Published by Deborah on 21 Oct 2005 at 07:19 am
A Peptalk for Deb - Part 1
I’m on my last pack of cigarettes and am seriously thinking about quitting again. I tried around four years ago with the patch and managed to stay clean (god, I sound like a junkie) for a solid week. At the time, I was having my husband proofread my chapters. One night, he came to me, smiled, and said, “Maybe you should set aside your writing until you feel better. All of your characters are attacking each other.”
My house smelled better, and my meals seemed to have more flavor. But I was in a bad funk–what’s termed a biological depression. I finally caved when I went out to dinner with my sister and her family. Actually, I caved the following day, when she couldn’t see me.
I started smoking about two months before my eighteenth birthday and have been a heavy smoker ever since. I come from a family of heavy smokers. Ironically, alcoholism has gotten the men in my family and not cigarettes. Surprisingly, I went the other way on that (a very good thing).
My husband also smokes. He set the nonsmoking rule in our new house. When I went to our rental to collect the rest of our belongings, I was appalled at the smell in that house. It wasn’t as bad as the pet smell that we had to get rid of before we moved in, but it was still bad. I was very surprised when our landlord gave us our full deposit back because I thought we’d get dinged for the smoke damage.
Backtracking a bit: I was one of the tens of thousands of people who came down with that nasty recurring flu last year. While most people shrugged it off within a couple of months, I had it for six. It finally developed into a nasty case of bronchitis, which kept me home from work for a solid week.
I’m still sick with the cold I came down with on Sunday, although I’m up and about and able to do my normal routine. My husband is fighting a sinus infection, which has become chronic due to his smoking. The kids have bounced back and are doing fine. Doesn’t that say something?
We’ve been talking about quitting for several months now. I dread the withdrawals and the subsequent depression. I’ve voiced this concern to my doctor when I had the bronchitis. She prescribed me some Welbutrin, but I’ve yet to fill it. I don’t know if I can anymore because it’s been months since she wrote that prescription.
I think the patch and the pills are just bandaids. The patch did nothing to cure the craving. So I’ll have to devise my own plan.
bonnie on 21 Oct 2005 at 2:47 pm #
Good luck. Do EVERYTHING. If you can join support groups, do it. If you can do hypnotherapy, do it. If you can do acupuncture, do it. Patch…do it. Hypnotherapy might help to get at the reasons WHY you smoke and help you find other things to do instead. Acupuncture can take the edge off the cravings (but won’t make them disappear) Many docs have been known to prescribe Wellbutrin for the mood swings during withdrawl. Acupuncture can help these too–but it doesn’t always take them away completely.
I’ll say it again: find out what’s available to you and then commit to doing everything! It might be a week or two out of your life–but if it lengthens it and improves the quality of it, couldn’t it be worth it?
Deborah on 21 Oct 2005 at 8:45 pm #
Thanks, Bonnie.
I’d forgotten about the hypnotherapy option. A former coworker of mine used it to quit and was successful. So, I’ll look into that as an alternative to going cold turkey.
Lee Carlon on 21 Oct 2005 at 9:48 pm #
I’m of the opinion that patches and gum and lozengers just keep you addicted to nicotine which is what you’re trying to give up, but of course I’m no expert.
I stopped about seven years ago after reading Alan Carr’s easy way to stop smoking. he’s a bit of a windbag and goes on about what a top bloke he is, but if you can get past that it might actually help, and the good thing is, he tells you not to stop until you’ve finished reading the book. By the time I finished reading it I couldn’t wait to stop and haven’t looked back.
What ever you do, good luck Deborah.
Karen Lee Field on 22 Oct 2005 at 1:48 am #
I’m not a smoker so I can’t pretend to know what quitting is like, but I can offer genuine support and encouragement.
You can do this, Deborah. You WANT to do it and that’s half the battle. Good luck.
Lee Pletzers on 22 Oct 2005 at 7:20 am #
I chewed gum.
My wife and I were meant to quit together, but she couldn’t. The very next morning she lit up. I chewed gum. Stayed that way for a month. I live in a house where everyone, including the dog, smoke. The house is full of it. And yes, food tastes better.
I’m a smoker again.
The last time I quit (last time???), it lasted several months. The I don’t know what happened, I went into a store and bought a pack, but didn’t open it for another few weeks. Than opened it and didn’t smoke for another week.
Why did I finally take that puff?
I started when I was 12 or 13. It was considered cool back in the 80’s.
Lee Pletzers on 22 Oct 2005 at 7:22 am #
PS: Good luck. The habit is the hardest thing to break. Smoking forms a habit. It’s not addiction, at least that’s what I believe.
Bad habits, hardest to break.
Deborah on 22 Oct 2005 at 9:33 am #
“I’m of the opinion that patches and gum and lozengers just keep you addicted to nicotine which is what you’re trying to give up, but of course I’m no expert.”
I agree with you, Lee. The patch made me very amped the first day. Plus, I hated the rubbery residue that they left on my skin. That was so hard to scrub off. After seven days, I dropped them for a cigarette.
Deborah on 22 Oct 2005 at 9:36 am #
Thank you for your support, Karen.
I can sure use it.
Deborah on 22 Oct 2005 at 9:42 am #
“My wife and I were meant to quit together, but she couldn’t. The very next morning she lit up. I chewed gum. Stayed that way for a month. I live in a house where everyone, including the dog, smoke. The house is full of it. And yes, food tastes better.
I’m a smoker again. ”
It’s hard to quit smoking when you have other smokers living with you. My husband was able to quit for about a month. My father-in-law quit three times before he finally stopped for good.
Yes, smoking was considered cool in the 80s. I remember the date I bought my first pack: May 18, 1984. Back then, a pack of cigarettes cost $1.25. Today, they’re $5.00 in many places.
Is smoking an addiction or a habit? It sure feels like an addiction. I’ve heard that it’s the hardest habit to break.