Keep up the good work, Gerry. I drink a lot of beer, and I don't even think about the cigarettes anymore. I am also starting to drop the weight that I have gained, but I don't want to. I feel stronger than I did 25 years ago. I know that it isn't true, but damned if the feeling isn't there.
damn i want to quit so bad but i'm a wimp. i'm a slave to this little cylinder of tobacco! the coffee gets me every single time. i work 3rd shift so laying off the coffee is simply not an option. i dont really think it's the nicotine with me though, more like the habit. i'll go on a 6 hour flight and not crave the nicotine at all, but i figit so bad i make other passengers nervous! the wife also smokes so that makes it more difficult. one of these days i'm going to just throw them away and do it. hopefully i'll still be above ground and breathing when "one of these days" gets here. way to go gerry, and bruce. i envy you guys.
Thanks Darth! Fortunately, coffee didn't have that effect on me and its a good thing because my coffee habit would be tough to break. I tried that patch once but it was useless for me. Seems I have this oral fixation (o.k. no comments there guys LOL!) I've cut way back on the nicotine gum but I'm constantly chewing sure free lemon drops and such and that seems to do the trick...keeping my mouth occupied LOL! I'll break that habit when I get around to it. Strange though: while I've stopped reaching for the cigarettes and haven't done so for a while, I still reach for them when I read. While preoccupied with what I'm reading, my hand will blindly probe and feel around the end table for cigarettes that aren't there. Odd how one activity can spark the other.
my boss still does that!! he smoked for 45 years and quit cold turkey, well 5 years later he still reaches his hand up at his shirt pocket for his smokes when he gets a cup of coffee or finishes a meal. says he doesn't even think about it, it just happens. i suppose the body has habits that the mind dont understand or even know about.
I guess that's why they call them "triggers". I also do it when I draw. With me it seems to be things that take and narrow 100% of my concentration then things run on pure instinct or refelx or something.
Just stumbled across the thread and wanted to say I have the same probs with gum, I don't bite myself at any onther time but i might aswell put a chainsaw in my mouth than chew gum lol Anyway keep it up and you might even inspire me to quit.
Since little else is going on, I thought I would update this. Now two months and some odd days without a cigarette. Even the temptation is rare. Stopped chewing nicotine gum in favor of the patch but there are only so many places you can put the damned thing and you have to shave off any hair. I won't be going to the beach any time soon with all these bald spots. Hope to be off everything soon though.
LMAO! I really should do that just for the laugh! ... hell, maybe one of the patch companies would pay me for the advertising space!
Glad to hear you have quit still. You can do it buddy! Get some Ziban it will take the edge off everything. Took it 2 months and it wasn't even hard to stop taking it. I'm 6 years now, nary a puff.I just drink twice as much!LMFAO. It's a trade off. Watch you weight. Your metabolism slows down. Edit: Loco, maybe he could rub some HEAD ON on his forehead before putting the patch on.
@garmoon...my doctor had me start taking wellbutrin about a month before I quit (figured I needed all the help I could get). You're certainly right about the weight gain ... the matabolism both slows and you begin seeking a vicarious oral gratification (careful on the replies there guys lol). I've put on ten pounds already but I have had a number or eating binges which MUST stop before I turn into a blimp. I was already about ten or fifteen pound overweight but I don't want to turn that to fifty. With all the back surgery I've had, if I hit 180, my back hurts like hell so it gives me a kick in the a$$ anyway!
Gerry, the weight gain will go down. Mine is now. I am still doing well, 7 months after my first post. I have had a few cigars this pat month, and I felt guilty as hell. But, I am not smoking them now, and I still don't even desire a cigarette. That is the part that really scares me. I am still keeping my guard up. And, I can actually feel the difference now. I feel damned good. I wish that I had had the guts to do it earlier!
@GrandpaBW ... yes, I had quit for two years once and went back. It got to the point where I hated the smell, my eyes burnt when I went out with my buddies etc. I had no cravings whatsoever yet after two years, I had one really bad day at work, I was seriously pissed off about something and grabbed one ... I still remember the feeling too; I must have had the same look on my face as those junkies in the movies sticking a needle in their vein during withdrawal ... so I'm certainly not going to let my guard down either. It's odd how that partucular urge can strike out of the clear blue even two years after the fact. I don't want to make that mistake again! I'm going to try cold turkeying after I run out of patches and gum (I seem to alternate). It's getting to the point where they're a pain in the a$$ which I'm looking at as a goon thing. I'll leave a couple of pieces of gum and a patch just in case the need for nicotine proves to be greater than I anticipate. Glad your doing well after seven months ... it's encouraging. I was a very heavy smoker so I'm really pleased with the progress I'm making.
Five months without a cigarette; well, in a day or two anyway! I stopped all the gum about a months ago and I'm still doing o.k. I get the occasion urge ... usually if I'm pissed off about something. I've even managed a couple of drinks without giving in to temptation (but only at home; I think if I drank in a bar with people I know, I'd still be a gonner in no time). Philadelphia has a city wide smoking ban but no body pays any attention to it nor would I have when I was smoking. I'm not getting too overconfident though; I'm still expecting some big craving to hit and I've got gum stashed just in case.
Way to go Gerry. I'm in my 7th year now and all I have to do is think about how many DVDs I can buy with the money I'm not burning up. The craving has never gone away either, my wife still smokes, but menthol gags me so I would never pick one of hers up.
