What to do when you wake up and want one?

Discussion created by coreinstincts on Jul 22, 2017
Latest reply on Jul 25, 2017 by linda258

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My last and first relapse started when I got out of bed that morning and my brain and body were saying "The Heck with this! Why are you doing this to yourself when you don't have to?" I caved so fast it wasn't funny, I did reach out and argued with my roommate about having a cigarette for a half hour via text message I told him: "F" It I was going to smoke; he gave in to me way to easily and said fine I can't stop you smoke your life away. right now I have almost a full carton of Smokers Choice cigarettes sitting in my filing cabinet and know that I could have one anytime I wanted and I don't want it. My relapse lasted 12 days and now I am back to not smoking but I am not going cold turkey this time. The Point of this is what happens if I come across this trigger again? This is an out of the blue trigger and I think it is also part of my original depression. I have to be careful here when I sleep a lot that tells me depression is lurking around the corner and I am already taking enough meds for that!

Outcomes

13 Replies

Thomas3.20.2010 Jul 22, 2017 3:47 PM
First, you can make quitting hard or make it easy. By keeping Sickerettes around you are planning to fail already.
Also, what I did was to pledge - good days or bad days - even before I got out of bed -
"I, Thomas, pledge that I will not smoke this day under any circumstances whatsoever.
I respect myself enough to honor this decision no matter what!"
N.O.P.E.! Not One Puff Ever!
If ever sounds like a very long time then realize that ever is made up of a series of nows!
Throughout each day I reminded myself of my decision and my pledge to myself. Sometimes I had to remind myself very, very often! But at the end of that day I acknowledged to myself that indeed, I have another Day WON rather than another Day One!
Some tips and tricks - brush your teeth right away. Take a shower and breathe deeply while you're at it. Throw on some clothes and walk around the block, if you physically can. Keep your reasons why you want to quit handy at all times. Choose a flavored gum or mint that you associate with staying quit - mine was clove gum - and when you want to reinforce your quit pop one.
Get on the computer and read the blogs first!
Drink your coffee with your other hand or if that's still too much, switch to green or white tea.
There's a gazillion ways you can make your decision easier to do and your relapse more unlikely. Work in both directions.
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ShawnP Jul 22, 2017 3:58 PM
Hi Lee! I sent you a pm back. i will leave this link here on your blog that you can refer to it. Please read.
Welcome to our Community
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chuck-2-20-2011 Jul 22, 2017 4:08 PM
Boy, that can be a tough one! The methods I used for these kinds of things don't work for everyone but does work for some. During my quit and every since then for that matter, I'd always assess how I was feeling first thing in the morning. I believe that this is the time that nothing is static.

To me it seems like we start each morning with a clean slate, and as we wake, we begin to map our minds for the day. It only makes sense to me that this is a prime time for our brains to send a smoking signal because this is what the mind is used to in the morning. At that very moment, we can determine the rest of the day.

I never got out of bed until my mind was in a place that I wanted it to be. If I was craving, I'd close my eyes and think of a wonderful, peaceful place of my own making. In my case, it would be the shore of a calm and small lake, fed by a waterfall that drops off of a huge, snow capped mountain. I would sit under a large tree on the grass that lived below it. I would feel the breeze caressing my cheek and see the puffy clouds flow by on the unseen wind.

Every detail would be created and when I opened my eyes again, I once again had a clean slate to fill with what I wanted to feel for the day. In other words, I got my mind to focus on something pleasant rather than on the crave. I think so long as we want to change our thought patterns that we can. Over time it becomes easy.

I know it sounds like a different approach but you asked

Whatever you figure out, I look forward to seeing your continued success on this sometimes crazy road that we must travel to freedom.

ONWARD TO FREEDOM!!!

Chuck
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maryfreecig Jul 22, 2017 4:37 PM
My relapse lasted 12 days and now I am back to not smoking but I am not going cold turkey this time.

I'm glad you re-thought your relapse and are off the butts. You are in the right place to share your journey, receive all kinds of good support from the crowd. Keep not smoking, the rest will fall into place as it needs to.
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ShawnP Jul 22, 2017 5:54 PM
Does your roommate smoke too? keeping that carton around the house will only keep you thinking about one cause you know you have quick access to it. When there is nothing in the house, its a much needed effort to go get it. Then you have more time to rethink your decision. When i quit, i went from just 3 patches, to nothing. Before that, i tried to ween down and that didnt work at all. The mornings, i would make my coffee and turn on computer to come here. Mouse in one hand, coffee in other. Just take it one day at a time and keep saying. N.O.P.E (not one puff ever) S.I.N.A.O (smoking is not an option)
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Giulia Jul 23, 2017 1:51 AM
I would generally get myself up and out of bed, drank tea instead of my usual coffee the first 4 or 5 days, changed my routines and when the "Whisperer" would start up with the "I want a cigarette," I'd talk myself out of it by responding "Well, you're just not gonna have one, are you?!!! I had, as many of us do, a rather lengthy, on-going dialogue between the two parts of my brain. I talked the Demon down. A Quit Dialogue in IV Acts The less you entertain the thoughts, the less likely you will be to relapse. And keeping cigarettes around is like having candy on the counter and ice cream in the fridge to a dieter. Not the wisest of choices.
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- elvan @ Giulia on Jul 22, 2017 8:54 PM
  Keeping cigarettes around is a certain way to kill a quit. NOPE was my mantra and I have never been sorry for quitting. I spent a lot of time on this site and I still do. Even after 3 1/2 years of being quit, I still learn new things about quitting almost every time I come here. If you are committed to your quit, you will succeed, if you give yourself excuses, you will not succeed and you will have to start over and over again. The first days are the hardest but it does get easier and there is no reason why you cannot do this.
  Ellen
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bonniebee Jul 23, 2017 1:09 AM
I was the type of smoker that reached for a cigarette before my feet touched the floor and I tried to at least sit up with my feet on the floor before I lit up ! so yu know mornings were my most difficult time in fact i planned my quit so my last cigarette was at 11:00 am !
The best thing I did was to put my patch on the bedside table right where i used to keep my cigarettes with the scissors to cut it open and I put it on immediately ( I did not sleep with a patch on and do not advise anyone to do so ) I kept my coffee routine because i did not want to change to much at once and then i came to Ex and had my cofee while reading the blogs by then it was time to go to work . I answered that voice in my head (the Nicodemon ! ) with this statement which I got from one of the elders who helped me so much jonescarp.aka.dale.Jan_2007 "I don't do that anymore" Period no arguement just NOPE and then i moved on to what I can do now ! I would pick up my straw, or my coffee ,anything else to distract even if it was just taking deep relaxing breaths !
Occasionally I get a temptation now and i still say "I don't do that anymore " ! Amazing how positive thinking made my quit so much easier !
What are you using for an NRT this time around ?
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JonesCarpeDiem Jul 23, 2017 6:15 AM
You Change Your Mind.
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crazymama_Lori Jul 23, 2017 9:20 AM
The reality is that out of the blue trigger or craving will hit you again in the future. smoking is tied to memories. Did you make a list yet of your triggers and what you are going to do instead of smoking? If you don't identify them, when they pop up out of nowhere and you don't have a game plan, you'll be back smoking. First things first is get rid of those cigarettes, ashtrays, lighters. You go through mega emotions. You have good days and bad days. You're foggy sometimes, you can't concentrate, it's all part of quitting. It doesn't last forever. If you're not one to blog publicly, then get yourself a notebook and scream your heart out in that thing when a craving hits you. They don't last forever. they only last about 5 to 10 minutes. Distract yourself when they hit. Go for a walk, a drive, go to the gym. Search on here for things you are worried about or have questions about. so many people have written about things, i.e. depression, anger, restless leg. Use the magnifying glass and look up things. There's a boatload of information on here to assure you that you're not alone and what you are experiencing is perfectly normal. In my first 30 days, there were a bunch of times I asked for cigarettes and no one gave them to me. It's the mentality of go-with-what-you-know. I didn't know anything else. I smoked for 43 years nonstop from the time I woke up to the time I went to bed. I don't miss that gnawing need to "have one" every 10 minutes. Sure, a thought of a cigarette pops in my head from time to time, but so what? it's a thought, that's all. It's no longer an action that I take. I know I can't have just one. I know I can't stop at just one. I accept that I'm just not wired that way.
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- coreinstincts @ crazymama_Lori on Jul 23, 2017 9:50 AM
  thank you
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  - crazymama_Lori @ coreinstincts on Jul 24, 2017 8:25 PM
    you are welcome. that little voice in your head is the dependence, the addiction, trying to call you back again. It's weird, but it pops up when you're at your weakest. It likes to hone in on your, what I like to call, tells. I smoked the most when I was really frustrated about something or really, really tired. In the first 6 months, it was an itch I knew I couldn't scratch because I knew where it would take me, but it still hung on. then the next month, I noticed that it was to a lesser degree. could it be the receptors dying off? could it be my brain is returning to a normal state? Could it be that it's simply a memory that's slowly dying off? Here's a pretty interesting article I found about that very subject: Quitting Smoking Gets Easier. Truly it Does! I like the brain teasers, to expand my knowledge base. Just know as you have proven in your blog that to give yourself that five to ten-minute distraction, a release valve, the urge to smoke or to slip back into our "old ways" of doing things seems to just dissolve in to the wind and we can go about the day.
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linda258 Jul 25, 2017 12:02 AM
In the beginning when the urge made me jump up and down... I went outside and pretended that I was smoking ... yeah I did not do this forever... but I put the pretend cig in my mouth and drew in air and blew it out just like smoking. I allowed myself to have an "air" smoke. Also, I actually call sugar free gum my pack of gum for after dinner smoking.
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What to do when you wake up and want one?

Outcomes

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