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Fool's Gold

crazymama_Lori
3 5 81

Sometimes the word "addict" can be too strong for a person, a simple word.  Sometimes with some people the choice of reliance or dependency is more fitting.  But nevertheless, it is what it is.  We here are not the occasional smoker.  We cannot just simply stop at one cigarette or one puff.  We have to smoke the whole thing and then rummage around for more.  If you want to use the word habit, vice, it all comes swirling down to the same thing.  The eventual comment of oh, I'm not that bad.  I can quit anytime I want to.  The realization of nicotine dependency, you need nicotine, you crave nicotine, you want nicotine, a cigarette was only the way to get it.  You might fool yourself into thinking oh, I'm only having two or three a day.  My come back would be why?  Why are you having those two or three a day?  Why are you hanging on to those so closely?  What are those replacing for you that you cannot simply give them up?  Think back of when your children had their favorite stuffed animal or a blanket that they carried around and wouldn't let it go.  Even though it was missing a leg or had reduced down to a small corner, they weren't giving that up.  Why?  It gave them comfort.  It gave them security.  Is that what that cigarette is doing for you now? 

Now, going back to the subject at hand.  The added illusion nowadays are e-cigs.  Big tobacco companies are jumping on the band wagon and marketing these as the way to stop smoking.  The connection of smoking and nicotine is now separated.  They never did tell you in their campaign it's the nicotine that is the problem.  It's the nicotine that makes you run back for more, the drug that they can legally stick in the form of e-juice.  But, you know, these will get you to quit smoking.  You'll be addicted to the e-juice now, but you're no longer smoking cigarettes.  Let the games begin......

Nicotine is a natural product of tobacco, occurring in the leaves in a range of 0.5 to 7.5% depending on variety. Nicotine also naturally occurs in smaller amounts in plants from the family Solanaceae (such as potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplant).  Isn't that a kicker?  Potatoes, who knew.

Then we now have The "Natural American Spirit" cigarette, marketed here as "100% Chemical Additive-Free Tobacco." American Spirit cigarettes contain 36 percent free-base nicotine, compared with 9.6 percent in a Marlboro, 2.7 percent in a Camel, and 6.2 percent in a Winston.  36 percent, wow.  Again the illusion again back in the '70s when they came out with the Now brand that was marketed to have 0.5 mg of nicotine per cigarette.  These were professed to be better for you.  Cough syrup in the olden days were made with cannabis and cocaine.  They were professed to be non-habit forming.

Then we come around full circle to the pharmaceutical industry.  Chantix, generic Chantix, Wellbutrin, Zyban.  Coverage by the insurance company is a crap shoot.  Some will cover them and others will not.  I personally think they should market these as only helping with the withdrawal symptoms, but does not address the psychological element.  Some are under the illusion that these products will magically stop your need for smoking and it will magically go away.  Listen to one of their commercials.  They give such false hope.  They allude you into thinking that without these products you could never quit and stay quit.  I've seen on here even throughout the year that some have forgotten to take their pill, their lozenge, their patch, their gum after going through the motions for a good 4 months, then relapse and blame it on not taking their NRT or medication.  Those things did not make you go back to smoking because you forgot to take them.  You made yourself go back to smoking because you didn't stop yourself and think.  Sometimes it's just the illusion of fool's gold. We'll make you think this is doing all the work.  Here's a list of 22 smoking cessation products out right now and their ratings:  Compare 22 Smoking Cessation Medications | Drugs.com.  Each have comments to them.  These products only help with the physical withdrawal, to lessen it some, but they do not take them completely away.

Nothing will take away your urge to smoke.  Only you can take away your urge to smoke.  You take away your urge to smoke by understanding the reason for why you smoke in certain circumstances.  I've done my homework.  I know now when that urge comes upon me why it's popping up and I can stop it dead in its tracks.  When I first quit, I believed everything drove that urge.  There's only a few things now in retrospect that drives that urge.    When my few things pop up now, I know what to do to drop it, halt it because I've learned the signs.  Your signs might be anxiety, loneliness, anger, frustration, sadness, boredom, excessive worry.  Everyone, smoker or not, have those exact same things.  We just react to them differently.  We cope with life in general differently.  But as humans we are capable of learning or relearning certain behavior.  Cognitive thinking to change the outcome of certain situations.  Our minds are powerful things.  Our inner resolve, our commitment, our willpower is strong.  Always remember, my friends, you can do anything you put your mind to, anything..........  

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About the Author
Never be afraid or embarrassed about your "smoking thoughts" while quitting, they're there to remind us how strong we truly can be. Always remember, you will always WANT to smoke, but you have to CHOOSE not to. We can't break the ties that bind us without first changing the cycle that created it.