Can I inhale the tongue?

Come on Teflon Don don't quit now. You can do it.

I'm cracking already. TIS may just win this one in the first round!

DC, don't give up!! Just rethink your strategy. You may need to try nicotine replacements, or a gradual winding down instead of your method.

Btw, I found those lettuce leaf cigarettes. It doesn't sound bad. If you want to go for it, I may just come along for the ride.

http://www.bravosmokes.com

Hey!!!

Snap out of it!!! Focus man!!!!

You're stronger than this!!!

Don't let a little pitiful cigarette drag you back in....(waiting for Godfather quote reply)

No no no. All those Nicotine replacements are bogus. All that shit doens't work.

Would you gradually ween an alcoholic off of liquor?


COLD TURKEY! the shakes, headaches, mood swings. The only way!

OK I'll act like a man!

That's the spirit!!

But seriously,once you have that cig you know you'll regret it DC.

Stay strong dude. Be a warrior mate.

No, BUT I don't think that you'll kill anyone else if you have a cigarette and get behind the wheel of a car, and I don't think that smoking cigarettes is going to ruin you emotionally and financially...And they're not ALL bogus. They must work in some way...

GOOD LUCK to both of you... it is a wise decision, and in a year of being smoke free you will wonder how you ever smoked.

But the only way is COLD TURKEY....

If you do it any other way I would have to say you turned out to be Hollywood Finocchios who cry like women. Now I want you to eat, get some rest and this nicotine big shot will leave you alone.

Mig doesn't want you to quit??

Hang in there, DC! (And the gum does work to prevent you from smoking - it just doesn't wean you off nicotine - nicotine replacement is a gradual cutting-down process, but at least safer than actually smoking...)

Go outside your building and lick the big ashtray....that might cure you.

Mig would like him to quit.

You know what I meant about making an alcoholic go cold turkey. The addiction part, not the result or affect that they can have on others.

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the support. I'm trying. But damn it's tough. Especially that I actually enjoyed smoking.


I guess that TIS already got through the "withdrawal" stage.

DC

I've been thinking about you, wondering how you were doing today. I e-mailed you from work.

Hang in there my friend. Believe me, I know it's so hard. Yes,I guess I already experienced the "major" withdrawal (I hope so anyway) The first few days are the absolute worse. I've been having the urge again the last two days, but it's not has bad as it was at first.

You know the cravings will be coming, so expect them and sort of ride it out until it passes. How much are you use to smoking per day? If you smoked more than I did (1 pack), perhaps it'll be a little harder, but NOT impossible.

Of course this won't do you any good, but I look at a craving as a contraction...it's gets worse and worse and then slowly subsides. At least nicotine cravings don't come every 2 minutes. Then again, with contractions you end up having a beautiful baby. What do ya get with nicotine? Addicted.

Good luck DC. Feel free to post how you feel. I do think that's therapy in itself.

TIS

Thanks TIS. I appreciate the support and understanding.

I smoked a pack and a half a day.

It's weird how we become creatures of habit. There are certain times during the day that the craving is very real. Yet there are many times during the day where you think about having a cigarette based more on habit than real craving because of something that you may be doing where, in the past, you would normally light up a smoke.

Those habitual moments are far easier to overcome than the real craving moments.

But going through those several intense cravings during a day vs. the times that you feel the need to light up strickly out of habit, only goes to show you how much more smoking you did based on habit and not on real craving.

I agree, DC. Since you can't smoke in the house or the office, one of the few places I still smoke is when I'm alone in my car. When I'm alone in my car, I feel an overwhelming urge to light up, even if I'm only running to the post office. Weirdest is when I finish one, run into the bank, take care of business, and then get back in the car. I may have finished one only 5 minutes before, but the habit is telling me to have another. Then, I can go three or four hours at work without wanting one. So much of the dependence is psychological.

Edit: How ironic! When I pressed submit for this post, the ad at the bottom of the page was for Nicorette! Is Big Brother watching??

Keep on hanging on DC. As long as you know the cravings are "normal" so to speak, that everyone goes through them, maybe it'll make it easier. Just remember men far less then you have done this and won.

Continued congrats to Tissie. You've gone through an amazing hurdle. It's all downhill from here.

Do the patches work?

Just take it one day at a time. Both of you are strong people and I know that the both of you will overcome this trial.

Besides you have your BB family in your corner to help see you through.

I do know what you mean DC. I can certainly tell (now) when it was a habit and when I craved it. As you know, one of the worse times is after I eat. Damn!! Just a couple hits would be great. However, even that gets easier.

Ha ha!! I don't want to even begin to sound like I "did it." I don't feel like it's over yet. You know, the fat lady hasn't sung." I wonder how long before I can feel confident.


I must admit though, I really do think it's great therapy and very supportive putting this all down in writing. Thanks guys!!



TIS

TIS, I quit for both of my pregnancies, and then went right back to it. My OB/GYN smokes and, believe it or not, they actually had a smoking lounge on the maternity floor in those days. If he had someone in labor, he used to sneak out for a break, and come knocking on my door to go join him for a smoke. I can't believe that I went about 8 months, and didn't even make it out of the hospital without starting up again (and I don't blame my doctor. It would've happened with or without him).

I don't understand. If you were off of cigs for 8 months, then the nicotine is out of your system, right? Why did you start again?

I don't know enough about it to answer either way. But there are plenty of people who go back after months, even years. It's an addiction. Plain and simple.

I too have heard former smokers, who haven't smoked in years say that they still get cravings.

It's strange that when I was young, I would go clubbing and drinking darn near every night, yet never was addicted to alcohol. I got to a certain point and simply stopped going out all the time and never craved a drink, but rather would drink to party I guess. Yet, smoking is another story, at least for me.


TIS

TIS - I was talking with my uncle last night. He quit smoking 35 years ago! Yet he says that he STILL gets cravings to light up a cigarette.

I guess that being addicted to nicotine is like being addicted to any other drug.

I think it's due to the nature of how the addiction effects the body. Nicotine attacks (in part) the central nervous system, which has far different biological reactions than alcohol, which runs through the bloodstream and cuts off oxygen to the brain. Those who have ever had a hangover know that the body feels bad afterward because the fresh oxygen and blood cells are working properly again, causing the headache and body pain (also influenced by the dehydration alcohol causes). Usually the 2nd day after heavy drinking the body is nearly, if not fully, recovered.

Cigarette smoke stays in the body much longer. I remember reading that it takes years for the body to completely rid itself of the toxins and residual effects of nicotine. So I can completely understand why someone can go back to it after a lengthy time away from smoking.

Thank makes sense Goombah! (Btw, how you doing?)

Another thing I noticed...I don't drink as much coffee as I used to. You know, another cup of coffee, another cigaret? Ahhh, the littlle pleasures (vices( in life are slipping away.


TIS