Ciggyfree Blog & Gov Alert

Everybody knows that withdrawal comes with the territory of quitting but that doesn’t make it any easier. It can be hard and even frustrating for the person quitting to deal with withdrawal and for those around the person. But understanding what’s going on, physically and psychologically, can help and can assist you in helping a friend quit.

• When smokers quit, they begin to go through some changes, some physical, some emotional. The physical symptoms, while annoying and difficult, are not life threatening. Nicotine replacement products such as the patch or gum can help reduce many of these physical symptoms. For most smokers, the bigger challenge is the psychological part of quitting.

• This psychological part of smoking is really hard to beat because smoking becomes linked to so many things - things like waking up in the morning, eating, reading, watching TV, drinking coffee, etc. It’s like a ritual. Your body becomes used to having a cigarette with certain activities and will miss this link when you first become smoke-free.
• It will take time to “un-link” smoking from these activities. Unfortunately, the patch or gum can’t relieve the psychological need to smoke. That’s why it’s so important for the smoker to create a plan to deal with situations that trigger their urge to smoke. Smokers can also ask friends and family for support with simple things like walking around the building before class instead of having a cigarette.

Withdrawal Symptoms

If and when a smoker goes through withdrawal, they need to keep this in mind. Even though they may not act like themselves, and they may feel rotten, these feelings will pass. After 30 days or so, and after they’ve quit smoking, all this will be behind them. In the meantime, here are some of the withdrawal symptoms smokers may experience and what they can do about them.

• Craving. This is the body’s physical addiction saying, “I need nicotine now!” Each craving will last for only a couple of minutes and will eventually stop happening altogether in about seven days. Smokers should use nicotine replacement products to help reduce cravings. If the smoker still feels the urge, they can admit out loud to themselves or someone else that they are having a craving. Then they should count to one hundred and let the feeling pass - and it will, usually within a couple minutes.
• Difficulty Concentrating. “Help, I quit smoking and I can’t concentrate!” Some people say nicotine helps focus their attention. When they quit smoking, the increased blood flow and oxygen can lead to a feeling of mental fogginess. If this happens, they should try making lists and daily schedules to keep organized, then set aside some total relaxation time when they don’t have to concentrate on anything!
• Fatigue/Sleeping Problems. Trouble sleeping and fatigue are common symptoms of withdrawal. Because nicotine increases one’s metabolism to an abnormally high rate, when people stop smoking their metabolism drops back to normal, making them feel like their energy level has dropped. So what can they do? They need to get their body used to the new metabolic rate by getting plenty of sleep, whenever possible. Although sleep patterns may be interrupted at first, this is normal and temporary.
• Irritability. If you have snapped at someone or had a new non-smoker snap at you, you know what we are talking about. Irritability is caused by the body trying to adjust to the sudden disappearance of all those chemicals it’s been used to. The best way to handle this is for smokers to simply be honest with those around them that they are trying to quit and they do not feel like themselves

Source: American Cancer Society

Ever since I first decided to stop smoking, I have been part of support groups of various types. I have tried email groups, news groups, web site groups, and chat groups. It can be a very effective way to help keep your motivation high, and provide encouragement because others have gone through the same thing, and are successful.

Some of the places to get support for quitting are moderated and have rules with procedures to enforce them. Other places have no rules, or controls of any kind. Needless to say, the behavior of people in both types of support groups is very different at times.

With the unmoderated forums, it is amazing how bitter the flame wars can get in a group supposedly dedicated to supporting other people. I have been in and out of a newsgroup called alt.support.stop.smoking for a few of my quit attempts. It is, initially, a place where people welcome and support you. It does not take long, however, to see some of the regulars have other agendas.

In looking back at previous threads on that newsgroup, I see people singled out for ridicule, hostility, and scorn. It gets real ugly at times. In looking at the threads, you get the impression that there is a lot more behind it than meets the eye. When you trace back the history of the wars, you find that it started over pretty much nothing. It is amazing how the battles erupt out of seemingly innocuous comments. You soon wonder when it will happen to you.

I know it is an open forum, and people are free to say what they want. However, in any group that exists for supporting people doing tough things, it is discouraging. I know I have felt like posting to the group many times, but decided not to because of the stuff I see other people being put through. I have just quit trying to be part of the group because of the politics. Besides, once they find out you are a friend of their enemy, you are their enemy.

With support like that, you will not get very far. It is better to go it alone and not get involved in flame wars. That kind of stuff can be carried to an extreme, and you just cannot predict when it will happen. Better to stick with places where this does not happen, where there are rules that are enforced.

Getting support, just like quitting, is a matter of choice. There are plenty of forums filled with people who will help you and many that will not despise you. Choose wisely.

Zzyxx

“Some people are so fearfully mistrusting, so territorial, it’s a stubborn barrier to change and development. And things do change…or else they just atrophy.” ~bobf

A dictionary definition of bitterness is the quality or state of being bitter, sharp, or acrid, in either a literal or figurative sense; implacableness; resentfulness; severity; keenness of reproach or sarcasm; deep distress, grief, or vexation of mind. Bitterness paralyzes and imprisons life. When a person feeds bitterness continuously into their daily lives they open the door to negativity. Once they open the door of negativity, it is difficult to close that door again.

Charming Health, an online wellness center states:
“Bitterness is a frozen form of latent anger and resentment. Bitterness grows out of our refusal, to let go when someone or something is taken from us. Bitterness is being constantly hurt by a memory and is holding onto a hurt until it has a hold on you. Bitterness is the unhealthiest emotion you can have. When you are offended or disappointed by others and allow the hurt to germinate in your heart, bitterness and resentment will take root. Bitterness is characterized by an unforgiving spirit and generally negative, critical attitudes.”

“The thing with bitterness is, it takes control, and it consumes and robs us. Bitterness is more than a negative outlook on life. It is a destructive and self-destructive power. It can be physically as well as emotionally debilitating. Persistent bitterness makes one angry and confused, and leads oneself deeper and deeper into a jungle of despair. Bitterness is a frozen anger in latent form. Bitterness is a malignancy that makes a person extremely vulnerable to unwise decisions and destructive thought patterns that infiltrate and affect our bodies as well as our souls.”

Bitterness is negative energy contracted inwards. The best method to utilize bitterness is when we allow this particular emotion to act as a temporary vehicle, to help us move through life experiences. Our emotions allow us to use a common language to relate to each other. Our emotions connect us as humans.

To rid your psyche of bitterness you have to learn to forgive. In order to forgive you have to change how you think and remember that bitterness is a cold and latent form of anger and has deep roots embedded in hate.

~robbbster

Under the best of circumstances, I am a person who can be easily annoyed. I usually get over it pretty fast, as long as the source is removed. And I don’t usually let things get beyond a curse word or two, unless I am really incensed.

I am getting into a phase where this addiction thing is really starting to make me a little peeved. I mean, after all, it has been well over six months, and I still get some pretty strong urges to smoke. I sometimes consider just going right into a snit about it.

Unlike some things that annoy me, I try hard not to let this get to me. I think I need to be more patient, even though it is hard to do. After all, I spent so long a time smoking that it has probably been imprinted in my DNA. I shouldn’t expect to get over it so quick. It’s normal. It’s OK.

The way in which I am now assaulted by urges and cravings is a lot different than before. I don’t get so locked up with wanting to smoke that I can’t function. I am very much capable of resisting smoking at this point. I do have to maintain a one-day-at-a-time attitude, and remain vigilant against giving up on myself. But the challenge is certainly within my capabilities to meet.

I still get annoyed, though, because I feel like I have passed the test, and proven myself, but the testing still goes on. So I resent it. I just want the desire to smoke to go away. I am impatient, and that makes me irritable. However, I ‘ll take annoyed over smoking any time.

Zzxyx

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I think I have been wasting a lot of time by missing smoking. I know it is a natural thing to do, after having learned the behavior over so many years. Once it stops, it does leave a void. But to actually be nostalgic for the good old smoking days is pretty much insane.

Smoking is a slow way to commit suicide. There is no getting around it. With all the poisons and chemical reactions inherent in cigarette smoking, the only result to be expected is a horrible death, slowly wasting away in agony from cancer, or unable to breath because of emphysema. The deterioration of one’s health because of smoking over a number of years is as sure as the turning of the earth. There is a virtual mountain of evidence about how bad smoking is in so many different ways.

But smoking is not just a thing people do. It is the point of a whole industry established to collect money from people who are addicted to nicotine. The money people pay for tobacco products is a tax on their own deaths. When you think about how the process organizes resources to manufacture a product that kills it’s consumers in terrible ways, it make you wonder about just how intelligent the human species is. It is ludicrous.

Then there is the culpability of the various governments in the United States (which is the country I live in) in allowing this human tragedy to continue. We have known from solid evidence that smoking causes all kinds of bad diseases for decades. And yet the various governments continue to not only allow smoking, but join in the collection of money as people die.

When we look at how much effort, time, and money the US government spends in saving people from themselves in other areas, it boggles the mind. Just take one area of endeavor by the government – highway safety. The Federal government spends billions of dollars each year to make driving safer through research, testing, and road building. State governments all invest millions to improve roads and enforce rules. Governments at all levels have not the slightest problem with restricting individual freedom when it comes to making laws to improve highway safety. It is a massive effort.

The same type of efforts take place in other areas by the same governments is staggering. The amount of resources we pour into regulating food, drugs, all transportation, national defense, disaster preparedness, and many other areas is massive. And all with the point of saving lives and the health of people who live here.

Yet the government has turned a blind eye to smoking as a source of misery and death, and capitalizes on the same deliberate addiction of millions to rake in the bucks that the tobacco companies take advantage of. With the tobacco companies, at least they were honestly dishonest about manipulating the addictive qualities of cigarettes to make us pay them. As for the government, they profit from the same conspiracy and take our money, and then take the money from big tobacco as if they were trying to protect us.

I am not one to think that we can just pass a law banning tobacco products from use, and the whole problem will go away. After all, it has been against the law to rob banks for many years, but people still go to jail for it. But if we really tried, and put in half the effort that we do to make sure cosmetic surgery is safe, we could really make a difference in preventing people from killing themselves with smoking. But then, there is no money in reducing cigarettes sales. So we’ll never see a serious effort.

Zzyzx

Where ever those real strong cravings came form, they must have gone back. I got over them yesterday, and I am back to normal now.

I am at the six and a half month point, and the desire for smoking is way down. Those strong cravings lasted maybe three days. Now I have short, mild impulses to smoke. Nothing very difficult to brush off.

I can go for long periods of time without even thinking about smoking now. I wouldn’t say it’s exactly easy street now, but is getting much better. I no longer feel I am fighting the addiction every minute. When I first quit, it seemed that not smoking was a chore to be done. The days passed like I was rolling a large rock up a hill, only to see it roll back down and have to start again. It seems illogical, but it took a lot of effort not to do something. I always reckoned not doing something was easier than doing it.

I am, by nature, a lazy person. I am glad to see the effort is less today than it was when I started. I hope some day, quitting will be easier than smoking would be, because that makes sense to me.

Zzyzx

For whatever reason, I have been having some pretty strong cravings all day today. It is like a throwback to day three. They are the physical type of craving, and are fairly strong. It is kind of surprising, because I haven’t had these in a while.

I do have some stress going on, and that is probably what is causing this. I have not really had much stress in this quit before now, so it seems to have been fairly easy. Now that strong cravings have kicked in again it seems like I am regressing.

I will go back to what worked for me before. Because, while they are fairly strong now, I have gotten through worse. I will, first of all, think appropriate thoughts. I will also review the reasons I quit as much as i need to. I will keep in mind that it is the addiction talking, and it lies. I will rant, rave, curse, yell, whatever. But I will not smoke. It is not an option.

Maybe I will even go back and read all my posts in the blog. This is just a bump in the road. It will go away. I am going to stop thinking about it. I have not given it any encouragement by fantasizing about smoking, I don’t romance the cigarette anymore.

It’s time I did some more of that hard work that got me this far, and just hold out until it sleeps.

Zzyzx

It has been one of those Days that I would prefer not to repeat…Driving through Keene, NH today I must have run into a dozen smokers, all of them looking content, dreamy-eyed, and serene.

I have been anything but happy, hopeful, or content today or tonight. Actually I’ve been feeling rather disconnected from Ciggyfree, real life, my job, friends, etc and so on and so forth. I am sure I am sitting at the portal of a major depression but I needed to post something, anything, even if it is drivel, I just simply needed to post tonight.

A few years back I would have driven to some remote destination in Vermont or NH armed with pen and paper in hand and a pack of smokes to console me. Perhaps I would have chiseled, pounded, and beat words into a ream of paper while drawing smoke languidly into feminine lungs. It didn’t matter if I was hurting inside, I could opt to smoke the pain away! It was an embraced coping mechanism that helped to mask what I could not deal with in real life.

Tonight I find that I alone choose to not run to the store to purchase self-medication or mask what I am currently feeling behind a cloud of smoke. I alone choose to live even if I feel like silently dying within. I am aware that it is the atrocity of raw emotion and this flask of depression that I drink from tonight that is crippling all that I have struggled for over time. Deep within myself I know that I could dance it all away if I allow my demon friend to visit me once again.

My demon friend (yes I know it is me) tells me that only one cigarette would suffice. Just one. I turn my head. I look away. I know what my demon friend is capable of. The months and years of training to arm myself against deception are very weak tonight. I am no fool when it comes to this ball and chain of addiction.

For tonight I will choose to go to bed and chalk up this longing tear in the fabric of a 2 year and 7 month quit as a warning sign to never become complacent and to continue to honor and respect the beauty of remaining smokefee.

G’night, ~robbbster

Here I am at home again, having survived the trip to my son’s wedding. When I last reported in, I was having a few problems with smoking memories. I got through those and I am still ciggy free. It was not real easy since there was a lot of stress involved in this trip.

I hate California. I had forgotten just how much I dislike being there. It is full of people, they are all on the roads at the same time, and they are in a hurry. Sometimes, when driving down the highway at 70 MPH, in all five lanes, they just stop for no apparent reason. So you have to watch well ahead of the guy in front of you. They also like to make multiple lane changes in the shortest amount of distance. I have seen all that before, but am no longer used to it. Here in my town, it is a traffic jam if I miss the light on Highway 13 going home from work. So I found driving in California to be stressful.

Also, there are roads all over the place there, so much square area of sprawl that going somewhere is a major exercise in navigation. I was able to follow people for the most part, but keeping up with them in all that traffic was insane. I need a talking GS system. Getting around was also stressful.

Not to mention the fact that there was a lot of unforeseen requirements that had to be done at the last minute. Like, having something to cut the cake with, who was going to set up the reception hall that morning, who would clean up all the solid waste material deposited at the park by the geese? It was so bad at the park, that my granddaughter (who is three and a half) (who was one of the flower girls) was heard to say “don’t step in the poop” as she walked through the grass to get to her spot to stand. Also, the person who was supposed to make the pillow for the rings did not come through (we find this out the day before), my grandson (who was to be a ring bearer “ in his terms “the ring bear”) got sick two days before, the rehearsal was supposed to be right in the middle of a football game, and the tuxedo place was incompetent to boot. Those are just the highlights. Max stress for two days.

The kicker to this whole deal was the bobbleheads. My son and his (now) wife sent in their pictures to a company that will make bobbleheads that look like the pictures. Of course the bobbleheads were on a bride and groom body, and this was to be the decoration for the wedding cake. Two hundred and fifty dollars these things cost, but boy they sure did look like the bride and groom. But when we were setting up the reception hall, they were dropped, and the base broke! Thank you whoever invented super glue! We repaired them and all was well, but for a few minutes there was a lot of stress.

All things considered the stress factor was pretty high for the whole three days we were there. But I did not smoke. I hardly even remembered anything at all about smoking. Smoking was so much not an option because it didn’t even cross my mind most of the time. In fact I was so busy that I forgot there was football on that Sunday until after the ceremony was done. That surprised me that I would forget that!

Three lessons I learned this trip (valuable pieces of informatio to have):

#1: I am still susceptible to having strong cravings, especially in situations where smoking memories are very strong. Vigilance is still important.
#2: Just because I remember smoking, and it causes me cravings, does not mean I have to smoke. I can create my own memories of those places and situations where I don’t smoke.
#3: Stress is manageable without smoking. When things get crazy, just focus on appropriate thoughts to get the stuff done that needs doing. Cigarettes are not necessary to stay calm in a sea of confusion.

Having gotten through this trip without smoking is a major accomplishment for me. I know my enemy and it is me. I got stubborn when the cravings started, and just held on until they left. Waiting them out is a good tactic.

I will adapt a phrase by that famous German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, by saying this: that, which does not kill our quits, makes us stronger. And I am here to tell you, that trip made me stronger.

Zzyzx

5th Anniversary Today

http://911blogger.com

One of our readers who sent in a comment on a post asked me how I am doing with irritability issues, and dealing with tension. I have noticed a change over the last couple of months.

In the early part of my quit, I had some incidences where I lost my temper because of the constant cravings. They made me so uncomfortable, and would wear me down to the point I would get mad at little things. These types of incidents were pretty much normal, and easily explainable by the withdrawal symptoms.

In the last couple of months, though, I have had times where things make me mad and out of proportion, and it comes out of nowhere. An example of this is, when I am driving and someone does something rude, I will sometimes string as many curse words together as I can, without repeating myself. Normally I would just call the person one or two impolite things.

I also get more upset with what are minor difficulties, again without any warning. If my Internet connection drops, or my cell phone drops a call, or other normal, everyday minor annoyances pop up, I can occasionally react way too strongly.

I don’t know why I do this, because when it happens, I am not particularly bothered by any aspect of my quit. I don’t have any noticeable withdrawal symptoms at the time; I am usually feeling pretty normal. And the things I get so angry about are really so minor that I shouldn’t even get annoyed. But when it happens, I am genuinely and intensely angry, and it can take some time to get over it.

I am usually a pretty easy-going guy. I don’t spend a lot of time being mad at most things. I have the ability to laugh at myself, and see the humor in most situations. I have been known to have a flare up of temper from time to time, but I usually get over it as fast as it comes up. So this is very different for me to stay mad for a while at small stuff.

What the cause of this is, I can’t really say. It just happens with no planning or warning, nothing obvious to associate it with. I think it is part of the quit, and that it’s something in my subconscious at work. But I can’t really say what.

I will deal with it, however, and without smoking. I just have to keep it as short as possible when it happens. I am not about to medicate it with cigarettes. For a working theory I will chalk it up to the addiction, and wait for it to go away. Because going back to smoking would really, really make me mad.

Zzyzx

I have reached the six month point in this quit. It is hard to believe, since all my other quits lasted only about half this long. But I got here. It is a nice feeling, and a significant milestone. I got here one day at a time, just letting those days add up. I feel it is a pretty good start.

It is a good point to stop, and review what has gone on so far with this quit. So here is a short synopsis of each month.

March - Started the quit on the 6th, and was immediately on familiar ground. The first month was one of great enthusiasm, and effort to stay quit. Physical cravings were real strong, psychological cravings were weak. The tendency to space out started, and grew over the month. Motivation and morale were high. By the end of the month, I had noticeable improvements in breathing and senses of taste and smell. Started monitoring blood pressure, saw steady improvement over course of the month.

April - Even more spacing out, concentration was pretty hard most of the time. Physical cravings were relenting while psychological cravings increased. Spent time chatting with other quitters, and relating to their struggles. Started to have short periods where I could forget smoking and quitting and concentrate on what I was doing. Motivation was still high, as was morale. Continued improvements in breathing, taste, smell. Stopped wheezing when I breathed. Blood pressure still improving. Trip t California for my grandson’s wedding

May - Started off well, continuing the trend of less physical craving and growing psychological craving. Also increased the time I could concentrate on other things. Towards the last part of the month, started to have the expected crisis, needed some help from a friend to set my feet back on the right path. Started to really examine my attitude and ideas, started to really believe in myself. Motivation stayed high, morale sank to a low point before being rescued. After surviving crisis, renewed enthusiasm and dedication to quitting. Blood pressure actually pretty low most days.

June - Cravings almost exclusively psychological. Moderate strength and I was able to overcome them with some effort. Started blogging, began the therapy of trying to express what this quit is to me. Continued changing my ways of thinking about what was happening with this quit and why it was that way. Began to see the addiction for what it is, and what lies I was telling myself. Began working on stuff for Ciggyfree - finally had a mission I could feel strongly about. Started walking for exercise, the improvement in energy and feeling good was amazing. Blood pressure very good.

July - Euphoria over surviving crisis started to wear off. Cravings all psychological and at a much reduced level, easy to ignore and brush off. The quit became a familiar routine and started to feel normal. Started putting new ideas and ways of thinking into action. Continued to learn all I could about the addiction. Morale and motivation at all time high. Extended walking distance stopped bothering to check blood pressure.

August - Dog days of summer and dog days of the quit. Continued with building knowledge and renewing attitude. Increased walking distance. Cravings almost below the radar. Feeling of healing growing almost by day. Pretty much just on a maintenance regimen. I felt like I have the pace now, and my second wind, and can go on indefinitely. On the trip to my son’s wedding, I am ready for more challenges. My quit is on solid ground, and I will not fail. The last five days of the first six months were a challenge, being away from the routine, and in places I have strong associations with smoking. But I survived to get to six months.

Six months and one day ago, I was as addicted a smoker as any in the world. I decided to quit not because I wanted to, but because I had to. I have expanded my idea of what I have to do to stay quit. It is not just avoiding smoking. It is a fundamental change in my thinking and attitudes. There is so much of quitting smoking that is beneath the surface. I have to face feelings I used to cover up, I have to re-examine my ways of thinking, and I have to be honest with myself. Quitting smoking has been a catalyst of self-discovery for me, and I am a different person than I was before the 6th of March, 2006.

Zzyzx

I am in Reno today, and will be here for the next couple of days. This is a real nice place, and I plan on having a good time. However, it does present some challenges.

First, everywhere I look, I see smoking. I smell smoke in all the public places. There is unrestrained smoking all over the place here. That means constant reminders of cigarettes, and quitting them.

Second, I am on my own a lot. That means that no one is watching me, and no one would know what I did. So if I decided to sneak one or two smokes, I could avoid the embarrassment of my family knowing I failed. It would be so easy.

Third, this place is not exactly a center of self-discipline. The atmosphere here is of total selfish indulgence in any of the many vices that people could have. The Wild West is still alive and thriving here, it has just changed its character.

And last, I get bored real fast with gambling. I think I should just mail the casino my twenty dollars when I decide to go gamble - it’s faster. After about ten minutes, I am done.

For a person who is susceptible to addictions to begin with, it makes it real hard to resist all of those factors combined. Yet that is what I have to do. I cannot go back to smoking. I refuse to consider that as an option.

This is what it means to be committed. You cannot be dedicated to a course of action on a part-time basis. To quit smoking means you can never take even one puff from a cigarette ever. Not even if you don’t inhale. I made the commitment to quit, and I mean business.

This commitment has to be the most important thing for me to be successful. I will not doubt my commitment, nor will I question it. It is important for me to keep faith with myself, my family, my friends, and anyone who knows I made this commitment.

I have decided what I have to do is forget the old memories of smoking in these familiar places and situations. I need to forge new memories of not smoking. I have to change my mind, so I can change my life. That’s what I am doing.

Zzyzx

I appreciate you! Thank you for being our Ciggyfree co-admin! Here is your surprise - tee hee…

6 Months Smoke Free Tribute

Hugs,
~robbbster

I left on my trip Friday after work. I have been doing OK, so far. I did expect, and have had, some trouble with cravings. Here is a quick update on how it goes.
My first stop was my in-laws house, to spend Saturday watching football, and loading them into the van. From there we hit the road on Sunday, and tonight I am in Winnemucca, Nevada, where I have internet access.

For the entire three days I have been traveling, I have been to so many places that have smoking-related memories that it’s not even funny. We have made this trip a number of times, and we do not deviate where we stop. So I have been assaulted by very strong thoughts and memories of smoking. I have not given in to them, nor do I intend to.

I have used all the tools I have leaned to use over the last few months. Those things help me get through. Memories cannot make me smoke. I refuse to give up my quit.

I am just about to watch the big football game here. So I will just wish you all the best, and I will update you on progress as I can.

Zzyzx