I quit smoking 30 days ago! Thank you! March 9, 2006 9:20 PM Subscribe
I quit smoking 30 days ago! Thank you! [more inside]
Long ago, (September), I tried quitting smoking cold turkey. Big mistake and I posted on ask.mefi about it.
I've now been successfully quit for 30 days and I think a big part of my success has been all the tips I got by reading various ask.MeFi questions and answers.
Without going and looking everything up... Thanks to those who suggested: using the patch or another substitute, Altoids!!!, drinking water, taking deep breaths. And more.
I just wanted to send out a huge thank you to all the people who have no idea that they helped me at all.
posted by INTPLibrarian at 9:24 PM on March 9, 2006
I've now been successfully quit for 30 days and I think a big part of my success has been all the tips I got by reading various ask.MeFi questions and answers.
Without going and looking everything up... Thanks to those who suggested: using the patch or another substitute, Altoids!!!, drinking water, taking deep breaths. And more.
I just wanted to send out a huge thank you to all the people who have no idea that they helped me at all.
posted by INTPLibrarian at 9:24 PM on March 9, 2006
Congrats motherfucker! Don't get too comfortable at 30 days, though. You'll be carrying this addiciton around for the rest of your life, so get used to the idea of resisting it on levels at which you didn't even know it had you.
Keep it up. 30 days at a time! :)
posted by scarabic at 9:54 PM on March 9, 2006
Keep it up. 30 days at a time! :)
posted by scarabic at 9:54 PM on March 9, 2006
Witters quever nin
posted by shnoz-gobblin at 10:15 PM on March 9, 2006
posted by shnoz-gobblin at 10:15 PM on March 9, 2006
Reverse Quinn Twit.
posted by puke & cry at 11:16 PM on March 9, 2006
posted by puke & cry at 11:16 PM on March 9, 2006
Tit Review: Req. Nun.
posted by luftmensch at 11:36 PM on March 9, 2006
posted by luftmensch at 11:36 PM on March 9, 2006
Strewn, I never quit.
posted by loquacious at 12:42 AM on March 10, 2006
posted by loquacious at 12:42 AM on March 10, 2006
Bully for you, but now you have to compensate for cool. That's a bitch too.
posted by bardic at 1:17 AM on March 10, 2006
posted by bardic at 1:17 AM on March 10, 2006
It's just a coincidence, but it so happens that I too, quit, again, exactly 30 days ago. I say "quit, again" since this is about the 7th or 8th time in my life I've quit. Once, though, I didn't smoke for about 7 years, so perhaps this time around, I can stay off smokes long enough to really come to consider myself a "non-smoker."
But I always liked smoke, from the time I was a little kid, and everything about the habit. Liked the little ceremonies of opening new packs of cigarettes, liked striking wooden matches and hearing them flare, liked the taste of sulphur and new tobacco, liked blowing smoke rings, and playing with smoke. I loved Zippo lighters, and pipes, and cigars (with and without brandy). I rolled my own, and played with hookahs and even tried growing tobacco a couple of times. For a while, I had my own brand of cigarettes, made to order for me by a custom order house in East Tennessee.
My hands miss it most, and then my tongue. This second cup of coffee this morning seems especially sad and forlorn, without a curl of smoke to dance with the steam rising from it.
But I've quit now, and there's no going back. Besides, shouldn't virtue cost us some regret, everyday?
At any rate, good on you INTPLibrarian, and here's to sweet kisses and clothes that smell better...
posted by paulsc at 4:55 AM on March 10, 2006
But I always liked smoke, from the time I was a little kid, and everything about the habit. Liked the little ceremonies of opening new packs of cigarettes, liked striking wooden matches and hearing them flare, liked the taste of sulphur and new tobacco, liked blowing smoke rings, and playing with smoke. I loved Zippo lighters, and pipes, and cigars (with and without brandy). I rolled my own, and played with hookahs and even tried growing tobacco a couple of times. For a while, I had my own brand of cigarettes, made to order for me by a custom order house in East Tennessee.
My hands miss it most, and then my tongue. This second cup of coffee this morning seems especially sad and forlorn, without a curl of smoke to dance with the steam rising from it.
But I've quit now, and there's no going back. Besides, shouldn't virtue cost us some regret, everyday?
At any rate, good on you INTPLibrarian, and here's to sweet kisses and clothes that smell better...
posted by paulsc at 4:55 AM on March 10, 2006
Smoking contributes to arterial placque. Eight years after my first heart attack, I first learned this factoid. I'm glad I quit six years ago.
posted by mischief at 5:02 AM on March 10, 2006
posted by mischief at 5:02 AM on March 10, 2006
That's incredibly lame, seanyboy.
Librarian -- great job, but recognize that the cravings last for years. Do whatever it takes to avoid smoking again, including using the patch or gum for as long as you need to. I chewed nicotine gum for the better part of one year before I felt that I could drop it. That's way longer than directed, but I haven't had a smoke for more than 7 years (from 1.5 packs a day), so I figure it was ok.
posted by Mid at 6:20 AM on March 10, 2006
Librarian -- great job, but recognize that the cravings last for years. Do whatever it takes to avoid smoking again, including using the patch or gum for as long as you need to. I chewed nicotine gum for the better part of one year before I felt that I could drop it. That's way longer than directed, but I haven't had a smoke for more than 7 years (from 1.5 packs a day), so I figure it was ok.
posted by Mid at 6:20 AM on March 10, 2006
So...we've just saved you a lot of money, right?
Where's it at?
posted by graventy at 7:24 AM on March 10, 2006
Where's it at?
posted by graventy at 7:24 AM on March 10, 2006
Way to go! Never look back. It keeps getting better. Also, I echo those who urge you to have a backup plan for when you meet with surprise triggers years down the road. Smoking becomes much, much less tempting over time, but now and then there will be an urge (highly stressful interpersonal stuff is a frequent reason for relapse -- illnesses, divorces, deaths)....so buiild a little bit of a tool kit in advance for dealing with those urges.
But enjoy the pink lungs and renewed energy. Before long it will be hard to believe you ever smoked!
posted by Miko at 7:38 AM on March 10, 2006
But enjoy the pink lungs and renewed energy. Before long it will be hard to believe you ever smoked!
posted by Miko at 7:38 AM on March 10, 2006
Well done! I'm at 7 months myself and, yes, it still sucks at times. I was very tempted just last night while having drinks with coworkers. I managed to resist. And when I smelled my clothes this morning, I was reminded of why I quit in the first place. ewww.
posted by JeffK at 8:25 AM on March 10, 2006
posted by JeffK at 8:25 AM on March 10, 2006
Congrats on quitting. What will you do with all the money you save? Buy a Toyota?
posted by Gator at 9:04 AM on March 10, 2006
posted by Gator at 9:04 AM on March 10, 2006
Another bit of advice just occurred to me. When I quit, it was recommended to me that I plan in regular 'rewards' for staying smoke-free. Believe it or not, it became meaningful at the one, two, and three-month marks. Make sure to pick things you really want and wouldn't otherwise splurge on. This is how I got a cool beach chair and a nice gas grill.
I still haven't paid myself my one-year reward, which is a week at surf camp. But by a year's time it was much easier to go without the reward mechanism. I still want to go to surf camp, but it can wait.
posted by Miko at 9:09 AM on March 10, 2006
I still haven't paid myself my one-year reward, which is a week at surf camp. But by a year's time it was much easier to go without the reward mechanism. I still want to go to surf camp, but it can wait.
posted by Miko at 9:09 AM on March 10, 2006
Huge congratulations, INTPLibrarian and paulsc! It's just going to keep getting better, you'll see, as the days roll on and you stay smoke-free! (I quit smoking in 1988....)
posted by Lynsey at 10:25 AM on March 10, 2006
posted by Lynsey at 10:25 AM on March 10, 2006
Congratulations! It's tough going the first few days and weeks and you've made it over a big hurdle.
Miko's right, though, you have to keep at it. As you get further from the initial agonies of quitting you also get further from the more immediate and obvious benefits of quitting. The benefits from here on aren't going to accrue at as fast a rate and the memories of the worst parts of withdrawal fade more and more. People prone to depression are also prone, I think, to asking "what's the point?" I know that was a stumbling block for me in the dozens of times I quit for more than a couple days. I didn't really feel that great so what was the point?
Rewarding youself at milestones as Miko suggests is a great idea. I found that starting a regular exercise regimen also helped me track the tangible improvements in my health that might not have been apparent otherwise; I know, for example, exactly how much faster I can run since I quit.
The next big milestone for me was when I realized that more than a day had gone by where I hadn't thought "I'm quitting smoking". That was after about six months. It's been coasting since then (I'm at 21 months now).
So congratulations and good luck!
posted by tiny purple fishes at 10:28 AM on March 10, 2006
Miko's right, though, you have to keep at it. As you get further from the initial agonies of quitting you also get further from the more immediate and obvious benefits of quitting. The benefits from here on aren't going to accrue at as fast a rate and the memories of the worst parts of withdrawal fade more and more. People prone to depression are also prone, I think, to asking "what's the point?" I know that was a stumbling block for me in the dozens of times I quit for more than a couple days. I didn't really feel that great so what was the point?
Rewarding youself at milestones as Miko suggests is a great idea. I found that starting a regular exercise regimen also helped me track the tangible improvements in my health that might not have been apparent otherwise; I know, for example, exactly how much faster I can run since I quit.
The next big milestone for me was when I realized that more than a day had gone by where I hadn't thought "I'm quitting smoking". That was after about six months. It's been coasting since then (I'm at 21 months now).
So congratulations and good luck!
posted by tiny purple fishes at 10:28 AM on March 10, 2006
Besides, shouldn't virtue cost us some regret, everyday?
I don't know if that's true, paulsc, but I like it. Best thing I've read all day. Maybe because I gave up tobacco for Lent...
And good stuff, INTP.
posted by footballrabi at 1:15 PM on March 10, 2006
I don't know if that's true, paulsc, but I like it. Best thing I've read all day. Maybe because I gave up tobacco for Lent...
And good stuff, INTP.
posted by footballrabi at 1:15 PM on March 10, 2006
Keep it up, it is worth the struggle. (I've been clean of the weed for 4 years, after 15+ years smoking.)
posted by john m at 1:26 PM on March 10, 2006
posted by john m at 1:26 PM on March 10, 2006
Unfortunately, I haven't saved any money yet. Those patches are damn expensive. And it amuses me that you have to be 18 or over to buy the patches or the gum... Sorry, kid, can't let you quit until you're 18.
I realize 30 days isn't that long in the scheme of my entire life and that plenty of people quit for 30 days and then went back to it. I've failed at quitting before. Somehow this time just feels different. I'm an optimist. (A cynical optimist: I always believe things will work out, but they never do.)
posted by INTPLibrarian at 1:35 PM on March 10, 2006
I realize 30 days isn't that long in the scheme of my entire life and that plenty of people quit for 30 days and then went back to it. I've failed at quitting before. Somehow this time just feels different. I'm an optimist. (A cynical optimist: I always believe things will work out, but they never do.)
posted by INTPLibrarian at 1:35 PM on March 10, 2006
There's lots of great research that shows smokers quit 6 times, on average, before achieving a successful long-term quit. Obviously, that means some took more attempts, some took fewer. Each time you quit, you learn more about what you need to do in order to stay smoke-free. So even if there's an eventual relapse, your chances of being more successful next time are much better.
Personally, it was my fourth quit attempt that was successful. The longest I had managed to go previously was about two months.
posted by Miko at 2:21 PM on March 10, 2006
Personally, it was my fourth quit attempt that was successful. The longest I had managed to go previously was about two months.
posted by Miko at 2:21 PM on March 10, 2006
Do not make the mistake of rewarding yourself with a daily hot fudge sundae.
posted by mischief at 8:23 AM on March 11, 2006
posted by mischief at 8:23 AM on March 11, 2006
This second cup of coffee this morning seems especially sad and forlorn, without a curl of smoke to dance with the steam rising from it.
Christ, way to make me want to smoke. Oh that's right I do, off for a coffee now...
posted by meech at 11:58 PM on March 16, 2006
Christ, way to make me want to smoke. Oh that's right I do, off for a coffee now...
posted by meech at 11:58 PM on March 16, 2006
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posted by puke & cry at 9:20 PM on March 9, 2006