I am also trying to be very patient in dealing with the cravings of this addiction. I quit drinking over 3 years ago and like Lady said about smoking, I bearly ever think of having a drink now. It's just not part of my life anymore. The odd time I have however brief a thought of having a drink, I remind myself of everything I've gained by not drinking and all the negative things I no longer have in my life. This motivates me to stick with the quit as I know time will fly by faster than I think and before I know it I will be the same way with nicotine as I now am with alcohol.
Me too! And now I don't have to stop for smoke breaks while I ride or be nagged by the craving. Instead I can just enjoy the natural high from the physical exertion and the fresh air. Unfortunately it's getting a little nippy where I am for riding but I'll be strating to go to spin classes as soon as I no longer feel like running or riding outdoors . . . . or who knows, maybe I'll just get hardier and start running outside in the winter like all the people I used to call "crazies" a few years ago!!!
N.O.P.E. definitely! I've finally managed to get a grip on the sugar obsession and subsequent weight gain . . . lost 3 out of the 8 lbs. I gained by excercising before and after work like a madwoman . . . loving it!
I totally had the same experience as Working On IT in terms of quitting while multiple stressors were and are going on in mylife. My doctor actually expressed a lot of doubt as to whether that was a good time for me to quit, even though he has been harrassing me for years to quit. What I found was, negative though they were, the stressors forced me to focus on them and deal with them rather than focus on the cravings and feel sorry for poor little old me, which I would have done had I tried toquit during a calmer period in my life. It also forced me to do other things to bring down my stress levels rather smoke such as yoga, deep breathing, a lot of reading (kept my mind and hands busy during "down" time), a little sweet treat (not a great choice but hey it was soothing), going for walks,etc
I was given similar information regarding the sore throat. However, I also read somewhere that should you have physical symptoms that persist after quitting smoking, you should seek medical advice. The reason for this is because sometimes our smoking masks an underlying medical condition which only becomes apparent once we quit. A personal example of this I have is a friend who quit smoking 6 months ago and was now diagnosed with COPD. He was asking me what the point was of quitting because he was "never sick" when he smoked. His doctor told him that the COPD was most likely there for some time but went undiagnosed because of his constant smoker's cough. In other words, he didn't notice the COPD symptoms and did not bring them forward to his doctor because he was unaware of them as a result of all the other masking smoking realted discomforts.
Terrific post Brent! Many of those points hit home with me. As time moves on it's easy to get complacent and forget all those reasons why we don't want to smoke and then . . . wham . . . the addiction sucks us back in again. I so appreciate my freedom (although it's not complete because I still haven't weaned completely off the NRTs) and my newfound health and energy. I also liked the point about always being smokers who choose not to smoke. This agian goes back to the need for vigilance and not allow ourselves to be fooled by the call of the demon saying things such as "well it's been long enough, I think I can have one". We can NEVER have one!
My temptation is my mother. She is a 60 year smoker and not planning to quit at this stage in her life unfortunately. I was driving her to her radiation therapy daily for 7 weeks starting 1 month into my quit and the first thing she would do when leaving the hospital immediately after her treatment is light a cigarette in my car! I focused on my anger i.e. what smoking had done to her nad what it continues to do to her, and that definitely helped with any possible cravings.
My big reward too is how much easier and more enjoyable any type of cardiovascular excercise is - running, cycling, intense gravity workouts,etc. I still need to work on getting a grip on the sweet rewards though. I never liked sweets all that much when I smoked but now I'm a sugar fiend. I don't know what's worse sometimes, the nic fit or the sugar fit.
When I quit drinking over 3 years ago, it was my first quit attempt and I was terrified at the thought of relapsing, even though the counsellors in my program told us that addiction is a realapsable disorder. Although that doesn't mean we should give ourselves permission to relapse, we should also not beat ourselves up for it. I would truly despise the people who relapsed despite being aware that addiction does have a high rate of relapse. With thime and introspection I came to the realization that my anger was fear based. In other words, I did not want to "fail" and was unsure I would ever try to quit again now knowing everything I had to go through to do so. What ended up ultimately helping me the most to be empathetic towards people who relapsed and to not judge them was becoming the moderator of a self-help group for people with addictions and mental health issues. This was a huge leap for me not just because of my hostility towards the idea of relapse, but because of my law enforcemnt background. Seeing and accepting myself as an addict took a long time for a black and white judgmental thinker! So I look at my addiction now as a bit of a blessing. It has forced me to broaden my thinking, be less judgmental and more empathic and grow emotionally in ways I probably may not have had I continued to drink, abuse prescription medication and smoke. That's my two cents worth on relapse.
Best of luck to you Eyja on your interview. You're already an edge ahead from the past in that you'll be focusing on the interview rather than being distracted by wanting your next fix!
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