Struggling slightly this morning - Advice p... - No Smoking Day

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Struggling slightly this morning - Advice please

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23 Replies

Good morning all,

I've had a strange feeling this morning - I'm not sure if you could call it physical cravings but certainly physcological cravings.

My brain seems to be thinking about smoking a lot more but I haven’t felt this way for a good month or so, it’s very odd that all of a sudden the urge to smoke has it me, especially as I was so strong on my Saturday night out boozing.

I am only 7 days away from 3 months and I’ve read that 3 months can be a difficult milestone so perhaps this is what I have to deal with over the coming weeks.

I know I’ll be strong enough to not give in but it’s not nice when these thoughts and feelings hit you out of the blue.

Thank you for listening and I welcome any comments.

Mark

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23 Replies
nsd_user663_34855 profile image
nsd_user663_34855

Hi Mark

I think you might be spot on about the terribles threes. A lot of people say if you can beat the three month wobble then you're well on your way to having beaten it. I'm thinking that the three month would probably hit hard as you've gone so long without thinkig about it, and also it's the last ditch attempt by the monster to reel you back in for good.

Try and stay focused on getting past the three month milestone and then you can tell us lot whether it's true or not ;)

Stay strong :)

Pip

nsd_user663_35351 profile image
nsd_user663_35351

Perhaps I should clairfy - 7 days until I am in to my 3rd month.

nsd_user663_35351 profile image
nsd_user663_35351

Thanks Pip,

I really appeciate your support and I guess I just need to carry on and roll with the punches.

Perhaps I need to think of a new way to keep my mind occupied during the mornings because work is certainly slow at the moment.

nsd_user663_35439 profile image
nsd_user663_35439

According to loads of webpages, the three month jitters are due to change of season - a pile of triggers that you haven't thought about bite you on the bottom!!! Clocks have just gone back, its getting colder, fireworks being let off every night, Christmas ads on TV - You used to smoke the last time all this was going on!!!

Keep strong, jitters will soon be gone :)

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nsd_user663_35351

Dave,

Thank you for your post and I think you have hit the nail firmly on the head - That is exactly how I feel , yesterday I walked home from work for the first time in months and I would be seriously smoking during my 30 minute walk.

Also there are lots of Xmas parties coming up and the festive season means alcohol. I just need to get through the next couple of months and I should be in a much stronger place.

nsd_user663_35121 profile image
nsd_user663_35121

Hi Mark,

I felt like that yesterday (day 22). Out of the blue with no warning.

Maybe it IS the dreaded "threes"?

I suppose there will be these occasional moments where we feel all nostalgic, and maybe its ok to remember and not be scared of it.

You're not going to smoke so you can deal with it and therefore you can look forward to all those xmas parties.

You'll be much sweeter to kiss under the misteltoe!!!

Well done to getting to Month 3

nsd_user663_35351 profile image
nsd_user663_35351

Thanks Elizabeth but not quite there yet but confident I will be soon.

It's an interesting point that you make "nostalgia" - It is almost as if I am romanticising smoking at the moment whereas last Saturday I was doing anything but, very strange how quickly my mind-set has changed.

Time to read back over some previous posts and revisit Alan Carr this evening I think, I guess this is just all part of the process of recovery.

nsd_user663_35913 profile image
nsd_user663_35913

Hi Mark.

I am a couple of weeks behind you but can relate - most days now are fine with hardly no cravings at all and then all of sudden they hit like a steam train....but the good thing is that they do pass. All you've got to do is to get through today. Could be bad tomorrow again - but very probably not and anyway, that's tomorrow so whatever:D. I had a really bad day yesterday and today is probably ones of the best so far so go figure - who understands these things. The main is that you not going to smoke so these cravings today are just something to be a bit annoyed about!

As a matter of interest - since you've given up - how many cigarettes would you have smoked? And don't forget to count the extra ones when drinking ;)

Fellie

:D

nsd_user663_6426 profile image
nsd_user663_6426

You're doing great Francob...you know you're not going to smoke. I'm a long way behind you. I don't want to go through Day 1 again...do you? X

nsd_user663_34855 profile image
nsd_user663_34855

It's an interesting point that you make "nostalgia" - It is almost as if I am romanticising smoking at the moment

Interesting theory......I think that's exactly what I am doing. I have been really pining for the damn things the last few days :eek:

Pip

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nsd_user663_35351

Hi Fellie,

My little iPhone app tells me that I would of smoked approximately 1100 cigarettes - pure madness when you really think about it.

Lisa - I never want to go through day 1 again, that is for sure !!

Pip - That's how I have been feeling - Most of the movies I’ve been watching lately are not helping either - I might have to start watching kids movies instead just so I do not have to watch the action hero lighting up every other scene. lol

nsd_user663_34855 profile image
nsd_user663_34855

Pip - That's how I have been feeling - Most of the movies I’ve been watching lately are not helping either - I might have to start watching kids movies instead just so I do not have to watch the action hero lighting up every other scene. lol

I agree Mark!

I watched that Constantine film last week with Keanu Reeves, all he did was B***dy well smoke throughout the whole film. The only redeeming factor was that in the film he suffers from lung cancer. The devil then proceeds to remove the cancer and the last image was Keanu chewing a piece of gum instead of smoking a fag, and looking forward to life rather than death! All's well that ends well from a "smokings not good for you" perspective but I still had about 2 hours of Malboro propoganda whilst watching the film....:eek:

I may take your advice and sit with my daughter to watch TV. Don't think anyone on Wizards of Waverley Place is old enough to smoke :D

Pip

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nsd_user663_35351

I agree Mark!

I watched that Constantine film last week with Keanu Reeves, all he did was B***dy well smoke throughout the whole film. The only redeeming factor was that in the film he suffers from lung cancer. The devil then proceeds to remove the cancer and the last image was Keanu chewing a piece of gum instead of smoking a fag, and looking forward to life rather than death! All's well that ends well from a "smokings not good for you" perspective but I still had about 2 hours of Malboro propoganda whilst watching the film....:eek:

I may take your advice and sit with my daughter to watch TV. Don't think anyone on Wizards of Waverley Place is old enough to smoke :D

Pip

How funny Pip, I remember that movie vividly and you are right Keanu is a serious smoker all the way through, I really do not think I could sit through that at the moment - It really is propaganda though, I am only just realising how many subconscious associations I have with smoking, this has been an educating period of my life.

nsd_user663_34855 profile image
nsd_user663_34855

I have read somewhere (one of my many Google trawls on how bad smoking is) that when governments banned TV advertisment of Cigarettes, they got round it by paying filmstars/producers to show people smoking and highlight the specific brands during their films and programmes. Bit naughty really but I think it's true. Why else would Keanu Reeves smoke through a whole film, and it had no real part to the story line did it ??

Anyway, now we've de-railed your original thread somewhat, I hope you are feeling a little better this afternoon :)

Pip

nsd_user663_35439 profile image
nsd_user663_35439

It did - Constantine was trying to kill himself...hence the blackened lungs

nsd_user663_34855 profile image
nsd_user663_34855

It did - Constantine was trying to kill himself...hence the blackened lungs

Mmm Dave I see your point.....I was probably so busy getting agitated about the constant smoking I failed to digest that point! Presumably he wanted to kill himself by smoking as oppose to suicide again ???

Why couldn't he have killed himself by overeating.......oh hang on, I can't watch food either whilst I'm quitting :eek: must not overeat......must not overeat......!! :D

Pip

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nsd_user663_35351

Feeling much better this afternoon, maybe the huge lunch followed by chocolate cake has something to do with it, haha.

nsd_user663_35351 profile image
nsd_user663_35351

Just Read this post wirtten by Edd in another thread, this has really helped me this afternoon - Great words

Closing in on 6 months

I've lurked this forum since March 5th, 178 days ago; coming here on bad days and reading the comments of so many others who have decided to leave smoking behind them. The level support I watch from afar is awesome, really. I have taken a guilty pleasure in watching other's efforts to help others without offering any of my own input. Yet now that I am only 6 days away from day 184, I feel as though it would be a good time to make a stranger's thanks to everyone for their inspiring comments and their insight into their struggles, their bravery, their passion for bettering themselves.. their will to live. And to live without playing a pointless chemical gamble 20 or so times a day.

I consider it largely pointless to explain my 'story', my reasons for smoking - they are the same as everybody else and nobody else. The reason for quitting is just as generic; just as obvious. The only thing which holds any relevance, and has done for the last 178 days, is how I have dealt with the quit, and, within this, how I have specifically dealt with the psychological battle with myself.

The likelihood of failure before a 6 month period (factoring in a 'cold turkey' approach, alongside depression, anxiety and panic-attacks) gave me a 99.4% chance of failure. In other words, for every 1000 "me"s, 6 would succeed in quitting for 6 months, and 994 would fail.

I am no wordsmith, and I am sure my words will be misinterpreted to some degree. All I hope to get across is that we are all much much better than the chemical dependency we have managed to find ourselves -seemingly- battling against. After no longer than a handful of weeks, there is no battle with smoking or nicotine. It is simply a battle against the manifestation of what smoking "stood for" - the residue within the psyche. This dependency - the desire to smoke, the yearning, the fond memories of the routine - these are the elements of a smoke-screen.. of a weakness brought about by the dependancy we all succumbed to when we found ourselves smoking regular amounts each day. There is only a battle within. Pause for a moment? Listen to your silence. That is precisely how small that battle can be.

According to the DSM-IV categorisation of chemical dependency, I am a junkie. But I am 6 days away from winning. You can win too.

nsd_user663_6426 profile image
nsd_user663_6426

yeah francob...that post by Edd really makes you think differently about smoking....

Also pmsl at the Constantine convo....just because I'm a geek. The movie was made from an 80's comic book called Hellblazer, the main character (John Constantine) chain smokes in the comic (it defines his character, but don't ask me why, I haven't actually read these comics just heard about em).

I had to switch Downton Abbey off Sunday night cos William is bloody smoking in every scene he's in, also I found Holby City hard yesterday due to a smoking scene....argh please don't put cigs on the T.V.!

nsd_user663_35351 profile image
nsd_user663_35351

It does make me wonder when production companies are putting together TV dramas and movies if smoking is actually in the script or if it is something added in following discussions with cigarette companies ? Or just based on what they believe the character would be like?

I mean I know that as people quitting a long term addiction to nicotine we are going to notice smokers a lot more but at the moment it seems that every time I skip a channel someone is lighting up, anyone aware of the smoking laws within entertainment ? I am aware that advertising was banned a few years back !

nsd_user663_6426 profile image
nsd_user663_6426

This is an interesting read...if a bit long and concerning the U.S.A....but interestingly although the prevalence of smoking has been declining since the 70's and 80's in the U.S. it's presence in the movies has increased. hmmmmmm

cancercontrol.cancer.gov/tc...

nsd_user663_35439 profile image
nsd_user663_35439

Due to Sky+ & Virgin Tivo (and illegally downloading anything good;)) adverts are being skipped over, therefore companies are going to start paying for product placement on programmes. As tobacco companies cannot advertise they are doing it already, however it should be less prevalent with everyone else joining in!!!

The tobacco companies are now targetting Chinese, Asian & South American populations as these are the growth areas for them.

Ratings on films for scenes of smoking are being discussed at the moment.

nsd_user663_35351 profile image
nsd_user663_35351

Iinteresting extract from your link Lisa.

"Mekemson and colleagues found that

most top box-office movies from 1991 to

2000 had some tobacco use. Polansky and

Glantz 26 found that, of U.S. films released

between 1999 and 2003, 80% included

smoking. Similarly, content ****yses of top

box-office movies from 1988 to 1997 indicate

that most movies (87%) portrayed tobacco

use"

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