EX Community

smokenomorelpj · ‎10-22-2017

i have been smoke free for 13 days and i am proud of myself. plus i've been exercising but now i have a sciatica nerve thing and it is really depressing me and making me angry.

when i feel this way, i want to do something like smoke. i haven't but i want to.

what to do?

lewis

ahhshucks · ‎10-22-2017

Hi Lewis. Don't smoke! Congratulations o. 13 DOF! Find something else to do. Read, breath deep, drink a big glass of water.....anything except smoke! You can do this!

smokenomorelpj · ‎10-22-2017

i guess i'll eat another slice of chocolate cake.

thanks

YoungAtHeart · ‎10-22-2017

Welcome to our community!

Somehow it seems I missed giving you my usual welcome message. Included is a list of 101 things to do to take your mind off smoking. Please remember that smoking will do not one thing to make your sciatica or your mental outlook any better. It will just add to your misery that you lost a perfectly good quit!

The most important thing you can do right now is to educate yourself on what nicotine does to your body and mind. To that end, I highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” This is an easy and entertaining read. Here is a link to a free PDF version of it:

http://media.wix.com/ugd/74fa87_2010cc5496521431188f905b7234a829.pdf

You should also read the posts here and perhaps go to the pages of folks who you think might be helpful. You might visit whyquit.com, quitsmokingonline.com and livewell.com for the good information contained there. @https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/best-of-ex has lots of blogs written by members of this site with their experiences and guidance.

The idea is to change up your routines so the smoking associations are reduced. Drink your coffee with your OTHER hand. If you always had that first smoke with your coffee, Rearrange the furniture in the areas you used to smoke so the view is different. Buy your gas at a different station. Take a different route to work. Take a quick walk at break time where the smokers AREN'T.

You need to distract yourself through any craves. You can take a bite out of a lemon (yup - rind and all), put your head in the freezer and take a deep breath of cold air, do a few jumping jacks, go for a brisk walk or march in place, play a computer game. Don't let that smoking thought rattle around in your brain unchallenged. Sometimes you need to quit a minute or an hour at a time. You will need to be disciplined in the early days to distract yourself when a crave hits. Get busy! Here is a link to a list of things to do instead of smoke if you need some fresh ideas:

https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/Youngatheart.7.4.12-blog/2013/02/25/100-things-to-do-instea...

The conversation in your head in response to the "I want a cigarette" thought needs to be, "Well, since I have decided not to do that anymore, what shall I do instead for the three minutes this crave will last?" Then DO it. You will need to put some effort into this in the early days, but it gets easier and easier to do.

Stay close to us here and ask questions when you have them and for support when you need it. We will be with you every step of the way!

Nancy

smokenomorelpj · ‎10-22-2017

I've downloaded the two documents on my phone. Thanks so much.

I've forgotten about the cigs.

This is a great website.

Lewis

Giulia · ‎10-23-2017

"what to do? "

Lewis - whatever you DO do, you DON'T start smoking again. You may have cravings, but at least you have a certain amount of pride in those 13 days, right? That's giving you a sense of accomplishment. Sciatica, anything that debilitates and hurts us physically is depressing. But don't you see, one of the things you've got to cling to is the pride of your quit accomplishment. Because that's the thing that creates the opposite feeling. It's weird in that you feel all this self-worth because you've accomplished quitting - but on the other hand you feel miserable because you've quit. That latter feeling, the misery of quitting doesn't last. It's a stage of the journey. And we pass through several of those stages when we're not too happy about the decision we've made to quit. But when we hang on through it - there is not a one person here who will tell you it wasn't worth the effort.

You haven't had a quit set back until you put that next cigarette in your mouth that you said you wouldn't and have to return to another day one. All other setbacks have nothing really to do with our quits. Sciatic nerve pain can be helped in various ways. My husband had sciatica for years. They wanted to operate on his back. He said NO. They gave him exercises. He does them every single morning of his life. In his case sciatic nerve pain is gone, despite 2 herniated disks.

Smoking doesn't solve our emotional nor pain problems. But because we've picked up a cigarette every time we went through those experiences - we have come to believe it does. It's ok to want a cigarette because you hurt, because you're depressed and angry. But you don't have to act on that desire.

Stay true to you. And figure out how to deal with the sciatica. Smoking won't make that go away. Ya know?

smokenomorelpj · ‎10-23-2017

I didn’t slip. Today is a new day. Thanks for sharing about your husband’s condition. I can beat this!

lewis

elvan · ‎10-23-2017

smokenomorelpj I have degenerative disc disease and ruptured three discs in my back in 2009, I struggle with bouts of sciatica. For ME, the best exercises are those done in a pool but that has to be in the summer since the chlorine in an indoor pool makes it hard for me to breathe. I need bilateral shoulder replacements because of damage from Rheumatoid Arthritis, and I have COPD...I had to have the upper lobes of my lungs removed because they were so diseased with emphysema that they were trapping air and making me feel MORE short of breath. I used to tell people that if I could get my pain under control, I was sure I could quit smoking...then reality hit...smoking never did anything for my pain, it did not relieve it, it distracted me momentarily and then my next crave took over. I got pneumonia in January of 2014 and my COPD really took hold, I came very close to losing that battle. I have not smoked in more than 3 years and 9 months. I come here every day for the most part. I ALWAYS came here every morning and every night at the beginning of my quit. I did all of the reading, I read blogs, I commented, I wrote blogs, I asked for advice and I TOOK it. I am at this point in my quit because of this site and the people here and the amazing support I have gotten. You CAN do this, I will not tell you that it is easy, it wasn't for ME but it absolutely is DOABLE.

Welcome to EX,

Ellen

smokenomorelpj · ‎10-23-2017

Ellen,

Thank you for sharing. I really appreciate you bringing your courageous story to light, and, believe me, I heard it, every word. I am 14 days free today, and, with the help of this website, and great people, such as yourself, we will all beat this.

Thank you so much!!!!

Lewis

elvan · ‎10-23-2017

I could never have gotten free and stayed free without this site and the amazing people here. Seriously, I cannot begin to tell you how much they mean to me...now you are one of them.

You are very welcome.