Ciggyfree Blog & Gov Alert

When you quit smoking, you are making an investment of time and effort with the idea that you will have a future reward. Just like in the financial world, our goal is to have a reward that is greater than the amount we invest. The time, effort, and learning we put into quitting smoking are the equivalent of the currency we invest in a financial market.

We invest the time it takes to be free of the addiction so that we will have more time to live in the future. We put that time into the effort it takes to resist cravings and urges to smoke. We also put the time into learning ways to cope with the addiction, and in how to deal with our emotions in an acceptable manner.

To be successful at quitting, it takes the same planning, perseverance, adaptability, and patience that it takes to be successful on Wall Street. We need to plan our quits, and have a strategy for dealing with the known problems. We have to be willing to endure the hard times that will surely be in store for us. We have to be able to react to unexpected problems. And we have to wait for the rewards to manifest themselves.

Our investments will pay off, both in the long and short term. Over the long term, our bodies will heal themselves as much as they can. We will feel better, have more energy, look better, save money, and be in control of our lives. In the short term we will develop the skills, and the character, we need to reach our long term goals.

For smokers, quitting is the most important investment they can make, because the payoff is life.

zzyzx

I finally decided to add another item to my quit smoking tool kit - exercise. I decided that since I was making such a big improvement by quitting smoking, it should have a trickle down effect. Making the right choices in such an important area can lead to the idea that other things can stand improvement too. If I can quit smoking, I can do things like exercise, lose weight, and be President of the US.

Now, at this stage of the game - almost four months quit and exercising every day, I have to feel like Jim Morrison said in the song: “This is the strangest life I’ve ever known.” It feels very weird sometimes.

But I am growing into it now. One thing I did when I was out walking down a nice tree-lined street in town here, is practice my breathing. As I did so, I found myself thinking of childhood memories. It took a while to realize that I smelled the summer, and had not done so since I was 14. It still is a very nice smell, and I have missed it all these years.

Realizing I have the power to quit smoking was a catalyst for me. The idea that I have power to do the things I need to do to make me feel better is not limited to smoking. I eat better, exercise more, dress better, and have a better attitude towards being healthy.

We all have the power to heal if we just put it to work.

zzyzx

When I was going through my previous quits, I would read people’s comments in support groups a lot. One recurring theme I heard from the quitters who had much more time in than me was about the joy of being free from smoking. On the surface, that seems like a no-brainer. Even though I smoked all those years, I knew I was an addict. I knew I was figuratively chained to the cigarettes, by my own choice. But my concept of freedom from smoking as stopping the behavior was only superficial.

My thinking was completely backwards on this subject. I never felt free when quitting. I only felt free when I was smoking. The fact that I was an addict controlled by my drug of choice was not important. I shoved that knowledge aside because I didn’t want to do the hard work of quitting. So I let my addiction turn the truth around and I looked at my subservience as being free, sophistry, indeed.

The reason I never understood the difference is that I never examined the lies I told myself to support my smoking even in my previous attempts at quitting. I finally realized that I have to examine all of my previous ideas and attitudes about smoking, critically and with unbiased logic. It was then that I discovered to what extent I was lying to myself. I then understood that my feelings of being free to smoke were just another rationalization in support of my addiction.

The combination of my delusional thinking, and disregard of facts I knew to be true, never allowed me to really understand freedom from smoking as it truly is. It is more than an absence of behavior. It has nuances undreamed of in my formerly drugged mind. I do not have to think about smoking, I don’t need smoking paraphernalia, I don’t have to suffer the consequences of continued smoking, and I don’t have to make excuses for smoking. But also, and maybe more important than any other thing, I do not have to take the leash of lies that was leading me around before now.

Seeing the truth about my addiction for what it is, and not what I want it to be, is the most important change in me since I quit smoking. Understanding is more than a mere collection of facts. It is using the facts to perceive and comprehend the nature of something. And understanding sets us free

zzyzx

A great way to help you increase the chance of success in quitting smoking is to have the support of others who are quitting. There is no one better suited to understand what you are going through than people going through it now, or have gotten through it. There is a strong sense of camaraderie and community at all of the places I have looked to for support. The people there are always friendly and ready to help you in whatever way they can

It is not up to me to review or recommend web sites, chat rooms, newsgroups, mailing lists, or any other method of providing support. You will have to visit them yourself to see if it is the right format and atmosphere for you. I can tell you that while they have a lot in common, they are all different in a lot of ways. For instance, some support groups are totally un-moderated and people say whatever they want, including swear words. Other groups are moderated and don’t allow foul language. A search for quit smoking support groups in any search engine should give you a lot of choices to try out.

No matter what stage of quitting you are in, a support can help you, or you can help someone. People have great tips for starting out, and staying quit. And they could use your advice and perspective to help others. Support is a two way street - you get some and give some.

I recommend you join a support group if you can. I have made some very good friend in the ones I belong to. Being in a particular group is how I got to be invited here to share my thoughts and ramblings with you all. Quitting smoking is something that you have to do yourself; no one can make you or do it for you. But having friends to help you along the road is a very rewarding experience. All we quitters are in it together. Let’s help each other out.

zzyzx

To stay quit! Short and sweet, direct and straight to the point – just don’t light up. Sounds concise huh? It is as difficult or as simple as you want to make it.

You have the control, now use this knowledge to not light up again…

~robbbster

First off, I am a man, but I do have emotions. I don’t recall like talking about them, but I cast aside that silly cultural bias in an effort to help my fellow quitters. I will talk about two of my favorites that combine to make quitting the challenge it has been.

In all the years I smoked, the effect was to suppress my emotional responses to negative situations. I don’t remember ever smoking to make myself feel less happy, but many times I smoked to help ease depression, sorrow, shame, and all that other bad feeling stuff. I know, now, that nicotine increases dopamine levels in the reward circuits of the brain, thus leading to feelings of pleasure. So when my mood was down or angry, I perked back up, to an extent, with smoking. Now that my brain is not floating in a sea of nicotine, some of my feelings have been revealed to me in their full glory.

Of course my best emotion is anger, since I have practiced that one more than the others. I find that things that I would not care a bit about before, can and sometimes do make me mad. I snap at people more than I used to, and my patience is less a lot of times. This has decreased as the craving for cigarettes has let up. But the constant desire for, and fight against, smoking a cigarette can wear you down and make you mad. It happens, it’s human. Better mad than smoking.

Another emotion I am getting better at is depression. I see depression as anger turned inward. We all have the get depressed to a degree now and then. When I was smoking, the nicotine helped ease it up some. Now I have Wellbutrin, but it gets overwhelming sometimes. The worst enemy I have in this department is the addiction itself. It lies to me and tells me I am not worth the effort, I am inferior to other people, no one cares, I don’t care, and all kinds of other lies to entice me to feed it.

These two things I knew about from quitting before. I prepared myself for them, and did what I could to mitigate them. Still, I almost caved in at three months or so. I posted about that earlier. I did get through it, and that’s what counts.

I have never quit this long before. So I have few expectations about what the future holds as for emotional extremes. I will find out though, because I no longer self-medicate with nicotine.

zzyzx

Since the 1957 report suggested a link between smoking and lung cancer, the connection has been firmly established. Lung cancer now kills 20,000 people every year and health experts predict that life-time smokers have a 50% chance of dying of a smoking-related illness in middle-age.

It is also been established that tobacco smoking causes 25 different diseases including heart disease and strokes. By 2020, the World Health Organisation expects the worldwide death toll to reach 10 million, causing 17.7% of all deaths in developed countries.

There are believed to be 1.1 billion smokers in the world, 800 million of them in developing countries.

Source: BBC News [27 June 2006]
~robbbster

For a time, life compresses to the now.
Looking back creates doubt in yourself
Looking ahead reveals a mountain too high to climb
A new quit is a selfish thing
It has to be pampered, nurtured, encouraged
It needs all attention, constant cultivating.
Over time, the body heals, the mind adjusts
The addiction eases its death grip
Freedom at last, now a future, now a past
Renewed strength grows every day
Memories can be endured
Hopes and dreams can resume
The soul set free from domination, addiction, self-destruction
Human spirit triumphs in rebirth

zzyzx

When I was about a week or ten days into my quit, I had a really wierd thought. I was congratulating myself for a good start on my quit, and decided I needed a reward. So the reward I thought about was a cigarette. I thought about that for a minute, and realized it is pretty dumb. How is that a reward for quitting?

I have had many more encounters with junkie thinking since. The junkie in me sings siren songs of lies to entice me to feed my addiction. At times it is a very strong voice, sometimes a whisper. Sometimes it shuts up. Then I am happy.

What the junkie thinking tells me is just stupid. It says I can have just one cigarette. I know thats a lie. One will never be enough. It tells me I cannot quit, I don’t have what it takes. That’s a lie, I have quit and stayed quit until it started to get better. It tells me it’s not worth suffering the withdrawal, and I know it’s well worth enduring that and more. The junkie thinking never tells me the truth.

It’s important to recognize when you are thinking like a junkie. It is the voice of the addiction that’s fighting for it’s life, just like you are. You need to win that fight. Your life is more than a food processor for an addiction. Stand fast on the high ground of the truth, and you will be able to reject the lies, even your own.

zzyzx

In her post about the start of the Ciggyfree web site, robbbster stated that fighting the beast can be a shared experience. I know that is true, because of what happened with me a bit ago.

I was in the clutches of a major crisis with my quit. In spite of all I knew to be true about smoking, I was on the verge of failing. For three days the urge to smoke had dominated me. My addiction was flat out wearing me down with it’s constant greed to feed. I was sure that I would not last much longer.

I had not told robbbster that I was in that much trouble with my quit. I am too macho a man for that asking for help stuff. I am tough. Ha! Even though she did not know I was so close to ending my quit, she said something that got through to me. It was a phrase she had used in a post to another person. She said we all have the power to quit. It was a revelation to me. It was a lifeline. I learned a couple of things that day. One is, we all need help every once in a while. It is not a weakness, it’s being human. The other is, nothing is better than a good friend who has been through it, and knows all about it.

robbbster helped me saved my quit that day. I could not have saved it alone. I have thanked her for it. And I thank her again. It shows what Ciggyfree, and all the other support sites/groups/whatevers are for. And that is to help people stay free of the insidious addiction that kills us. That’s the mission.

zzyzx

I graduated from a liberal arts college. That means I had to take a lot of classes not related to my major, and some language classes. Of course, I decided to take the basic classes in some areas, because I just didn’t think they applied to my main goal. So in spite of myself, I did get a well rounded education. I was in the Air Force then, and took classes at night, along with helping raise the kids and coaching t-ball. With all that going on I had to study pretty hard, and some of it actually stayed with me.

I remember studying about Pavlov and his dogs in psychology 101. If you recall, he was the Russian scientist that studied the involuntary responses of dogs to some stimulus. He decided to use a signal prior to feeding his mutts, and watched how many quarts of saliva they would drool before dinner. How interesting. Well he did manage to develop some principles widely used in the study of psychology.

B F Skinner was a scientist that studied voluntary responses to a stimulus, and made up a whole branch of psychology called behaviorism. It took him a long time to get it all down on paper because he was working with human beings making choices.

I could have saved them both a lot of time, by showing them how nicotine craving can turn a human being into a big slobbering dog. Metaphysically speaking, of course.

zzyzx

OK, I won’t use foul language. But there is a place here in our small town that really makes me mad. So mad I will not do business with them. It is a nation-wide chain of drug stores, whose name is not important, the also offers a modest selection of various household and personal products.

One of those other products is cigarettes. And as if that is not enough, they have the prominently displayed right at the single cash register that is always open. Every single time I go in there I have to stand almost within arm’s reach of all those Wall-Street-designed, psychologically-studied-to-be-attractive, colorful-logo-sporting packages of cancer sticks.

What’s up with that? Some health care partner that is. So that’s why I go to the local drug store where you could not find a cigarette in the whole place.

zzyzx

Last 10 posts by zzyzx

• One Year Anniversary - Woooo Hoooo - Now Back to Work - March 6th, 2007
• Eleven Months!!!!!!! - February 6th, 2007
• Surviving the Holidays - January 4th, 2007
• More Work To Do - December 14th, 2006
• Winter Weather - December 9th, 2006
• Nine Months!!! - December 6th, 2006
• The Neverending Story - November 30th, 2006
• Not-so-happy Holidays - November 27th, 2006
• Thanksgiving - November 21st, 2006
• Still Some Craving - November 18th, 2006

I live in a small town surrounded by farm/ranch country. As I drive around the area on the back roads, I often pass by houses that I think are well designed and have interesting features. Like a deck that faces west. I always fantasize, when I see that, about sitting in a chaise lounge chair, with a cigarette in one hand, and a mint julep in the other, watching the sun set in a blaze of purple and red, with a hound dog named Belvedere at my feet. Of course I am dressed in a white suit with a white Panama hat.

zzyzx

Two guys, John and Jim, were out golfing one fine spring day. They played the first five holes behind a couple of women who were a little slower than they liked to play. So while waiting on the sixth tee box, John decides he will go ask them if the fellows could play through.

He jumps in the cart, drives half way to the two women, and slams on the brakes. He turns around and drives back to Jim, and says “I can’t go down there, one of them is my wife, and the other is my girlfriend!”

Jim says “I’m still not going to play behind them. I will go ask them if we can cut in front of them to play number seven, that way they won’t see you.”

He jumps in the cart, drives half way to the two women, and slams on the brakes. He turns around and drives back to John, and says “Small world, aint it?”

One day, a man stranded on a deserted island for a long time was sitting on the beach. He saw something strange in the water and watched it as it got closer. It turned out to be a snorkel tube approaching his pot on the beach.

When it got to shallow water, a woman in a skin tight wetsuit emerged. And what a woman! Tall, voluptuous, well-endowed with all the essential curves and bumps. She took off her mask and hood, revealing long blond hair and a face that could launch a thousand ships. She was the most beautiful woman the man had ever seen.

She waded out of the water, and as she did so, she unzipped her wetsuit a little. She pulls out a king-sized hersey’s bar, with almonds, and says “Hey, big boy, how long has it been since you had chocolate”?”

The man says “Lady, it’s been ten long years!” He grabs the candy bar and wolfs it down.

The woman unzips her wetsuit a little more, and pulls out a bottle of whisky. She asks the man “Hey, big boy, how long has it been since you had a drink?”

The man says “Lady, it’s been the same long ten years!” and grabs the bottle and chugs a huge drink, finishing with a fit of coughing.

The woman unzips the wetsuit even more, revealing even more of her perfect body. She asks “Hey, big boy, how long has it been since you had a good time?”

The man stares in amazement and says “Oh, lady, please tell me you have golf clubs in there!”

Last 10 posts by zzyzx

• One Year Anniversary - Woooo Hoooo - Now Back to Work - March 6th, 2007
• Eleven Months!!!!!!! - February 6th, 2007
• Surviving the Holidays - January 4th, 2007
• More Work To Do - December 14th, 2006
• Winter Weather - December 9th, 2006
• Nine Months!!! - December 6th, 2006
• The Neverending Story - November 30th, 2006
• Not-so-happy Holidays - November 27th, 2006
• Thanksgiving - November 21st, 2006
• Still Some Craving - November 18th, 2006

This quitting smoking business is the result of a long process. I first became aware that smoking causes health problems way back in the days when I had to hide my smoking from my mom. In all those years, I had vague ideas of problems I could get because of smoking, but didn’t really think I would get any of that stuff. As a typical man, I was impervious to health problems, and never needed to see a doctor because I felt fine. After a certain point, I began to realize that the abuse I was putting my body through was indeed catching up with me.

I suspected that I was having some health problems before I went to a doctor. I didn’t know specifically what was wrong with me, I didn’t know enough about anything medical in nature to make a guess. But, I knew the doctor would tell me to quit smoking, so I avoided going. I wanted to continue to smoke more than I wanted to get better. I finally felt forced to see the doctor because of something I thought was unrelated to smoking, but found out different. She convinced me that I needed to make major changes in the way I live or else face some real problems. So I quit again.

Now, after more than three months into my quit, I realize just how bad I did feel when I was smoking. I know why smoking made me feel bad, and why I feel better, because I looked for the information. It is out there. This site has a lot of smoking information, and there are many numerous sites that address specific health issues. In just a few short months, I have learned more about my health, and how my behavior affects it, than in my previous lifetime. Because I looked for it. I have thrown off the yoke of ignorance that has held me back from making intelligent choices in every aspect of my own health.

The single, most important thing I learned about my health is that I am responsible for it. Only I can make the decisions that affect my well-being. The doctor can only help me decide, and help me with treatment. The rest is up to me. Only I can do what needs to be done to make me feel better. For years, I have been irresponsible in my behavior. But I have changed that now. I have been making the right choices for three months now. So it can be done.

There will be a point, for each person, where it becomes too late to avoid catastrophic illness if we keep smoking. We cannot know which cigarette will be the one that pushes us over the edge. There is no label on it, it’s not highlighted in a different color, and there is no visible boundary. Each cigarette does its damage, and it all adds up. Assume responsibility - and just don’t smoke.

Today I was in meetings all day. I was out of town in a city where I have a strong mental association with smoking. I had to walk the gauntlet of smokers outside the entrance on more than one occasion. I was with friends that I had smoked with before. I am happy to report that even with all these triggers today I did not have even one craving. This is the first day I didn’t want to smoke since I quit. More than all the day or month milestones I have marked on this quit, I think this is very significant. This is what I have been waiting for. I don’t really want a cigarette, what I want is to not want a cigarette. And this is what happened today. Now, I am not thinking that I am done with my quit. I do not think I am home free and it’s all decided. I know there will be more challenges ahead. But now I also know that what I am working for is a tangible result that will happen. That result is that not smoking is what feels normal. Everything my quitbuddy/mentor robbbster told me is true. IT DOES GET BETTER!

Addiction devours

freedom, fortune, health, and life

Accelerated death

zzyzx

When you make the bold decision to quit smoking forever, you have signed on for a job of work. Just like every other job, you need the proper tools to be successful in quitting. Here are some of the tools I found to be helpful to me.

Determination: This is very important. You have fixed your intention on success. You need to keep your firmness of purpose through the hard times to come. Let nothing change your decision that smoking is bad. Keep your focus regardless of difficulties.

Patience: Quitting smoking is a process. You have to go through the whole process. You can’t get impatient for the good days to get here. You can’t skip the hard parts. The bad cravings, urges, and fantasies will go away. Just wait.

Trust: Have faith in the quitters who have done this for a long time. Listen to what they say, and keep faith that when they tell you it gets better, it does. Try the things that others suggest to help you out, they are speaking from experience.

Stubbornness: This one helps me a lot. I am naturally a stubborn person. When the worst of the withdrawal grabs me in a stranglehold, I sometimes just refuse to give in. The word NO is a good mantra, at times.

Self Respect: This is an essential tool. You are worth the effort to quit. Never, ever, give up on yourself. You are important, to yourself, and to your family and friends. You are important to your fellow quitters. Always remember - it DOES matter!

ODAT: You can’t live more that one day at once. If you focus on One Day at a Time, you will build up those one days to weeks, months, and years. When it seems too hard, just focus on not smoking today. Or even just right now.
These are the things I have found that help me. You can probably think of other things. Use whatever helps. Stop killing yourself - never, ever smoke!

zzyzx

Hello there. Welcome to the ciggyfree blog. I quit smoking on the 6th of March, 2006. This time, anyway. There have been other quits, but in that, I am normal. I may be abnormal in most other ways, but a lot of us ex-smokers tried more than once to quit.

I have been asked by my quit buddy, who is the web mistress of this site, to contribute my thoughts, impressions, rants and or raves to this blog. So I will be glad to help out in any way I can. I know how difficult quitting can be. We are all different and the effects of withdrawal are not uniform. Some people tell me that when they quit smoking they never looked back. Others have to fight the urge for a long time. Most of us fall between the extremes.

As for my background, I am not able to park in the senior citizen’s reserved spaces at Wal-mart yet, but AARP is sending me informational brochures almost weekly. I have smoked well more than half my life. For the last few years I was at about 25 or so a day. More than that in previous years. I have smoked in twenty five states and four other countries. I have smoke premium brands and generic brands. I smoked way beyond the point where I really liked it anymore, and was pretty tired of the habit.

I have had serious efforts to quit a number of times. I have tried many different ways. I used NRT, both patches and gum. I have used medications, both real wellbutrin and zyban (which are supposed to be the same but to me they are not). I tried joining support groups and quitting with quit buddies. All of my previous attempts were unsuccessful. The reasons I went back to smoking were all pretty much the same. I will go into that later.

The process of quitting is, for most of us, the hardest thing we will ever do. The addiction is relentless. It has to be purged from your body and your mind. It will not go quietly. I know it is not a living thing, but it is analogous to a parasite. It needs to be fed, and when it isn’t it makes you know it is displeased with you.

People who are engaged in such a tremendous effort share a common bond with others who have quit. If you are quitting smoking, then it truly does not matter to me how you are different otherwise. I am on your side. I want you to be successful. Whatever it takes, however I can help, whoever you are, just don’t smoke.

zzyzx