Things That Annoy You

[coaster]

I'm trying to quit smoking again after a health scare during work. It's been two days but I'm not sure what's worse. The heart palpitations and shortness of breath or the constant stress I'm under because of the stupid fucking people I have to deal with. I'm fucked either way.

[Jackstar]

Have you tried varenicline? My experience with it was effectively transcendental.

[FightTheFuture]

I'm trying to quit smoking again after a health scare during work. It's been two days but I'm not sure what's worse. The heart palpitations and shortness of breath or the constant stress I'm under because of the stupid fucking people I have to deal with. I'm fucked either way.

I could send you some autopsy photos of heavy smokers. I`m telling you, it`s really something to see what years of smoking can do to a set of lungs!

[coaster]

Have you tried varenicline? My experience with it was effectively transcendental.

I tend to go cold turkey. I quit for years before starting back up, and was smoke free for a month recently. I'll just get hooked on the alternatives if I don't go cold turkey. I tried to use ecigs but was using it like crazy.

[coaster]

I could send you some autopsy photos of heavy smokers. I`m telling you, it`s really something to see what years of smoking can do to a set of lungs!

Both of my folks have COPD and emphysema. I grew up in a house full of smokers.
The sad thing is I used to take care of myself. Worked out religiously, ate right. Now my diet consists of smoke and booze. Its the stress. I don't handle it well.

[UnscreenedCaller]

I'm trying to quit smoking again after a health scare during work. It's been two days but I'm not sure what's worse. The heart palpitations and shortness of breath or the constant stress I'm under because of the stupid fucking people I have to deal with. I'm fucked either way.

Been there myself. It took more than a few times to quit, but eventually I did. I will never be a nonsmoker, the best I can say is I'm an ex-smoker, even though it's over 20 years. When my mother died a few years ago, I smoked to get through it, got pneumonia and finally stopped, although every once in a while I think about them. Good luck. I hope you make it.

[bateman]

My grandmother died last summer due to complications from years of smoking. Emphysema & then aggressive cancer. The thing is, she quit in the early 80s. She was a trooper until the end but it kills me because she should have been around so much longer; her mother, my great grandmother, is 102. This shit is completely preventable. Take care of yourself while you can.

[FightTheFuture]

Both of my folks have COPD and emphysema. I grew up in a house full of smokers.
The sad thing is I used to take care of myself. Worked out religiously, ate right. Now my diet consists of smoke and booze. Its the stress. I don't handle it well.

Yeah, that stress is a killer. But, whatever you do, just hang in there. Keep your mind open and your heart in the right place. Sometimes the answers will come to you when you least expect it.

[Heather Wade]

I'll smoke 'em for you.  You can live vicariously through me, coaster.   

[shell88]

I tend to go cold turkey. I quit for years before starting back up, and was smoke free for a month recently. I'll just get hooked on the alternatives if I don't go cold turkey. I tried to use ecigs but was using it like crazy.

Getting hooked on ecigs is a way better alternative than smoking.  If you can substitute smokes with anything but food, booze, or drugs you'll do just fine.  Ecigs wont kill you.  Just drink lots of water and give yourself time to cut down on the excessive vaping.

[Eddie Coyle]

            I think Pauly Shore picks out movie scripts for Robert De Niro now.

[widespread1]

Getting hooked on ecigs is a way better alternative than smoking.  If you can substitute smokes with anything but food, booze, or drugs you'll do just fine.  Ecigs wont kill you.  Just drink lots of water and give yourself time to cut down on the excessive vaping.

I disagree because then you are still addicted to nicotine and dependent upon it for mood regulation.
Cold turkey and you are done in two weeks. The nicotine will completely be metabolized out after two weeks and is no longer an issue physically.

[Jackstar]

I tend to go cold turkey. I quit for years before starting back up, and was smoke free for a month recently. I'll just get hooked on the alternatives if I don't go cold turkey. I tried to use ecigs but was using it like crazy.

I've quit smoking three times now, so I know what I'm talking about here.

First time was cold. Second time, I started dating someone who didn't smoke, it was after four years of mind-blowing sex that I even remembered that smoking was something else I used to do with my mouth, so that doesn't count.

I started smoking again after five years off, within a year I was full on addicted (again), and then five more years went by, which brings us to this year.

So I know how to quit smoking, and I was prepared to do it cold again. But this time, I thought I might as well give varenicline a try.

I was a bit intimidated by the black box warning--CAUTION, MAY CAUSE HOMICIDAL AND SUICIDAL URGES, CHECK WITH YOUR DR.--but, really, I'm an adult, and I've certainly dealt with such urges before. So, I went and jumped through the hoops.

It turned out that the hoops were easy, the pills were much cheaper than I expected (and FAR cheaper than cigarettes in my high-tax state), and even though a 3 month course of treatment is suggested, I only needed one months worth of pills.

For me, it was a miracle drug. Worked exactly as advertised, and enabled me to gain a deeper understanding of why I smoked at all in the first place. The removal of the physical component of the craving allowed me to really focus inwardly and examine the psychological underpinnings. Surprise discoveries about my personality were one of the results!

So. I would seriously recommend looking into it. As it turns out, the black box warning is largely bullshit, they just tart it up because a) it makes for impressive marketing, and b) the same Rothschild who owns all the cigarette companies owns all the pill making companies, so OF COURSE they would prefer to discourage weak-willed people from improving themselves.


Having experienced the victory of cold turkey myself, I can understand your point of view, but now that I've tried the pill, I'll likely never have to again.

[Jackstar]

Cold turkey and you are done in two weeks. The nicotine will completely be metabolized out after two weeks and is no longer an issue physically.

It's actually six weeks, and it's actually dependent on an individual's metabolism, which can vary widely.

[Juan]

It interests me that some people have little trouble quitting, but others have a very hard time.  My mother and I quit with little effort.  My father and sister tried to quit numerous times, but finally quit only after long hospital stays during which they were not allowed to smoke.

[widespread1]

It's actually six weeks, and it's actually dependent on an individual's metabolism, which can vary widely.

That is not true. Six weeks is not true. one just experiences a mental battle that they misunderstand for maybe that long but the nicotine is gone in two.
They are used to smoking a cigarette to relieve a stress caused by a lack of nicotine. Then when one is no longer addicted to nicotine and they experience some kind of stress the first thought is to turn to a cigarette. Nicotine does nothing to relieve stress at all. it only alleviates the anxiety from a lack of nicotine.
One has to remember this to successfully quit.

[onan]

That is not true. Six weeks is not true. one just experiences a mental battle that they misunderstand for maybe that long but the nicotine is gone in two.
They are used to smoking a cigarette to relieve a stress caused by a lack of nicotine. Then when one is no longer addicted to nicotine and they experience some kind of stress the first thought is to turn to a cigarette. Nicotine does nothing to relieve stress at all. it only alleviates the anxiety from a lack of nicotine.
One has to remember this to successfully quit.

You aren't completely correct either. Nicotine is quite unique as compared to other drugs, in that at a low level it is a mild stimulant and at higher doses is a relaxant.

Nicotine does have a quality, that if you aren't schizophrenic may not be noticed. At times schizophrenic patients are unable to habituate a recurring annoyance. For instance, I pop a bag and the sound startles someone. If I pop another bag soon after the response is less. Not so for some schizophrenics. But additional nicotine and there is successful habituation.

And it is quite possible that everyone of us has some "milder" form of that.

Yes smoking cessation is not just dealing from withdrawal from nicotine; but also reframing thoughts and developing new coping skills. And dealing with the withdrawal is the easy part. Changing behaviors is very difficult.

[stevesh]

The fact that I still bother to read the threads in the Politics forum. Turns out Paper*Boy and Yorkshire Pud were the rational ones.

[onan]

The fact that I still bother to read the threads in the Politics forum. Turns out Paper*Boy and Yorkshire Pud were the rational ones.

funny ain't it.

[widespread1]

You aren't completely correct either. Nicotine is quite unique as compared to other drugs, in that at a low level it is a mild stimulant and at higher doses is a relaxant.

Nicotine does have a quality, that if you aren't schizophrenic may not be noticed. At times schizophrenic patients are unable to habituate a recurring annoyance. For instance, I pop a bag and the sound startles someone. If I pop another bag soon after the response is less. Not so for some schizophrenics. But additional nicotine and there is successful habituation.

And it is quite possible that everyone of us has some "milder" form of that.

Yes smoking cessation is not just dealing from withdrawal from nicotine; but also reframing thoughts and developing new coping skills. And dealing with the withdrawal is the easy part. Changing behaviors is very difficult.

I totally agree with that. The behavior is what usually sends the smoker back to the habit.

[coaster]

Due to the overwhelming, nagging, bitching, moaning, nonstop stress that is my life, I've had to choke down a pack of smokes since my original  post.

[widespread1]

Due to the overwhelming, nagging, bitching, moaning, nonstop stress that is my life, I've had to choke down a pack of smokes since my original  post.

lol :| sorry bro that was sad and funny at the same time.

[UnscreenedCaller]

Due to the overwhelming, nagging, bitching, moaning, nonstop stress that is my life, I've had to choke down a pack of smokes since my original  post.

I took it up again when I had a baby with colic who cried morning, noon and night. It was either smoke or go crazy. So I smoked, and eventually he stopped crying and I stopped smoking out on the porch. If the time isn't right, it isn't right. One day it will be, and you'll stop.

[UnscreenedCaller]

The fact that I still bother to read the threads in the Politics forum. Turns out Paper*Boy and Yorkshire Pud were the rational ones.

I'm a big chicken, but I avoid the political threads like the plague. I've gotten into a huge scuffle with someone on the forum I mod and learned my lesson. I'd rather have a knock down, drag out over the Thanksgiving turkey where we can all get drunk and make up later.

[onan]

I'm a big chicken, but I avoid the political threads like the plague. I've gotten into a huge scuffle with someone on the forum I mod and learned my lesson. I'd rather have a knock down, drag out over the Thanksgiving turkey where we can all get drunk and make up later.

pure words of wisdom

[jazmunda]

In December I will be smoke free for a year. I still crave it all the time. I even have dreams where I break my now habit of not smoking and feel ashamed.

[onan]

In December I will be smoke free for a year. I still crave it all the time. I even have dreams where I break my now habit of not smoking and feel ashamed.

There is a term for it, at least in some 12 step programs, but I can't recall it. I have been sober for more than 26 years, and I still have dreams like that.

[stevesh]

In December I will be smoke free for a year. I still crave it all the time. I even have dreams where I break my now habit of not smoking and feel ashamed.

I quit cold turkey in 1980 and to this day I can't walk by someone who is smoking without feeling like I'm going to leave my feet and float after the trail of smoke, nose twitching, like some cartoon character smelling a steak. It doesn't stop, but fortunately being near heavy smokers and having to endure the unbelievable stale smoke stink that permeates their clothes, homes and car (and skin, for all I know) is more than sufficient to prevent me from even considering starting again. I can't imagine dating a smoker. - like licking an ashtray, as they say.

On the plus side, I'm still alive, and I'm certain I wouldn't be if I had continued to smoke.

[b_dubb]

I quit smoking six or seven years ago. And in order to do it I also quit drinking. Which meant my social life basically imploded. But it worked.

I started walking and drinking assloads of coffee instead.

[West of the Rockies]

I drink more coffee than I should (4-5 cups some mornings).  I think I'll go back to a half-decaff mix; it takes the edge off a bit, but coffee does give me an acid stomach sometimes.  I probably ought to switch to just two cups a day.