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10 years ago 0 +0 / -0 22

Electronic Cigarettes

This weekend I was at a BBQ where several people smoked and a couple had quit but were now using E-Cigarettes.

Holy. What a challenge to get through the night without smoking.

Thank goodness I was wearing the Patch, and could tell myself that if I tried smoking with that thing on me I would get sick on the lawn in front of everyone, probably.

But the more I heard about this E-Cig thing, the harder it was to contrate on my goal of being free from Nicotine addiction... It just sounds too good to be true. You mean, I can get almost the same effect of smoking but it has none of the harmful chemicals that an actual cigarette does, plus I won't stink, plus it tastes delightful, plus the little thing looks slick and sexy so the stigma is removed?

Overcoming those points with a junkie brain and without any information to combat it other than it's not approved as an NRT is hard. I mean, a nicotine injection with the same social component that I'm missing without the side effect of slowly killing me. Sounds perfect. To the point that Junkie Brain started to say - well, you can go pick one up in the States next week, but for now you can just have an actual cigarette because why not? It's just one and you'll have a better replacement next week.

I ended up not breaking because my goal of this quit is to be free from Nicotine Additiction. I just don't want to be addicted to anything, regardless of delivery system. I want to be perfectly free.

10 years ago 0 +0 / -0 22

Electronic Cigarettes

That's exactly what I thought it was like... having your cake and eating it, too.

Because I love smoking. I do, I'll admit it. Which is why it's been so difficult for me to quit in the past. It sounds shocking to say, but for me it is true. It's just that cigarettes tend to have the unfortunate side effect of killing you. And I definitely don't love having to smoke. That's different. And unfortunately I can't have one without the other.

Thanks for the link to the negative health factors. That definitely helps me in using facts to combat the positive hype surrounding eCigs right now. Because I'm telling you, in a Summer BBQ scenario where the smokers are enjoying the shady patio and a good sit and quiet chat breaks from the rucus inside, and you're told you might be able to join them again without harming yourself or smelling like ash.... that's a hard voice to quiet.

10 years ago 0 +0 / -0 22

Depression and The Patch

So just an update on this from last week -- it's day 17, and I'm still on the Patch, and I don't feel the Blues anymore.

Clearly, I was just on an extreme emotional low that I wasn't associating with Nicotine withdrawal, because I was using an NRT. But that must have been what it was for the first couple of weeks, becuase I'm happy to say I'm functioning normally with the Patch, and it's really been helping me adapt to my new life without cigarettes as craving intensity continues to be about 3 - 5 out of 10 on an average day.

So, if there is anyone out there who is experiencing the same thing and thinking that it may be caused by the Patch itself and not withdrawal from Nicotine, and the Patch is working for them in terms of fighting cravings, I just thought I'd share my personal experience with it as I am glad I've continued with the Patches. I am definitely benefitting from a few more weeks of making not smoking the new normal before I heap on the physical withdrawal as well.

Thanks so much to everyone for their support and encouragement through that dark patch!!

10 years ago 0 +0 / -0 22

Depression and The Patch

Thanks Deb!!

Every day is different, but taken one at a time we can just keep going, gaining a little momentum! Every day I get through I remind myself that's one day I'm a little more healed, a little healthier.

Here's to the first winter I won't have to freeze outside to grab a smoke, or have that musty stinky smell clinging all season to my coat. Here's to liberation! Just gotta get through today lol.......

10 years ago 0 +0 / -0 22

Has anyone tried the Ecig?

Hi BackAgain,

I was initially really curious about the eCig as well. Sounds too good to be true - like Workin' had put it before, like having your cake and eating it too!

I was very interested to hear that 2 people on this forum who went back to smoking after using eCigs. Something to consider in the face of all the hard work you've done so far to be quit and healthy and free! Also, this weekend one person whose eCig ran out of batteries ended up smoking the rest of the night, which also tells me that the addiction factor and what that is doing to your brain is still substantial!!

I kind of decided for me, that an eCig is like lipstick on a pig. You will still need it (badly) to feel 'normal', to combat anxiety, to enjoy yourself, to concentrate, etc. etc. etc. It's still serious addiction, wrapped up in a somewhat more socially acceptable package - for now.

Yesterday, I was in the mall and I saw a lady hunched over an electrical socket, frantically charging up her eCig pack thing. Jury might still be out on whether it's harmful for you or not, but it's pretty clear that the addiction and the behaviour that goes along with having to satisfy that addiction and the lengths that people have to go to are just the same.

That is why I have decided not to get one, although I am telling you it's a SERIOUSLY huge temptation. But I want to be a normal non-smoker, and that means telling my junkie-brain to hush up - it can't have any nicotine, ever, because I don't do moderation with that drug, no matter how much I wish I could. For me, eCig is not a loophole, it's more addiction. Also, many of the brands have been purchased by large tobacco companies. I'm pretty sure I want nothing to do with supporting those guys.

Good luck with your quit!! You can do it!!!!

10 years ago 0 +0 / -0 22

16 Days quit, past hell and heck week but...

Congrats SarahB!!

You are almost at a whole month of non-smoking!! Amazing!!

I also had a dream about smoking a couple nights ago... felt super guilty when I woke up, then so releaved that it was just a dream! I plan on keeping in mind those feelings the next time I tell myself that I don't care and I'm just going to smoke. We have come so far and I don't want to start all over again. Ever!

Great job!! We're getting there, one day at a time.

10 years ago 0 +0 / -0 22

STAT ALERT! ! ! 2 0 0 0 DAYS!!!

CONGRATS Jim!!!

WOW... impressive stats, that is amazing!! I'll be thinking of you when I'm having my little reward of an ice cold beer tonight!!

10 years ago 0 +0 / -0 22

Work stress

Hi Kristine,

Your post sounds really familiar to me! I have been struggling with that as well... especially when you get a particularly irritating client that just makes you want to scream!! LOL, your story about the PDF was hilarious, I totally empathize!

Smoking was my little refuge when I needed to take time to calm my emotions before composing a response, or figure out a strategy to deal with an issue, or even just re-group and think about what I needed to accomplish that day. What I noticed is that it really was just distancing myself from my office for just a couple minutes to breathe that was what I needed.

Everyone is totally different in what works for them. While taking a short walk worked for some, I found it wasn't something I would stick to since the tyranny of emails would keep me pinned to my chair until I was zombied out from withdrawal. Without the physical "pull" of the addiction to answer to, I just wouldn't leave my desk.

Now, I give myself daily little "missions" to help get me out of the chair when I clearly need to take a break and would otherwise have smoked. I'll go get a $3 lotto ticket. I'll go mail a letter. I'll take a lap around the office and maybe a chat a second or two to a colleague. I'll go refill my water glass or water my plants. Brew a tea. Go cruise around a drugstore for a second or 2 and purchase something that makes me feel good. Failing all that, I literally will just cruise the internet or come here and read for 5 or 10 minutes if I can't focus on my task.

Bottom line is that you're not smoking - good for you!!! I try not to be too hard on myself for being stuck in second gear at work these last few weeks. And, we'll be even better in our jobs than we were before, since Nicotine cravings won't be playing marionette with our concentration and emotions every couple hours... I'm already feeling this positive benefit!!

Nice work, keep breathing, keep it up!! Just remember NOPE and that it gets better!!

10 years ago 0 +0 / -0 22

Change is Tough!

I just needed to vent a little bit this morning...

This weekend will be 6 weeks since my last cigarette, and about 8 pounds from what I normally weigh. I am so frustrated! It's not that I don't know where the extra weight has come from, I have given into my food cravings a couple times this week and have eaten more helpings that I normally would. I guess what I'm saying is that I see the link between what I'm putting in my mouth and the numbers on the scale, it's just that prior to quitting smoking I wasn't "physically penalized" for having pizza for dinner once in a blue moon the way I am now!

I am trying to keep in mind that tranformation is tough, and that while I'm healing myself and turning my lungs pink again and flushing out all the toxic stuff I might change shape a little bit - and that I'll be able to deal with that part later. But I have days like today where the feelings of being clean, healthy, and good smelling from not smoking are being trumped by the feelings of hating that I'm getting soft, pudgy, and bulgy.

It all comes down to health and self-improvement. I'm here because I want to improve my health and well-being by quitting smoking. I just never saw undertaking that as some sort of sliding scale where as I improve it on the quitting smoking side, I decrease it on the weight gain side. While 8 pounds doesn't sound like a lot, it's 8 pounds within the last week and a half since I stopped running outside (about 3 - 4 miles, 3 - 4 times a week) since it's rainy and wintery here. My clothes aren't fitting, my face looks different, and I feel like everyone is looking at me.

I'm looking forward to joining a fitness club and continuing my journey and fighting to get my shape back. And I will claw my way back down, I enjoy exercise and running so that's not a chore for me. I just was feeling frustrated that I'm here this morning - yucky and uncomfortable and bloaty and angry. Mad that I ever started smoking in the first place, which is why I'm here. Mad that I still want to sometimes. Nicotine has got to be the worst drug in the world. As I'm hacking up sick things and bloating up like a balloon, I'm still thinking about smoking. That's insane.

Thanks for letting me vent. I know things will get better and my jeans will stop biting into me with some WORK! But right now I hate knowing that they do and it's because of smoking.

10 years ago +1 +1 / -0 22

Change is Tough!

Thanks Breather, much appreciated.

What makes 6 weeks so hard? Maybe it's the romance and novelty of a new quit wearing off. Maybe the support and constant encouragement of my support networks get a little less since consistent since everyone has accepted non-smoking me as the new normal, but inside I feel like I'm still battling away. Can you remember what it was about 6 weeks for you?

I think I've just hit a wall of impatience. I'm just tired and want to feel normal all the time and I don't yet. It's just a hard day, and I know it will pass and tomorrow I'll be grateful that I didn't smoke today. I just need to get through the rest of today.

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