After being off the tabs for two and a half months I decided to have "just one" cigar on Christmas Eve.
On Christmas Day I smoked the rest of the pack (which I had promised myself I would throw away after having my "just one" the night before)
By the 28th I was smoking a pack of cheap cigarillos (17) a day
By New Years Day I was starting to cough again when I woke up in the morning.
By Sunday I was back to feeling lousy and tired.
I haven't had one now since I went back to work on Monday and I'm going through the first-week cravings all over again. I really, really craved one this morning but I didn't have one.
This is all my own daft fault so I'll put up with the consequences, just thought I would post this to try to put off anybody who is thinking of having "just one".
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Nozmo
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Nozmo, great advice and may I add as well... If you do go and smoke one, don't push your luck and continue, just snap out of it straight away, back on tge horse and carry on.
During this quit, I've had 5 incidents where I thought it would be a great idea to have just one.
In every single one of those episodes, I didn't actually smoke it, I managed to stop myself
If you allow yourself to get into that line of thinking you're walking into relapse.
Quitting is work in progress, relapse is part of learning.
Instead of feeling defeated, carry on!
You fell, no biggie! Carry on and learn from it.
Well done Nozmo, I know you have too much going on and you're still here...so respect dude!
In a year time it will make no difference if you smoked 1 week or not.
After being off the tabs for two and a half months I decided to have "just one" cigar on Christmas Eve.
On Christmas Day I smoked the rest of the pack (which I had promised myself I would throw away after having my "just one" the night before)
By the 28th I was smoking a pack of cheap cigarillos (17) a day
By New Years Day I was starting to cough again when I woke up in the morning.
By Sunday I was back to feeling lousy and tired.
I haven't had one now since I went back to work on Monday and I'm going through the first-week cravings all over again. I really, really craved one this morning but I didn't have one.
This is all my own daft fault so I'll put up with the consequences, just thought I would post this to try to put off anybody who is thinking of having "just one".
Ah Nozmo, excellent post and well done for sharing especially for the new year quitters, I really feel this is going to be your quit!
Of course it is better not to have a cigarette once you quit but if you have a strong motivation smoking actually shouldn't be such a temptation.
I haven't smoked for a long time but after it has passed about half a year since quitting I was at a party and I wondered what it would taste like to have a smoke after such a long time.
I ended up almost vomiting
This way I learned that after half a year cigarette tastes like burning garbage.
The best result of quitting is when you are not actively controlling yourself in order "not to slip up" but just don't want to smoke.
By the way, now I can't stand the smell of lit cigarette but strangely i enjoy the smell of unlit cigar or cigarette.
I hate the cigarettes, I didn't smoke because I enjoy them, not at all!
I can't stand them! The smell... Horrible!
I smoke because I'm a junkie, even not liking it, my junkie brain got me into thinking that I need it. That's the danger.
Nope!
...and if you / do, stop straight away, get back on the horse and carry on.
RoisinO1Administrator3 Years Smoke Free in reply to
I wouldn't class myself as a junkie either for smoking cigs(sadly, I have a family member a recovering heroin addict and would never consider classing myself the same as them). I get what your saying about the brain and that, but I did enjoy smoking especially for happy occasions, celebrations, holidays, after a tasty meal, on a warm summers evening sitting out, sad times, stressful times, etc... I gave up smoking because I knew it was going to eventually kill me....and I hopefully will never ever put another cig into my mouth again....
I used to be a great subscriber to the 'just one won't hurt' theory, hence the reason it's taken me so long to get the hang of not smoking and why I've had so many failed attempts at quitting.
It is a hard habit to break and there will always be times when that 'just one' feeling will crop up, especially in the early days, so I think we just have to expect it and decide if it's really worth giving in to.
I wish I could say there was a quick fix but I never managed to find one until I realized I had to either make a decision to take my quit seriously or just give up on quitting altogether. Believe me it's taken me a long time to see the light and it hasn't been easy.
I did miss smoking and there were times when I thought it would be easier just to give in to temptation and throw in the towel but I wanted to quit more than I wanted to smoke (and I seriously wanted to smoke so many times).
I now know that I simply cannot have another cigarette because if I do it will be my downfall. I just don't want to go back there again.
As time goes on the cravings do become manageable and eventually almost disappear until they aren't a problem. You might not forget that you used to be a smoker but you will reach a point when you feel that you're fed up with smoking and that it's not worth worrying about because you don't need it.
Quitting is different for all of us but it is doable so just hang on in there until you get the hang of it.
Nozmo I'm probably the worst qualified person on here to give advice about quitting but what I can say is that you've just got to keep at it til you reach the point where you can't be bothered to give in to the twinges that come with it. That time will come because I actually think that at long last it's happened to me. It was like a constant merry go round that I couldn't get off and that's because I always felt something was missing whenever I tried to give up smoking. Then I started to tell myself that old cliche that by quitting I was gaining rather than losing - I used to hate hearing it but finally I realized it was true.
You don't forget about smoking overnight but I wish that was possible. Sometimes I still get the urge to smoke because for reasons I can't for the life of me understand I did enjoy it - I must have been addicted to it in my mind . It was just something I felt I couldn't do without even though I was fed up with everything about it. Now I can just ignore these feelings thank goodness but I know they're still lurking somewhere in the back of my mind. I just accept this and hope it will pass (I'm only 5 months into my quit and I've smoked for over 30 years so I suppose it's only to be expected).
What I can honestly say is that I've reached the point where I don't want to go back to being a slave to smoking anymore and if you can just keep going for a while I know you will reach that point too.
"What I can honestly say is that I've reached the point where I don't want to go back to being a slave to smoking anymore and if you can just keep going for a while I know you will reach that point too."
Hi Linda.... Well said and very true the fact that somewhere in our quit journey we reach the point where we know this is for real and I never want to smoke again....I can not pinpoint the exact time ore day but it happened and that is when you almost forgot that you ever smoked. That is when you really starts to notice how awful a smoker smells and even feel sorry for them if you look at them sucking on that cigarette believing, as I did for many years, that that is the way to cope....
I still believe that we will always think of and remember that last "nice" cigarette we smoked....!!!!
I knew it Nozmo! Over 2 months now! You are being very modest....
From reading your posts over the last few weeks, you are in a great place in your quit, you really should be so proud of yourself and came back fighting and are winning big time!
I am delighted for you, keep it up and for anyone struggling at the moment, this is an excellent example of not letting the nicodemon back in and take over... you definitely deserve to celebrate the great work Nozmo, congrats!!
Yeah I'm feeling pretty comfortable with it at the minute but still get the odd sudden urge. I got into my car to go to work on Friday morning and got a massive craving for some reason. They're easier to shrug off these days though. I'm not resting on my laurels but all in all I'm pretty happy so far.
I would have been a couple of weeks behind you if I had stayed on it from when I first joined the forum (Oct 2015, quit on 30th September). You deserve A LOT of credit for what you have done.
Thanks very much for the message by the way, really appreciate it!
RoisinO1Administrator3 Years Smoke Free in reply to Nozmo
Not at all Nozmo.... know what you mean about the out of blue cravings - had one this morning shortly after I woke up, was lying in bed and got that summer smell in the air and thought, 'a smoke would be lovely' but only lasted for less than a minute, turned on the radio and it went!
70 days is great and time is just flying by, can't believe its almost 6 months for me next week. It will be no time you will be typing the same......
Yeah that occurred to me too this morning. Not so much a craving but I thought about how I used to always head out to the garden, with the remains of a pack of twenty and my lighter, on a sunny day.
What's the actual date of your 6 month milestone?
RoisinO1Administrator3 Years Smoke Free in reply to Nozmo
Anyway, double celebration for you! I'll have a pint of Guinness (or six) on your behalf and send you congratulations. (probably best to do that before I've had the Guinness)
It's true that only one will not seem enough for anyone, and they'll want more. Just one puff can bring back the addiction, and trust me, bloody hell trust me, you don't want that!
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