Day 5 of quitting cigarettes

[688sonarmen]

And its not getting any easier like all the crap says. My little one spent a few days in the hospital for lung complications so I quit. Pipes and cigars are up in the air and I may or may not decide to enjoy them again, who knows. But all the crap I read about quitting is full of sh&t, not getting easier and really seems to be getting worse as time goes on. I have the gum and that helps but I mainly feel like a damn woman with the ups and downs, really really wish I never picked them up after I completed boot camp 12 years ago. I actually had to try hard to smoke them again just like I did when I first started.

[jjirons69]

Good luck. Hope the little one is Ok. You'll be fine, you're a tough adult, it's that little one you need to worry over. Try sunflower seeds - healthy and mind-consuming.

[icehog3]

Hope you get it all figured out, Jake, and hope your little one stays healthy.

[kelmac07]

Stay strong Jake!! Smoke more cigars. :D

[chaase321]

Good luck brother, I'm sorry to hear about your little one. Thoughts and prayers being sent your way for you and for your family.

Keep yourself occupied brother.

[688sonarmen]

Thanks guys, I have plenty of motivation and it really helps to have support here. She will be fine just have to be careful with what she is around.

[jledou]

Keep yourself occupied brother.

Agree, keep up the good work Jake!

[irratebass]

You can do it Jake!!!!!

Drink a glass of water everytime you get the urge to light up. Carry a pen in your smoking hand and hold it like a cig to stop the urge.....sunflower seeds is a good example, also maybe some Pistachios

Hope you don't decide to get rid of your stash, but if you do I am sure we will be here to help you with that as well.

Hope your little one is ok, and remember you are on day 5....tomm is day 6, Sat Day 7...you can do this man!!!!

Good luck!!!

[iaMkcK]

You and I? Same boat. I quit smoking ciggs September 30th.. It was hard as hell at first, but in 2 weeks I puff cigars and have no desire for ciggs. I'm a mutant though, I'm very abnormal when it comes to addictive things so I know it can easily take longer. Don't quit fighting the good fight!

[Bluetick]

I had my first cigar last night after a 4 month layoff due to Pertussis and cursed myself after I finished the cigar.

[deadrise]

good job so far brother keep it up I quite 3-4 years ago just when they jacked the prices up.
it has been great it took a long time to loose the feeling and even then the memories keep coming back every so often not cravings more like flash backs.
it's odd for me to even hold a cig in my hands seams unnatural it is such a small puny thing.
keep it up bro you can do it!!!!

[688sonarmen]

1 week in now. Smoked my 1st cigar yesterday, a Partagas Short and it was GREAT! My sense of smell is better and I'm tasting things better as well. I won't be getting rid of my smokes but thanks for the concern, lol. Also thanks again guys, between you all and my family this is much easier than it could be. Its good to have friends!

[shark]

All you're going through now is a major nicotine fit. Work through it, chew gum, drink coffee, use a patch or nicotine gum, do whatever you have to do, but believe me, it's not all bullcrap about it getting easier. I smoked cigs for a while before I found cigars, and I was a 2 to 3 pack a day Marlboro Red smoker...Now cigarette smoke just irritates me, I have no desire whatsoever to pick up a pack of those fuggers ever again. You can do this! :tu

[Catfish]

I was a pack to a pack-1/2 a day smoker for a while. It was difficult at first but after about 2 weeks, I noticed how much easier it is. Now, almost 4 weeks in, I don't even get the urge when I see someone in public or on TV light up.

Keep up the good fight, man!

[688sonarmen]

I was a pack to a pack-1/2 a day smoker for a while. It was difficult at first but after about 2 weeks, I noticed how much easier it is. Now, almost 4 weeks in, I don't even get the urge when I see someone in public or on TV light up.

Keep up the good fight, man!

And you as well David, it is getting easier:tu

[DMK]

It's been 4 days for me, but the chest cold and sore throat probably help curb the cravings....

[688sonarmen]

It's been 4 days for me, but the chest cold and sore throat probably help curb the cravings....

Way to go! Hope you get over the sickness though.

[DMK]

Still hacking, but the sore throat is finally gone.
Damn I craving something to smoke....

[maninblack]

Best of luck Jake! You can kick this thing brother!

[OLS]

Your mileage may vary, but there is no gum or patch that can help you quit. Its hard as HELL.
The only thing you can do that works 80% of the time every time is stopping all your trigger behaviors.
There are dozens, maybe hundreds. Mine were weed and bars. If I would smoke weed, bam, had to
have a cigarette. If I was in a bar, I had to smoke. Gave up both and voila, no smoking. I can have
as many drinks as I want at home with NO TROUBLE. But no bars.

OTHER PEOPLE will tell you how to do it, that you need to give it up for this or that, my father died of
cancer, was quite a smoker. Looked like a shriveled up lil mummy in that hospital bed...my mother thought
that should be all it took, to have seen THAT. She had no idea and I think still doesn't, that you can't buy me a
Plen-T-pack of Spearmint gum and I will just reach for that instead. You have to divest yourself of all the trigger
mechanisms. If you do THAT, you should only have 3-7 days of tough sledding. Your BODY will suffer for three days,
your mind for almost a week. With alcohol you can almost go back to triggers after a year or two if you have self-
discipline of any kind. But you have to be careful as 5hi+. But it can be done if you don't put your brain under that
kind of pressure.

[688sonarmen]

Damn, thanks Brad. That really explains a lot and really does help with trying to understand the addiction. Its getting easier now but it was maddening having a mouth full of nicotine gum, using an electronic cigarette and still wanting to smoke. For the 1st few days the only thing that would work was intentionally making myself sick from nicotine and only that lasted until it wore off. In the end the fear of letting my little girl down and in turn showing her that all the "You can do what ever you put your mind to" is true and keeps me going. My triggers so far have been driving, before bed, and oddly enough my dog (he was always outside with me when i smoke). The other crazy thing is when I did smoke and was smoking a cigar, I would want a cigarette half way through the cigar. I would just lite one up right after the cigar. I'm about 90% convinced that I'm half addicted to nicotine, 25% addicted to the habit and 25% addicted to other **** they put in them. Anyways I'm am pretty stoked because all the cigars and pipes I have smoked lately have been totally different and full of flavors that I either never tasted or are way more intensive. If any guys are on the fence about quitting it is worth it, its not easy but I think because of that in the end makes it all the more rewarding.

[688sonarmen]

Best of luck Jake! You can kick this thing brother!

Thanks Kevin:tu

[jjirons69]

Keep on grinding, Jake!

[OLS]

Haha, that's great, your triggers are so much more...legal than mine.
Just to show you how bad it is, I went to NO for a visit last month, and just knowing I would
be around weed, I stopped in and picked up a pack of smokes before I arrived....this is TWO
YEARS WITHOUT A CIGARETTE, and I still did that stupid crap. Killed my beautiful
record and it took 5 weeks to STOP buying smokes. I am now back off of em 'for good'
and it was pretty easy to do, but it was almost like some other person buying the smokes,
like an out of body experience. Funny thing is, I got to NO and found out my friend was
now working a job where he was scared to death to smoke the wacky tobaccy and had not
had any since last time I had seen him. So there was no nothing, and I killed lung cells
and my 2-year record for NOTHING. What's more, my house that had begun to smell like a
normal person's house again after no smoke for years, I tainted it all back up again with about
7 packs of cigs. But on the good side, I didn't smoke any pot, either. If you can call that 'good', lol.

[OLS]

My dad used to putter around in his shop in the back yard, working on this or that, fixing
this, inventing that. When he would come across something that required a little thought,
he would light one up. Of course, he smoked in the house watching TV, too, but this was
one of his triggers. Thinking on problems, bedtime, post meals, etc...those were his triggers.
After his cancer diagnosis, he quit smoking naturally. My mother would see him sometimes
in the shop or the yard, he would stop, wipe his sweat, clean his glasses and pat his
pocket where he used to keep his smokes. He would pat it every couple minutes as if
somehow he had forgotten that he had no smokes there. You could just see the pathway
in his mind that this constant reinforcement and addiction had created. It's all about
beating the system, exercising power over the mind. It will present all of your toughest challenges.
But its totally do-able, especially when your REAL incentive is not yourself. My mother,
like I said, couldn't BELIEVE I could watch my father die from what his cigs had done,
see the effects of cancer, and I could still smoke. Bless her heart, she thought it was
all about others. It was all about me, my pleasure, my addiction, my choice. That's why
we lie to the ones we love. "Oh, I quit a long time ago." Of course our hair still smells
like cigs....we can wash our hands, but our clothes and hair tell on us. If its about your
child, you will be able to do it. A couple more days an you can be home free. You have
my sympathies and my support.

[ColdCuts]

As an ex-cigarette smoker myself, I want to say keep up the good work, fellas. I was a pack-a-day guy for fifteen years. It can be done.