A stoner's guide to quitting nicotine

That's great dude, even if your just contemplating it, that's cool, give your brain a chance to get used to the idea that you might not always be a smoker.

It's funny, I started when I was 12, I said I'd give up at 18, then 23, then 26, lol I just kept pushing it back to accomodate my habit. I got away with 'looking cool' smoking for ages, thought I was Bogart! (Or the female equivalent ) Suddenly, when I hit 28/29 everything started going down hill rapidly, my skin was aging way before it's time and my teeth looked like shit, it really crept up on me.
30 is a good age to give up.

I hear ya man, I've suffered with depression myself. It's weird, I used to be so grateful for a cig at times of stress or when feeling anxious, it was more important to me than oxygen in terms of calming my nerves. Only once I gave up did I realise how nicotine is escalating these feelings ten fold! It's a depressant, just like alcohol and it increases heart rate the minute you inhale, not what you need when feeling stressed. It's so easy to convince ourselves that it's calming us down or keeping us going, but that's the nicotine talking, not your conscious thought. It's a manipulative drug to say the least.

You also need more and more of it as time goes on, to get the same effect.

There is no good time to give up, really. At some point in the quitting process something will happen that will really test your ability to quit. For me it was a huge argument with the person I am closest to, it went on for hours and I never wanted to smoke so bad in all my life. But I'd already made it 3 weeks and decided to see it as a challenge. You've gotta change this shit into something positive, but if you do....the best bit of all.. however shit you think you feel now...if you manage to quit, there will not be a thing on earth that you don't feel that you can achieve. I am empowered since quitting, if I can quit that drug, that ruled my life for so many years, I can do anything, this is a wonderful feeling and has improved my confidence, my self-esteem and I haven't felt depressed or anxious in months.

Look at it this way, despite the difficulty rating, if you were to quit now, it could ultimately cure you of your depression as well. You know full well you are made of tough enough stuff to manage it, don't listen to the part of your brain controlled by the drug that tells you you can't do it now because.....w/e.

That's not a bad plan. Having a ready supply has definitely helped me.

^^hahaha, that's alright dude, looks like I ranted on behalf of us both! I'll shut up now, feel free to add more when your dad stops harshing your buzz!

Thanks for looking.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read it buddy, love ya man! I wanted to give something back to The City, it's changed my life man, it seems only fair!

 

There is no such thing as "just one cigarette" dude. You now know this to be true, next time you quit, you will be ready for this. The little demon in my head tried for at least 12 months to tell me I could have "just one", but you can't. Decide now, are you giving up or aren't you? Why would you want/need just one unless you had every intention of starting again? See how cunning nicotine is? It convinced you that just one would be fine - it's not. if you give up again and make it as far as 8 months, make sure you see yourself as a NON smoker, not an EX smoker that would smoke again if he could.

Gluck man.

 

Hey bright eyes. Don't bodge them with nicotine!

That’s ok man and it’s probably a sign that you won’t keep repeating this cycle forever. I could never understand how someone could smoke a bit then not have another one for a month! For me, it was every five minutes or nothing!! Lol. But you know me, everything in excess.


So, in order to understand why being around smokers makes you cave, you need to think about what in those moments is tempting you.
Is it the smell? In which case, why not just enjoy the smell of the other person’s cig.
Is it envy? They’re smoking and getting that buzz, you want it too….
Think about the thought process you go through in those moments. What does your brain tell you, to justify you having a smoke after a month of not going near them?

Is it possible that this is your addiction?

Have you made a conscious decision to try and quit? ‘Cos if ya wanna, ya gotta.

Sorry to launch loads of q’s at you! I promise establishing the answers are an important part in working out why we behave the way we do.

 

Thanks for looking and contributing zebra fish. It was a constant surprise to me how far down the line your addiction could still catch you out. Even now, occasionally my brain will say 'I bet you could have just one'.... It's a good thing my conscious mind knows this isn't true.

Keep strong man, you've done a very cool thing.

 

Thanks for reading my guide man.

That aspect is like anything else. It's only difficult if you let your brain tell you it is. Being with someone else who smokes doesn't have to mean it results in you smoking too. I'm not denying how hard it is, but it's no different to saying "I really need a cig after a meal, in the end that made me crack".
If you have made a conscious decision to become an non smoker, then it makes no difference who is smoking around you. It was always gonna happen, you can't stop other people smoking, so think in advance about how you will cope when it happens.

I can actually really enjoy the smell of someone else cig now, it doesn't bother me and it doesn't make me wanna smoke.

Look at the people smoking around you. As soon as you quit, you will start noticing differences between the way a smoker looks and the way you do. An executive smoker will look older than their years, have a gray tinge to their skin, and yeah you looked like that when you smoked too, and so did I , It's just that when we smoke, we can ignore it pretty effectively in order to justify keeping smoking.

There are varying degrees of smokers, but anyone who consistently goes back to the drug is addicted and must choose whether or not they wanna deal with it.

 

You're very welcome man, that shit makes me happy.

If everyone in Vegas smokes, do you really wanna follow the herd? Be the first Las Vegasan (?) to be a smug non smoker. Individuality ftw!

BTW, it is a side affect that everyone will seem to be smoking. It's all relative, talk to Einstein. If your girlfriend suddenly told you she was pregnant, you would be seeing babies and children everywhere.

Shoot me a pm if I can help dude, you're doing great.

Remember blades, your brain is just waiting to fuck you over with this stuff! If you feel like picking up a cig, just when you think you're doing great, take 5 mins to think about what you are doing, 'cos in five mins I bet you talk yourself out of it.

 

Being ill blows dude, but it's a good time to quit. and look at it this way, you won't get ill anything like as much when you're an established non smoker.

Yeah man, the mouth issues are normal, but you gotta leave it alone or you're gonna make it really sore. If your gums bleed do not brush harder! We all have a tendency to keep 'tongueing' ulcers, but when your quitting nicotine your mouth does become the focus of attention.
Distract your self with drinks through straws and gum if necessary.
Without looking at your mouth and not being a doctor and not knowing more about your circumstances, I can't say for sure that what you are experiencing is down to the quitting, if you are concerned, then phone your doctor for a chat and don't forget to mention that you are in the process of quitting.
Having said that, my mouth felt like crap for at least the first week of quitting. At least you don't feel like smoking huh?

So day three, you're doing GREAT! Stay strong man, focus on the fact that you are gonna be feeling like a waaaay healthier person soon. Shout if you need help.

 

As if there's anything I wouldn't do for ya!!

I didn't want you to feel interrogated, hated firing all those q's at ya! It wouldn't have mattered if from there you'd workshopped it on your own, so I didn't feel ignored.

Ya know, There aren't many people I would recommend this to, but if I were you, I would set a quit date (yeah, you're gonna have to read the guide again ) for sometime before you go to college, then in the two days before your quit day, smoke like a fooking trooper. Smoke like your life depends on it. Get twenty down you both days if you can. It seems as though your nutty (your word, not mine ) brain has found a way of maintaining your habit while convincing you that because you don't have that many, it ain't that bad. If you smoke until you feel like fag ash lil, I bet you'll feel more motivated to stick with the quit.
You're still young too man, it may be that you need a bit of a health scare to motivate you! So far, I bet you haven't seen too many negative effects to smoking, but trust Freedom, they're all just round the corner.

The fact that you have given some thought to all this means that the mechanical process of quitting has begun. Don't resist it. And I'm always here if you need encouragement or help.