The Demon named Nicotine

[Bozo Erectus]

I finally once and for all quit smoking around a year and half ago. Id been smoking since the age of 13. Lately though, the last couple of months, I catch myself occasionally yearning for a cigarette, and then thinking how great a cig would be at that moment. I have no intention whatsoever of returning to smoking (there are much cheaper and more efficient ways of commiting suicide), but Im interested in what these ghost yearnings could mean. Is it strictly neurological, my brain 'remembering' nicotine, or more psychological in nature, like the death impulse attempting to reassert itself (all people have a life and death impulse)?

 

[MamboJoel]

Have you stopped with the popular Alan Carr method ?

 

[Bozo Erectus]

Never heard of him. I quit from one moment to the next. I realised how absurd smoking is, ripped up all my cigs, and never took another puff.

 

[MamboJoel]

Yep, I quit the same way, 2 and a half years ago (no patch etc...).
I never smoked any nicotine since then. I sometimes have strange dreams of me smoking a cigarette, and it's quite the same feeling that you have when dreaming you lost a tooth if you know what I mean... Some kind of irreversible incident.

 

[skadistic]

Don't you hate that. I quit less then a year ago and go days without that craving then out of the blue like after eating it rears its ugly head for a second. I find its mostly the habit or the smoking after you eat or the hand to mouth oral habit. I realy don't think it has anything to do with chemical cravings. Stress levels will make you want one too. We all know how calming one can be.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

I sometimes have strange dreams of me smoking a cigarette, and it's quite the same feeling that you have when dreaming you lost a tooth if you know what I mean... Some kind of irreversible incident.

Me too! Usually its a nightmare, and part of me is yelling at the dream me, 'Noooo! Dont do it, you fool!'. Maybe its a combination of both, brain chemistry, and psychology.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

Don't you hate that. I quit less then a year ago and go days without that craving then out of the blue like after eating it rears its ugly head for a second. I find its mostly the habit or the smoking after you eat or the hand to mouth oral habit. I realy don't think it has anything to do with chemical cravings. Stress levels will make you want one too. We all know how calming one can be.

We three have been free of it for long enough that it cant be a physical craving. I think physical dependence is gone in about 3 days. But the brain might 'recall' nicotine at certain times, and try and prompt the consciousness into lighting up again. I dunno.

 

[Jawz II]

i quit for about a month and a half but kept yearning, i wonder how long do i have to go without nicotine before the yearning stops?

ive asked other smokers and they say it will never stop. so there you go kids, dont even start.

anyway alittle over a month ago i got some really bad news and just couldnt help myself. ive been smoking since.

 

[skadistic]

I do know that smoking pot doesn't make me want cigarettes like I thought it would wich is of course a good thing.

I still grab for my pack of cigarettes in my pocket when I get into my car.


One thing I noticed is the smell of smoke makes me slightly ill now. Even pipe smoke.

 

[Masquerouge]

We three have been free of it for long enough that it cant be a physical craving. I think physical dependence is gone in about 3 days. But the brain might 'recall' nicotine at certain times, and try and prompt the consciousness into lighting up again. I dunno.

I quit smoking four years ago. I still have to control myself when people smoke around me ("just one... ask for it... you know you want it"), and in the first years after I decided to quit, I used to fail, pretexting that since people were smoking around me I might as well indulge, the result would be the same . I would not start smoking again, but just a cigarette, one evening per month maybe, hating yourself after it.
Now that I'm in California I've completely stopped, because very few people smoke here
But the cravings, no, they don't go.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

Jawz, try getting angry. Think about all your hard earned money youre paying to the tobacco companies, who's executives are having great, fabulous, plush lives because theyre allowed to sell an addictive poison.

 

[JonnyB]

Never heard of him. I quit from one moment to the next. I realised how absurd smoking is, ripped up all my cigs, and never took another puff.

I quit for a year and a half that way once. Then I took one drag off a cigarette (for no reason either) and that was it. I just slipped back into the habit.

Now I'm trying the patch, which is working well so far (16 days).

 

[JonnyB]

Jawz, try getting angry. Think about all your hard earned money youre paying to the tobacco companies, who's executives are having great, fabulous, plush lives because theyre allowed to sell an addictive poison.

Think about all the cute girls who don't like smokers

 

[Jawz II]

Jawz, try getting angry. Think about all your hard earned money youre paying to the tobacco companies, who's executives are having great, fabulous, plush lives because theyre allowed to sell an addictive poison.

but it saved that guys life, you know that guy in the movie Thank You For Smoking!

nah i will quit as soon as my 2 packs of marlboro are gone.

 

[Masquerouge]

nah i will quit as soon as my 2 packs of marlboro are gone.

you're being sarcastic, right?

 

[Bozo Erectus]

I do know that smoking pot doesn't make me want cigarettes like I thought it would wich is of course a good thing.

Same here.

I still grab for my pack of cigarettes in my pocket when I get into my car.

One time not long ago I was at work and noticed something in my pocket. It was a lighter. Apparently I completely unconsciously reached for the lighter and put it in my pocket, like I used to when I smoked.

One thing I noticed is the smell of smoke makes me slightly ill now. Even pipe smoke.

Also recently, I stepped out of a store, and breathed in at the exact moment that a smoker was exhaling acloud of smoke. It went directly into my lungs. I wanted to puke, and then punch him in the face.

I quit smoking four years ago. I still have to control myself when people smoke around me ("just one... ask for it... you know you want it"), and in the first years after I decided to quit, I used to fail, pretexting that since people were smoking around me I might as well indulge, the result would be the same . I would not start smoking again, but just a cigarette, one evening per month maybe, hating yourself after it.
Now that I'm in California I've completely stopped, because very few people smoke here
But the cravings, no, they don't go.

Kind of sad, aint it

I quit for a year and a half that way once. Then I took one drag off a cigarette (for no reason either) and that was it. I just slipped back into the habit.

Now I'm trying the patch, which is working well so far (16 days).

Good luck. Get mad, or horny (cute girls), whatever works

 

[Masquerouge]

Kind of sad, aint it

Well there is the Zen/philosophical way, which would be seeing these cravings as a temptation that when succesfully avoided reinforces your status as a human being close to Nirvana or whatever.

That's not my way

 

[Jawz II]

well sort of. ive been telling myself ill quit as soon as the pack i have is gone. so i bought 2 packs today so it will last a while before i have to quit.

ive been thinking of my smoking as a crutch i needed to get through some bad times recently (i dont do drugs anymore and dont drink much), but im feeling good now so i dont have an excuse anymore.

i have to quit, i know that much, so i will after ive smoked the ones i got.

in the meantime i recommend the movie Thank You For Smoking to everyone.

 

[Brighteye]

Tobacco smoke makes me want to puke and punch the smoker in the face even though I've never smoked.

I should wander around town with a canister of hydrogen sulphide and see how people like it.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

i have to quit, i know that much, so i will after ive smoked the ones i got.

No you wont. If you were ready to quit, youd destroy them this instant. Cant fool me, man. I was there, for well over two decades.