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Give and get support around quitting

TW517
Member

I'm a whiner, but...

I’m a whiner.  When a cold or flu goes thru our household, I am the biggest complainer, even if my symptoms were less and lasted for a shorter period than my wife and kids.  If the boss makes everyone stay late to complete a project, my inconvenience far outweighs everyone else’s.  I know this about myself, and I’ve been working on improving this bad trait for years. 

 

When I was 30, 40, 50, even 60 days into my quit, I was struggling and complaining about it even though it seemed like most of the people who quit around the same time as me were feeling great.  I attributed this to my typical whiney nature.  But after reading Doug’s blog /blogs/dwwms-blog/2017/11/28/250-days-and-yet  and Dale’s response,

Doug, I've never pinpointed the connection from when people quit using nicotine long term as to how it relates to no mans land. There's just no way I can get any data. That being said....perhaps it has a relation to how your feeling if you've only been off nicotine for 45 days.That being said, give it some more time. It'll pass.

 

As a Cold Turkey quitter, now I’m wondering if maybe my struggles were a bit more real than just perceived.  Obviously, someone on a 21mg patch who is also taking 4mg of gum or lozenges occasionally to get thru those “rough patches”, is not feeling anything like a cold turkey quitter at that same point in time.  So now I’m wondering how many of those who seemed to be doing so much better than me, were on NRTs and what dosage.

 

It seems the most common question for Newbies is, “Is what I’m feeling now normal?”  But if a Cold Turkey quitter is comparing themselves to an NRT quitter who posts a similar “DOF” tagline, they are doing themselves a disservice.  I kind of wish there were 2 Quit Dates in the “My Quit Plan” section of our website.  One for the day you quit smoking cigarettes (well worth celebrating regardless if you are still using NRTs) and another for the day you quit using any kind of nicotine.  Thoughts?  Other than, "Oh Tom, quit your whining!"

74 Replies
TW517
Member

It's not that I need extra care.  My martyr's complex just wants everyone to recognize my suffering.  Hey... I have a great idea! If all 20 thousand plus members of this website could sign an acknowledgement that says, "Poor Tom. No one has, nor probably ever will, suffer as much in their withdrawal as Tom did", then we can all move on and get about our days.  This would be great in the future too.  If someone is tempted to feel sorry for themselves, you could just say, "Yeah, but what about Tom?"  Then they would say, "Oh yeah!  What was I thinking?  Poor Tom!", and feel much better about themselves.

The "poor Tom" letter could be right up there with the "dear John" letter?

TW517
Member

I'm thinking I should ask Mark if he can change my profile name from tw5152017 to PoorTom.

Deb-EX
Member

LOL!! TW517 JonesCarpeDiem I don't know Tom, but I'm guessing he has a sense of humor!

I'm thinking so

I think it could be a site feature!

You could start a group called "Poor Tom's Hangout."

TW517
Member

Feeling Blue?...

Life not going your way?...

Come to Poor Tom's Hangout!

(If you don't start feeling better within minutes of hanging with that poor sap, then there really is something seriously wrong with you!)

Deb-EX
Member

LOL.jpg

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Deb-EX
Member

I am dying laughing over here!!! 

Tammyzhere
Member

As a day counter of cold turkey, I can completely understand.  I ran outta smokes on a Sunday and messed around with NRT for a few days.  I felt like I was in limbo.  I wasn't comfortable counting days of freedom since I wasn't free of my nicotine addiction.  It's kinda like a heroin addict who is free of heroin but now on methadone.  That's how I saw it anyhow.  At about day 3 of nicotine free, someone suggested I use NRT to get over the rough spots.  It seemed like bad advice - totally counterproductive.   So, I totally agree that in the early days - there is a huge difference between being cigarette free and being nicotine free.  In a year it won't make any difference but, to the day counters - the differences are huge.   I'm into day 13 of no nicotine.  So, in theory I'm free of the nicotine addiction but, it really doesn't feel that way since I still think it's time to smoke many times during the day.  If I was feeding that with a vape stick... or gum or whatever... that is the opposite of what I'm doing.  The process of going cold turkey is a completely different process.  In the end, we all want the same thing: to be free of smoking, nicotine and the annoying thoughts that go along with that.