Ot- Nicotine withdraws- Ot

Rascal

I was a long-time cigarette smoker and wanted badly to quit, but feared the dreaded battle of withdrawal.  Then, as if out of the cosmos, came a solution in the form of a TV news item that I just by chance happened to see.  It covered a facility in Longwood FL that claimed a high success rate with curing nicotine addiction.  The procedure is called "non-invasive laser therapy" and I immediately secured an appointment.  The entire session took about 30 minutes with no pain or sensation whatsoever.  I left and never touched a cig again, and never had the desire to.  This was over 13 years ago and the exact date, January 24, 2005 will be etched in my memory forever.  Wish I had known about this years earlier as I now suffer with COPD.  This procedure was almost too easy and had absolutely no aftereffects.  I rarely hear about this in the media but never miss an opportunity to share my experience.  I'd be happy to answer any questions concerning this.

RRP

To me personally as I said earlier is the desire to quit by deciding to do it yourself. The night I attended my first hypnosis class I just told my wife I had to work late as she did not know what I was up to. In fact she had just bought me 5 cartons of Marboros that very weekend! 

Looking back I soon realized there was a whole new world on my horizon - called "food"! I had not realized how badly my 3 pack a day habit had tainted my taste buds! 

As for those 5 cartons....a few days later I gave them to a group of "down-and-outers" 
lined up at a local soup kitchen.

fishlessman

@rrp

3 packs a day is a  $12045.00 habit per year in the boston area

rifrench

     One day at a time, brother. I stopped smoking 22 years ago, cold turkey. Same thing with booze 20 years ago.

      I still think about how nice it would be sit out on front porch with a Camel in my left hand and 3 fingers of booze in a water glass in my right. Oldies music late 50's and early 60's make it worse. Effexor XR helps.

kdink

You Can Do IT!!!   Dipped for years went cold turkey, read someplace that said after 4 days the need for nicotine was gone, it was all psychological after that.
Not sure if true but helped me get by,  haven't dipped in 29 yrs
Good Luck!!!  Rooting for you and your family

DoubleEgger

Good luck man. Keep us posted on your progress. We’re here for you. Come on here and vent whenever you get the urge. 

bucky925

I thank each and every one that replied and gave support.  As stated above I did tell the wife I may be a bit edgy.  She told me you survived menapose I'll survive this.  Another little trick I've found effective, (after dinner is the worst) so I have a few fingers of something right before dinner.  That keeps me from driving so no 7-11 runs!

Cornholio

I’m on the younger side here but was smoking quite a bit by the time I quit, 7+ years ago.  I was mostly a drinking smoker who would put down a pack a night while drinking on weekends and 5+ cigs per night otherwise.  Went from dip to cigars to try and quit but ultimately it was getting my tonsils removed that gave me the gap in time to quit.

The first few days are the worst then you need to go a week then 3 weeks and that’s the apparent golden goal for quitting.  If you can get past 3 weeks you should be able to stick with it.  

For chewing maybe buy a bunch/make of jerky and chew that when cravings hit.  It will give you the mouth feel fix at the very least.  

kingsmoke

I quit cold Turkey about 15 years ago. Although it took me quite a while to get mentally prepared for the challenge of quitting.    I  used "dumb dumb suckers" as a way to mimic the hand-to-mouth motion of smoking   , and /or having something hanging out my face. 

Carolina Q

Cornholio said:

If you can get past 3 weeks you should be able to stick with it.  

Nonsense. Three weeks is NOTHING! Especially if you are as deep into it as the OP is. You are NEVER out of the woods. Yes, it gets easier, but the demon is always there and you cannot let up... EVER!
           

Carolina Q

You could always do what I did... check into a hospital for (unrelated) open heart surgery. They won't let you smoke there! And truthfully, smoking is the last thing on your mind!  Even if you did want to smoke, you'd be physically unable to go buy cigarettes. I mean, really, you'd barely be able to walk to the nurses station, much less leave the building to sneak a smoke! And the coughing fit would probably rip everything apart anyway!

Who knows? Five years later, you might STILL be tobacco free, not to mention, ALIVE!! You might still have an occasional craving - even after 5 years - but that gets easier to overcome. Unless... I actually quit for a couple of years once upon a time. Then, I went on a business trip and got the urge to have "just one". Bullsh!t! You can NEVER again have just one! Not EVER! That's what helps keeps me off of them today. Knowing that "just one" put me right back where I was... and it will do it again!! I am a tobaccoholic, a junkie! As are you. And that's the sad truth of it. You can never let your guard down!

Oh, and let's not forget the cost! I went to the grocery store yesterday and as was standing in the checkout line, I noticed the price of one lousy pack of smokes has gone up to nearly $11.00!!!!!!!!!! Eleven dollars!! For one pack of cigarettes!! At a whopping 3 packs a day (I didn't smoke as much), $33/day=$12,000/year!! If you lived here anyway.

You can do this, man! Might not be easy, but SOOOO worth it. Hope you don't have to go the heart surgery route. It worked for me, but it was a REAL pain in the ass!! 

If you need a pep talk, let us know. If you fall off the wagon, climb back on. Never give up! Good luck!! 

kingsmoke

Completely agree with "having just one" !!!!   Had to start quitting  again a year later.  NEVER AGAIN.. I dont get the priviledge of being  a social or weekend smoker . 

Gulfcoastguy

We had a professional hypnotist come by my dorm once. He convinced my chain smoking room mate that cigarettes taste terrible and that he didn’t néed them. That worked for six months until he had a six hour drive back to the university. As to temper, yeah I remember when my Dad quit when I was seven. Fortunately cigarettes give me a real bad coughing fit so I never got hooked.

Rascal

Carolina Q said:

Cornholio said:

If you can get past 3 weeks you should be able to stick with it.  

Nonsense. Three weeks is NOTHING! Especially if you are as deep into it as the OP is. You are NEVER out of the woods. Yes, it gets easier, but the demon is always there and you cannot let up... EVER!
           

Read my post!!

BGEChicago

Men,
 I've been hooked to nicotine sine 14, Copenhagen, Marlboro, etc. I switched to Ecig, and some may laugh, but its been 6 years on that ... hit me up. I can help you with the set up and suggestions.  

berndcrisp

The discomfort of withdrawals today will be nothing compared to the medical/health discomfort later.

GrillSgt

Sorry I hadn't seen this earlier. 

I started smoking regularly at age 14, 1963 or so. Smoked about 3/4 pack a day until my 40s when I realized I had to quit. Cold turkey lasted about 9 months. After a couple of years I tried again with smoking cessation and Nicorette. I lasted 5 years that time, took up running and became addicted to that. Tore an MCL and started smoking again during rehab. Tried using Nicorette again and liked to killed myself by chewing too much. The problem with all of those was that I wanted a cig every single day. Never had a day that I didn't want one.

I had a SIL that quit by using Chantix. I was impressed because she was a pack a day smoker. With the coming arrival of my first grandchild I decided that with the Chantix might do the trick. Well that stuff is a heavy duty drug. It took away the motivation to do anything. Luckily I am my own boss and didn't really need to be motivated or actually do anything. I knew within days of taking the first dose that I could quit. I really forced myself to continue with it for 3 weeks or so. Oddest thing is while taking it I could hardly get a buzz from alcohol.

The best part of it is that I haven't ever even thought of smoking since quitting. Ever never. My grandson will be 7 in October.

Good luck man, and feel free to PM me anytime with a question or advice.


 

Rascal

Like the old adage... You can lead a mare to water, but she'll probably just horse around~~

Cornholio

Carolina Q said:

Nonsense. Three weeks is NOTHING! Especially if you are as deep into it as the OP is. You are NEVER out of the woods. Yes, it gets easier, but the demon is always there and you cannot let up... EVER!
           

I don’t disagree and should have been clearer that the physical withdrawals to nicotine are usually strongest in the first 3 weeks and that being able to make it through this time brings a higher chance of success.  Cheating brings you back to day 1, even just one puff.  Most people fail within the first few weeks of quitting and even more never even get passed the whole “I’ll quit next week, after this pack, after super bowl, after New Years...”

bucky925

Just an update....I'm still able to joke about my withdrawals to Cindy.  Actually it's not that bad. I would love to  put a dip in, but I think it's all about when a person is READY.  I'm sick and tired to throwing $ and health away.  I haven't bit anyone's head off much less my loved ones, this is going well so far. 

ColtsFan

bucky925 said:

Just an update....I'm still able to joke about my withdrawals to Cindy.  Actually it's not that bad. I would love to  put a dip in, but I think it's all about when a person is READY.  I'm sick and tired to throwing $ and health away.  I haven't bit anyone's head off much less my loved ones, this is going well so far. 

Stay on course, buddy! You can do this. The physical connection of not having a dip in my lip was by far the hardest. Especially when fiddling in the garage and doing yard work or after eating..

You got this 

bucky925

@ColtsFan  You got that right!  If I was still working on locomotives I don't think it would be possible in our shop....but alas I'm not there anymore.  

lousubcap

@bucky925 - I will offer the following to consider:

From the late, great Leroy "Satchel" Paige, "Don't look back, somethin may be gainin'on ya!"  Don't go there-you can't recreate it.  No rear-view mirror life-

Go forth and do great things.  FWIW-

Mattman3969

Good job with the great attitude.  Be prepared for day 3-5.  Those were the worst for me when the final bit of the nic b|tch  left my system.  

Eggcelsior

bucky925 said:

Just an update....I'm still able to joke about my withdrawals to Cindy.  Actually it's not that bad. I would love to  put a dip in, but I think it's all about when a person is READY.  I'm sick and tired to throwing $ and health away.  I haven't bit anyone's head off much less my loved ones, this is going well so far. 

Readiness is key.The "Readiness to change" model is often used(and why your doctor will ask if you want to quit every time you see them) because no one is ready until they really feel a reason to. Cold turkey is still the #1 way people quit, despite all the available aids like patches, gum, hypnosis, Chantix, and buproprion. The common denominator to any step taken is the person being willing to take the step in the first place. Nicotine addiction is considered as bad as opiate addiction in terms of the way it changes your brain. Keep up the good work.

bucky925

OK a 2 week update of my nicotine free life. It's the small things that trigger my cravings ...I can now discern a good meal as apposed as a GREAT meal.   The great meal deservis a dip.    Rofl it will be a battle. for some time to come.  

SciAggie

Hang in there. I quit Copenhagen cold turkey a long time ago - maybe 18 years. Every time you have a craving you simply CHOOSE not to give in. I mostly never even think about it now, buy your mind is funny. Maybe once a year I’ll still pat a back pocket looking for a can of snuff or think about a dip. I’ll laugh and tell my wife how strange that is. I don’t want the dip, but my mind will go there. It’s amusing now. Just stay the course. When you think about it, remember nobody is bending your arm and forcing anything in your mouth. Just choose not to do it. Best of luck to you.