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it's the final countdown: Chantix and the New Year

redbarn

New Member
I tried chantix and had not a "bad" reaction but my loved ones noticed a change in my mood. I quit taking them immediatley, don't want to be offing myself over my nicotine addiction. Just be aware and have loved be aware you are taking it. How does a drug have a side effect of "may cause suicidal thoughts". BOOO! I haven't quit smoking but I have quit worse habits. If you are ready it will be easy, don't force it, the pills are more of a placebo to trick your brain anyway. good luck!
 

slappy

New Member
i'm on day 12 of the med's and read that they block the nicotine to the brain... kinda like how methadone blocks heroin to a addict, but this is for smokers. Sorry you didn't have a successful story.. I wish you luck in finding a way to kick the habit someday.
I've had one weird dream when i started taking the blue 2nd week full dose pills, and haven't had one since. I bought my last pack of cig's january 2nd and I smoked my last one yesterday of that pack,, longest pack ever btw for me. I know, i'm bad for finishing them. Today is the test of not buying or having them around.... kinda hard not to ask for them at the store this morning, but i'm tired of them controlling me into buying them.
Mood changes, i still feel the same still. I'm just trying to keep busy and do things around my house, avoiding my smoking triggers like the phone, leaving the dog out, etc. My friend from Texas came up and i was suppose to meet up at a bar last wednesday before he left, and i turned him down just prior to the meet time cause i didn't want to chain smoke and drink cause that's what happened last time he came up. He was kinda disappointed, but i told him i wasn't ready for the bar seen yet and didn't want to conflict what small progress i did have and will catch him next time.
Saturday I gave the doors a fresh coat of paint, yesterday i worked on adjusting some price increase's at our store. Cooked some pretty good meals also. No suicidal thoughts.... Just trying to get through today without a cigarette dancing like one of those inflatables air dancers you see out on the road. Oh isn't that cute. They actually do make a cigarette one.


Nice too to have the internet. If i have a craving, i look at anti smoking images, lung pictures, or think of how bad i smell when i have one and all the money i have contributed to smoking Newport 100's since i was 14 or 15.:smile:
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Get yourself a straw and cut it to the size of a cigarette. This is more mind over matter, but the deep breathing you get from smoking a cigarette is very soothing. So, if you take some drags on an empty straw and blow out, it simulates the act of deep breathing exercises associated with smoking.... and it's very calming. Also, it gives you something to do with your hands. Remember, when smoking, you were doing several things at once which your brain interpreted as a single act/habit of relaxation.

I'll bet food is starting to taste better already, so start eating a mini carrot every time you would've had a cigarette and you probalby won't put on any weight, which is most ex-smokers excuse for going back...... they gain weight.
 
3 months ago I went to E-go brand e-cigs...its like a cigar sized battery with variable voltage and high nicotine levels...beats the hell out of those cig looking e-cigs..and I don't like the idea of a pill rewiring my brain to remove pleasure..even if it is for nicotine..not to mention the murderous side effects listed on the commercial

I get all the benefits of smoking without smoking...I can smell, I don't stink and I've stopped coughing...tried a cig about a month ago and it tasted like crap and made me ill.

I even get to smoke inside ;)

But more power to ya...I just enjoy nicotine too much and feel so much better now..

something about having cake and eating it too...

Only trouble is...I am not nearly as cool, but who cares I get my fix and nobody can smell it...
 

slappy

New Member
Gino, the straw thing i forgot about. Somewhere i read a cinnamon stick also, so i might try. Been chewing gum all day. I need to get those atomic fire balls that were mentioned, cause big red is wearing my mouth out from chewing.

Dave, i wanna get the peach flavored vapor cigarette... but not sure if i want to spend anymore on my habit. Yeah, i enjoy nicotine also, especially after a meal. But i hate smelling like it. Might get the vapor if it doesn't have nicotine... it will keep my hands busy when i'm on the phone.

6:30 tonight is my first 24hours without a cigarette or owning any. Going home and cleaning all my ashtrays up. (i smoke in the garage and basement, not in the house). Would like to throw them out, but they were my grandmothers... whom passed away 1/1/99 from lung cancer, another reason i try to quit every year.

Courage to change the things i can, right?
 
oh you can definitely get them without nicotine....thats my plan...start off on the super concentrated dose to get me hooked on the e-cigs then work my way down to 0%

There is a e-cig shop in my town where you can go in and try 30 some odd flavors for free...I was so buzzed on nicotine I felt like I was in high school again..
 

slappy

New Member
lol, i just called a smoke shop here. Guess they are liquid vapors... but i need the rechargeable one and it cost $60 + the flavor. Plan to go tuesday or wed with my fiance's mom..... promise not to inhale too much while there! another hour and 15minute, i'm 24 hours in this! I got this!...i hope!

Counting the cash drawer at the end of the day btw with NO after hour cigarette.... so different! wow!
 

DizzyMarkus

New Member
Sleeping normal hours yet?

That was the worse part of it for me and eventualy made me stop taking the pills -- my mind raced when I went to go to sleep. I would be up all hours of the night lol

Markus
 

Mike F

New Member
lol, i just called a smoke shop here. Guess they are liquid vapors... but i need the rechargeable one and it cost $60 + the flavor. Plan to go tuesday or wed with my fiance's mom..... promise not to inhale too much while there! another hour and 15minute, i'm 24 hours in this! I got this!...i hope!

Counting the cash drawer at the end of the day btw with NO after hour cigarette.... so different! wow!

If you're wary about it and don't wanna spend that much at first, check out Walgreen's if there's one near you, they carry disposable Blu e-cigs. There's a store locator here if not. I ended up buying 2 or 3 of them before finally springing for the starter kit. I was doing great for a few weeks... then I went and got drunk and started smoking regular cigarettes again :banghead:. That was a few months ago. I'm back up to like half a pack a day (3/4 if drinking), but it's still better than when I was at a pack a day (or pack and a half if i'm drinking). I really need to get back on the Blu though, I'm not even supposed to be smoking (or drinking, for that matter) in the first place. Maybe if I keep reminding myself that Blu is only $3 a "pack" (5 packs of cartridges for $15, each cartridge = roughly one pack's worth of puffs) I can get back on the wagon. Camels are freakin' $8 a pack now so I gotta do somethin'.
 

Sign Works

New Member
Cold/ice water kills cravings, try it you'll see. Good luck with your quit, 5.5 years smoke free for me and I didn't think I would be able to do it after 38 years of smokin along with having an extremely addictive personality. :thumb:
 

slappy

New Member
Progress & Regrets

Yes, unprofessional I am. I was incredibly irritable with people and I owe Colorado and Prowrap and even John Butto an apology. . I even feel bad for the rushed guy at the convenience store too that parked at a 45 degree angle in the 2 front spots at the door that I decided to block in parking next to him and not pulling in the space all the way. Then taking my time in the store...But he deserved it kinda.

I don’t know exactly why I getting pissed lately, but I did and I am sorry. I’m not one for tongue in cheek sarcasm lately. And now have all this free time that would have been used outside smoking… I wasn’t prepared to focus on my"new" life of being smoke free when a good majority of my life, i haven't.

That being said, I’m still adjusting with my “new me” as I’ve been a devoted Newport 100 smoker for more than half my life. I’ve always had to have a pack of cigarettes where I could see them.

Since being on this, I have shouted at my family out of the blue and made a lot of snyde comments to others here and there starting the middle of last week. I’ve spent a lot of time either crying about things that just got me emotional or arguing with things that irritated me. I’ve almost given up a few times and went to the store to buy my green pack of gold… I feel like I've lost a friend…someone that kept me clam....but the other side of me wants to accomplish this and I apologize for myself and my behavior while I’m not truly entirely me.

I’m living another life while I sleep. When alone I'm crying and have no idea why. My poor fiancé can't do anything right even when he's done nothing wrong. Yesterday I yelled at him for watching football all weekend and not being productive. WTH?

I’m still not going outside to get the mail nor going in my basement to do laundry nor leaving the dog out in the morning as those were my most wanted “cigarette breaks. . Luckily I’ve had help with these. I’m not sure how to tackle them yet. I’m getting low on my pills, on day 20 with 1 week 1 day left of them, and concerned about that and possible withdrawal of them or going back to smoking. I’ll be making follow up appointment tomorrow to carry on my treatment in my recovery, cause that is what it is… recovery.

Last night was the first noticing the dried cranberry Potpourri that I thought had lost scent. This morning, I could smell my bath and body works car air freshener which also I thought lost scent very fast… Turns out I just couldn’t smell.

I think it is a miracle that I made it this long. I bought that last pack on jan 2nd and smoked my last cigarette 10 days ago today.

So I can only apologize. I’m continuing my journey and have asked those that I have vented to, yelled at, or been rude to for forgiveness and to bare with me and to not take it personal.
 

Marlene

New Member
major life changes are hard as habits are hardwired into us. people like routine and will fight a change in a routine even if it is great for them. all that lashing out is your brain's way of trying to get you back into a known routine. this will get better. there are triggers to smoke, mine was sitting down to watch TV, after a meal, with a drink of any kind and on my way to work. without the cig, I had no idea what to do. it will come to you that you still will be doing all those things and at some point you will discover that doing the things you did before with a smoke can be done without but that does take time. for me, what I did was to pick one thing to avoid totally and worked into the rest slowly. do what ever it takes for you. post here as there a lot of us who have been thru what you are going thru. I've been going to Weight Watcher for almost two years and one of the reasons it works is the meetings where you hear from people at all stages of weight loss. knowing there's an end to all of this really does help and hearing how others made it might be useful . if you need to snap and getting nasty, I'm sure we would all understand so snap here rather than at your family as we are pretty tough and can take it for a pal.
 

SignManiac

New Member
Been there as well. And Newports were my drug of choice also. Incredible how your mind can work against you to get you to start again. I warned everyone when I started that I might be a hardassed prick and rip there heads off. And I was right. Took a good three weeks before the cravings started to go away. From then on everyday was just a tiny bit easier until one day, it dawned on me that I had no desire for a cigarette at all. It was a very proud liberating day for me. Now if I can just kick the heroin all will be well.
 

James Burke

Being a grandpa is more fun than working
Just an affirming word of encouragement to those who are still in the transition.

My addiction of choice is / was Coke, Pepsi and Starbucks French Roast (rich, black & strong). Jan 1, I gave up on the pop and one week ago I let go of the coffee. I feel amazingly better, but there's always that twinge of craving, especially when my wife is brewing a pot of S'Bucks.

To those who have fallen off the wagon...today's a new day and it's never too late to give quitting another chance.

JB
 

SD&F

New Member
I have quit many times in my life cold turkey. It really is a mind over matter thing. I had periods where I just was able to stop(less stress in life) then times when I was not able. I can tell you that the vapor cigs are great(we have interest in a Cigar/Cig shop), but they are not a good alternative in my opinion. You can reduce the nicotine, but does not help you quit. I got diagnosed with TB(non-contagious) last year and I am convinced that it had to do with some foreign substance being inhaled. The Dr.'s can't tell you how you get it(not airborne). I stay away from all of it now and I can smell anyone who is smoking, it's strange I never noticed it before.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Within 72 hours of quitting smoking, your body has lost all chemical dependencies on the nicotine and other drugs in the cigarettes. I don't know what the studies have shown when using these patches or substitute things, but the actual habit within your brain is gone usually within 21 days. So, your habit is gone from you in three days while the drugs wear off in about three weeks. The rest is on the individual and what kind of attitude or make up is in your character. So the easiest thing to do is to break up the habits which coincided when you smoked. Do them differently, take a stick of gum to keep your jaw busy, suck on a straw, avoid bars, avoid certain situations, but most of all..... do deep breathing for two minutes... 2 or 3 times an hour.

The problem is, don't set yourself of for failure. Most people need a few times to quit, before they can really quit for good. If you don't make it at first, then basically, you weren't really ready to quit, so don't beat yourself up. Try it again when you feel the urge to quit and one of these times it will kick in and you'll be smoke free the rest of your life.

Again, good luck to all those quitting and remaining... 'quit'.
 
I did Chantix. I highly recommend you never touch the stuff. It F'ed me up for over a year. I had roid like rage and muscle & joint pain that was crippling at times and I'm a very active skier, mtb'er and hockey player. Dreams were like watching horror movies too. Crazy stuff. I still smoke, once it purged from my system about 6 months after stopping the cravings returned full force. The stuff is pure evil if you ask me. I had to do rounds and rounds of herbal detox to get the crap out of my system.
 
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