3 cigs a month, and 3 packs a day. Not even the medical community will. You're either one of those 'filthy smokers', or you're not. And yet there clearly is a distinction, especially in terms of health. 1 or 2 cigs a week for the rest of your life will not have any lasting effect on your health, compared to being a non smoker. There's very minuscule difference. Link to post Share on other sites
Glass Hut Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 The biggest problem with these scenarios is people keep operating under the belief that smoking is a zero sum situation. People aren't willing to distinguish between 3 cigs a month, and 3 packs a day. Not even the medical community will. You're either one of those 'filthy smokers', or you're not. And yet there clearly is a distinction, especially in terms of health. 1 or 2 cigs a week for the rest of your life will not have any lasting effect on your health, compared to being a non smoker. There's very minuscule difference. First of all you have to buy 20 and they go stale so you can't keep a pack for months. Second of all I think most people who have smoked would find it way too tempting to have them around. I guess some people can bum them on the weekends but others cannot. So while it would probably be fine to have one cigarette a week it's generally not realistic. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
mea_M Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Congrats on being smoke free. It's not easy and it's a huge accomplishment. Distraction always worked for me. Just getting outside of my head and doing any little thing not to smoke. I used the nicotrol inhalers years back to quit. Worked like a charm. Keep up the good work. Link to post Share on other sites
Author seekingpeaceinlove Posted November 16, 2015 Author Share Posted November 16, 2015 (edited) Thanks for the helpful advice, all! I admit I think about smoking OFTEN but I haven't touched it once since I quit. I don't know if the temptations will ever go away but I feel I have a really strong will now and am patting myself on the back each time I stop myself from picking up a pack. It's funny bc when I get a whiff of someone smoking I'll cringe my nose and curse under my breath. It really is disgusting. Good luck to those trying to quit or trying to remain smoke-free! It's a mighty hard battle but it can be won! Edited November 16, 2015 by seekingpeaceinlove 3 Link to post Share on other sites
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