New suite, new tiles and new flooring. All lovely and shiny so off I go to the shops yesterday to buy the finishing touches. New bath mats, toilet roll holder and smelly candle.
I run the bath fill it with bubbles and light the candle. Bear in mind I've not picked up a lighter in nearly 5 months. (5 months this Sunday:D)
As I pressed the lighter my body went mad, it wasn't so much a crave as an expectation that nicotine was on it's way. Like when your mouth waters at the sight of a lovely plate of food when you're really hungry.
It was an amazing reaction and made me realise how much I'm still addicted to nicotine or my subconcious mind is at any rate. It did not make me want to smoke, I'm past that. It did however emphasise how strong the connection is between smoking and certain situations.
It served as a really good warning for me that no matter how much time has passed, an action/person/place that we associate with smoking is always going to cause a trigger the first time we do it or meet them or go there.
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Pavlov was a Russian physiologist who was known for his studies on Classical conditioning. This involved conditioned and unconditioned responses to various stimuli and he used dogs in some of his experiments...
Yeah you're right: definitely a conditioned response. I was waiting for the smoke to hit the back of my throat and was almost surprised when it wasn't there.
Never experienced anything like that before when quitting. Mind you never got this far before so maybe it's normal.
It's amazing the small things that can trigger us off, I haven't had the one with candles as I light them all the time so I use a lighter most days but I can see how the association would be there if you haven't used a lighter in 5 months:eek: crisis averted there Sue well done xxx
Good grief, what is it with you wimmin and candles??:eek::eek:
As I frequently point out to Mrs. Egg, after she has adorned the dining table with enough candle power to illuminate a modest lighthouse, we have electricity in these new-fangled modern times:o
There's no point whatsoever in trying to explain, Eggy, because a bloke will never get it. OH is just the same...
Re the Pavlov's Dog response, I had a 'pav' when on holiday recently, after I had finished unpacking everything and sorting out the kitchen of our holiday let. I put the kettle on for a cuppa and had the strongest pav imaginable. Of course, it's the first holiday we've had since I quit and that was always one of my 'time for a fag' moments. It only happened that once and I don't suppose it will do so next time we're away but it was overwhelming for a few seconds. Wierd.
'What a coincidence, walking home from town yesterday having done the shopping, rain in my face, thought, can't wait to get in put the kettle on and have a fag.' She was gobsmacked, she's been quit 18years.
I think the difference now is that I'm getting to the stage that I'm surprised that the thought is still there. There's no automatic response of I want a cigarette and that awful phase where you start to doubt your decision.
I remember feeling very bored of quitting and fighting off every urge and if my sister had said this to me on week 7 or 8 I might have thought what's the point. She's been quit 18 years and still wants a cigarette.
I didn't realise that after 18 years for my sister it's not a crave but just a ghost echo lost in her head. She was laughing about it as something funny that had happened, definitley not a need to smoke.
I've never seen the point in candles either but I got drawn in by shiny new bathroom. All the media stuff where people are relaxing in a lovely bath, there's always soft music and candles.
Got to be honest didn't do much for me so it might well be going in the bin today as I can't see it getting lit again. Quite tricky to read by candlelight I found. Skiddaw I think you could be right, it's a male female thing. I have been accused of being quite blokey in the past especially with things like home furnishings, clothes, make up etc.
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