Question for recent former smokers

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Finally decided I've had enough...and since I've never had any physical 'symptoms' from NOT smoking, it's stoopid of me to keep doing it. So there you have it...two days now. :rolleyes: :)

What I have noticed though, is that I'm much more sleepy than usual (during the times I should be awake). Been a long time since I've been clean for any length of time...is this normal?

KC

[Doug Shepard]

...
What I have noticed though, is that I'm much more sleepy than usual (during the times I should be awake). Been a long time since I've been clean for any length of time...is this normal?

KC

Dont know if it's normal, but you're certainly not alone there. I've quit 3 or 4 times, and need to do it again now. Every time I've stopped, I've had the same problem with being tired. The patch can help give you enough nicotine that it reduces the problem, but I'm not sure you can totally whip it.

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

I'm not tired...I'm nappy. There's a distinction for me...

[Ken Fitzgerald]

KC................I work in a job that I and others place a lot of pressure on me. In my past attempts at quiting I went cold turkey and had problems. I've also tried the patch.......this time I'm using the cheapest Walmart Equate nicotene gum. I've been getting by with about 40-60% of what they recommend. I plan on carrying regular gum as I decrease my nico-gum regimine. I started to try to quit Jan.4th and fell off on Jan. 13th. I climbed back on the wagon on Jan. 15th and have had none since. 1 pack since Jan.4th. I was smoking 1 1/2 packs for 40 years. Every once in a while when a smoker walks in from being outside having a smoke, I get the urge but........so far..............Hang in there Bro.........we can break this habit!...........that being said I've told everyone who's inquired about my quiting........I won't promise that I won't start again 5 minutes from now..If I can just hang for 10 more minutes.............

[Jack Hogoboom]

Kirk,

I quit about 15 years ago through an American Lung Association program. My recollection is that it takes about 7 days for the physical effects of nicotine withdrawal to abate. After that, the withdrawal is all mental. If you give it a little while longer, that "nappy" feeling should go away.

To deal with the mental withdrawal, the Lung Association recommended all kinds of substitutes, including gum (a biggie), sucking through a straw (it actually works) and getting up and taking a walk. You should be through the mental part in about a month.

It helps to count. Think of all the cigarettes you're not having. Then add them up over time. It becomes a pretty scary number pretty quickly. You can also get a lot of satisfaction thinking about how much money you're saving. Also, reward yourself. If you make it a week, give yourself X; a month, Y, etc.

If you find yourself weakening, let us know. It helps to talk about it.

I've never looked back. Even after 15 years, I'll occasionally have a dream in which I am smoking. Invariably, I wake up relieved that it was just a dream and that I don't have to go through the hassle of quitting again.

I have no will power whatsoever. If I can do it, so can you. Think of all the people who have already quit. None of them are any stronger or tougher than you are. It may be an addiction, but given the statistics, it's actually one of the easier ones to break.

Let us know if we can help. Good luck. It's the right thing to do for you and your family.

[Bart Leetch]

Hi KC

This will pass after awhile.

We're behind you in this.

So just kick it to the floor like an old router & don't give it a second thought.:D :D :D

[Steven Wilson]

It's normal, don't worry about it, you'll be fine. It takes a week or so to get over the physical withdrawl.

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Thanks for the encouragement. I've chewed gum for years, so that's 'normal' for me. So far the only 'trigger' that's bothered me even a little is the 7:00AM w/coffee smoke when leaving work. I'm avoiding my menthol smoking co-workers. :o

Anyhoo...a fella ain't smoking or thinking about it when he's asleep...so I'm gonna take advantage of the 'nap factor' and turn-in early. :D

[Jason Roehl]

KC, as a non-smoker who at one time smoked off and on (never got hooked, just smoked socially), I can tell you that nicotine has quite a bit of "zip" to it. I found it was much more effective at waking me up during an all-night study session than caffeine, and much quicker at doing so. I'm guessing your nappy feeling is just an effect of the withdrawal--your body is used to the nicotine keeping you alert and awake, and now it is not there to stimulate your brain. I found this to be true of both a cigarette and smokeless tobacco. This, too, shall pass.

Hang in there, we're all pulling for you.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

I've never smoked cigarettes, but I sometimes enjoy a cigar, I find that I will go weeks without one cigar, and then for a variety of reasons, I'll smoke two or three in a week (social occasion etc).

Smoking cigars is not exactly healthy, I know, but the pleasure I get from it and the relaxation and appreciation of a fine hand crafted product, over a nice 40 year old scotch and some good conversation with some great friends is a guilty pleasure I do enjoy, but not too often.

My Dad smoked for 40 years, and one day said "Enough" it has been 10 or 15 years now, and he says it was easier to quit than put up with the crap at work etc.

Good luck, you can do it!

Cheers!

[Ken Garlock]

KC, my last ciggy was April 8, 1968. That was at a party, one month after going cold turkey, and it tasted bad.:( :eek: Prior to quiting, I consumed a carton every week.

The sequence of quiting is like an upside down pyramid. The first day is the hardest, then the second day, then the first week, then the first month. If you can make the first month, and are determined to quit, you have made it.:cool: You will know you are over the addiction when cigarette smoke smells bad, especially after dinner.

[Bill Lewis]

It's normal, don't worry about it, you'll be fine. It takes a week or so to get over the physical withdrawl.Yeah right.
I quit last April, I came down with a bad cold and couldn't go near a cigarette. Well sometime during that period while watching TV I heard that once you make it past three days you'll have it licked, I think it was on Comedy Central, that figures. I later learned that this was some bad information but I somehow believed it, and made it work. I turned three days in to a week and then several weeks and then a month and then several months. I just took it one day at a time and made it work, cold.

It's one thing to get past the physical addiction, but that is only a small part of quitting. You have to be able to push past the mental addiction, the habits, the triggers, or the associations that always went along with smoking. Even woodworking was a trigger for me. You also have to want to quit. I had tried several times before, hoping that the crutch of gum or patches would help. They didn't do it for me, and I think that mostly because I wasn't committed to it. The only "help" I had was the cold which turned in to bronchitus (a first for me) which gave me a start.

It took at least three months for me to get over all of the aspects of smoking, But only one day at a time. When I stopped counting the days, and weeks, I knew I had it beat, and I know I'll never go back. I have also tested myself in all of the social situations that would make me want to smoke. Believe it or not, that first social test was the Sawmill Creek Picnic at Keith Outten's place last spring.

I've known a few alcoholics so I am familiar with the phrase "One day at a time" but never really understood the meaning of it until I went through this myself.

I hope that my post isn't too discouraging, it's not intended to be so, but it's hard work quitting, you have to see the project though to the end.

So hang in there to all who are trying to quit, be comiitted, take it one day at a time, and you'll make it.

Now if I can get my wife to quit, and lose the 10 lbs I put on....

[Ben Roman]

I have been a smoker since 1987 and have stopped for 6 days now. I will not go back to them after coming this far. Keep up the good work and I am with you on this bumpy ride. Just think how much we will save and be able to apply to woodworking projects or tools.

Ben

I am also addicted to tools and coffee !!!

[Fred LeBail]

My father was a smoker most of his like and finally died from lung cancer in '99.He quit for the last time about '94-95.
He used to say that" Quiting smoking is easy, I've done it a thousand times"

Also my wife has nearly 2 weeks in now .

Good luck to all that are in the process of or have quit smoking.

[Dennis Peacock]

Stick with it KC....

Just think:

At $3.00 per pack
at 1.5 packs per day
That's a nice 18" Bandsaw every year!!!!! or just under $1,650.00

    4.50
  X 365
-------------
$1,642.50

[Larry Browning]

Stick with it KC....

Just think:

At $3.00 per pack
at 1.5 packs per day
That's a nice 18" Bandsaw every year!!!!! or just under $1,650.00

4.50
X 365
-------------
$1,642.50
Dennis beat me to what I was going to say. Only I think you should take this a little further and actually save back the money you were spending on tobacco. Pick yourself out some really fantastic dream machine that you thought you could never afford, put it's picture everywhere you spend anytime at all, like in the shop, right next to the computer, (at home and at work) ,in you wallet, in the bathroom, everywhere. Then every time you get the urge to smoke, look at that dream machine, and add another "pack" to the savings account. Then by the time you have beaten the habit, you can reward yourself with your new tool and post a picture here on SMC. We will all be envious and you will feel 10 feet tall!!!!

[john mclane]

One of the effects of nicotine is that it acts as a mild stimulant and increases heart rate when it is smoked. The nicotine patches have a little bit less of the stimulant and heart rate effects and as the dose goes down with the nicotine patch programs this effect gets less. Likely your body was used to the stimulant effect ane when you quit the lack of stimulant and lower heart rate make you feel "nappy".

It is also why some people snack more when quitting they are trying to get the sugur stimulant to mimic the nicotine effect.

Some scientists will argue more complex reactions but the core feeling is likely similar to this.

Keep up the good work and that effect will go away.

Better to be a little sleepy then all the other effects smoking has.

[Jerry Clark]

Hang in there KC and Ken-- One day at a time! In 1973 I had Pneumonia and I went to the doctor -- in the waiting room several people were smoking and it bothered me so much that I had to wait outside. :mad: Now hospitals and doctors offices do not allow smoking, hard to believe they allowed it then, but times have changed. Also Smoking in any public building in California is not allowed. :D I think it has help people stop smoking.:)

[Bob Reeve]

Hang in there guys. I am working on 2 years after smoking a pack a day for 30 years. It was hard and no matter what everyone else wants you to do. It will only happen when the right motivation comes along for you.

A short humorous story to help. Here is what motivated me.

It was a ritual a friend and I shared every time I visited that we would go outside and have a smoke. On one visit, it didn't happen and I asked if he had quit.

He had because he was having intense foot pain and a vascular doctor told him to quit or lose the foot. He had been off them for several weeks at that time and relayed to me that an added benefit was that he no longer needed the little blue pill.

I thought to myself, hmm, I am getting older, do I want to smoke or be able to keep having --- as I continue to grey.

Heart disease and Lung Cancer didn't scare me but this did.

Good luck and take it one dat at a time.

[Gary Max]

I smoked a bunch for over 35 years----2 years and 64 days ago I decided that I was taking control of my life----not really just could not afford them anymore--and I quit. I smoked so much it looked like I was on fire most of the time ---2 packs a day. Of course I added 60 lbs to my waist line----but I am working on that now---I have lost 26 lbs since Nov last year.
Once you decide that you can do it---there is nothing in the world that can stop you.

[Chris Walls]

Hello All:

I don't post much , but read a lot. I just had to answer this one. I smoked for many years and tried to quit many times and failed. One day I was in a bad mood for some reason and I guess I just took it out on the habit. Crushed and threw away about half a pack and NEVER went back. It's been almost 15 years now and it was the best thing I ever did for myself. Without a doubt. I often told my son that starting to smoke was the dumbest thing I ever did, top of the list. Given all of the errors I have made in my life that's a couple page list.
A couple of weeks in your sense of smell and taste will return and you'll wonder how you got along without them for so long. Good luck and be sure to buy a new tool with your " I don't smoke anymore" money.
Chris

[Mike Cutler]

Hang in there KC. It will be worth it... guaranteed.

I've never smoked, not sure how I missed out on the habit because everyone else in my family smokes, except my brother. I quit passing judgement on people that smoked long ago, and am just thankful that I never started.

No glib slogans, or admonishment from me bro', just moral support. Hang tough.

[Martin Shupe]

To KC and Ken,

I never smoked, so I do not know what you are going through. I had friends that chewed tobacco, and they told me how hard it was to quit.

I do know that when you are successful, as I am sure you will be, you will be more healthy for it. I am rooting for you to succeed.

(and think of all the money you will be able to save to spend on tools!)

[Ben Roman]

How is it going. I am having a tough time of it 10 days now. Hopefully it will get better soon. Kinda Rough going now.

[Tim Morton]

How is it going. I am having a tough time of it 10 days now. Hopefully it will get better soon. Kinda Rough going now.

Hang in there Ben....take in an hour at a time!!! I don't smoke but you guys are all amzing for quiting...smoking took my mom at 58....she was "one of the good ones"....:cool: Don't let it get you guys!!!!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Hang in there Ben.........We can whip this habit! Just tell yourself you want to hang on for 10 more minutes. Repeat it again in 8 minutes.......Hang tough! We can beat this habit! I just ordered a new Sorby roughing gouge with the money I'd have spent on smokes this 2 week pay period! Hang tough!

[Bill Lewis]

Ben, Don't give in. In fact, I say you are not allowed to give in, got it!

I made mention in my earlier post referring to the phrase "One Day at a Time", and Ken and Tim have just echo'd the essence of what that phrase really means. One day, one hour, one minute, whatever it takes. Small steps do add up to big steps.
You can do it!

Now go do something productive to take your mind off the minutes.

[Mark Plough]

Folks,

I am not posting this looking for sympathy. I post it as warning!

I had my last smoke at 11:25am on Feb 24. That was about 20 minutes before my doctor told me I have throat cancer. I'm 57 and have smoked since I was 16. I don't blame anyone or anything but me. I knew that smoking was not the smart thing to do. Nobody held a gun to my head to make me do it. This is at the least going to cost me my ability to speak.
WE will wait to see what the worst my be. The doctor is confident that it is curable.

SO IF YOU SMOKE -- QUIT!! IF YOU DON'T YOU ARE THE SMART ONE!!

[Bernie Weishapl]

All you guys can do it. I quit in 1972. I threw the pack on the dresser. The first 30 days are the toughest but once you get past that it is a piece of cake. After 6 months it was funny because I could not stand to be around smokers. The other thing I noticed is my taste for food changed. There are things I would not have eaten back then that after about 6 months actually tasted good.

You will make it. Just take it a hour, then a day, then a month, and then you should be just fine.

Congrats to all who are giving it a go. KC just take a short 15 min. nap and you will be fine.

[Cody Colston]

KC,

I quit 5 years ago this coming May 19th. The stimulus for me was coronary by-pass surgery.

The drowsiness is normal and soon passes but I don't think the desire to smoke ever goes away. I still crave a cigarette at times but now I just chew on a toothpick instead. I've heard that when a person stops dreaming about smoking that the habit is truly broken...I'm still dreaming about it.

I was always rail thin, too but put on 50 lbs after quitting and had to buy new clothes. But that was okay because all of my old ones smelled like cigarette smoke. You will be astonished when you begin smelling smokers as soon as they come near you and realize that's how you used to smell.

Stay with it and you will truly enjoy life more. Smoking is a nasty, disgusting habit that I would never resume again.

[tod evans]

call me a wus! i stopped smoking cigarettes 8 months ago,(3 packs of camel non-filters) and took up a pipe.....it`s a step in the right direction but i aint there yet....02 tod

[Craig Feuerzeig]

Its been 7 years, 2 months and 8 days since my last cigarette...but who's counting. THE BEST THING i EVER DID. Also probably the hardest. The nappy feeling is mild depression. You are experiencing the feeling that you've lost your best friend. It's a matter of learning to live each day without, and it'll get just a little better every day. Every day you will think about it just a little less. The thing that finally did it for me (it must come from within) was the realization that I was not the one in control of my life, and that thought was just unacceptable. I kept imagining the manufacturers up there in they're ivory towers looking down and laughing at me. I never really understood the concept when someone said that it was a crutch, until it was gone. Sorry if that's harsh, but...You can do it. If you can do yesterday, than today is a piece of cake.

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

It's been a week or so now. So far so good. Instead of thinking about how long it's been, I'm aware of the number of times I had the opportuinity to buy a pack and didn't...even though a couple of those times I had every intention of doing so when I went in the store/gas station/pick a place. I've never been responsive to 'you just can't' situations...but that's what it's gonna be for me. I'm fortunate to work with a couple smokers...so I get the 'stinky' reinforcement several times a night. I can smell it across the room now, not just when they walk by. Anyway, I'm hangin'. :)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Keep Hangin' KC! Me too! Yesterday I took delivery on a new MR scanner. Trucker and helpers all smoked. Whenever they stopped for a cigarette the smell drove me up a wall! I'd love to have a cigarette right now! I'm not going to cave in! 41 years I was hooked! I'm tired of having those things control my life! GO KC!

[Rob Littleton]

Guys, I have never smoked but did break another vice I had.

I am following this thread with great interest and praying you guys pull thru. It can only make you a better person. I can drive down the streets and I can tell cars that are owned by smokers. Normally really foggy inside (old nicotine) Sorry guys, but smokers just dont care about others and have no thought for the non smokers. You guys are falling out of that category now. Good for you.

Hang in there, like I said, it can make you a better, stronger person........

[Bill Lewis]

...Sorry guys, but smokers just dont care about others and have no thought for the non smokers....IMO, That's a pretty strong and incorrect statement. Not all smokers are the thoughtless clods you make them out to be.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Just for the record Rob.......I resent those statements. I didn't smoke around anyone who openly objected to it. I smoked outside on my carport at home. I doubt seriously if you could tell that my vehicles were a smoker's vehicle unless you opened the door and could smell it. All smokers are not clods, idiots or jerks........

[Rob Littleton]

All smokers are not clods, idiots or jerks........[/quote]

I didnt use these words. I agree all smokers are not the above. Not sure how that got interpreted.

The lady next door to me in my old house used to sit on her back porch and I had to close my doors on a sunday afternoon as I got smoked out. The car 4 cars down from me at a traffic light decides to light a cigarette. I have to sit there smelling the smoke. Then, after they have finished, they flick the butt out the window. If you dont do the latter, good for you but I guarantee someone around you got the smoke they didn't want. Even after you have smoked, there is a terrible lingering smell. Awful to be around.

There is a little saying in the Uk that goes like this......the residue of your enjoyment is smoke. It gets in MY clothes, hair and my lungs. I have no choice. The residue of my pleasure (drinking) is pee...........fill in the blanks.

I am harsh towards smokers but thats the way I am.

Im still pulling for you guys trying to quit.

[Chris Fite]

Smokers are the new underclass, open to abuse and disdain without recourse. They can be pilloried at will. I think that it is rather pathetic that someone has to climb on his health police pedestal to make himself out to be better by disparaging someone else.

I have read that most smokers wish that they could quit, but don't know how to do so successfully. I consider that the most tenacious part of the habit of smoking is how much it is integrated into one's life, not just the addiction to nicotine.

I don't ridicule fat or stupid people, nagging never improves anything. It will foster resentment. I find that encouragement in reaching the goal of losing weight, quitting smoking, getting exercise, learning to walk, and other such to be a better way to success. I found it incredibly difficult to lose weight, but possible with encouragement and support. Nagging would probably have ended the efforts to slim down a tad. Losing weight was difficult, and keeping it off moreso.

I find it difficult to tolerate intolerant folks, but I can be polite.

[Rob Littleton]

Smokers are the new underclass, open to abuse and disdain without recourse. They can be pilloried at will. I think that it is rather pathetic that someone has to climb on his health police pedestal to make himself out to be better by disparaging someone else.

I have read that most smokers wish that they could quit, but don't know how to do so successfully. I consider that the most tenacious part of the habit of smoking is how much it is integrated into one's life, not just the addiction to nicotine.

I don't ridicule fat or stupid people, nagging never improves anything. It will foster resentment. I find that encouragement in reaching the goal of losing weight, quitting smoking, getting exercise, learning to walk, and other such to be a better way to success. I found it incredibly difficult to lose weight, but possible with encouragement and support. Nagging would probably have ended the efforts to slim down a tad. Losing weight was difficult, and keeping it off moreso.

I find it difficult to tolerate intolerant folks, but I can be polite.

I hate the sin but love the sinner.........SIMPLE...........

As stated previously, I am praying for the guys that are trying to quit.

I hope this is "polite"

[Bill Lewis]

Chris,

Boy did you ever hit the nail on the head, very well put my friend.

[Roy Hatch]

Kirk, Many have said, "If quitting was easy, there wouldn't be any smokers." So, it's not going to be easy and you may find the temptation to smoke will haunt you for years. Try to focus on the good that you are doing and all of the diseases that you may avoid. I once saw a bumper sticker "The best way to quit smoking is to have a heart attack." That's no joke.
I quit when I was around 40 years of age and now at 73, I'm still going strong. You too can do it.
Roy

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

There are considerate smokers and there are jerks...kinda like non-smokers. I think you'll find that a considerate smoker is polite and thoughtful in other situations as well...and a jerk is jerk...smoker or not.

[Joe Chritz]

Ken hit it right on the head. Most physical symptons of withdrawal are gone after a few days. Everything else is the hard part and mostly the mental parts of the habit.

Drug withdrawals can have all kinds of effects, loss of energy is one.

I have seen people with symptons of withdrawals of most drugs and while nicotine is a very hard habit to kick at least you are puking for two days, seing little bugs on the wall, going from ER to ER with fake back pain, making your own booze from mashed potatoes, etc, etc.

Stay strong and remember what Yoda said in The Empire Strikes Back. "Do or do not, there is no try." Go in with a winning attitude and refuse to be beaten and you can't loose. Yoda was one bad little green dude so I wouldn't mess with him. :D

Joe

[Craig Feuerzeig]

Hope you guys are hanging tough. Consider breaking up the routine a bit, maybe a change of scenery. Keep the mind busy with other things. You are used to doing certain things while smoking (driving, digesting etc.). You will need to re- learn to do these things without, but for now try to stay busy doing other things as much as possible. Deny yourself the opportunity to dwell, if possible. I think I can I think I can...

[Ed Breen]

Hey guys,
For what its worth, On Jly 1 st 1980 I attended a quit smoking seminar with a hypnotist. There were about 100 in the room. We were assisted in self-hypnosis. When I left the room (Hilton @ OHARE" I stuck my pack in the visor and went home. I haven't smoked since then, and it was a thirty year 2 packs a day habit. At the time it meant that I could sit up at the foward bulkhead on a plane (I flew 4 days a week for business)
My assistant would come into my office and blow smoke at me and I would sit and laugh at him.
Of course, I'm probably weak minded and susceptible to hypnosis, but for me it worked - and probably has resulted in my still being alive 26 years later. If nothing else works try hypnosis. Like Tod just my two cents
Ed

[Jason Roehl]

There are considerate smokers and there are jerks...kinda like non-smokers. I think you'll find that a considerate smoker is polite and thoughtful in other situations as well...and a jerk is jerk...smoker or not.

Well said, KC. Actually, the worst (most impolite) smokers I've encountered were women. I've nearly been burned on several occasions by women talking "with their hands", including the one holding the cherry--completely oblivious to anyone around them. I've also been hit by cigarettes tossed out of car windows while I was riding my motorcycle, thankfully not in the face or eyes (sometimes you have to ride with the visor up, and sometimes no helmet :eek: but my later years saw nearly 100% helmet usage for that very reason--garbage getting kicked up in my face).

You don't sound like a jerk to me, KC. I hope you've put the smokes down for good, though!

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Well, at least I wasn't a jerk smoker... :o

I think what pushed me over the top in choosing not to smoke anymore is that I finally realized how offensive it can be to others, no matter how polite you try to be. It offended ME, and I was a smoker!

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Kirk, my uncle quit cold turkey for his wife's birthday. He was finally sick of the hassle of smoking or so he said. At a party all of the bathrooms were full so I used their's in the master suite. I found this list on the mirror:

Why I can't start smoking again:
1) So I don't stink
2) So I can afford to take my wife on the vacation she deserves
3) So I can go to my grand daughters wedding
4) So I can enjoy my retirment with my bride
5) So I can keep up with my sons (Grown sons, hunting and fishing)
6) So I don't have to sit in the cold away from the party
7) So people don't look at me like an outcast
8) So that I don't fail at something I have told everyone I will not fail at
9) So that I will not break my promise to my wife that I will quit.

There were a few others and I don't know what order they were in, but it was really touching.

He said he read it every day, he also kept a copy with him. When he felt like a smoke he read it. After reading it he said how could I have one now?

Anyway, I don't know if it will help you or not, but we are here for you if you need to chat.

You can do this!