Quitting smoking sucks. It was so easy when I got pregnant. I just did it. But this time around is different. I have had 5 cigarettes since last Monday when I thought I had smoked my last. Pretty good I suppose. None would be better. So I've considered asking my doctor for some help. But the last time I tried that I nearly had a mental breakdown from taking Zyban. You know that little print out the pharmacist includes with your prescription? Well, this one failed to mention being thrown in to an instant paranoid depression amongst every other side effect known to man. After a few trips to the local Internet cafe, the hubby and I discovered that I was not the only one. Hundreds of people with the same debilitating side effects so conveniently left off the list. And there were others who claimed to have lost feeling and/or use of their limbs. Really. You may well be able to see my apprehension about venturing into the land of drugs again. As a general rule I don't take them, but I really do want to quit and I know I can't manage the cold turkey. That said, it'd be a whole lot easier to wean myself if I could just go purchase ONE smoke at a time. Just like you can buy one beer or one cigar. But not with cigarettes. Nope. You have to buy at least 20 at a time. Bull. Shit. Ah well. The doctor's appointment is tomorrow so we'll see what we can't figure out.
And out of curiosity I wanted to know what the heck cold turkey has to do with quitting smoking. Apparently it was first used to describe doing something without preparation, as in serving up leftovers like cold turkey. It was later applied to those quitting heroine, because as the drug leaves the system the skin begins to resemble that of a refrigerated, holiday fowl.
10 comments:
Fuck the drugs, go cold turkey. Otherwise, you're not quitting anything. Think about it - if you use nicotine patches, you're still hooked on nicotine. Any drug to help is a new reliance.
With quitting, a huge psychological help to me was not thinking 'Right, I'm quitting smoking now. I'm never having another cigarette." Thinking that made me despondent, and I wanted a cig immediately.
So what I thought was 'Right, I'm not having a cigarette today. I can do a day, that's a piece of piss.'
And it was. I thought, 'If I really want a cigarette, I can have one.' That worked too - because each time I thought I could have one, I just worked on that craving until it was gone. I did something else, I phoned a friend or something, until the craving was gone.
These things worked for me, and I've only craved maybe once a year since quitting, and that is very, very manageable. And I still think the same thing - I can have one if I want one, but do I really want one?
You can do this - get support somewhere, quit with a friend. Make it a competition!
Good luck with this. Email any time if you want to bleat.
I dunno. High five to you. You'll get there and however you do is fine by me...
does the side effects include diareeah? thats my favorite....
Cold turkey is probably the way to go. I've never smoked, but of the friends of mine who have quit, the ones who did it cold turkey lasted the longest.
badger- you are so right. In light of all your good advice I've started my own list of triggers for smoking so that maybe I can learn to see past them. There are the obvious, like drinking and coffee but there are others like stress, a good conversation and as a break from work that need further insight. I've also heard the rearranging the furniture bit, but luckily I haven't smoked inside in about 5 years. So that one is already down ;o) Thank you. Means a lot.
liz- you gonna join me er what? ;op
slyde- ewwwwwwwwwww. no. only erectile disfunction.
earl- I've heard all kinds. A very close friend of mine has been of cigs for 5 or more years using the patch. But at heart I'm a black or white kinda gal so cold turkey may be the only way for me.
Cold turkey is tasty. why would one want to quit it? Frozen turkey, however, hurts when eaten, so i suggest we change it to "quit frozen turkey"
Um. I tagged you.
A year ago myself and two friends quit smoking and I was the only one to do it cold turky - they started chewing Nicorette.
I'm not being vain but I'm the one who kicked the habit properly within about 3 months... (apart from my drunken relapses!)...
Whereas they're still smoking (albeit, credit to them, significantly less than they used to).
Having said that, I've known some people who've done it with the help of either gum or patches too, so one size doesn't necessarily fit all. Best of luck anyway.
Cold Turkey, Drink Lots of water, sweat it out with sauna, get lots of baby carrots to munch on. Include the weekend in this time. Go Mad.
I'm on day 23 of not smoking - and it is easier these past few days. At the same time, I stupidly signed up for a month of blogging which, in the end, was probably a good thing in that instead of zoning in on how much I wanted a cig, I thought of how much I dreaded writing a blog post. I also took up knitting scarves again. And I avoided going out unless I had to ... I've discovered this well of anger that keeps boiling up and I need to find a way to get it out (writing helps, but I'd never be able to publish it in my blog).
Keep on going - and think about knitting ... it really helped.
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