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Friday, 22 September 2006
Temptation ::
I last smoked a cigarette 2 weeks ago this morning. Despite having cut down to 2-6 a day, it was all too easy to backslide and smoke 6 just in one evening at the local watering hole, or 3 with morning coffee. After those 3 one morning, I decided to take the next step and applied a 14-mg nicotine patch supplied by our neighbor.
The patches definitely helped. I missed the rush of nicotine following a smoke, but the cravings never became unbearable. I kept taking walk-outside breaks at work. After about a week I started getting rashes on my arms, under the adhesive. I stopped using the patches and was surprised—the final withdrawal was not that bad.
Yesterday morning I was sitting on the porch with Egan and went as far as to pick a cigarette up, roll it between my fingers, and sniff it. Egan offered me a lighter. I scowled, and made a comment like “just one every now and then might be fine, but how do I know I could stop after just one?” I returned to scrutinizing the cigarette. What was the nature of its allure? A puff of Egan’s smoke blew past. Blecch!
| << Quitting smoking | 2006 > September | Getting warmer >> |
4 comments
Hi Doug,
That “blecch” is really the start of your independence from tobacco. I quit so many times; the patch helped, but it gave me weird, unpleasant dreams. I tried a smoking cessation program that used Welbutrin, but I felt unnaturally cheery all the time. I tried hypnosis, but right after the session, I defiantly went outside and lit up just to prove that it didn’t take.
My final withdrawal was after a doctor read me the riot act. I had three cigarettes left. I resolved that I would enjoy them, and only smoke one if I really wanted one. Those were the last three smokes I’ve had in 1 1/2 years.
I likened having another smoke to being on a raft in a pool full of sharks; I knew that even sticking my toe into the water could be dangerous. I know it’s a stretch, but it worked.
Here are a few that will help you quit--take a whiff around your old smoking buddies, and notice how bad they smell. If there’s any place where you could smoke unrestricted, notice how much it smells like an old humidor or an unemptied ashtray full of stale butts.
Be aware of how much you had to contort the day’s events just to have a cigarette in situations where smoking wasn’t acceptable. Did you have to run out into the rain or foul weather just to have a smoke?
I’m not sure I’d agree that smoking isn’t occasionally pleasurable, but if you view the pros and cons, it’s a pretty foul and addictive trap. According to the Washington Post, nicotine content in cigarettes averaged a 10% increase between 1996 and 2004, so yes, the bastards are out to get you hooked.
The best of luck to you, it sounds like you’re already on your way out of the smoking trap.
Sincerely,
– Marty Cutler, Saturday, 23 September 2006, 20:58 PDT
So how’s that going?
– Keith, Thursday, 19 October 2006, 06:10 PDT
Marty - thanks for the encouragement. It’s good to hear from you after so long. I actually took a perverse pleasure in braving foul weather to smoke. In California people go out of their way to avoid even a few sprinkles. And it’s certainly good to get up and away from the computer every couple of hours. So I’ll keep taking smoker’s breaks, just without the smoke.
Keith - I’ve been a bit of a grump, but smoke-free. A couple of times I’ve succumbed to curiosity/temptation, taken a drag, and been disappointed: the “blecch!” reaction persists. There’s no guilty pleasure to be found.
– Doug, Thursday, 19 October 2006, 09:46 PDT
I wanted to make a joke about taking up some other substance instead, but when I googled “most addictive substance,” it came up nicotine.
Yes, I research my jokes.
– Keith, Saturday, 21 October 2006, 16:24 PDT
This discussion has been closed. Thanks to those who participated.