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HELP! I NEED A CIGARETTE!

tman

Hey guys,

so i quit smoking about 4 weeks ago, and it's been fine and dandy and all. But when I'm working and stress levels have reached RED, I desperately want one. Anybody out there quit and have good advice on how to relieve the stress/anxiety of wanting a cig? I already tried chewing on carrot sticks but i'm tired of those.

 
Jul 23, 06 8:00 pm

i've quit cigarettes for 2 months now. i'm at the point where i look at cigarettes with disgust which is great. i've even gotten through poker games and visits to the pub without lighting up.

the secret for me is jogging...2 miles, every other day. i find myself not craving cigs and I am not as easily stressed.

Jul 23, 06 8:15 pm  · 
 · 

i quit 7 months ago after many years.
look, you've already done it for a month, the most difficult period. do not throw all your efforts in a momentary weakness. find something else to chew on if chewing is helping you. cigarettes not going to reduce your stress, don't you know that already? when you are tempted, do something like walk, talk, eat, whatever it takes. do not give in. it will get easier and easier.

Jul 23, 06 9:02 pm  · 
 · 
vado retro

dwight eisenhower smoked four packs a day. and look at the stress he was under. kudos liberator of europe!

Jul 23, 06 9:34 pm  · 
 · 
Vermonster

I'm with dot on this one. Running's the only thing that ever worked for me... Well actually those flavored toothpicks work pretty well. I've got some friends who swear by 'em.

Seriously though... don't smoke. You'll be glad you didn't...

Jul 24, 06 12:18 am  · 
 · 
Hasselhoff

Yeah, smoking is stupid. You are paying someone to kill you. All of my relatives that smoked died early of cancer or other smoking related illness. My aunt at 57, my grandma at 70 and my other uncle won't be around much longer, he's early 50s. Quit while you can.

Jul 24, 06 12:37 am  · 
 · 
c.k.

I know smokers find it mean to be reminded of this, but it's true....it kills you

Jul 24, 06 12:40 am  · 
 · 
e

my best freind used to smoke. for the last year he has been able to stop but has moved on to chewing kodiak. he says it is a stepping stone to stopping tobacco, but it is one damn long stepping stone and a damn gross one at that. i know he puts more under his lip than he ever has. i know he spits less than he ever has. he fails to ignore the fact that while he may be less susceptable to lung cancer, he has a greater chance of lip, mouth, throat, and head cancers.

i know it is not easy to stop. i see many of my friends struggle with kicking the tobacco habit all the time. i just hope he finds the strength.

Jul 24, 06 10:01 am  · 
 · 
orEqual

I have no problems riding my non-smoking high horse through the challenging steeplechase of smoker sensitivity for as long as:

1.) I can't go to a concert without REEKING of smoke by the end, and without having no less than one eye-burning attack that leaves me incapacitated and blind for a minute or two.

2.) I can't go outside of my apartment or my office or any other structure frequented by people without looking down and being able to count cigarette butts. Try it sometime. Seriously, all health-related issues aside, you people LITTER like children! BAD!



Jul 24, 06 10:25 am  · 
 · 

ride your bike to work...its been working for me

Jul 24, 06 10:50 am  · 
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Mark_M

IT WILL BE THREE YEARS FOR ME IN OCTOBER. I QUIT COLD TURKEY. ACTUALLY I COUGHT BRONCHITIS FOR A MONTH. AFTER BREATHING IN THIS MACHINE, MY DOCTOR TOLD ME I HAD THE LUNGS OF A 35 YEAR OLD. (I WAS 20 AT THE TIME). SO THIS KIND OF SCARED ME AWAY FROM SMOKING. MY ADVICE IS TO EXERCISE. IT DOES RELEAVE A LOT OF STRESS. I DONT SUGGEST USING THE GUM OR PATCHES. I HAVENT MET ANYONE WHO HAS SUCCESSFULLY QUIT AFTER USING THEM. GOOD LUCK.

Jul 24, 06 12:24 pm  · 
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Mark_M

BY THE WAY DONT REWARD YOURSELF WITH A CIG AFTER QUITING FOR A AWHILE. A COUPLE OF MY BUDDIES HAVE DONE THAT AND THEIR STILL SMOKING...

Jul 24, 06 12:29 pm  · 
 · 
farmer
bottled nicotine
Jul 24, 06 12:32 pm  · 
 · 
ochona

i quit smoking five years ago. but every time i walk into the UT school of architecture, i want a cigarette. seriously. and i can't stand cigarettes or smoking anymore, but walking through those doors makes a pack of camels sound real good.

anyhoo, how can you remain smoke-free despite the ultra-high stress level? the trick is: you need to avoid ALL temptation during the first 3-6 months while your body is getting used to not having nicotine. after that 3-6 months you can work on the psychological addiction you have, which for most people is the ONLY addiction they have to nicotine.

1. if you haven't already, tell some of your non-smoking colleagues at work that you have quit smoking and are trying to resist temptation. tell them to get on your case about it if they see you wanting to smoke at work. if they like you, and don't want you to die at 46 like my grandmother did, they will get on your case just like you asked. if they don't...hmmm...maybe take a look at (2).

2. get a new job, especially if, after you ask for people's help with your smoking habit, you start finding packs of cigs on your desk every morning. but seriously. get a new job, or ask for a new desk, or a new cube, or...do SOMETHING to break the psychological ties you have with smoking. what did it for me was, i got a new girlfriend whom i didn't want to have to tell that i smoked. now we're married and i haven't wanted a cigarette in years (except at the UT-SOA).

3. call home and tell your mother the very first time you cave in and smoke a cigarette. does your mother know that you smoke? would she want to know? what discussion would ensue? wouldn't you want to avoid it?

4. if your friends and/or family smoke, tell them not to smoke around you anymore. see (2) if they still do, except replace "get a new job" with "get new friends/family". also see (5).

5. if your social circle is not conducive to non-smoker status, join a new one. the single best social circle if you want to quit smoking: church. you might find jesus while you're at it (if you haven't already).

6. if religion ain't your thing, start volunteering or something where, if you lit up a cig, you will be looked at with revulsion and contempt. which is to say, just about any volunteer group.

good luck...you will need it. just know, we're all here for you. seriously, nobody needs to die of lung cancer at 46. although grandma did also grow up in a coal-mining town, which may have had something to do with it. but i don't know, i wasn't born yet when she died.

Jul 24, 06 1:31 pm  · 
 · 
Kardiogramm

what are you all Greek? i smoked for 4 months and i just stopped wasn't too much of an issue, i think going to gym or running is a good idea since you realize just how much damage smoking can do to your lungs and it will take a while before you can breathe properly, don't overdo it though start out slow.

Jul 24, 06 1:51 pm  · 
 · 
ochona

ha. four months? what, did you find out that it doesn't make you look cool?

my mother smoked 2-3 packs a day while i was in the womb. did i mention that i was born in north carolina?

thank god i came out all right. or did i? until i was 7 or 8 both my parents smoked. 3 packs a day apiece. our only vacations those days were driving up to the indian reservations in OK where you could buy a case of smokes for way cheap. and these weren't light cigarettes. we're talking camel unfiltered, 25 mg of tar per smoke.

then my dad quit in 1985 but my mom kept on. she managed a night club, no smoking restrictions in bars back then. by then she had switched to the nominally less-dangerous capri, which was like 18 mg of tar. 3-4 packs a day when shit got bad.

i had my first cigarette at the age of...eleven. yes. 11. you got that right. it was laying in the ashtray, lit, and i just picked it up because i was curious about it. i smoked the whole thing down...i had been exposed to so much smoke and nicotine that i never vomited, never coughed, and never thought twice about it. just wanted another one, but not bad enough to have one.

fortunately i didn't smoke habitually until i was in college...but by then, i'm pretty sure my growth was stunted just by exposure. i smoked for five years through architecture school and fortunately never got past 1.5 packs per day.

frem001, quit being sanctimonious. nicotine is the most addictive drug out there and it is harder than hell to quit smoking successfully.

but then i guess maybe you never had alcoholics in your family, or ever met anyone who was hooked on cocaine or heroin. addiction is a disease, not a choice.

fortunately i can have a beer every now and then and not become addicted, but i certainly sympathize with someone who can't.

Jul 24, 06 3:10 pm  · 
 · 
Vermonster

Yeah, but 4 months is nothing. It should have been easy for you. Once you've been doing it for 3, 5, 10+ years it becomes a bit more difficult. Especially if tman started, like I did, when he was a teenager. Smoking becomes a part of our identity. I've quit for 8 months and I still refer to myself as a smoker in my mind because it's so ingrained at this point.

Hang in there tman and everyone else who's quitting. You're just beginning to be able to taste food again and smell smells and run for a mile without getting winded so don't give up now. Life is better on the other side...

They actually say that the nicotine supplements increase your chance of success by x6 or so. If you're real stressed out it might not be a bad idea. No sense in making it harder on yourself than it has to be.

I guess that way you're just fighting the habitual pattern at first and you fight the physical addiction once you've disassociated nicotine from cigarettes (if that's possible). Also, Wellbutrin (antidepressent) is supposed to be very good at fighting cravings and doctors will actually prescribe it to you for the purpose of quitting smoking. Not big on pharmaceuticals myself but whatever works.

I used to work for a Greek... but he was a non-smoker...

Jul 24, 06 3:27 pm  · 
 · 
e

yeah, smoking is not an easy addiction to kick. i'm just glad i never started. i grew up in southern maryland. a large number of the kids i went to high school with were sons and daughters of tobacco farmers. i large number of my friends smoked and probably still do. i've seen many friends to try and try again to stop. they manage for a couple of weeks or months and then they start back up. not easy to kick at all.

Jul 24, 06 3:33 pm  · 
 · 
strlt_typ

getting lung cancer hurts...don't die before you design that public space that the whole city will love

Jul 24, 06 7:29 pm  · 
 · 
tman

for some reason i've been trying to send a reply, but archinect won't allow me. Hopefully this time will work.

Thanks for your comments. I wanted to let you all know that i did not have a cigarette last night. I also plan to start working out regularly, help my lungs rather than hurt them.

Jul 24, 06 8:00 pm  · 
 · 
tman

vermonster

i did start as a teenager, smoked for about 2 years (maybe 5-10 cigs a day), then quit for a few years, then smoked 1-2 packs a day for 2 more years.

Now i quit cigs for 4 weeks. But hopefully this time I think i'm really done with it.

Jul 24, 06 8:04 pm  · 
 · 
tman

oh and btw, good thing I quit since i got a f*ing photo enforced ticket that's costing me $350! Even if i didnt want to quit, i'd be forced to at this point.

Jul 24, 06 8:06 pm  · 
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crillywazzy

smoked for 15 years. been quit now for almost 5. used the patches. they worked well enough to get me over the tough first 2 weeks. still crave the fuckers even today sometimes, but i haven't yet gone back. architecture school is kinda tough without nicotine or caffeine.

congrats to all who have quit (or will quit)... you won't regret it.

Jul 24, 06 11:49 pm  · 
 · 
Vermonster

Good news tman... keep it up!

That sucks about the ticket though. I was living in Korea for a while and they have photo enforced speed limit on the highways over there. But everyone has GPS in their cars that lets them know when a speed trap is coming up. So traffic will be moving at 105mph then everyone will suddenly slam on their brakes and drop down to 70mph pass under the trap and then speed back up.

Still got a few tickets...

Jul 25, 06 12:58 am  · 
 · 
Lisa Carmen

I'm currently trying to quit as well. I find it hard with moving alot - security mechanism. I'm trying to run and work out more. Cardio helps alot. I know for me its a matter or changing my approach to dealing with stress. But I've been smoking for 3 years and already feel the difference in my body and would very much like to stop. If you're on the path to quitting - keep on! I quit for 2 months a few months ago - then something stressful happened and I fell straight back into it. Not wise. It's much harder the 2nd time to quit. Keep strong! Oh and if you're into this kind of thing - theres an anti depressant called Zaiban that as a side effect causes you to just not want cigs. u just dont enjoy them anymore. and u're not depressed. Doctor's suggest a 3 month dosage. It's not addictive. Check it out if you're interested.

Jul 25, 06 4:43 pm  · 
 · 
archit84

i just had my last cig five minutes ago.
i'm done killing myself and spending a stupid amount of money to do it. if killing myself was only a buck a pack it would be a different story.

Jul 25, 06 11:51 pm  · 
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tman

hi archit84, we'll quit together...buuuuuuh-dee!

Jul 26, 06 11:21 am  · 
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Nevermore

any one here chews tobacco ?

Jul 26, 06 1:07 pm  · 
 · 
Chili Davis

Whitening chewing gum worked great for me. My teeth looked cleaner, too, and that was incentive for not smoking as well. Also, mints and toothpicks and chewing on coffee stirrers. Exercise is a great help too. I used to chew tobacco in my days as an athlete, and replaced that with cigarettes in college. Quitting is hard, but I found that after a month or so the cravings go away.

Jul 26, 06 1:13 pm  · 
 · 
e

nevermore, my best friend chews. it's pretty gross.

Jul 26, 06 1:20 pm  · 
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Nevermore

e..I agree but somehow it always manages to look macho.
especially with that little brown liquid at the corner of the mouth .hehehe

Jul 26, 06 1:25 pm  · 
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e

my friend usually has a glass or cup he is spitting into. it has twice been mistaken by people as a drink. one guy actually vomited once he realized what he drank.

as i mentioned above, he started chewing as a way to kicking smoking and eventually tobacco all together. unfortunately, he is now stuck on chew. i hope this is the year he kicks it.

Jul 26, 06 1:29 pm  · 
 · 
Nevermore

e,where I come from ( India )Tobacco chewing is big. There are innumerable brands, formulas of tobacco and different strengths of intoxication ( generally coded as numbers, e.g 120 240 goes till the 500 -600 )range which is only for an experienced chewer , a first timer could feel very ill or even lose his consciousness if he directly tries the 500 one )

Its also chewed in something called 'paan'. (thats betel leaf with slaked lime paste + catechu + betel nut etc )


I LOVE to smoke
( yea, yea,yea i know ..health risks , social stigma etc etc etc )

But in smoking pleasure absolutely nothing can beat a water hookah.
That my man ...is the pleasure of the gods.

Jul 26, 06 2:05 pm  · 
 · 
e

i've noticed my friend over the last year now puts more chew in his mouth and spits less thus achieving the same result as your coded numbers. but the guy that puts more 500-600 in his mouth and spits less...

i've smoked out of a hookah a couple of times. good times.

Jul 26, 06 2:13 pm  · 
 · 
Nevermore

actually pure natural tobacco is not harmful ( either chewed or smoked )People have been doing it for thousands of years.

..its mostly the chemical crap that is added to ciggies and the paper which creates the problems.

Jul 26, 06 2:32 pm  · 
 · 
jbirl

I smoked for over 10 years and have quit for more than 3 months 3 times- so far this time has been over 9 months except for a cig or two...

I always remember reading something that the craving goes away after 2 minutes or so, so I just find something else to do until I forget about it.

I also found that I smoked alot to stop what I was doing so I could collect my thoughts or reflect on something , so now I do that but sans cig. It works.

It also helps that you can't smoke anywhere anymore- which who knows if I had quit if you could still smoke in malls, stadiums, offices, etc...

I just thought I would share my lil tricks- GOOD LUCK!

Oh, and NEVERMORE- you have to be joking- anytime an organic compound is burned incompletely it releases benzene or benzaprene- a known carcinogen.

Jul 26, 06 7:57 pm  · 
 · 
A Center for Ants?

um... anything organic? how about simple combusion of methane? you take your simplest organic compound and combust it... hm... no benzene there... the combustion of almost all simple organic carbohydrates results in heat, CO2 and water... still no benzene...



benzene:
it's actually pretty tough to get benzene to stick around when you're adding enough energy to create combustion. those double bonds'll come right apart...

Jul 26, 06 8:06 pm  · 
 · 
jbirl

who do you work for? the facilities division of RJ Renyolds?

I think its benzoprene actually--and it's a cancerous by-product of imcomplete combustion-

I apologize for using the term compound- I did not know this was cheminect...obviously a simple compound like methane is an exception-

My point was to respond to nevermore's comment that tobacco is not harmful...and that a more complex substance such as tobacco, when burned and inhaled into the lungs is harmful- and that's a fact.

I miss smoking and wish it was not bad for you, or I would still do it.

Jul 26, 06 8:47 pm  · 
 · 
archit84

Now that i have quit (22 hours into it) i've noticed that EVERYONE i walk past on the street is smoking and really enjoying it.
I've never really payed attention to people smoking before but now the entire city of chicago has a cig in their hand.

i'm staying strong....but i want to knock the cig out of each persons hand, if i gotta quit they should too damn it!

Jul 26, 06 9:16 pm  · 
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tman

archit84,

be strong buuuuh-dee! You'll make it through this...ALIVE

Jul 27, 06 1:10 am  · 
 · 

i wonder if it helps to post the number of days you've gone without smoking. you can track your progress and the higher it gets, the worse you feel about giving up...kinda like chasing the home run record.

i'll start...76

Jul 27, 06 2:38 am  · 
 · 
abracadabra
cold turkey more effective
Jul 29, 06 3:49 pm  · 
 · 
laistm

a friend of mine was a chain smoker. He went on a patch to subsitute the nocitine and a bunch of substitute chewing gum. Maybe that'd help

Jul 31, 06 1:27 am  · 
 · 
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