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I stopped smoking cigarettes.

asthesparrow

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asthesparrow Enthusiast

asthesparrow

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So.

I am 22. I smoked 5-50 cigarettes (roll your own tobacco) for about 8 years.

About a week ago, they oddly started tasting bad. no longer satisfactory, so I was at about five a day... (a dream, am i right?!?!)

 

Then a couple days ago I just decided not to have that morning cigarette... and since then, I have decided to quit.

And you know what? It's easy. It's so easy, that the simple act of rolling a cigarette and lighting it is, right now, more arduous to me, than just saying, "nah" to them.

 

Anyway, besides this amazing miracle... Tonight has been terrible. So it's been days and I have had no ill side-effects, not headaches, not stressed, not sick, no ulcers.. but tonight I am horribly depressed. To the point where I am about 3/4 through a bottle of wine, and I don't drink alcohol.

 

Ugh. I know it's most likely due to the withdrawals, although I am not actually wanting a cigarette... but I don't understand where my usual happy, optimistic self has gone.

 

Ah just a rant. Cheers guys, you're all good to me!

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asthesparrow Enthusiast

asthesparrow

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No for distraction. When I stopped smoking for the third time I didnt have cravings anymore but during the withdrawals symptoms I needed something in its place. I just thought anything would be better then drinking. Good luck.

 

Oh right. Thanks for the tip.

I think the reason I went and bought alcohol was not due to boredom/something to do, but mostly to put me at that "relaxed" sort of feeling one gets when happy, content and... having just smoked a cigarette is a good example too

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lavenderdove Enthusiast

lavenderdove

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Good for you!

 

I quit in a similar way... but about a week after i quit i went to a party where everyone was smoking and weakly took a cigarette. I smoked half of it, and realized how nasty it tasted, what a bad habit it was. I felt in one moment the pleasure of smoking, but also how truly awful and bad the habit was, and i snuffed out that cigarette and have never smoked again.

 

You will indeed feel rather fuzzy headed for about 10 days or so... there are something like 400 chemicals in cigarette smoke, an unhealthy brew designed to make you crave more. Nicoteine is extrarodinarily addicting, and it revs your metabolism and peps you up and makes you feel good, so you are in withdrawal now where your brain is on half power because it is so used to be stimulated in order to function, and it needs to adjust and start making its own chemicals to replace what nicotine was providing.

 

The brain is very interesting in that when overstimulated (via nicotine), it will 'downregulate' and quit producing it's own 'happy' or stimulant chemicals since you've been feeding it a steady stream of nicotine. But it will take a while to realize the nicotine is gone, and start upregulating to produce more happy chemicals of its own to stimulate you.

 

I actually found that drinking coffee when i felt fuzzy headed after quitting smoking really helped... caffeine has a very similar structure/response to nicoteine, so you might rely on it to get you through the rough spell til your body is no longer addicted. (Also explains why so many people will pay $4 for a cup of coffee at Starbucks... they're addicted to caffeine and NEED it to function.). But using coffee to bridge the gap til you're truly off cigarettes is a good way to get past this, since coffee is easier to cut back than cigarettes are.

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lavenderdove Enthusiast

lavenderdove

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Another thing that helps is 5-HTP. You can buy it at health food stores or drug stores... it is a food supplement and precursor that the brain uses to make serotonin, which is the chemical in te brain that makes you feel happy and contented and less agitated. Many people who are depressed or anxious don't have enough serotonin in the brain.

 

So take one of those morning and night, and it might take the edge off. They recommend 5-HTP to stop food cravings, and for people who are trying to wean off anti-depressent drugs and feel anxious and unsettled. It really really helps!

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asthesparrow Enthusiast

asthesparrow

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Another thing that helps is 5-HTP. You can buy it at health food stores or drug stores... it is a food supplement and precursor that the brain uses to make serotonin, which is the chemical in te brain that makes you feel happy and contented and less agitated. Many people who are depressed or anxious don't have enough serotonin in the brain.

 

So take one of those morning and night, and it might take the edge off. They recommend 5-HTP to stop food cravings, and for people who are trying to wean off anti-depressent drugs and feel anxious and unsettled. It really really helps!

 

Great to know!! I'll look for that tomorrow. Thank you! Let's hope it works

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FathomFear Contributor

FathomFear

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Just a cautionary word of warning--the ease with which you lost your desire to smoke can just as easily reverse itself on a whim as well. My grandmother smoked for 40 years and suddenly quit out of nowhere. She said she lost the desire to do it. Then, two years later just as spontaneously, she had an irresistible desire to start again.

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asthesparrow Enthusiast

asthesparrow

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Just a cautionary word of warning--the ease with which you lost your desire to smoke can just as easily reverse itself on a whim as well. My grandmother smoked for 40 years and suddenly quit out of nowhere. She said she lost the desire to do it. Then, two years later just as spontaneously, she had an irresistible desire to start again.

 

Yeah, I am well aware of this... nothing can be THIS easy hey??

I have wanted to quit for years, I can't afford it, it's gross, I'm not addicted, it has no benefits... I understand how it works in my brain now, which made it easy to stop... I know if I touch them ever again, it would be very stupid... But I know I have the power not to.

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itsallgrand Grand Master

itsallgrand

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About the feelings of depression - that is totally normal for a while. When I quit, there were days where I honest to god did not want to get out of bed. It was a real physiological reason there behind feeling so blue for a while (my body adjusting) and there is also the aspect of grieving not having smokes anymore. Hey, it was a part of your life too for a long time and it makes sense you'd do a bit of grieving as well simply because it has been in your life so long.

 

All I can say is Exercise. Do you have something easily accessible? I'd jump on my stationary bike first thing in the morning, before even having coffee, and then later in the evening or whenever I could manage to find the time. Just - some good steady exercise that breaks a bit of a sweat (take it slow to start tho because it takes a while for the brain and body to catch up with the oxygen supply and you can get dizzy faster than you'd think, and sick feeling).

 

Other than that, be really nice to yourself for a while. Even when it feels like it going real great, just be a sweetheart to yourself for a while and give yourself some extra goodies as far as sleeping, eating well, relaxing.

 

Good for you for quitting. !

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Firiel Community Regular

Firiel

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Good job quitting smoking! It sounds like your "cravings" (for the relaxed feeling after a smoke) are manifesting themselves with other habit-forming substances like alcohol and coffee.

 

Just make sure you aren't replacing one addiction with another. Do you exercise? Exercise is thought to produce serotonin and could help with the depressed feeling you are facing now that the nicotine is no longer in your system.

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