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Hey, Blisstree Reader! We thought you might like these three new posts we just published: Can I Become An Ex-Smoker? Watch Me Try, Top 7 Smoking Myths That Stop You From Quitting and What Happens to Your Body When You Drink a Coke Every Day, For a Long Time.
This is the first in a series of posts by Bill from California, a Blisstree reader, former smoker, and active member of our passionate community of commenters.
Here’s an update: Before you comment, click to read Bill from California’s second and third personal essays about smoking.
Am I A Former Smoker?
Almost a year ago to this day, after roughly fifty years of smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, I launched myself into a cold turkey quit. Despite the fact that my quit has been an imperfect one with warts, I consider it successful – though others may not. This post is about my quit, but mainly it’s about the many things (positive and negative) I’ve learned in the process.
Launching My Quit
By April 2009, I had tried most of the nicotine replacement therapies in various attempts to quit smoking – Zyban, gum, patches – without success. Then I heard about Champix (known as Chantix in the U.S.), which works directly with the action of certain neurotransmitters in the brain. Their quit program allows you to smoke normally for one week while on Champix, then you eliminate cigarettes and continue through a several-month program.
Like my previous experiences with NRTs, this one also failed me, as I found myself still smoking cigarettes well into the second and third week of Champix. So I decided to stop everything cold turkey. No more Champix, no more cigarettes. Most importantly, I set myself a short-term goal: Ten days without adding a molecule of nicotine to my body, so that I could at least get past the chemical part of my addiction and then re-assess. Those ten days were hellish to be sure, but somehow I mustered the strength to get through them and at that point I was launched on my quit.
The First Slip
My wife quit smoking 25 years ago. She slips once in a while in reaction to stressful moments, but she is able to limit them. Last summer we were in the south of France for several weeks. I had not smoked since my April pledge. One afternoon, after a pleasant meal in an outdoor cafe, the French couple at the next table lighted up cigarettes. Suddenly, and out of thin air, my wife and I had the same impulse: We bought the couple drinks and bummed two cigarettes for ourselves. It was a guilty pleasure that raised a smile, but I worried that my quit was finished. But rather than rush out, buy a pack for myself and smoke it, this time I gave the matter some thought. My choice was either to go back to regular smoking – intending to start a new quit at some undetermined moment in the future – or to declare that this time it would be different. What that meant is that this time the slip would be only a minor setback in a long-term, uninterrupted process. But what process and how to make it work? I know that continuing my cold turkey quit would not work – deprivation is not my style! So I set myself some long-term goals that seemed more realistic:
a) Do NOT slip back into regular smoking
b) Recognize and accept that I would continue to have slips, and most importantly
c) Figure out a way to control the slips so as to keep a) going.
Managing Slips
This is the most important and surely the most controversial component of my odyssey. I’ve seen that it cannot work for most, but it has worked (so far, at least) for me. Of course I resist slips, but I also allow that for me they will be inevitable – at least for the time being. When I do slip, I try to stay positive by looking back over the progress I’ve already made in avoiding a relapse into regular smoking. Only then do I buy a pack and allow myself a few puffs from one of them. Then – and this is important – I destroy the the pack irretrievably, by wetting it down under the faucet and tossing the nineteen survivors into the trash.
I’ve learned that if I keep the 19 smoke-able survivors in the house, I will smoke them. I’ve been known to rummage through ashtrays in the past. So I don’t keep the pack. A pack of 20 cigarettes costs more than six dollars in the San Francisco Bay area, and the taxes continue to rise. So, my method is expensive enough that, after slipping, I’m not so motivated to slip again. During the past year, the frequency of my slips has varied somewhat depending on the stresses that occur, but I’ve been able to continue my imperfect control over them. I’ve learned that it’s very important for me to feel positive about what I have accomplished, and I work on that.
Negative input needs to be confronted directly and rejected. For example, I’ve been told that what I have accomplished is not a quit, but rather that I have simply cut down to a cigarette or so per week, the total of all those stolen puffs. Surely one can make that interpretation, but for me it’s better to see it in another light as an achievement – namely that I have not been a regular smoker for a full year. I have gradually come to feel confident that I will never go back to regular smoking, but freely admit that I have not yet succeeded in eliminating the slips altogether. I believe that I will eventually, and that is my goal – the ultimate prize. In the meantime, though you may disagree, I will continue to think of myself as a former smoker.
Stay tuned for Part 2 by Bill: Bias in the Public Health Community
Original Blisstree Post By Wade Meredith:
I think one of the main reasons it’s so hard to quit smoking is because all the benefits of quitting (and all the dangers of continuing) seem very far away. So here’s a timeline about some of the more immediate effects of quitting smoking and how they will affect your body right now.
- In 20 minutes your blood pressure will drop back down to normal.
- In 8 hours the carbon monoxide (a toxic gas) levels in your blood stream will drop by half, and oxygen levels will return to normal.
- In 48 hours your chance of having a heart attack will have decreased. All nicotine will have left your body. Your sense of taste and smell will return to a normal level.
- In 72 hours your bronchial tubes will relax, and your energy levels will increase.
- In 2 weeks your circulation will increase, and it will continue to improve for the next 10 weeks.
- In 3 to 9 months coughing, wheezing, and breathing problems will dissipate as your lung capacity improves by 10%.
- In 1 year your risk of having a heart attack will have dropped by half.
- In 5 years your risk of having a stroke returns to that of a non-smoker.
- In 10 years your risk of lung cancer will have returned to that of a non-smoker.
- In 15 years your risk of heart attack will have returned to that of a non-smoker.
So, you have more immediate things to look forward to if you quit now besides just freaking out about not being able to smoke. So quit now!
View a high-quality graphic representation of this post here.
Update: Does this make you think it’s time to quit? Check out these 5 Smoking Gadgets That Might Help You Quit Smoking.
I am 46 have smoked since i was 14 quit 2 yaers ago for a lil over a year,started back up,Quit this time december 30 2011 for good 19 days tomorrow cold turkey and alot of prayer..Like Nike says just do it..Quit I will pray for you…
congrats to you Eric,my wife and I quit in October 2011,and going strong,no desire to smoke . We believe that what ever you set your mind to do can be accomplished. First we prayed and then just quit believing God,any one can do it !
After 40 years @ 2 packs a day of 16mg smokes Ive been free for 7 days. A tip for the over 50 yrs of age smoker -cold turkey for the first 5 days (it can be done!!) + plenty of water. This has a really dramatic effect on the system – more good than harm – u sure know your insides are undergoing a major refit/rethink – then lozenges not patches (if u need them) and walking. All I can say it that I’m done for the next 30 seconds but Ive been saying that for the past 604,800 seconds. Heres luck to you and me
thatgood martin i been of the fag 14 week i was on 30 a day
CONGRATS!!!! I smoked for the last 30 years…and it really is tough!!! I can relate to your message. Keep on keeping on…WTG!!!
I am just trying to get through every minute. Its only been 3 days for me, and i am finding myself REALLY aggrivated by everything!!! AHHHH
Please pray for me.
Allen Carr saved my life. i would have never believed that i could just read a book and never feel like smoking again – especially since nicotine gum, patches or champix didnt work for me. I quit in 2008 and have never felt the need for a cigarette. i wish more doctors would prescribe a book like this rather than have people waste their money on cures that are designed by non-smokers to help smokers quit. if you are serious about quitting, please read the book.
Hi everyone! I quit smoking 7 months ago, I smoked for 40 years,average of 1/2 pk a day. I’m not going to say it was easy cause it wasn’t but I love the way I can breathe now and laugh without coughing up a lung. I smell great and no raunchy taste in my mouth when I wake up in the morning, no more freezing out in the cold to have a nicotine fix and no more watching the clock in no smoking areas. I did find a health coach to advise me on what to eat and supplements to take from day one to now, having her help definately made the transistion of smoker to non smoker easier ( I had tried on my own many times before and failed)I am so much happier as a non smoker and know in my heart that this time I will be succesful. For anyone who wants to know what a health coach does you can go here, there’s some good reading there as well http://www.springmorning.co/index.html Congrats to all who have quit! To those thinking about it….just do it! Save your life, you CAN live without cigarettes, you Can’t live with them!
I stopped smoking 2 months ago after more than 30 years of addiction. I’ve tried quitting many times but the sense of loss and depression always took me back to those little cancer sticks. The longest stint I did was 4 weeks.
This time I’m using patches and they really seem to help. You still need will power but I’m not experiencing the withdrawal symptoms that I found so difficult to deal with. I’m not irritated, angry or depressed. They’ve also helped me to realise that it’s the nicotine that I’m addicted to and not the habit of smoking. I’m feeling really optimistic this time and looking forward to dropping down to the lower level patch at the end of the week.
I’ve also been spending my ‘smoking money’ on frivolous things that I wouldn’t normally buy. It’s great looking at something and knowing it was ‘free’ because i’ve quit.
Good luck to all those going smoke free this year.
Well done Sue. I’m a smoker- currently using Paul Mckenna cd and book to prep for becoming a non smoker. Reading what you’ve said I think you are going to be one of the success stories cos you seem to have found the right mind set. You say you’re positive and optimistic and basically you sound “confident”. You’re doing so well!! I wont say best of luck as it isn’t luck that’s working for you – it’s your own strength and confidence. Keep it up love!!!
Hi All. This is my 2nd time at quitting. I am 41 this year and have smoked since I was 13. Im only on my 4th day, but I have noticed this time around I feel very nauseus all the time. Has anybody else had these symptoms since they quit? Other than that I am holding my own,so hopefully I can continue the fight!!
I’ve been smoking for 5 years now I’m 18 and it’s my 4th day too, honnestly drink a lot of water, and it will go away.
hi chris it go a way soon.
hi chris it well go away soon,i stop 17 week ago .i feel not to bad.
hi chris,i am also 41 this year and smoked since i was 13.this is also my 2nd attempt….I am on my 14th day now off the cigs with the help of champix,im not sure weather u r using anything or going cold turkey,sometimes i do feel a bit sick,not sure if it is a withdrawl or the champix..hopefully this passes for us and we are smoke free the rest of our lives………..all the best
Allen Carr’s book is fab! For the first time in twenty years I have quit cold turkey and am on day 4 with minimal withdrawal symptoms and a positive attitude to quitting! Any time I feel I need to smoke I pick up the book and read a few lines…Good luck to everyone quitting this year! x
Hi, everyone, Wow its amazing to see all the people I recognize on here. I havent been on here for months, but as of Jan. 1st it has been one year since I smoked my last cig. This site helped my sooo much. I promise even though it feels like you are giving up your best friend it does get easier. Most days now I dont even think about smoking a cigarette. I want to say thank you for the people on here that really help me get though those first few weeks. You guys helped my change my life. A special Thanks to Fiona, Bernadett, and Hang tuff.
Hellllllllllllllooooooooooooooo Sherry………..Fiona here…..just came on here for a nosey and happened to see your comment…..i found that being on here a lot at the start was pretty hard going as all i was doing was talking about cigarettes…..thats why i disappeared for a few months…..had a little blip but am now well and truley back on track….i used champix which i thought were great but after my blip i had to do cold turkey, and am so pleased i have managed to stay away from cigs…..my husband has also still quit so we can help each other if things get tough…..well dne on your 1st year….i am very proud of you….keep it up Sherry…..xxxxx
Remember I said I finished off the half of pack of cigarettes after 4 d ays NOT smoking??? Well…guess what happened with the remaining half of pack? I finished that off yesterday!! So….having not purchased any more cigarettes, I am, once again, resuming Quit Day 1….
@ Dee: well, honestly, there never seems to be the right time to quit…so I just jump right in there and try to do it. But to me it’s like I am two people: the person who believes I will never be successful in quitting (that’s the nicotine addiction monster, really, not me, talking); and the second person is the real me who wants to stop, knows all the reasons why to stop, and all the reasons TO stop, has a hard time stopping, but continues to try to stop until it’s a success. Smoking is the worst habit I ever developed!!! Nicotine is out of your body in what, 2 – 3 days??? It’s the psychological part that’s the hardest to overcome. We will do it and we will be happy NON SMOKERS!!!
It worked best for me to set a date and do it, but everyone is different. I’ve quit three times, all had set dates. The last one, August 24, 2011, has stuck thus far. I was hypnotized. I realize that doesn’t seem to work for everyone, but I cannot praise it enough. I literally don’t even THINK about cigarettes or smoking, with very occasional, fleeting thoughts, but not cravings. It was the psychology of the addiction I needed help with, and hypnosis seems to have done the trick. If I can quit, you can too!
Hi Dianne
I stopped smoking for 5 weeks…had a huge argument with my partner and started again. It’s now been 8 weeks and I’m still on the fags . I am 52 as well and have smoked from the age of 15.
I know all the disadvantages of smoking, but just right now that does not seem to be an encouragment to stop.
I wish I could get back into my old “non smoker” mind frame, but seems very difficult at the moment.
Good luck to you Dianne…..hopefully in the near future we will both be happy “NON SMOKERS”
I have smoke for 10 years. I have try to stop many times, i was able to stop for 6 moths, I had some of the symptoms that comes when you try to stop smoking… Is been 4 days that i have my last cigarette. I feel good, I feel with more energy but at the same time my minds keeps playing with me to light one up but I know that after one there be more and soon i will failed again…. Every time i feel like having one I pray to god to give me strength so far is working… By reading some of the comment I realized that I am not a lone and all we have to do is keep trying because we do care……Take care everyone
I would have been 4 days and 12 hours quit today….but for…buying a pack on the way home from work, going to choir practice afterwards, followed by stopping at a local pub and having a few beers. Actually, it was not the pub and beers that triggered me….it was sometihng while I was at work that started the ball rolling into relapse. Perhaps it was a sense of failure….(like somewhere in my head I said to myself that after some 37 odd years of smoking that I will never quit, or reading an article that said people who quit before age 50 reap the full health benefits of quitting as opposed to people older than 50 and I happen to be 52 and am doomed. I am sure that article F’d up a lot of other 50-somethingyear old people who want to quit besides me!! It was also that the “Nicotine Monster” inside me wasn’t quit dead yet and it managed to fight back and overcome its death throes and grab ahold of me again!! But I did notice that first cigarette yesterday did not taste so pleasant, but I continued….then I kinda didn’t feel so good while smoking and finished off a half of a pack…and this morning I don’t feel so good and realized I felt better during those four days of not smoking….So…I now have to re-adjust my Quit Meter to read today as Quit Day 1, and the start time will have to be when I awoke this morning – 8:00 a.m. I am so pissed off, all that hard work (mostly mental) that I had to do to get to four days of not smoking I now have to go through again! Sigh!!
Hi Diane – I’m sure you have figured out that reading the article didn’t really change the outcome of your relapse. If you’re looking for an excuse to start again, almost anything will do. You will benefit from the experience, though, cause you now know that you felt a lot better not smoking than when you were! I quit 2 and a half years ago and I’m now 70 years old. I can walk with my dog up hills and down that I couldn’t even attempt when I was smoking. No more shortness of breath and that alone is worth quitting. Did I leave it too long? Who knows? But that I feel this good after smoking at least a pack a day for over 50 years is a bonus. The one thing I do know is I was starting the COPD count down and now I won’t be walking around with an oxygen tank being pulled behind me. You can do it and you will!! And, trust me, life is a lot better after a few weeks without them until you eventually will wonder why you ever smoked in the first place. Lots of luck. Judy
Thank you Judy for the reply. I sometimes wonder if I just stop reading all the different types of articles on health risks from smoking and health benefitswhen you stop. We all know smoking causes harm. My Uncle Jack, when he was alive, smoked heavily while in the Military, and when he retired, he quit…if he had withdrawals and struggling with quitting, he never let on to it. He frequently told me “Just put your mind to it!!” I guess that’s the part that comes after the 2-3 day nicotine de-tox, LOL!! I wasn’t looking for an excuse to smoke, BTW. It seems the psychological triggers, for me, are more difficult than the physical pangs of no nicotine. I admire you in your quitting experience and will soon be telling you I did it, too!!
ive been smoking for 8 years now. and i smoke a pack a day. i quit on new year day since i ve been craving and yet i havent smoked. i stoped seeing my friends because i need my time. this time is about me. part of the reason is because i have kids and they look up to me. i wouldnt want them to be in my spot. i have a feeling im gonna make it because ive never try quiting.
i feel like a new person, but it isnt easy
Please try to hate smoking and also do some walk, it would help a lot:)
HANG IN THERE!!!!!
I smoked a pack and a half for 30 years. I tried quitting 3 times over the years but couldn’t make it past two weeks until I quit the last time (2008). I bought the book ‘Alan Carr’s The Easy Way to Stop Smoking’ by Alan Carr (available free in PDF) and on Amazon. I read to page 80 and I haven’t had a ciggarette in over 4 years. I have not had a slip or anything. It was the most effective book I ever read in my life and I recommend it to anyone who is seriously trying to quit. I was convinced that I was going to die from ciggarette smoking until I read that book. Below is the url for a free pdf:
http://quitober.com/pdf/AllenCarrEasyWayToStopSmoking.pdf
Good luck!
I also have read Alan Carrs book. I quit easily for 5 weeks..no withdrawals…..I would recommend his book for anyone WANTING to stop smoking..
According to my Quit Keeper, I am 2 daysw, 12 hours and 12 minutes off of cigarettes. I have saved $38.94, and life saved is 4 hours, 45 minutes. I find my sense of time has slowed down incredibily. A few minutes feels like a few hours. I am hungrier (and I don’t think that has anything to do with Alan Carr’s saying it’s because of low glucose levels, as ciragrettes increased blood sugar levels, making you not hungry), I think being hungrier comes loss of satiety. The smoke from cigarettes irritates the lining of your stomach, making you feel full. No smoke, hunger increases. That’s my take on it anyway. SOOO, I am trying to eat healthier types of foods. Hang in there everyone, we can do this!!!!
I did cold turkey, and the absolute strangest withdrawl sympton was the time distortion. I feel for you as I experienced the same. It will pass, the worse for me was the first 3 days, then it began tapering off. I fixed it by sitting down with my smart phone and browsing ‘quit smoking’ sites to keep my mind focused on what I was doing. For me, the milestone mark was at 4 weeks, that is when I would begin going through a day not thinking about smoking. After that it is really down hill. I felt after 4 weeks, I had finally eliminated my physical addiction, and at that point it was a phsycological coy … it was at about 4 weeks into the quit I read snippets of Allen Carr’s book — not the whole book — and it helped.
It’s been two weeks for me. For those of you who just quit, go find one of those hippie stores where they sell organics and herbs and that kind of crap and buy a bottle of Kava Kava and a box of detox tea (to help get the nicotine out of your system). I really recommend the tea and the pills. especially the pills.
The kava kava pills run about $12 but they DO help me with that feeling of wanting to jump out of your skin, take the edge off your voice and help in general with the ants in your pants feeling that you have right now. They help me a lot and I’m not sure if it’s because I am buying the idea they help or they really do but I don’t care. They are helping. I care about that. You can do a tincture too, doesn’t matter. it’s the herb that helps.
Traditional Medicines makes a detox tea and they also make one called “easy now” for tension and stress. I’ve been using these too. I noticed the second cup of coffee was getting me a little worked up so I switched to the easy now tea.
The cravings were the worst the first week, not so much the second week. We’ll see how the 3rd week goes. But I suspect it’ll do better than the 1st and 2nd week went. Good luck to you all!
Whud UP Quittas… one year ago today i was two days into my quit after 30 years on the smokes. this forum offered encouragement… i quit cold turkey… one of my motivating factors, i too, like you dont want to die of smoking related diseases. the kicker was a close friend had aheart attack and nearly died, another acquaintance COPD… guy cant breathe… bottom line the first 2 weeks are crazy tuff… after that it gets better… not greatbut better.. about 2 months into the quit, believe it or notyou wont think about them much. i am one year deep and i feel amazing. keep thinking about the milestones above and how your body recovers and most of all keep up the quit. it isnot easy at first but is so worth it. god bless
My Husband & I quit smoking 41 hours ago. It is SO SO hard. Even though I am wearing the patch. It is extremely hard. I get these random urges and I really have to fight with myself to not smoke. I keep reminding myself the reasons I want to quit…. I don’t want to die, I don’t want emphysema, I don’t want to get Cancer in the lungs, throat, or any where else, I don’t want to age prematurely, I don’t want to be a prisoner to smoking, I want to not think about it anymore. If anyone out there can tell me how long will i have to fight with myself all day long? How long will I so desperately want to smoke?
Hang in there! Whatever you do don’t give in. If you go cold turkey the worst is over in 72 hours….thats how I quit 7 months ago. I really can’t tell you how long on the patch, but hey it’s WAY better then smoking. Sometimes just staying busy will help, one day soon you will wakeup in the morning and go all day without thinking of smoking, I promise you…..just give it time:)
Have you had any reply? its been since NewYears for me… and im really going thru the same thing… i have failed more times than i can count… i need help thruthis stage sooo bad.
Not long. Less than a week. Check out http://whyquit.com/
You will always want to smoke but if you quit you quit. Do you go back to a job after you quit ?
In all honesty (15 year pack a day guy) you will alway smell a cig from a mile away. You will alway want one. but you have to decide to find better things to do with you mind. I stopped cold turkery a year ago and I can smell cigs in my car from other cars. I never realized how many people smoke until i stopped You have to honestlly want to stop and then do it. Gum sucks… water and walking worked for me along with the mind decideing I am done… so you have to be ready to be done…
I wish you the best..
Previous postings said I quit 12/15/11…..That quit did not last very long!!! Now, I STOPPED SMOKING DECEMBER 31, 2011 AT 10:00 P.M. I am 52 years old and have been smoking 1PPD since I was 15….that is 37 years of smoking. It used to be back then when I started that you were the nerd and didn’t fit in if you did not smoke….now you are the nerd and don’t fit in if you do smoke. I downloaded Quit Keeper 1.09 which helps. According to it, I am 1 day, 13 hours and 29 minutes quit. I haved so far saved $24.23 (at $13.50 pre pack) and the life saved is 2 hours and 55 minutes. I have a plastic cigarette which I can inhale on, and it comes with a mint insertion, which makes the inhaled air taste minty, mimicking menthal cigarettes. It’s not an e-cigarette, just a plastic cigarette which comes in handy when an urge is beating me up terribly. I hope and pray that I can stay quit.
Have been smoke-free for over a year. I began smoking when I was 12 yo. Stopped for 13 years, then began again…one cig at a party, drinks with a friend, etc. then back full time. I became a “closet smoker”, sure nobody knew when I took walks to the grocery store or post office. I decided to quit and used the patch, for 4 days, then decided “if I’m going to quit, just do it”. It was amazing, the easiest part was the initial quitting, however, I still have situational urges which I realize are just bad habits I still need to break. Don’t let anyone kid you, the smell of a freshly lit cigarette is almost nirvana. Just not not my place of happiness anymore. Good luck to everyone and know, you can succeed.