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as I begin my first day without smokeless tobacco, the end of a ten-year addiction...
I'm going to try doing a lot of exercise and sleeping. I hear once you get past three days, the physical addiction is broken.
ive heard the same thing after 10 years i hope your getting on the gum or something a buddy of mine would wake up with nose bleeds dizziness etc. for about a week or so but he was a chain smoker i guess its a case per case thing best of luck :{ ]
Thanks man. I'm just gonna try to tough it out with no gum. Its all in the self-control.
Nice hair by the way.
thanks man you got some fine hair yourself best of luck to you out of curiosity what tobacco did you use chewing?
Good luck!
My brother is tryng to do the same. Power to you.
Whenever you think of taking a ciggie, just for a second consider all the negative effects. The cancer, the smell, makes you unfit....suddenly you change your mind :P
That's how I would do it anyway, I've been lucky in only getting myself addicted to minor things such as excess cookies.
Thanks for the support! My entire motivation is broader than just quitting the tobacco, I want to become healthier in mind, body, and spirit. The "first day of the rest of my life" kind of thing.
I'm actually trying to do something similar (start a better life) but in a different way. I heard from quite a few sources now that apparently the hours you sleep before midnight account for double those you sleep after. That means that in theory, if you go to sleep early enough, you can sleep much less in general, but with the effect of sleeping much more. For example, going to sleep at 9 PM and waking up at 4 AM the next morning, should account for not 7, but 10 hours of sleep. I'm also going to determine the length of my sleep cycles and make it such that I wake up at the perfect time, so it's easier to get up.
In any case, i'm going to be experimenting over the holidays since I have some time. See if I feel better waking up that early, which has been a dream for a while now. First thing I would do is go for a jog, then have some food and read for an hour or two. All before the "day" begins. Apparently quite a few buddhist monks practice this technique too, except they also meditate after the jog.
Thats interesting about the sleep before midnight thing... do you recall the source you got it from??
As for the getting up early thing.. remember right now your body is already programmed with a certain circadian rhythm. A certain sleep/wake cycle that you're used too. It may take up to a month of consistency to "reprogram" your body; but it can be done.. same with the exercise thing.. once you readjust your lifestyle to it ... its hard to miss a workout and not feel the effects.. Anyway, best wishes friend in your strive for health...
Yours in healthy living and long hairedness.. (Thanks Quenyan for the cool endings.... :)
Tristan
Congratulations! I could relate to that though I only smoked 1 year so I guess I didn't have such a strong addiction (though I did smoke 1 pack a day at the beginning and switched to 2) Exercise and sleep is a great way to accelerate the healing process and try to eat diverse food and vitamins to replenish the depleted stores! ;)
You'll definitely see hair growth improvement (at least that was the case with me) and you'll feel much more energetic. After the first 3 days nicotine is fully metabolised so it will be easier as the withdrawal symptoms start to subside. Just be determined and everything will work out just great!
Addiction is addiction no matter 1 yr or 10yrs... thanks for the support
Well good luck and well done for giving up and I hope you kick the habit.
I gave up 18 months ago after 15 years of smoking and I'm suffering from the effects of that, as I've posted to the community in the past. Still I stopped and did it "cold turkey" and after the first couple of weeks it got alot easier. I did the stressful situation and also going down the pub for an evening not smoking, just had another pint! My weight did go up a bit but it's coming down again.
Keep going,
Cheers,
John.B
And your hair will thank you. Nicotine narrows blood vessels, restricting blood flow, so those capillaries that nourish your scalp and hair will perform better, so healthier hair should be a result. That alone should be an incentive to quit, if you are striving for nice long hair.
Carol
Hey Carol..
You're exactly right about the constricting blood vessels... imagine too what it does inside those coronary arteries..
Excellent point..
Good Luck Allen ... cold turkey is the best way to go!
Tristan
I put the nasties down over 18 years ago.....it is a tough addiction, but you have the desire to quit which is half the battle. When the urge hits you, just hold on, it really only lasts a few seconds. Drink water instead. The hardest part is lighting up "just because" that what you always do when "..talking on the phone?...watching TV?....taking a break....etc" Find something for your hands to do instead of fondling a smoke. Add up how much money you save by not smoking (my last car was "free")
Good Luck and keep us posted.
Walter White Tail
Thanks Walter. So far, 12 hours, no tobacco, 1/2 hr. in the gym, ran 3 miles, two one-hour naps.
And I feel as mean as a rattlesnake.
"...And I feel as mean as a rattlesnake..."
Please note my hatband ! HA!
I would tell people that "I was fine, except for the urge to go out at night and kill perfectly good cats for not reason at all !!"
HA!
Hang in there !
WWT
For me it was roughly 3-4 days. The hardest part for me was during breaks at gigs and while drinking/socializing. After I kicked it and saw people smoking I see them like in a anti-smoking ad...I see their lungs black and their bodies debilitating. Weird, but it keeps me on track. Good luck.
--
Splat
I wish you luck, although luck is what you don't need ;-)
It is about doing it yourself, self control as you posted around here. The physical addiction takes more than 3 days to fade, but the first 3 to 5 days is the hardest part.
It is impossible to leave cigarretes or tobbaco gradually, it has to be as you do, stop it at once.
Keep it up Alllen, and you'll be smoke-free in no time!
Restav.-
- A former cigarrete smoker. I quite 4 months ago. What I cannot quit is the pipe :P
Yeah, I heard something more like 60 days.
Anyway, good luck!
Good luck, Allen!
It's good that you decided to break free from the nic.
You will need luck but most of all, Determination!
Good luck mate! I hope you make it, and I wish more people would do the same!
I really do wish you all the luck in the world with this really important decision that you have taken to protect your life and your health. Debilitation and death from smoking related diseases is really nasty - I know, I see my patients every day!
Additional help:
(a) Stop eating potatoes and tomatoes for a week - they contain chemicals that mimic nicotine and will keep the addiction going.
(b) Look at a reflection of yourself in the mirror each time you pass one, looking deeply into the reflection of your own eyes and say, "I am a non-smoker."
(c) Change your behaviour - you would have smoked in the same place at the same time each day. Try to alter the situation that you are in, instead of sitting down after dinner in the same chair - take the dog for a walk, if you haven't got one, borrow one!
(d) Don't be controlled by a weed from which the tobacco manufacturers and purveyors of misery make a fortune out of you. Take control of your own life and well-being.
Bless you - you can do it.
Jonathan - Bournemouth UK
Surrendering to addictions is a tough one. I've got rid of a number over the years and anything's possible with the desire to stop using. My very best wishes to you.
Laurence
Best wishes to you! A friend of mine quit smoking a while back. Her incentive to never start again? She doesn't ever want to go through quitting again.
Mouse
I think I have made it through the worst... thanks everybody for your support. Two full days and I haven't given in. I just keep reminding myself that I am a slave to nothing, least of all a stupid tobacco plant.
I have bitten a couple of peoples heads off at work however.
Idid it on September 10, 1966, after man years of addiction. The craving was intense, but I was determined not to go into wocial setting where I would be tempted. I substituted toothpicks as an oral gratification.
Now I am free. I can even take a drag off a cig. which only reminds me that I do not want it. Ambient smoke does not bother me subjectively, though I think it is harmful. I will never smoke tobaco again on a regular basis, but it is no longer a monkey on my back, and never again will be.
.: as I begin my first day without smokeless tobacco, the end of a ten-year addiction...