After several start-stops, I decided to give it another go during Rosh Hashanah with the idea that I would not bring it with me into the new year. The past few times I have quit, I have managed to stay off for 5-6 months. It feels a bit like the anti-depressant trap of “I feel better, so I’ll stop.” Or in this case, “oh, I’m not addicted anymore so it must be okay for me to have a cigarette every now and again at parties or hanging out with so-and-so,” which quickly spirals.
This Summer, I learned that I was using nicotine to self-medicate ADHD and anxiety which is a catastrophic plan since nicotine dependency and the attendant mini-withdrawals of smoking addiction massively exacerbate both conditions. I am now in the initial stages of treatment for both so I am guardedly optimistic that this quit will go better.
And yes, I have read ‘the easy way to quit smoking’! :p Great book up to a point.
Gonna copy my message from a couple days ago:
I remember turning back on my way to buy more smokes while going through withdrawal. Best decision I made.
Listen to your conscience.
Someone in that thread had said that the first three days are actual addiction withdrawals the other habit-breaking and filling in all the mini-breaks and oral fixation. Which is big if true.
the first three days are the hardest, but full physical withdrawal in my understanding is completely gone at 3 weeks. everything after that is habit/compulsion. so once you power through those 3 weeks, after that the strategy shifts.
Gotcha so I can have as much beer as I want for three weeks to compensate then taper. Gonna go from a pack-a-day to a keg-a-day. /j
I am a human garbage fire and I quit. You can do it! It’s like 10 days of clawing at walls and then just nostalgic pangs. Being able to hold your breath is a superpower.
I am so looking forward to it! Me and my friend live in different cities and get to ride our bikes together about once a month. We used to be about the same speed but it was appalling to me how much slower I was getting over the past few rides.
I started distance running and it’s so much more rewarding than smoking. You’ll get there!
That’s awesome! One of my comrades wants to start going to a yoga studio by my work together so hopefully that can displace a lot of time I would spend smoking. :p
dont start vaping
I detest vaping so not worried about that, but thank you for the warning!
you got this!
preserve and glorify ur qt voice
thats an imperative
o7
Cigarettes always tasted like shit to me and I hated how the smell clings to your everything until you wash or clean everything that’s been in contact with it. I usually have half a cigarette once a year that taste even worse than I remember.
I think you have to fail a few times before you realize that there is no such thing as ‘just one cigarette’. It’s a tough thing to come to terms with but I quit three years ago now and haven’t looked back
That’s so awesome! It’s really crazy how ‘it’s just one’ becomes addiction again. Which stinks because I do genuinely enjoy that ‘it’s just one’ soooo much at the absolute right moment. But that just ain’t it. In a way it’s a beautiful elaboration/object lesson of ‘On Practice’ and how a series of incremental quantitative changes eventually shifts to become a qualitative change.
