still not smoking, but getting jittery...

[Gary Crawford]

I smoked for 29 yrs and 8 months and tried to quit for the time I started. What finally did it for me was chantix(and a lot of want to). I did do something for the last month before I quit that I believe helped my success. I made my self wait at least 30 minutes after eating to smoke. I figured that was the toughest urge to overcome. I was offered Chantix by the V.A. and jumped on the opportunity. After my 1 week taking it and smoking, I almost quit on my stop date( I had two) but the next day, I was done with smoking. A week later I went to my favorite watering hole and ordered a beer. I had few beers in a bar where mostly everybody was smoking and I knew right then that I could do this! There is a price,crazy dreams. Not nightmares,but just crazy stuff. I finally lost it out of exhaustion after the 8th week and had to stop taking the Chantix. The biggest difference in day to day life I noticed was not only not having to pay for cigarettes,but not having to go to the trouble of buying them,making sure I have them,making sure I have a place to smoke,time to smoke,do I have a lighter? Where did I leave them,,ect,ect. I now can't believe that I ever smoked.

 

[Twin Fist]

I started smoking Oct of 85 and quit Oct of 09

thats 24 years

Chantix is what worked for me.

I am not gonna front, i MISS them

but i aint gonna do it

 

[Steve]

I started smoking Oct of 85 and quit Oct of 09

thats 24 years

Chantix is what worked for me.

I am not gonna front, i MISS them

but i aint gonna do it

Most people quit and get cranky. You quit and became LESS cranky! . Seriously, though, keep it up!

 

[Twin Fist]

thanks Steve

 

[chaos1551]

I quit smoking after ten years. The thing that helped me quit was thinking ahead to how I would honestly feel after smoking. Also, I more or less quit drinking for a few months to keep my inhibitions about me.

There was no magical click in my mind the time I succeeded quitting (opposed to the umpteen other times I had tried) but in my failures I would tell myself that I will never quit quitting.

Opposing the pure evil of nicotine became a little easier each day. Standing up to my addiction finally became "easy" after at least two years. To this day I still crave (how any deep addiction will affect) but I always think about how I would honestly feel.

I used a trick that I wouldn't recommend for everyone: at very hard times when I didn't care how I would honestly feel, I would go to a smoke-filled bar, order ONE beer and drink it. By the time I was done and left the joint, I felt much more at ease (second-hand smoke).

In the end it is sheer willpower. Where there's a will there's a way.

 

[Slav]

I was a smoker before I went in for sport too and I gave up this habbit just for the sake of the trainings. It is extremely harmful for the heart to combine smoking with excercises and I was told that it's better to choose either one thing or the other.

Maybe my advice is very simple but I did so. At the time when I had a great desire for a cigarette I told myself: you'l not be able to train if you smoke now even one cigarrete. The most difficult thing for me was to overcome some patterns of life connected with smoking (e.g. smoking while talking to someone or during lunch breaks at the university) but in fact it turned out to be just stereotypes. I almost guarantee that after 2 months you'l not want to do it and after 4 months you'l almost forget about cigarettes

 

[celtic_crippler]

Stay strong brother!

When I quit back in "97" I just stayed busy and dealt with the oral fixation by sucking on lemon drops. LOL

Training your butt off is a good alternative to smoking and a great distraction to get your mind off of it.

In general, it takes about 2 weeks to get over the worst of the cravings. It may take a little longer to overcome the oral fixation. For that you can just chew gum or suck on rock candy (like lemon drops lol).

My advice is to take advantage of the dojo and channel that energy into training whenever you can.

For me, that worked and eventually the cravings went away, but my skills got a lot better because of them LOL

Good luck! You can do it!

 

[shane]

My friend this is a good that you are smoking yet . smoking is very bad for the health and fitness , the smoking reduce the stamina and your energy levels

 

[OnlyAnEgg]

Hang in there, sqid. I'm making you my inspiration!

 

[Spanky]

Squid,

Congrats on quitting!

I know what you're going through, I smoked for several years. Nicorette gum, and the fact that my wife & I were expecting our first child helped me quit fast.

Isn't it funny how you can smell cigarette smoke a mile away now?

Take care.

 

[Shawn-San]

Congrats
... and keep up the good work.
I smoked for 12 years and what finally did it for me was just my sheer willpower to do well in martial arts and succeed. I got to a point where I was seriously fed up with spending all that money on cigarettes.

Things to remember:
- You no longer are spending your hard-earned money on something that is giving you cancer.
- You no longer are staining your teeth, burning your clothes, etc.
- You no longer are decreasing your life-span by five minutes each time.
- Your clothes no longer stink of carcinogens and other chemicals.
- You can finally build up your cardio and keep up with your peers.
- You can finally breath better.
- You can be free from addiction.

 

[psyon82]

Congrats
... and keep up the good work.
I smoked for 12 years and what finally did it for me was just my sheer willpower to do well in martial arts and succeed. I got to a point where I was seriously fed up with spending all that money on cigarettes.

Things to remember:
- You no longer are spending your hard-earned money on something that is giving you cancer.
- You no longer are staining your teeth, burning your clothes, etc.
- You no longer are decreasing your life-span by five minutes each time.
- Your clothes no longer stink of carcinogens and other chemicals.
- You can finally build up your cardio and keep up with your peers.
- You can finally breath better.
- You can be free from addiction.

Good things to remember right there! I'm not a heavy smoker (a pack every 2-3 days), but I am slowly weaning myself from them (max is 3 per day). My goal is to give them up completely after I test for black belt next week. This is an annoying habit to try to quit. I lost count on how many times I've "quit", but I know for sure this will be my last time. Good luck to everyone trying to quit and congratulations to everyone who has.

 

[Kyosanim]

So I'm on day 9 now with absolutely no ciggarettes. I'm doing good, and pretty proud of myself, but I'm getting moderatly intense cravings, pretty regularly now. Also a bit crabby/jittery at times. When the cravings are at their worst, I try to drink alot of water, and excercise my **** off. And of course staying busy with training throughout the week helps, but the cravings are getting more intense, and the jitters are coming more often now... trying not to cave here...

Any advise on how to stay strong in the face of nicatine adversity?

Nope no idea, but stay strong buddy.