Quitting is Contagious

[emay]

 

[antelope19]

[kellerb]

Checking in.  1 year today. 


I still miss the chantix boners.

[mbw]

Checking in.  1 year today. 


I still miss the chantix boners.

thats awesome man!  good job.

[Buffalo Budd]

Checking in.  1 year today. 


I still miss the chantix boners.

Sweetness, nice work KB. 

[sls.stormyrider]

Great work

[fastfingers12]

I quit Feb 07.

Don't fool yourself, facing the truth that smoking is a disgusting and deadly habit is the fastest way to quit.

That's why I put that pic up earlier of what a healthy vs smokers lung looks like.

Thats why I had to quit dipping as well. seeing pictures of rotten teeth and gums scared the shit out of me.

[Thrillhouse]

Lets try this one more time. With feeling.

[Buffalo Budd]

Lets try this one more time. With feeling.

Good luck man, you got this.
Just passed the 2 year mark myself, booya!!!

[Thrillhouse]

After yesterday's and todays travel debacles it has been very difficult.  Staying strong Though

[VA $l!m]

figured i'd put this here.
i found this portion of a medical report today when i was searching for info regarding Chronic Pain.
i hadnt heard much related to any studies on the subject before, but i can attest that i have personally had a much, much harder time considering quitting since my pain issues began.


http://journals.lww.com/clinicalpain/Abstract/2014/03000/Ecological_Momentary_Assessment_of_Smoking.4.aspx


Clinical Journal of Pain:
March 2014 - Volume 30 - Issue 3 - p 205-213
doi: 10.1097/AJP.0b013e31829821c7
Original Articles
Ecological Momentary Assessment of Smoking Behavior in Persistent Pain Patients

Dhingra, Lara K. PhD*,†; Homel, Peter PhD‡,§; Grossman, Bella MA∥; Chen, Jack MBS*; Scharaga, Elyssa BA¶; Calamita, Steven BS*; Shin, Jae MPH*; Portenoy, Russell MD*,#

Collapse Box
Abstract

Objectives:

Smoking is associated with chronic pain and pain-related functional impairment. Some studies suggest that pain activates smoking urges and others suggest that smoking is analgesic. We evaluated these associations using ecological momentary assessment, a method for real-time measurement of health-related phenomena.

Methods:

For 1 week, 36 chronic pain patients who smoked a mean of 17.5 (SD=9.4) cigarettes per day completed multiple daily assessments on a handheld computer.

Results:

The sample included 67% women and 39% whites; 67% had back pain, with an average (SD) worst pain severity during the past week of 8.6 (1.5) on a 0 to 10 numeric rating scale. Patients completed an average (SD) of 44 (24) random assessments. At each assessment, the patient recorded pain "right now" on a 0 to 10 scale, whether he/she was "about to smoke," and if he/she had "just smoked in the past 30 minutes," pain before smoking. After controlling for other significant correlates of pain, patients who were about to smoke had more pain than at other times (M [SD]=6.5 [2.3] vs. 5.2 [2.4]; P<0.01), but pain before and after smoking was not different (M [SD]=6.1 [2.2] vs. 5.9 [2.3]; P=0.18).

Discussion:

These findings support the hypothesis that smoking behavior is triggered by pain, but smoking is not analgesic. Future studies should clarify potential explanatory mechanisms for this pain-related trigger and evaluate tailored cessation strategies for pain patients.

Copyright © 2013 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

[McGrupp]

I've been a regular (~1 pack/day+) smoker for about 8-9 years ...

Which means I started smoking regularly when I was about 16.

I've never tried quitting, but I've thought about it a lot. Failure was always my biggest concern, so I never gave it a shot.

I decided yesterday after going through a particularly ugly bout of smoker's cough post-tour (I went through probably 400+ cigarettes in 14 days) to finally quit. I smoked my last cig at 3pm yesterday.

This is a super bloggy post but I just feel like I need to share with anyone I possibly can, for the purpose of accountability.

If anyone has any tips or tricks for getting around the little habitual moments of smoking, that's what I feel like I need the most. Like getting in the car is tough, finishing a meal is tough, not really taking a break at work is tough, etc.

Also I was skeptical about the whole appetite thing, and maybe it's just in my head, but even after > 24 hrs I feel SO MUCH hungrier than usual.

I've heard tea tree toothpicks are good for the oral fixation.

[runawayjimbo]

I might not be the best source as I've fallen back into being a semi-regular smoker after quitting for ~10 yrs (soon to be ex, again), but I found the habitual addiction to be far more powerful than the physical one. Like you said, getting in a car was a big trigger for me (still is: I could smoke a butt on my porch and then jump in the car 2 mins later and light up another). So I found anything to distract from my mouth and hands was helpful. You mentioned toothpicks, which might be good, although I'd worry having a stick in my mouth would make me think of a butt so I usually went with any kind of gum. Don't neglect your hands either as that (for me anyway) was part of the ritual. To address that, I picked up a yo-yo. I would carry it around with me anytime I was going somewhere where I used to smoke: hikes, the beach, setting on the porch, definitely while drinking. Stress balls were good too, not the real squishy ones, but the foamy once that bounce so I could squeeze it or dribble it around.

You will definitely notice a difference pretty quickly so if you can get through the first week or so, it starts to feel so much better you'll want to keep it going. That's not to say you won't fall back (I'm exhibit A), but if you can get through those first couple of days you be surprised how quickly it becomes "easy."

Good luck, man. I hope to will be joining you in the "former" category myself real soon.

[emay]

A TON of my friends in bmore have just quit cigs and all got the E cigs. Its kinda cheating, but its like waning yourself off cigs but still getting nicotine intake.

They said its been helping a lot and you can actually measure out the nictotine and do less and less each day to get off the e cig.

[VA $l!m]

I've been a regular (~1 pack/day+) smoker for about 8-9 years ...

Which means I started smoking regularly when I was about 16.

I've never tried quitting, but I've thought about it a lot. Failure was always my biggest concern, so I never gave it a shot.

I decided yesterday after going through a particularly ugly bout of smoker's cough post-tour (I went through probably 400+ cigarettes in 14 days) to finally quit. I smoked my last cig at 3pm yesterday.

This is a super bloggy post but I just feel like I need to share with anyone I possibly can, for the purpose of accountability.

If anyone has any tips or tricks for getting around the little habitual moments of smoking, that's what I feel like I need the most. Like getting in the car is tough, finishing a meal is tough, not really taking a break at work is tough, etc.

Also I was skeptical about the whole appetite thing, and maybe it's just in my head, but even after > 24 hrs I feel SO MUCH hungrier than usual.

I've heard tea tree toothpicks are good for the oral fixation.

i used to use the teatree toothpicks. they worked pretty good for me the last time i quit.
good luck bro.