Thats a pretty neat idea, Stace, but the nicotine addiction is never much of an issue for me. I can try like hell to quit, and do it for a couple of months, then all of a sudden, I want a cigarette...and then I still want a cigarette, until it is nagging me night and day....eventually, due to weak will, stress or whatever excuse I want to use, I give in. As soon as I do, I am done for. It's a good thing I never tried heroin. I was hooked on smoking after my first cigarette. I can't count how many times I have quit.

oh. Yeah, I guess everyone's addiction is different and different people need different methods of quitting...

For me, it's the drug. I crave it. My mouth starts feeling funny, my stomach feels like it has ants in it, I feel agitated and anxious, I feel stressed out- like something terrible just happened to me- but the only thing that happened is I went too long without a cigarette.
Within 1 minute of lighting up, I feel calmer, relaxed and less stressed out. My blood pressure seems to drop and I feel like I just had a massage.

For me, it's purely physical. I'm not sure how I'd go about it was very psychological...Maybe you'd be a great candidate for hypnotherapy!!

our sometimes-bassist is an ex-three pack a day smoker having been on the road with one band or another since the age of 14. He said something kind of illuminating the other day. When someone comes up to you and asks for a cigarette, observe their reaction. They're obviously jonesing, but as soon as you say "yah, I have one" their eyes light up and they are immediately calmer. Just knowing they were going to have one answered their fix, not the actual smoking itself. It might not be totally accurate, but I see his point.

If someone chopped your arm off with an axe, you went to the hospital and the doctor showed you a syringe with morphine, wouldn't you feel calmer?
Would your arm still hurt before he injected you?

no, i wouldn't feel calmer. I just had my arm chopped off with an axe. a cigarette might help though.

Stacyv, I don’t know how you’re paying for your online cigarettes, but I just read this – “A coalition of credit card companies, along with state attorney generals, and the ATF are working together to eliminate the illegal sale of tobacco products online. Virtually all credit card companies will stop participating with websites that sell cigarettes and tobacco products.” It goes on to say that besides cutting trade for traditional business operators, the website tobacco sales also avoids sales tax for states and localities and provides a way for underage consumers to obtain the products. So there may not be a decision whether or not to buy cigarettes online soon….

That won't happen unless the credit companies (big business) want's to lose money. But you see the thin end of the wedge here. If there is no cash and everthing is done with "credits" some of us will increasingly be drones. I love cash, do everything with it or bank transfer. About the only thing one can't do with it is rent a car.
Big Brother may not be watching but he is increasingly sneeking a peek.

I heard on the radio a few weeks back that here in PA, people are getting bills for the taxes they SHOULD have paid for the ciggies they bought online. It is legal for the gub'mint to request records of who bought what, extrapolate out the tax bill, and then send you a request for funds that may just make you mess yourself. (The bill I heard about was 32K....that's a LOT of smokes!)

So, companies may want to make money, but the gub'mint is going to get what they 'think' is theirs.

I heard that NY started that ... because of the amount of tax revenues they're losing over selling smokes at $7 a pack or something like that.

What about out of country purchases? Think They will get you for those as well?

The website I bought them from claims to not keep any records at all of my purchases, and complete privacy.

I'm planning on switching to a website that sells cigarettes made in the U.S. (for about double the price), but I want to quit in about 6 months....
Even if they find records of those purchases, I'd be able to afford the taxes...

Cold Turkey, Day 1
 

So, I've been thinking about walking away from cigarettes for some time now. As with all my other addictions, it started out as an occasional thing and quickly became a necessary part of my everyday life. Anyhoo, I'm tired of them (and a little masochistic), so I smoked my last one yesterday at about noon.

Current mood: okay, except for the nervous tic in my right leg, the pounding behind my eyeballs, the stuffy head (I thought that was supposed to go away), the getting up every half hour to go buy a pack (thank God I'm broke till Friday), and the weird light sensitivity.

As soon as the physical symptoms go away, I'll start microanalyzing the psychological impact. I know you can't wait.

I'm toying with the idea of doing this, and the fact that Plastic Forks XXIV is now behind me makes this more doable.

Hell, I actually even smoked only one pack at forks this year, which is UNBELIEVABLE.

Forks, being a two day event, with day one comprised mainly of alcohol consumption typically means 2-4 packs are about right for getting me through. I was prepared for a lot more than that, but brought 'em all home.

Because there is such a close tie between smoking and stress relief at work, I have to come up with some strategy that will make up for not going out on the porch to smoke ... what some of you might not be familiar with is that going onto the porch to smoke is the only break that I get in my dept ... no lunch, no coffee breaks, no nuthin'. There is probably something in labor law that says my employer can't do this, but this is just the way things are.

I've been thinking about doing something like taking my flute with me, and going out on the porch to play for the five mintes I would otherwise have been spending smoking ... and as a bonus, it's an activity that would still feed my oral fixation, right?

And no ... I am NOT going to do that for any of my coworkers rather than smoking. Shut down that thought process right there.

You can always try the Kojak tootsie-roll pop thing. Might take the same amount of time too.

Yeah, but that doesn't get me the all important out of the office time ...

Last time I quit (for about two years) I used chewing gum, just plain old Wrigleys, but in all the flavors, so the chewing gum wrapper chain I made looked really cool.

Well I was thinking you would go to your usual spot. Suck on the TRP until it was gone then return to your desk.

Given the number of licks it takes to get to the center of the TRP, that would take longer than the currently "allowable" amount of time one spends on the porch.

It's a delicate balance, you see.

MrNooddle,

Good luck. I'll be pulling for you. aah not sure that sounds right but....
Chew lots of Nicorette gum and maybe Tylenol for the head aches.

Think of it as a very bad hang-over.

Best Wishes

they have come out with (and I won't spell it right) a lozogne for quitting smoking, worked well for a friend of mine.. would work well for me. nicotine and oral fixation. just a thought.. it's on the market

Day 2
 

The physical symptoms seem to have let off already. No headache, except a tiny pressure behind my eyes that could just as easily be allergies this time of year. No joke, quitting American Spirits is physically much less difficult than quitting Luckies was. Maybe all the formaldehyde and broken glass or whatever they're supposed to put in the non-"natural" brands really does make it harder to wean oneself.

I really don't feel bad at all. I wish I had a cigarette, but the craving is quite manageable. We'll see if I feel the same way at 5 p.m.......

oh, i just noticed something. my jaws are sore from clenching my teeth for the last 48 hrs. maybe it's a WEE bit hard.

Day 3 -- I think I'm still on the wagon. I didn't smoke a CIGARETTE, anyway. However, what I did smoke resulted in the deaths of a quarter bag of Cheetos (crunchy), a big steak, peanut butter Oreos x6, 3 Chips Ahoy chunky style, a container of yogurt (lemon merengue pie flavored), a bag of microwave popcorn, and 3 cans of sody water.

Oh, and a single bon bon.

Don't combine quitting smoking with other appetite-inducing activities. My colon has filed an official complaint, and I might have to roto-rooter the ball of cheetos out. :lol:

I had that sinus pressure when I treid to quit smoking, too!
I quit for 3 months and I couldn't breath through my nose for 3 months.
As soon as I started smoking again, I could smell again.

Day 4 -- FAILURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Smoked 3 cigarettes halfway through yesterday. Smoked the cigs halfway through, that is.

Smoked another one halfway through just now. It tasted nasty.

Back on the wagon with me.

That doesn't sound like failure, that sounds like a temporary setback. Good luck!

One of my friends quit last year. He will occasionally give in to temptation. He has given into temptation 7 times. Twice during Forks.

[chant]noo-dle noo-dle noo-dle noo-dle noo-dle [/chant]

You can do it. You can.

Well, next time point him out and we can tackle him. Or better yet, get the ladies to tackle him, it might just distract him. :biggrin:

Same here....except for the sense of smell went years ago. Constantly stuffed up when not smoking...can't breathe or hear. :(

that seems odd to me....why would the nasal cavities clog up??

NOTHING works right when the brain is deprived of nicotine! :)

When you are addicted, there are so many connections to receptors in the brain that rely on nicotine to work properly, who knows.

crap. all i know is i've got a cigarette hangover from poker last night. hack, wheeze, cough.