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Heavy smokers

Question asked by mitchws1725 on Aug 28, 2019
Latest reply on Sep 18, 2019 by Genesislazarus

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Hi -

You have all helped me before. I will be using Zyban and my quit date is September 15th.

I have read articles, Allen's book and I have an anxious feeling about triggers.

I am a heavy smoker - I smoke all the time, chain smoke - what do I do? The trigger thing is so

specific and is making me nervous. I have read the 100 things to do instead of smoking and I smoke

when I do most of them now!!! I am not a "bath" person and due to feet and knee issues I don't just go

on a walk when ever I "need" to.

I also have major depression, so... I am worried.

Have any of you been chain smokers and quit? What helped you when the triggers/cravings hit?

Thank you for sharing - it is greatly appreciated!

Wendy

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indingrl.01.06.2011 Aug 28, 2019 5:31 PM
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Welcome BACK - YES- I used MY DRUG NICOTINE sucking on 50 death sticks a day - I read Joel Spritzer book titled - Never Take Another Puff Ever - I stayed on this site for the FIRST 90 DAYS - reading and educating MYSELF just like the PEOPLE here SUGGESTED ME too - I took all THEIR SUGGESTIONS - I also watch the early DEATH videos at whyquit.com and Bryons video brought ME out of MY lieing to MYSELF - I tried to quit on MY own off and on throughout 38 YEARS - I surrendered - I am a born again believer since November 6, 1986 - I won't STOP using MY DRUG NICOTINE I would get down to 2 or 3 death sticks and buy another pack so I cried out to MY Lord Jesus - i got down on MY knees and prayed Dear Jesus if you dont take this cigs from ME I will smoke them until I drop dead in Jesus name amen then I went to bed - I woke up on January 6, 2011 with a cold turkey quit - only by God's grace - I have 8 continuous YEARS - I have been coming here almost every day - please take what HELPS and let go of the rest- to be HELPFUL is MY only aim - thank you - this is MY RECOVERY FROM NICOTINE story and you may read many more RECOVERY stories here if you choose - gentle hug
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- mitchws1725 @ indingrl.01.06.2011 on Sep 6, 2019 4:42 PM
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  Hello -
  Thank you! Hearing your story and others is making me determined to quit for good. I am committed
  and so thankful I found this site.
  Wendy
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  - JACKIE1-25-15 @ mitchws1725 on Sep 6, 2019 6:12 PM
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    Have you cut back any?
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JACKIE1-25-15 Aug 28, 2019 5:33 PM
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Welcome Back. Breathing was the best tool that I could use when I got anxious, angry, confused, lonely, sad, hungry, That is what I used the cigarette for. I drank a lot of water to replace the hand to mouth. I did a lot of self-talk. to talk myself OUT of smoking. I would tell myself all that no matter what I was not going to smoke. I came here daily to read blogs, participated. Started helping, made friends with a support network. I chewed a lot of chewing gum. I learned a lot about what was in a cigarette. I became familiar with the law of addiction.
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sweetplt Aug 28, 2019 5:57 PM
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Welcome back Wendy mitchws1725 ... glad you are taking the plunge and quitting smoking...you have prepared well with readings, but continue to prepare...perhaps you can learn a new task that is without the memory of smoking...ie., learn a new language, meditate, learn breathing exercises...etc., I was not a chain smoker, but I was an addict...You can do this...see your Doctor about your anxiety for help...but along with him or her...you must work on it...stay close to the support site and rid all smoking paraphernalia... I am here to help you hon...~ Colleen 268 DOF
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Sootie Aug 28, 2019 8:08 PM
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It's work...no lie. It is not easy to quit but it is simple.....just don't smoke.
Tell yourself it WILL be tough. Don't be afraid of it. It can't kill you. It can't hurt you. The most that will happen is that you will be uncomfortable and feel out of sorts. Not the end of the world. You are trying to create a "new" normal for yourself....a non chain smoking Wendy.....and that takes work. But I will tell you it is one of the best things you will ever do and....when you get to the other side it is SO GREAT not to be addicted any longer.
Stay in touch here on the site.....it's the best support to get through triggers and rough spots.
Welcome back to EX!
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Giulia Sep 6, 2019 6:50 PM
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I put up little sticky notes all over the place with positive reminders that I make the journey what it is by the way I choose to think about it. Things like YES YOU CAN DO THIS!
ATTITUDE STUPID!
TODAY IS A NEW DAY, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO VIEW IT?
SMILE, YOU CAN BREATHE!
STOP WHINING!
CHANGE YOUR FOCUS!

Sometimes we get so caught up in it all that we forget we have a choice on how we think about things. Those little sayings would enable me to catch myself and take just a bit of a step back for a different view. I also used a lot of humor to lighten the load. And I also personified the cravings. Which some don't agree with, but - hey - I have a 13 year quit, so it worked for me! When my head just wouldn't shut up, I'd yell at the nicomonster OH JUST GO AWAY! It made it fun actually to be able to do that. You want to find the fun in the experience. Buy a binky, stick it in your mouth and giggle.

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constanceclum Sep 6, 2019 7:21 PM
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I was a heavy smoker at 30-40/day. I am using the patch and, for the 1st week, I also used lozenges. Still I have gone through some pretty tough cravings. I think the cigarette I missed the most was after a meal so I changed my habit. Instead of going out to smoke, I started meal clean-up right away. It's also tough in the mornings, but I get on this site with my coffee, then play a fb game. I cannot do this without God so I spend time meditating and praying in the morning. I also pray my way through cravings. And, each day I remind myself that I choose breathing as I have severe copd. I just wish I quit a long time ago!

Connie
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Barbara145 Sep 6, 2019 8:59 PM
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You can do this. I smoked heavily. About 2 packs a day. I smoked for 52 years. I tried to quit many times. I could not quit until I found this site. I also used patches and nicotine gum. If I felt like being sad, I allowed myself to feel sad. I promised myself I would never smoke again. I honored that promise to myself. That was just about 6 years ago. Taking a short walk always helped when I felt like I was at the end of my rope.
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elvan Sep 7, 2019 8:44 AM
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I had been a heavy smoker in the beginning but by the last year or so, I smoked less than half a pack a day and I wasn't making a conscious effort to quit, although I certainly wanted to. I read in Allen Carr's book and as COPD advances, it is "normal" to cut back on cigarettes because of the body's response.

I had many failed quits in the past but this quit is forever...it's 5 1/2 years old now. I wrote down my triggers and rated them 1 to 5 with 5 being the most severe...THEN I came up with things to do INSTEAD of smoking, things that I may not have considered before. I stood outside and blew bubbles, I sat outside and took deep breaths and very slowly exhaled. I turned up music that I really liked and I danced like no one was watching...God, I HOPE no one was watching. I did so much damage to my lungs that I cannot ever forget it, not even for a minute because the shortness of breath will always remind me as will the overwhelming fatigue. I have a much healthier attitude toward my life and I try to do something creative every day...even if it is just in my head, LOL.

Welcome Back!
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maryfreecig Sep 7, 2019 5:25 PM
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I leaned on smoking for everything. My smoking limit was somewhere near 38 cigarettes, but I controlled my smoking for nearly a decade before I quit because a doctor told me that I would end up with emphysema if I did not stop smoking. So after his lecture, I smoked about 18 cigarettes a day, sometimes less--I bargained my problem away. Always counting. So, in a way, the cigarettes mattered so much to me that bargaining how much I could smoke in a day became a part of my smoking.

In 2008 after the global finacial collapse, my smoking went back up to 28-32 cigarettes--and for a few years I didn't care. When I started to care again, I bargained again and so my consumption went down to about 20. I wrote what I smoked everyday--somehow it was a way of noting my efforts as if the numbers would lead me to a quit someday.

In 2013, I decided to quit--took about 2.5 weeks planning. Just as I was about to quit--days to go--I realized that I felt satisfied by smoking more than anything else. And I smoked for any reason. In every way, cigarettes--smoking came first. So long as I was smoking, it didn't feel as if I was putting smoking first. As I prepared to stop, I felt empty and panicked about quitting. What could matter to me. Everything I did was followed by a cigarette (what I really wanted.) My smoking, was my life, and it was the point of my life.

How did I quit? Well, I didn't quit by trying to convince myself that smoking was bad for my health so I must quit. I didn't try to control my mind by thinking that I ought to love quitting--I accepted responsibility for quitting. And for me that meant walking the walk every day. I felt bad at first. I felt confused. I felt helpless--wondering how cigarettes could ever have come to mean so much to me.

It wasn't easy, and I am not original in my approach to quitting. Most quitters have to accept, even if aids are used, that they are not going to smoke cigarettes no matter what--that that is the first rule--all else follows. I overcame the delusion that cigarettes matter most--took effort. But today, nearly six years later, a cigarette is no longer the thing I think of before or after I do anything. Cigarettes do not matter to me anymore. And I believed I couldn't live without them!!!

You have the same ability to quit--same as any quitter here. You do not need magic to quit, just the willingness to say no one day at a time until, you too, will come to see that it was an addiction--stick with Ex it will be here for you 365.
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- mitchws1725 @ maryfreecig on Sep 7, 2019 7:39 PM
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  Hello and thank you! I needed that and will read it as often as I have to after my quit date
  of Sept.15.
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  - maryfreecig @ mitchws1725 on Sep 8, 2019 4:49 PM
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    Hi mitchws1725, keep searching high and low for anything that helps!!!
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Genesislazarus Sep 18, 2019 12:24 PM
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Wow! I was at the same place, cigarettes meant everything and for that reason wanted to quit. Also having one before and after everything caused a financial need to quit.
I've made it one week and went searching for more ammo to keep me going and found it in what you've written. If someone else like me can make it a year, I can make it to my next check point! Thanks for the encouragement
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