Thread: Quit Smoking update

On 12 Nov 2010 05:38:19 GMT, Cheryl <[email protected]> wrote:

> The pacifier (e-cig) is working amazingly. I am not a detoxing mess
> and I can go the whole hour commute to work without smoking. For a
> few days I had a problem giving up the smoke in the morning but I can
> give that up now. I have smoked each day this past week but I have
> cut it down to anywhere from 2 to 7 a day. Today was a breakthrough.
> I smoked one driving to work, and then lit one driving home -- none
> in between -- and it was the most horrid taste to me. Maybe it is a
> combination of the taste of the e-cig and/or the wellbutin I'm
> taking.

Any port in a storm/whatever works for you... you know all the catch
phrases, but most importantly, congratulations! I've read that
kicking nicotine is harder than kicking heroin, so *good job*! Look
around for that cigarette ticker you can use in your sig where it adds
up the days, the cigarettes and how much money you've saved. Are you
putting your cigarette money away so you can buy yourself something
nice with it?

--

Never trust a dog to watch your food.

On 12 Nov 2010 05:38:19 GMT, Cheryl <[email protected]> wrote:

>The pacifier (e-cig) is working amazingly. I am not a detoxing mess
>and I can go the whole hour commute to work without smoking. For a
>few days I had a problem giving up the smoke in the morning but I can
>give that up now. I have smoked each day this past week but I have
>cut it down to anywhere from 2 to 7 a day. Today was a breakthrough.
>I smoked one driving to work, and then lit one driving home -- none
>in between -- and it was the most horrid taste to me. Maybe it is a
>combination of the taste of the e-cig and/or the wellbutin I'm
>taking.

It's probably because they really do taste horrid after you haven't
had one for even a couple of hours. We tend to forget how hard it was
to *start* smoking in the first place.

You might want to pick up "The Easy Way To Stop Smoking" by Allen
Carr. It's a pretty good book and really helpful. It's not full of
scare stories -- we already know those don't work -- but points that
make a lot of sense. It helped me quit, and relatively painlessly.

One of the things that make it so difficult to quit is that we've been
repeatedly told it's so difficult to quit. Once you understand that
smoking is a bad habit, just like a lot of other bad habits, it's much
easier to give up the cigs.

Good luck to you.

"Cheryl" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> The pacifier (e-cig) is working amazingly. I am not a detoxing mess
> and I can go the whole hour commute to work without smoking. For a
> few days I had a problem giving up the smoke in the morning but I can
> give that up now. I have smoked each day this past week but I have
> cut it down to anywhere from 2 to 7 a day. Today was a breakthrough.
> I smoked one driving to work, and then lit one driving home -- none
> in between -- and it was the most horrid taste to me. Maybe it is a
> combination of the taste of the e-cig and/or the wellbutin I'm
> taking.

Good!

For the most part I gave up coffee after I quit smoking. For many years my
friends and I would go out for coffee in the evening and I would smoke. So
the two seem to go together.

I never buy coffee any more. Once in a while I will have a cup at a
relative's house. My husband's relatives drink a lot of coffee. But I am
far more likely to have tea because there is no such association in my mind.
Most of my husband's relatives do smoke as well.

"BlueBrooke" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> On 12 Nov 2010 05:38:19 GMT, Cheryl <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>The pacifier (e-cig) is working amazingly. I am not a detoxing mess
>>and I can go the whole hour commute to work without smoking. For a
>>few days I had a problem giving up the smoke in the morning but I can
>>give that up now. I have smoked each day this past week but I have
>>cut it down to anywhere from 2 to 7 a day. Today was a breakthrough.
>>I smoked one driving to work, and then lit one driving home -- none
>>in between -- and it was the most horrid taste to me. Maybe it is a
>>combination of the taste of the e-cig and/or the wellbutin I'm
>>taking.
>
> It's probably because they really do taste horrid after you haven't
> had one for even a couple of hours. We tend to forget how hard it was
> to *start* smoking in the first place.
>
> You might want to pick up "The Easy Way To Stop Smoking" by Allen
> Carr. It's a pretty good book and really helpful. It's not full of
> scare stories -- we already know those don't work -- but points that
> make a lot of sense. It helped me quit, and relatively painlessly.
>
> One of the things that make it so difficult to quit is that we've been
> repeatedly told it's so difficult to quit. Once you understand that
> smoking is a bad habit, just like a lot of other bad habits, it's much
> easier to give up the cigs.
>
> Good luck to you.

Smoking was actually easy for me. As a baby and toddler, I was fascinated
with cigarettes and I burned my hand a great many times from grabbing the
lit end. My dad and plenty of my relatives smoked. My parents have
pictures of me playing with packs of cigarettes.

When I learned to draw, I would always draw women in long dresses and high
heels. They always had a cigarette in a long holder in one hand and a
cocktail in the other. That was my goal for when I grew up. To go to fancy
cocktail parties, smoke and drink martinis.

I never really developed the taste for alcohol. But the smoking? Took
right to it. I must have been a smoker in a former life or something.

I also never went to a formal cocktail party. I did go to plenty of parties
and even had quite a few. But never dressed up for them. The closet thing
I can think of was a military event that required formal dress. There was a
limited amount of liquor there and there was dinner. But not my idea of a
good time.

On 11/12/2010 2:49 PM, sf wrote:
I've read that
> kicking nicotine is harder than kicking heroin, so *good job*!

A very good job! And it's not the nicotine that is so difficult to quit
(although that's what causes the physical difficulties during the first
two weeks,) but it's the 'habit' of smoking that most people find so
hard to deal with. You are finished with nicotine withdrawal in about
7-10 days. Often it takes a lifetime to deal with the habit.

Look
> around for that cigarette ticker you can use in your sig where it adds
> up the days, the cigarettes and how much money you've saved.

That is a very, very good idea, even if you never post the data. It
serves as personal 'biofeedback' reinforcing your resolve not to smoke
as you watch the numbers grow. You can find the quite meter
http://www.silkquit.org/stop-smoking/quit-meter.aspx
I'd also recommend visiting Alt.support.stop-smoking and introducing
yourself. There are a whole lot of good people who are either going
through exactly what you are right now, or have already been there and
done that! You can find a lot of helpful hints about what makes for a
successful quit, as well as learning why so many of us have failed in
the past when trying to quit.

To tell the truth, I miss a lot about smoking. But there is a whole lot
more that I don't miss about it!

Twelve years, two months, three weeks, one day, 11 hours, 54 minutes.
133994 cigarettes not smoked, saving $46,898.21. Time used for a better
purpose: 1 year, 14 weeks, 3 days, 6 hours, 10 minutes.


"Harry my friend, where ever you are, I promise I won't post it again."


--
Orpheus99

"A painter paints pictures on canvas. Musicians paint their pictures on
silence." ~Leopold Stokowski

On 11/11/2010 11:38 PM, Cheryl wrote:
> The pacifier (e-cig) is working amazingly. I am not a detoxing mess
> and I can go the whole hour commute to work without smoking. For a
> few days I had a problem giving up the smoke in the morning but I can
> give that up now. I have smoked each day this past week but I have
> cut it down to anywhere from 2 to 7 a day. Today was a breakthrough.
> I smoked one driving to work, and then lit one driving home -- none
> in between -- and it was the most horrid taste to me. Maybe it is a
> combination of the taste of the e-cig and/or the wellbutin I'm
> taking.

Fantastic!!! Keep up the progress & congrats! Dunno if this suggestion
might work or help - perhaps try some of the those cinnamon Altoids
instead of the cigarette - Altoids are great! They taste better, too ;>

Sky

--

Ultra Ultimate Kitchen Rule - Use the Timer!
Ultimate Kitchen Rule -- Cook's Choice!!

On Nov 12, 2:57*am, Orpheus99 <Orpheu...@music.com> wrote:
> On 11/12/2010 2:49 PM, sf wrote:
> * *I've read that
>
> > kicking nicotine is harder than kicking heroin, so *good job*!
>
> A very good job! And it's not the nicotine that is so difficult to quit
> (although that's what causes the physical difficulties during the first
> two weeks,) but it's the 'habit' of smoking that most people find so
> hard to deal with. You are finished with nicotine withdrawal in about
> 7-10 days. Often it takes a lifetime to deal with the habit.
>
Just because you are over the obvious physical withdrawal after a
couple of weeks doesn't mean that your brain isn't still craving
nicotine for many years. Nicotine addiction restructures the brain to
crave nicotine. It's not just "the habit."

> --
> Orpheus99

--Bryan

On Nov 12, 12:14*am, "Julie Bove" <julieb...@frontier.com> wrote:
> "Cheryl" <jlhsha...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:[email protected]..
>
> > The pacifier (e-cig) is working amazingly. *I am not a detoxing mess
> > and I can go the whole hour commute to work without smoking. *For a
> > few days I had a problem giving up the smoke in the morning but I can
> > give that up now. *I have smoked each day this past week but I have
> > cut it down to anywhere from 2 to 7 a day. *Today was a breakthrough.
> > I smoked one driving to work, and then lit one driving home -- none
> > in between -- and it was the most horrid taste to me. Maybe it is a
> > combination of the taste of the e-cig and/or the wellbutin I'm
> > taking.
>
> Good!
>
> For the most part I gave up coffee after I quit smoking. *For many years my
> friends and I would go out for coffee in the evening and I would smoke. *So
> the two seem to go together.
>
> I never buy coffee any more. *Once in a while I will have a cup at a
> relative's house. *My husband's relatives drink a lot of coffee. *ButI am
> far more likely to have tea because there is no such association in my mind.
> Most of my husband's relatives do smoke as well.

The coffee thing was the hardest for me too. After meals was pretty
bad too. I still use nicotine gum sometimes in conjunction with
alcohol, and I haven't smoked in ten years, and smoked very little for
the five before that.

--Bryan

On Nov 12, 3:12*am, Sky <skyho...@NOsbcglobal.SnPeAtM> wrote:
> On 11/11/2010 11:38 PM, Cheryl wrote:
>
> > The pacifier (e-cig) is working amazingly. *I am not a detoxing mess
> > and I can go the whole hour commute to work without smoking. *For a
> > few days I had a problem giving up the smoke in the morning but I can
> > give that up now. *I have smoked each day this past week but I have
> > cut it down to anywhere from 2 to 7 a day. *Today was a breakthrough.
> > I smoked one driving to work, and then lit one driving home -- none
> > in between -- and it was the most horrid taste to me. Maybe it is a
> > combination of the taste of the e-cig and/or the wellbutin I'm
> > taking.
>
> Fantastic!!! Keep up the progress & congrats! *Dunno if this suggestion
> might work or help - perhaps try some of the those cinnamon Altoids
> instead of the cigarette - Altoids are great! *They taste better, too ;>

They do taste better, but the e cigarette delivers nicotine. Cheryl,
keep using that e cigarette as long as you need to. Don't touch
actual tobacco ever again. Good luck.
>
> Sky
>
--Bryan

On Nov 12, 12:38*am, Cheryl <jlhsha...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> The pacifier (e-cig) is working amazingly. *I am not a detoxing mess
> and I can go the whole hour commute to work without smoking. *For a
> few days I had a problem giving up the smoke in the morning but I can
> give that up now. *I have smoked each day this past week but I have
> cut it down to anywhere from 2 to 7 a day.

Well then, you haven't quit. Good luck when you do. Only quitting is
quitting.

>*Today was a breakthrough. *
> I smoked one driving to work, and then lit one driving home -- none
> in between -- and it was the most horrid taste to me. Maybe it is a
> combination of the taste of the e-cig and/or the wellbutin I'm
> taking.

On 11/12/2010 12:38 AM, Cheryl wrote:
> The pacifier (e-cig) is working amazingly. I am not a detoxing mess
> and I can go the whole hour commute to work without smoking. For a
> few days I had a problem giving up the smoke in the morning but I can
> give that up now. I have smoked each day this past week but I have
> cut it down to anywhere from 2 to 7 a day. Today was a breakthrough.
> I smoked one driving to work, and then lit one driving home -- none
> in between -- and it was the most horrid taste to me. Maybe it is a
> combination of the taste of the e-cig and/or the wellbutin I'm
> taking.

good job!!

--
Currently reading: the thirteenth tale by Diane Setterfield

On 11/11/2010 11:38 PM, Cheryl wrote:
> The pacifier (e-cig) is working amazingly. I am not a detoxing mess
> and I can go the whole hour commute to work without smoking. For a
> few days I had a problem giving up the smoke in the morning but I can
> give that up now. I have smoked each day this past week but I have
> cut it down to anywhere from 2 to 7 a day. Today was a breakthrough.
> I smoked one driving to work, and then lit one driving home -- none
> in between -- and it was the most horrid taste to me. Maybe it is a
> combination of the taste of the e-cig and/or the wellbutin I'm
> taking.


Good Job, Cheryl!

Not only will you save money giving up smoking, you just might be saving
your life.

I had oral cancer from smoking and lost the left half of my tongue. I
will never be the same due to the ever-lasting side effects of
radiation, but I shudder to think how much worse it could have been if I
hadn't quit smoking 6 years before discovering the cancer.

I have 8 more months before reaching the 5 year mark where I can be
declared "cured" but I will never taste chocolate again and never
appreciate baked goods, ice cream or sweets.

--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.

Janet Wilder <[email protected]> wrote:

> On 11/11/2010 11:38 PM, Cheryl wrote:
>> The pacifier (e-cig) is working amazingly. I am not a detoxing mess
>> and I can go the whole hour commute to work without smoking. For a
>> few days I had a problem giving up the smoke in the morning but I can
>> give that up now. I have smoked each day this past week but I have
>> cut it down to anywhere from 2 to 7 a day. Today was a breakthrough.
>> I smoked one driving to work, and then lit one driving home -- none
>> in between -- and it was the most horrid taste to me. Maybe it is a
>> combination of the taste of the e-cig and/or the wellbutin I'm
>> taking.
>
>
> Good Job, Cheryl!
>
> Not only will you save money giving up smoking, you just might be
saving
> your life.
>
> I had oral cancer from smoking and lost the left half of my tongue. I
> will never be the same due to the ever-lasting side effects of
> radiation, but I shudder to think how much worse it could have been if
I
> hadn't quit smoking 6 years before discovering the cancer.
>
> I have 8 more months before reaching the 5 year mark where I can be
> declared "cured" but I will never taste chocolate again and never
> appreciate baked goods, ice cream or sweets.


Janet,

That's horrible news to share!

Good on your success.

I hope that doesn't happen to me. I know I'm still suspect.

Best,

<smootch & hugs & congrats for "beating the system!">

You know what I mean!

Best,

Andy

On Nov 12, 8:36*am, Janet Wilder <kelliepoo...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On 11/11/2010 11:38 PM, Cheryl wrote:
>
> > The pacifier (e-cig) is working amazingly. *I am not a detoxing mess
> > and I can go the whole hour commute to work without smoking. *For a
> > few days I had a problem giving up the smoke in the morning but I can
> > give that up now. *I have smoked each day this past week but I have
> > cut it down to anywhere from 2 to 7 a day. *Today was a breakthrough.
> > I smoked one driving to work, and then lit one driving home -- none
> > in between -- and it was the most horrid taste to me. Maybe it is a
> > combination of the taste of the e-cig and/or the wellbutin I'm
> > taking.
>
> Good Job, Cheryl!
>
> Not only will you save money giving up smoking, you just might be saving
> your life.
>
> I had oral cancer from smoking and lost the left half of my tongue. I
> will never be the same due to the ever-lasting side effects of
> radiation, but I shudder to think how much worse it could have been if I
> hadn't quit smoking 6 years before discovering the cancer.

Wow. I am so sorry to hear that.
>
> I have 8 more months before reaching the 5 year mark where I can be
> declared "cured" but I will never taste chocolate again and never
> appreciate baked goods, ice cream or sweets.

They had to remove the nerves for both sides, or the radiation
destroyed them?
Sharing that might help Cheryl or someone else give it up.
>
> --
> Janet Wilder

--Bryan

On Nov 12, 4:42*am, Cam <cam.b...@beer.com> wrote:
> On Nov 12, 12:38*am, Cheryl <jlhsha...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > The pacifier (e-cig) is working amazingly. *I am not a detoxing mess
> > and I can go the whole hour commute to work without smoking. *For a
> > few days I had a problem giving up the smoke in the morning but I can
> > give that up now. *I have smoked each day this past week but I have
> > cut it down to anywhere from 2 to 7 a day.
>
> Well then, you haven't quit. Good luck when you do. Only quitting is
> quitting.
>

With you here Cam. e-cigs, cigarillos, pipes, chaw, snuff, all
crutches to fool yourself with. I'd reccomend Cheryl try the patch
now, and get a couple of bags of hard candies for the mouth habit.

Dale
3 years cold turkey, and still have the occasional urge.

On Nov 12, 9:27*am, tutall <tut...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> On Nov 12, 4:42*am, Cam <cam.b...@beer.com> wrote:
>
> > On Nov 12, 12:38*am, Cheryl <jlhsha...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > The pacifier (e-cig) is working amazingly. *I am not a detoxing mess
> > > and I can go the whole hour commute to work without smoking. *For a
> > > few days I had a problem giving up the smoke in the morning but I can
> > > give that up now. *I have smoked each day this past week but I have
> > > cut it down to anywhere from 2 to 7 a day.
>
> > Well then, you haven't quit. Good luck when you do. Only quitting is
> > quitting.
>
> With you here Cam. e-cigs, cigarillos, pipes, chaw, snuff, all
> crutches to fool yourself with. *I'd reccomend Cheryl try the patch
> now, and get a couple of bags of hard candies for the mouth habit.

E cigarettes are closer to a nicotine patch than they are to tobacco.
Whatever works to get a person off of tobacco.
>
> Dale
> 3 years cold turkey, and still have the occasional urge.

--Bryan

"Cheryl" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> The pacifier (e-cig) is working amazingly. I am not a detoxing mess
> and I can go the whole hour commute to work without smoking. For a
> few days I had a problem giving up the smoke in the morning but I can
> give that up now. I have smoked each day this past week but I have
> cut it down to anywhere from 2 to 7 a day. Today was a breakthrough.
> I smoked one driving to work, and then lit one driving home -- none
> in between -- and it was the most horrid taste to me. Maybe it is a
> combination of the taste of the e-cig and/or the wellbutin I'm
> taking.
>

Good progress -- keep it up.

But, as someone in another part of the thread wrote, "You haven't quit until
you've quit."

Sometimes it takes a strong emotional committment to overcome the physical
and physiological addictions.

I was a three and half pack a day smoker when the young lady I hoped would
be my wife asked me quit -- for her. We left for a ski weekend the next
day. As we started out, I lit up a cigarette and handed her the rest of the
pack. That was the last cigarette I smoked. She said "yes" to my proposal
two weeks later and we were married six months after that. That was thirty
one years ago.

I've thought about this many times, but am convinced that my emotional
committment to her (my fear that I'd disappoint her if I relapsed) was what
got me over the hump. And I'm not sure I would have stayed off cigarettes
without that committment (and the support from her that came with it).

Stupidest thing I ever did was start; smartest thing was quitting.

On 12 Nov 2010 05:38:19 GMT, Cheryl <[email protected]> wrote:

>The pacifier (e-cig) is working amazingly. I am not a detoxing mess
>and I can go the whole hour commute to work without smoking. For a
>few days I had a problem giving up the smoke in the morning but I can
>give that up now. I have smoked each day this past week but I have
>cut it down to anywhere from 2 to 7 a day. Today was a breakthrough.
>I smoked one driving to work, and then lit one driving home -- none
>in between -- and it was the most horrid taste to me. Maybe it is a
>combination of the taste of the e-cig and/or the wellbutin I'm
>taking.

It's Wellbutrin, an Rx anti depressant... it causes a foul metalic
taste from smoking tobacco but otherwise does nothing towards
cessation of smoking. You'd be wise not to employ Wellbutrin for long
term use. About 25 years ago Wellbutrin was commonly prescribed to
help people quit smoking, it didn't work then, it won't work now.

Cheryl, you obviously have an oral fixation... do you know where I'm
going with this... I'll bet most of usenet knows.

On 12 Nov 2010 05:38:19 GMT, Cheryl wrote:

> The pacifier (e-cig) is working amazingly. I am not a detoxing mess
> and I can go the whole hour commute to work without smoking. For a
> few days I had a problem giving up the smoke in the morning but I can
> give that up now. I have smoked each day this past week but I have
> cut it down to anywhere from 2 to 7 a day. Today was a breakthrough.
> I smoked one driving to work, and then lit one driving home -- none
> in between -- and it was the most horrid taste to me. Maybe it is a
> combination of the taste of the e-cig and/or the wellbutin I'm
> taking.

I had two cigarettes in 2 days. I was too lazy to go to the store,
so I just made them last. I wasn't even trying to quit.

Now that I routinely buy cheap cigarettes that taste like crap, I
can survive on minimal cigarette smoking.

Oh, in case anyone is wondering about that "K2" fake marijuana
(sold as "incense" at all head shops), it's pretty impressive. I
wanted to try some before they make it illegal (for no reason/bad
reasons, most likely). This stuff must be putting a huge dent in
illicit marijuana sales. The stuff comes with a 2000% markup -
money that the government could be collecting. Which is the major
reason they'll make it illegal. Not because it's bad for you or
dangerous to others.

There's no reason to buy/carry/use traditional marijuana while this
stuff is legal. I'll probably have this $20 1-gram "bag" (it's a
really nice little glassine-ziplok bag!) for another year, even
after I gave 1/3rd of what was left away.

Of course I did this all for YOU: the RFC'ers who have to take drug
tests, just don't know or want to ask anybody, or are just plain
paranoid for whatever reason. Just don't flip out and have a panic
attack because it's stronger than that the Mexican brown crap you
were smoking 15-20 years ago.

-sw