Going Cold Turkey

Discussion in 'Everything Else' started by Phisix, Feb 11, 2013.

  1. After four years I have decided to try and stop smoking. Health problems is the usual reason but the endless money used to do it is another. I also found out it can make anxiety worse for people like me so I need to do this.

    I just had my last smoke now so hopefully I can get through tomorrow without any problems. Has anyone else here ever quit?
     
  2. Tonight I told myself I wouldn't eat the cookie dough in the fridge but then later on I ate the cookie dough in the fridge. Now I'm bummed. I hope you do better than I did. Good luck.

    Oh by the way I have a co-worker that uses E-cigarettes. He says it's cheaper and healthier than real cigarettes.
     
  3. @bfun

    e-cigarettes are still nicotine, which is still horrible for your circulatory system.

    @phisix

    There are medications that work well for smoking cessation. You're lucky enough to live in a country with a real healthcare system where getting a prescription won't cost you anything. I would go see a physician about this. You have a strong physical dependence to nicotine, and if you try to quit cold turkey, you will most likely fail.
     
  4. I would 2nd the e-Cig or try some sort of ease off medication. A e-Cig is much cheaper, and is only the nicotine and not the other junk in cigarettes.
     
  5. Keep in mind that he's in Britain, so any medication will be free or very cheap through the NHS.

    Chantix isn't a bad way to go. You don't have to stop smoking. It works on the same receptors as nicotine, so you just gradually lose any desire to smoke over the course of a few weeks.

    The big downside to Chantix? Horrible, vivid nightmares in some people.
     
  6. Good for you, no more fags! Replace it with a dependency on food. the way British food is you'll never get fat!
     
  7. Substituting fags for food wont help as I will get fat again.

    I cannot be arse with meeication help or fake fags as they use miniscule amounts of nicotine.

    So far so good today. Just hope I can get through the night.
     
  8. Chantix doesn't use nicotine. It works on the same receptors as nicotine in a fashion that gradually causes you to lose the desire to smoke. The nice thing about it is that you don't have to change anything. You can keep smoking. It's not a drug that requires any willpower on your part to quit. Just take the drug and in two or three weeks you'll find that you have no desire to smoke. I've seen it work wonders for people who never had luck with anything else.

    As I said, you might get vivid nightmares, but that's better than getting lung cancer and losing your limbs to peripheral vascular disease, which is what will happen if you keep smoking.
     
  9. Cold turkey has been fine so far. Could do with a fag but at the moment it is more of a response not a desire. What makes it better is a bin all of my smoking materials so I cannot have one even if I wanted, and I am too lazy and skint to walk to the shops for more.
     
  10. Keep us updated. I'm gonna give you 9 days.
     
  11. It's the other way around mate, now if you said 'substituting fags WITH food' you would directly be talking about your fags :0 but since you used the word FOR it sounds more like a direct reference to food as if you started with food and replacing THAT with fags which is apparantly the opposite of what you meant.

    Maybe part of the reason was your girlfriend, didn't you have that cheating g/f that you dumped? maybe you'll have less of a reason to even crave a nice juicy fag in your mouth right now :). (lol fags :| sorry if that comes off a little homo-erotic... wait no I don't that's what I meant! lol fags)
     
  12. I never started smoking over an ex-gf. I did dump my ex but not for cheating reasons. I actually got into smoking by having/trying them when I was drunk and it made its way to full time smoking.

    So far I have not substituted with food which is good. See how I feel when I am in bed tonight and of course tomorrow morning when I wake. When I wake is usually the time I need one the most. Though the feeling of wanting a drag on one is hoovering around me but I can deal with it.
     
  13. Try to stay away from booze. I tried to quit once. I was doing ok for a couple of weeks but then I went out on a Saturday night. Once the beer kicked in I was absolutely gagging for a cig. I have cut down a lot in recent months though. I probably have 3 or 4 roll ups a day these days. The trouble is I smoke weed so giving up cigs would be a nightmare as I'd still be getting my fix from spliffs and wouldn't get over the craving. I do plan on kicking both cigs and weed in the near future though. I'm 27 and I think it's about time I started to think about my health seriously.
     
  14. Alcohol makes me able to smoke nearly a whole 50g pouch in one night so I will be sticking away from drinking for a while.

    Was gagging for one a moment ago but it is gone now. I read up when quitting it can affect sleeping patterns and mine is buggered up as it is.

    feck the drugs man, my mind is fecked up without them. Or should I say because of them. meh.
     
  15. It amazes me that any intelligent person can smoke knowing the risks. There are entire specialties of medicine whose bread and butter is dealing with the fallout from smoking, vascular surgery for instance.

    You guys all know about lung cancer, heart attack, and stroke I'm sure, but you also realize there's a very good chance you're going to lose your feet and maybe even your legs? Vascular surgeons use the phrase "fem pop, chop chop." It refers to the fact that there's a surgery that might be able to save the circulation in your legs if you have PVD, but the morons they perform it on usually keep smoking and end up needing amputations. I performed amputations on smokers in my general surgery rotation, and that shit still gives me nightmares.

    Armadeadn claims to be so rational, and that he's so above religion, and yet he does one of the shittiest and stupidest things a person can do to their body short of jumping in front of a train.

    [​IMG]

    So keep smoking guys. Just keep in mind that your feet and legs will probably end up in a trash can if you do.
     
  16. Oh I know about what smoking can or could do, but I never gave a shit as my life was shite anyway, but I am trying to sort it out once again by doing different things. Cutting out smoking and tea drinking for starters since they can effect my anxiety.
     
  17. Nicotine is a poor anxiolytic because of the health risks, and the benzodiazepenes psychiatrists prescribe have issues with addiction. Have you considered some kind of psychotherapy for your anxiety? Talking about what's making you anxious in a structured fashion with a professional might help you. Many people find talk therapy just as if not more effective than medication. I'm sure the NHS has mental health professionals who do therapy. Why don't you look into it?
     
  18. I quit by going cold turkey before. The first 2 weeks are the worst but then it gets much easier. I didn't find it too bad at all - I think quitting is built up as a massive hill to climb by a lot of people but I don't think it's that bad. There's a few traps that can get you started again further down the line so be careful.
     
  19. Yeah I spoke to one and talking about it does nothing for me. It got a bit better last year after I had a job and stuff so quitting this crap and sorting my life out again should sort my problems.
     
  20. I'da guessed those feet belonged to a fat man who couldn't find his feet enough to clip his toenails. I'm just 31 and my eyes aren't as good as they were I can hardly even seen my toenails clearly! It's not so bad but their just not as purty as they used to be, I tend to cut them too short.