no more nicotine

[Coaster]

today is my first day in twenty years without nicotine. its actually been 29 hours. my mind is messed up and i am functioning more poorly than i would have hoped for.

 

i have been off of tobacco since mid august; i went on the replacement plan.

 

the lozenges worked really well. i stopped smoking 7 years ago when i turned blue and ended up in the ER and got admitted. when i got home i immediately smoked and immediately ended up back in the ER; they were not impressed nor were my parents or my spouse.

 

i couldnt take it and started chewing. i knew it was wrong and i did it anyway; i was hooked really, really bad on it. over time i weened myself down to one tin every week.

 

one day i woke up and found out it had been seven years of this and decided i needed to stop. i started the lozenges and all was well.

 

i went from 10 4mg lozenges a day to 1 over four months.

 

yesterday was my last one.

 

i feel funny, and not in a good way. my brain isnt working right. my "lines" are all askew, i dont really know where the lines are lately - my shop partner did something that totally pissed me off and i dont know how to deal with it, if i should confront him or let it go, i dont know. i'm not sure how to react to anything.

 

its really strange.

 

my wife has never been addicted to anything and is trying to be helpful but gets hung up on things i need to just be let go and not dealt with immediately.

[Tomm Williams]

I was assigned to our investigations unit for about 6 years. In that time, I attended tons of training on narcotics. Every expert agreed that nicotine was the absolute hardest drug to eliminate addiction. Part of it is due to it being legal, you ingest a lot more. The other part is nicotine is simply an addictive bitch. I never took up smoking thank God, but my wife quit almost a year ago and still has urges. It gets easier as time goes by but it ain't easy--------I guess you know that.

[Gomer Pyle]

Back in the summer of 69 my buddie and I were walking around the block on the south shore of Long Island and drinking a few quarts of beer which were 51 cents at the local food market. I was 14, he was 13 and he said here, take a hit of this cigarette, it will give you a buzz. He was right, a poor one it was but a buzz just the same. Later that night when I got home I couldn't get that taste out of my mouth no matter how hard I tried. I ate everything I could find in the refridge and finally drank the juice out of the pickle jar and the taste was still there. I said this will never happen again, and to this day I have never smoked a cigarette again.

[agedhorse]

Back in the summer of 69 my buddie and I were walking around the block on the south shore of Long Island and drinking a few quarts of beer which were 51 cents at the local food market. I was 14, he was 13 and he said here, take a hit of this cigarette, it will give you a buzz. He was right, a poor one it was but a buzz just the same. Later that night when I got home I couldn't get that taste out of my mouth no matter how hard I tried. I ate everything I could find in the refridge and finally drank the juice out of the pickle jar and the taste was still there. I said this will never happen again, and to this day I have never smoked a cigarette again.

I had a similar experience and only a few years later... mid 70's. Yuck, made me sick BUT I can see how it COULD be addicting.

[Bobby1Note]

Coaster,

 

I truly hope and pray you'll find the will and the strength to see this through. There's only one way you'll ever quit smoking, and that when you'll decide that you no longer want to continue. Sustitutes are what they are,,,, you need to eliminate, not substitute,,, and the only way that'll happen, is to keep in mind ALL of the negatives of smoking.

 

Learn to associate smoking with the realities,,,, stinky clothes and hair,,,, filthy ash-trays laying around,,, burned clothing,,,, the disgusting brown juice you see when you throw a butt in the toilet,,, the money wasted,,, the concerns of your loved ones. It's a one-day-at-a-time battle,,, and every single day you manage to stay away, is a victory. Oh, you may stumble from time-to-time,,, but keep with it. It won't take long before each puff has you asking yourself "Why the hell did I ever start smoking again? This tastes like {censored}". Keep those negative thoughts alive, and you will succeed.

 

It'll take a while before you really notice an improvement. It'll most likely come in steps....6 months 'til you notice a fairly significant change in your breathing, and senses of smell and taste. Two years on, you'll notice a major difference in your lung capacity, outlook on life, and general well-being.

 

Stick with it Coaster. You ARE officially an "EX-smoker". Be a champ, and win this one for the good-guys. Remember that butt disolving in the toilet, and that disgusting brown juice flowing toward the drain, then relate that to what's happening in your throat,,,,, yechhh!!!

[shrubber]

Coaster, I wish you all the best.

 

I'm getting to (or, in reality, way past) the time to make a serious effort to quit, this after around 37 years (since the army days) of making the manufacturers of Chesterfield very very rich (in my own little way).

 

I still manage to ride my mountain bike, but I really battle with that, as much as I try to convince myself otherwise. I have a serious "morning cough" problem. When I have a few drinks I smoke waaaaay too much. I'm now 55 and I feel that it's getting very close to the "now or never" stage re quitting.

 

I gave up for a few months quite a few years ago but gradually slipped back to full throttle on the nicotine express. I found, at that time, that the biggest battle was in my head. I need to seriously psyche myself up to make a, hopefully permanent, final attempt to break this addiction.

 

Be strong, tell yourself that the mind effects are due to the addiction, keep body and mind busy, try to exercise more, make a conscious attempt to be patient (patience seemed to be the first thing for me that got affected by the withdrawal).

 

I'm determined to climb onto your wagon very soon......

[Coaster]

i'm not having any physical withdrawal or even any cravings. thats a bonus, its just my brain aint going right and what it is doing i'm not exactly sure of.

 

i hung several more fluorescent lighting units in my shop yesterday because i thought it wasnt bright enough to work in there and the shadows were all wrong. now its really bright and i can see well but rather than a hooray i have better lights my brain is dwelling on whether i should or shouldnt have done any of that. i caught myself sitting in my chair doing nothing a number of times so far.

 

i watch the streaming netflix and i'll have to rewind it because i am totally lost in the show. i have to go look at an install in three hours and do a bid to repair it; i'm a little worried i am going to be stupid.

[Mutha Goose]

I wish you luck. I quit in the summer of 2000. I had cravings for the next 2-3 years. For me, I just kept telling myself that no matter how bad the cravings, it is only temporary. Stay disiplined and you will eventually get through it.

 

Personally, I found chewing bar straws (mixing straws) helped. Side note: do not do this on a motorcycle. The wind pulls spit through the straw. Passengers on the back don't like that :-)

[Axisplayer]

 

i'm a little worried i am going to be stupid.

 

 

I face that problem everyday without the nicotine issue. ;-)

You'll do fine. Good move on quitting.

[Tomm Williams]

I once encountered a young inmate who was acting like he was higher than a kite. I conducted a field test on him and the results indicated PCP use. I escorted him to the medical dept. for a further evaluation. They pulled his file and found that he started using PCP at 9 YEARS OLD!!!!!!! He had done so much damage to his system that he still showed indications of usage, even though he wasn't. It can take a long time to get stuff out of your system. Substituting with various anti-smoking products can (with some people) help, but they shouldn't become the next problem. Methadone is a popular answer to Heroin addiction, problem is, folks start abusing the Methadone.

 

All of your issues with "not feeling right", anxiety, moodiness---all normal signs of addiction. It will pass but you may not be much fun for a while.

[lifeloverwg]

Congratulations and good luck sticking to it, you can do it if you really want to. I smoked for 20 years and found quitting to be very easy, hell I quit 6 or 8 times.......... But it was always because my wife wanted me to or because I new I should, not because I really wanted to. The last time was when I had finally gotten to the place where I wanted to quit and while it wasn't easy, I stuck with it and it's been over 10 years now. It took me over a year to lose the urge but now I don't even think about it.

 

You can do it! Winston

[wheresgrant3]

I've never been a smoker, or really addicted to anything stimulant or narcotic other than caffine... and I really think that is more a symptom of my day to day demands and lifestyle (on vacation I don't drink coffee). My wife quit 3 years ago... only a half a pack a day smoker (had weened herself down) but it was hard and she did have some relapses.

 

I wish you the best of luck. You are making the right decision.

[joedobronski]

Coaster, Stay strong, You can do it!

[srp72ee]

Good Luck Coaster!

 

Struggling with an addiction is not easy.

 

For most of my life I was overweight. I weighed 200 Lbs going into the 9th grade, 220 Lbs at 16 years old, 240 Lbs when I graduated high school, and 270 Lbs when I graduated college. In September of 2007, I was on a business trip driving from Knoxville to Nashville. I decided that afternoon that I needed to loose weight - If not for me, but for my 10, 5, and 2 year old at home. I had my yearly physical the following week. I weighed in at 302 lbs.

 

Over the course of 14 months I lost 110 lbs. I had to make a concious effort every day to stay on course. I've kept the weight off, yesterday I weighed 196 lbs. For me, I consider food an addiction. I still make a concious effort everyday to eat right (and the right amount).

[Shaster]

I quit in my twenties, so it's been 30 plus years ago, but I can still remember how tough it was. And yes, it took about a year to get over the urge to back slide, and quite a bit longer to be immune from the thought of smoking.

 

But the alternative to quiting was enough to keep me nicotine free.

 

Good luck - it ain't easy, but few things life altering seldom are.

[Unalaska]

My wife's twin sister ended up in the ER couple days ago. She's been using the electronic cigarettes. Well, she gave herself nicotine poisoning. I've never been a smoker but my wife is, she says she's quitting as soon as she gets pregnant. Or have little thin smoker babies.

[rodclement]

Congrats dude! Stick with it!

 

Rod

[Dogoth]

I'll admit that I'm addicted to many substances (of which I now choose to abstain). Of them all, Nicotine is the worst - Period! I have quit and (stupidly) started several times in my life (my last cigarette was almost 5 years ago). Since nicotine is water soluable, it is mostly out of your system in 4 days (these are the worst) but your brain being used to those certain receptors being stimulated takes a long time to get over. I think my biggest help was changing my attitude from "I'm a smoker who's quitting" to " I'm not a smoker". When you get the urge, purposfuly wait 5 minutes before acting and it will pass. Meanwhile remind yourself that you are NOT a smoker. It's a bitch dude (but worth it) - good luck!

[Coaster]

i did pretty wellw ith this until saturday. saturday was officially a bad day in the "everything is going ok" dept. i had the worst cravings and it lasted all day. i eneded up going to the store and buying a big bag of mints altoids, ice breakers, and halls cough drops. having something tasty helps satisfy the craving.

 

even still i caught myself digging in my pockets for the can of chew about every five minutes for most of the day.

 

sunday was a little better.

 

worst part of all this is this forum is about all i have to talk to about it. i dont know anyone around me locally that has quit and stayed quit, and the two people around me that actually care if i stay quit (wife lives with me and mother lives in town) have no reference of what its like.

 

grrr.

 

and i am cranky and a little paranoid.

 

and the singer in my band wants to use a pitch shifter live, which normally i think would be a cool challenge but right now i think is a stupid pain in the ass. what a grump on a log i am.

 

thanks for letting me vent.

[Special J]

Best of luck to you man. I quit about a year and 9 months ago, after almost 20 years of smoking. I had made a couple of half-hearted attempts before then, using the patch and the gum. This time, my wife was pregnant, so I had a real reason besides my own health to quit. I took Chantix, which was some crazy {censored} that I would not recommend to anyone else. Ultimately it helped, although there got to be points when I didn't even know if I was awake or dreaming and I was a raging asshole the entire time I was on it. My wife's a saint for not killing me, considering her own pregnant hormone level.

 

So here I am, all this time later and I still occasionally reach for my pack when I get in the car. When I used to get a cell phone call at the shop, I would often take the call outside where I could grab a butt. Even to this day, when I pick up those calls I'll find myself headed for the door. The hardest thing is now trying to lose the 30 lbs. that I gained, seemingly overnight, but my feeling is that if I could quite smoking, then losing this weight can't be all that hard.

[DBR]

We are looking to quit come New Years and have been trying to cut down. I quit for 6 months but I felt I was ready. Divorce got me smoking again. Haven't quit nor desired to since. I don't feel nowhere near as ready as I did back then. :blah:

[snoggin]

I can relate.. I smoked two packs a day for 25 years. I've been quit for about nine now.. I had to appeal to my higher power.. sounds weird but for me its true.. I quit once about six years before my final stop.. It was so easy for me I did the patch and no probelm.. After a year and a half I had a fight with the wife and my brain said" I'll show her" and I went and bought a pack of cigs.. Figured I'd quit again the next day.

 

It took another six years for me to quit again.. And I kep[t trying almost nonstop.. Eventually I enrolled in Kaiser smoking cesssation and vowed to keep reupping until I quit.. I went thru that program 4 times. I tried the patch , the pill, both at the same time and what worked was putting my season ski pass around my neck with a patch taped to it.. If I wanted a cigarette I'd just grab my talisman.

 

For me , I think you get little windows of time from God or something where you can accomplish the impossible.. The time with my talisman.. It was EASY.. But dont take them for granted, I know I wont.

[Craig Vecchione]

I've never smoked cigarettes, and I assume you either can't get hooked on cigars, or I'm immune to what might be in them. But I've lived with people who successfully quit, and those who haven't, and have a lot of respect for how string this addiction is. Stronger than heroin and crack, I'm told, and believe it.

 

Good luck, be strong as you can be. I'm rooting for you.

[stix 518]

Hey Coast! Be strong, bro. It ain't easy but let's face it, nothing worth doing ever is. I've been smoking cigs since I snuck some of my dad's Pall Mall (unfiltered) back when I was about 13 (a long, long time ago in a land far, far away). He passed away this past June from cancer - he gave up the cigarettes about 10 years ago.

 

Just remember, quitting is easy, heII I've done it a hundred times! Now staying quit, that's the hard part. Did it twice, both times for three years. Went back to smoking when I went through both my divorces - at the time, you could still smoke in bars - spent a lot of time there too, but that's a whole nother story!

 

Only thing I can tell you is... one day at a time. Nicotine is a beeyatch but one day at a time. You can do it, you just have to want to do it.

 

Stix

[Coaster]

today was ok. i been hittin the altoids a little hard.

 

a lot of stuff is really getting on my nerves right now but the worst by far is that people who know i have quit walk up to me and stand there and SMOKE inches away from me.

 

i F^&*(&*^ HATE that.