I recently quit smoking on Dec 19th, 2022.
I had smoked for 37yrs, average a pack a day, some years close to 2 packs a day. I quit once for 6 months on a bet (my dad bet me I couldn't quit for 6 months, $500, which when you're 22 living paycheck to paycheck in 1991 was a decent chunk of change). So I did, and went right back to smoking.
Recently I have had incredible stomach pains which my wife thought was from a huge stomach hernia i've had for a while. So we see a surgeon and he said he can do this complex stomach wall reconstruction hernia surgery, but I have to
1. Min. 6 weeks Nicotine Free
2. continue to lose weight
3. keep my A1C below 8
Ok so #3 is easy, my A1C hangs around 6.8 to 7.1, the weight loss became real easy since I can't eat anything but soup, and I am not a fan of soup, everyday...
After that visit, I had a severe pain attack that lasted longer than 8hrs, I mean bring you to your knees in tears pain, so i went to the ER. There they found the real reason behind my pain... Gall Stones... Which means Gall Bladder removal is needed. So while waiting out the 6 weeks to visit the surgeon again, I stay Nicotine free (I quit in 1 day of "step down"), we get to the surgeons office and out of curiosity my wife asks "when do you test for nicotine" (we were both just curious if I would test clean since I play darts once a week at a bar that allows smoking). Anyways, the surgeon says "All thats out the window, the hernia surgery was considered non-life threatening, which meant we can delay it and make sure that everything was in place for a beter chance at healing".
Sorry for the long backstory to reach the question.
I have noticed that my thoughts and reactions are different. I understand the common week or 2 of being an A-Hole due to withdrawals, but I am at over 2 months. I do not like the person I have become without nicotine. I had always been complimented on how well I handled stressful events (at work, home etc) I was just a calm relaxed person before and now I am judgmental, less understanding I guess would be a nice way to put it.
Has anyone else dealt with this?
Again sorry for the length and rambling, I am not good at asking for help or writing (as you can tell)...
