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GoodEnuff

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At age 46, 120#, I quit smoking, gained 78# over the next two years; then diabetes raised its ugly head. Joined Weight Watchers and that helped me get down to a healthy weight, along with smoking again. But no diabetes! They tell you "you may gain a little weight, 5-10#". Bull. And even after two years, I still had the cravings. They never stopped. (I have been smoking for 58 years.)

Quit for four months for a surgery, gained ten pounds. Started again after healing from the surgery, lost five pounds of it and held there until October, 2023, when I decided to quit smoking again. THIS time I was determined not to gain weight and be faced with diabetes; diabetes scares me much more than anything smoking can do. So out came the food scale, measuring cups/spoons, nutrition guides, etc. Limited myself to 1,000-1200 kcal/day. When I started, weight was 135#. Actually lost weight, to 113#, which was way too much. And started smoking again at Quit Day 70, after completely losing it and destroying some solar lights outside and did some damage to the fence with a galvanized steel pipe.

The medical community does absolutely nothing to help. Chantix turned me into a monster. Tried meditation, exercise, music, accupuncture, massage, hypnosis, the state quit-line program. I can recite in my sleep "Set a quit date; tell friends and family so they will support you (no, they won't); use nicotine replacements (here, have some of the drug to which you are addicted); chew gum; stay busy" blah blah blah. NONE of that helps! In fact, some of it actually worked against me. Tell someone and then when you slip up and smoke, they will smear your face in that failure.

The only thing that worked to help control the mood swings the first time I quit was ativan, an anti-anxiety drug that is very addictive. I don't want to do that again and possibly exchange one addiction for another. No thank you. Nothing helps with the extreme anxiety and anger brought on by quitting. I am thankful that I live alone.

So, today is Day 1 of another quit attempt. Five hours since my last cigarette, nico patch in place. The food scale etc is out on the counter. I do have two more pounds to lose from the last couple of weeks of eating the wrong things. Then back to normal-for-me meals, just to maintain.

I can already feel my heart rate increasing and the anxiety building as I sit here typing this. In reading over this for typos, etc., parts of it are confusing so now, enter the brain fog. Not sure if it's worth it. Because as so many say, it doesn't get better after a week or two. It didn't get better after two years! And I'm not sure I have the strength to go through this much suffering at this time in my life.
 

I read somewhere years ago that quitting smoking is harder than coming off heroin. I've never been a smoker but became a problem drinker and had to accept that I was/am an alcoholic. It's been decades since my last drink and I think the mindset that has helped me the most was to tell myself that I am no longer a drinker, no matter what the occasion.

You seem to be doing all of the right things. Just keep doing them, but do not fall into the trap of thinking that you will ever be able to have just one cigarette without putting your future in great jeopardy.

Good luck and good health to you. It is not easy but it is doable.
 
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Losing weight is attainable, have you tried walking? When I was diagnosed with Diabetes it came as a great shock, so I decided to go walking in the early hours of the morning, after a few weeks I noticed, the weight was starting to come off. A neighbour decided to come with me, and it was the best thing as we were always laughing, and the time slipped away. When I moved addresses, I still continued to walk but only in shopping centres as the streets around here are terrible. I bought an App on my phone, and it tells me how far and how many steps I have done.
 
Tear up some iceberg lettuce leaves or dandelion greens or choose other similar herbs or produce items. Dry them well in the oven, and toast them nicely. The kitchen aroma is delightful! Stir them, break them up to create a 'tobacco' consistency. Cut up coffee filters or newspapers into rectangles, make cigarettes. Don't smoke them, but light one and hold it under your nose or use as you would incense. Delicious.
 
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Warrigal said:
I read somewhere years ago that quitting smoking is harder than coming off heroin. I've never been a smoker but became a problem drinker and had to accept that I was/am an alcoholic. It's been decades since my last drink and I think the mindset that has helped me the most was to tell myself that I am no longer a drinker, no matter what the occasion.

You seem to be doing all of the right things. Just keep doing them, but do not fall into the trap of thinking that you will ever be able to have just one cigarette without putting your future in great jeopardy.

Good luck and good health to you. It is not easy but it is doable.
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I have read the same thing and I know it's true. I have cared for many people who were coming off (mostly) alcohol in the ICU (for other reasons); the DT's were life-threatening in many cases. Blood pressures would soar over 250/150 and they would be completely unaware of their very violent behavior. Two to three days of that in many cases. Others withdrawing from whatever drugs they were taking. In the old days, we would put them on an alcohol IV drip and over a week or so, gradually decrease the dose to nothing. Later, they decided that wasn't a good treatment (it worked great!) and switched to ativan, which didn't work so well at the recommended dose.

Kudos to you for your success and thank you for that reminder. It has already helped if I just tell my brain, "This is the same as alcoholism." Funny/not funny, but of the nine members of my immediate family (six sibs and parents), seven are/were either alcoholics or at least were problem drinkers. I realized many years ago that I was on that track. I would come home from work and have a couple glasses of wine. (It's just wine, right?) One evening, the wine box was empty. I had already changed into my home clothes and had no money.

I actually stood there in the kitchen thinking, "I can take money from the kid's piggy bank, get dressed and go get some." Then I told myself, "Listen to what you are thinking!!" I swore off alcohol then and there. Have had a few social drinks with family (of course) since, but now I do not like the way it makes me feel. And, inevitably, someone says something that starts a disagreement. It's just not worth it to me. So THANK YOU for your reply! It has already helped: I am addicted to cigarettes and can never have another! Like my siblings are addicted to alcohol. JUST LIKE THEM!
 
PeppermintPatty said:
Congratulations on deciding to quit smoking. Do you have anything to do with your hands to help substitute smoking. Chewing on flavour induced toothpicks?

I wish you the best of luck.
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Yes. One of the counselors on the state quit-line referred me to an aid on Amazon that looks like a whistle on a necklace; the nurse practitioner also mentioned it. I considered it but decided to make my own. I have a silicone drinking straw which I cut to the length of a cigarette, removed the filter from a cigarette and placed it into the straw (perfect fit). It draws like a cigarette; it does seem to help.

Was at the gas station last week (buying cigs, of course) and they had those cinnamon flavored toothpicks. Haven't seen them in decades! I bought some but they aren't very flavored so haven't used them.

Thank you!
 
oscash said:
Losing weight is attainable, have you tried walking? When I was diagnosed with Diabetes it came as a great shock, so I decided to go walking in the early hours of the morning, after a few weeks I noticed, the weight was starting to come off. A neighbour decided to come with me, and it was the best thing as we were always laughing, and the time slipped away. When I moved addresses, I still continued to walk but only in shopping centres as the streets around here are terrible. I bought an App on my phone, and it tells me how far and how many steps I have done.
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Weather permitting, I walk my dogs. Last year, when I lost too much weight, I also lost muscle mass and now I am paying for that. Am looking at treadmills for the days when it is just too cold/snowy to go out; where to place it is the problem but I have reminded myself that there is no perfect solution to that and sometimes one must just accept the imperfect solution.

If it weren't so far away (30 miles), I would go walk every aisle in WalMart, lol. The local grocery store (five miles away) is small and never crowded and small town, everybody knows everybody, so it would draw attention. LOL, no thanks!

I have been a yoyo dieter all of my adult life. I got the losing weight part down quite well. Back in the 50's and 60's, tobacco firms were advertising cigarettes as a weight loss aid. Really. Nicotine is an appetite suppressant.
 
gruntlabor said:
Tear up some iceberg lettuce leaves or dandelion greens or choose other similar herbs or produce items. Dry them well in the oven, and brown them nicely. Stir them, break them up to create a 'tobacco' consistency. Cut up coffee filters or newspapers into rectangles, make cigarettes. Don't smoke them, but light one and hold it under your nose or use as you would incense. Delicious.
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Now that's an interesting idea which I have never heard. Don't need the coffee filters; Colorado is a marijuana-is-legal state and you can buy cigarette papers everywhere. Hmmmm.....also, that would give me something different and purposeful to do. I may give this a try just to see how it works, lol. Thanks!
 
GoodEnuff said:
I have read the same thing and I know it's true. I have cared for many people who were coming off (mostly) alcohol in the ICU (for other reasons); the DT's were life-threatening in many cases. Blood pressures would soar over 250/150 and they would be completely unaware of their very violent behavior. Two to three days of that in many cases. Others withdrawing from whatever drugs they were taking. In the old days, we would put them on an alcohol IV drip and over a week or so, gradually decrease the dose to nothing. Later, they decided that wasn't a good treatment (it worked great!) and switched to ativan, which didn't work so well at the recommended dose.

Kudos to you for your success and thank you for that reminder. It has already helped if I just tell my brain, "This is the same as alcoholism." Funny/not funny, but of the nine members of my immediate family (six sibs and parents), seven are/were either alcoholics or at least were problem drinkers. I realized many years ago that I was on that track. I would come home from work and have a couple glasses of wine. (It's just wine, right?) One evening, the wine box was empty. I had already changed into my home clothes and had no money.

I actually stood there in the kitchen thinking, "I can take money from the kid's piggy bank, get dressed and go get some." Then I told myself, "Listen to what you are thinking!!" I swore off alcohol then and there. Have had a few social drinks with family (of course) since, but now I do not like the way it makes me feel. And, inevitably, someone says something that starts a disagreement. It's just not worth it to me. So THANK YOU for your reply! It has already helped: I am addicted to cigarettes and can never have another! Like my siblings are addicted to alcohol. JUST LIKE THEM!
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My dear mother was an alcoholic. One day she said aloud to herself, "It's been nine years since I've touched alcohol. At this point I'm sure it will be safe to have a drink."
She did, and she was off again! It took us three months to find her.
 
GoodEnuff said:
Now that's an interesting idea which I have never heard. Don't need the coffee filters; Colorado is a marijuana-is-legal state and you can buy cigarette papers everywhere. Hmmmm.....also, that would give me something different and purposeful to do. I may give this a try just to see how it works, lol. Thanks!
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It helped me immensely. Please keep us posted.
 
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Good Morning, I hope.

I am shocked at the responses to this thread! I am such a cynic most of the time and expected stupid fake supportive remarks or mean anger-inducing comments usually directed at smokers. I was actually afraid to come on here and see if/what others had to say. Surprise!!! See? There are still many Good People in this world! I can't tell you how much this means to me. With folks like y'all (ya can take the girl out of Texas...ready for it?...but), there is some hope left for this world. Group High Fives all around!

Turned on the TV at 2:30 p.m. yesterday, hoping for a mental distraction. It helped a little; I am not a big TV watcher and don't usually turn it on until after dinner. No couch potatoes allowed! Went to bed at 9:00 p.m., slept good until 1:30 a.m. when I woke up. The dogs know something is different as the older one crawled up onto the pillow and starting licking my face ("No Lick!").

Gave up on going back to sleep; here I sit drinking coffee and sucking on my straw (so pathetic, I don't even want to know how this looks). Already on the second cup. Sleep would be a great escape but I have never been a good sleeper so this isn't unusual. It does, however, give me something to whine about besides nico withdrawal. See? Silver lining.

Ya know, why don't we like have rehab centers for this? If I were like using illegal, illicit drugs, they would like do that for free! (Sorry, but not really.) I know someone who works that system quite well. Maybe if I committed some crime, they would lock me up for a few weeks? Steal a candy bar from the market? Would that do it? Three candy bars? Could they just put me in a chemical coma for a month or so? One that would make me forget that I was ever a smoker? Electro shock therapy (I have seen this done, it's awful so not a joking matter but maybe a fitting punishment for what I have been doing to my body for 57 years)?

I am convinced the guvvies do not want us to quit tobacco. You know how much $$$ they collect in tobacco taxes? Tens (maybe hundreds?) of millions every year! They will help getting off those drugs because they collect no taxes on them, but tobacco? No way, Jose.

Let the dogs out and see it is snowing. Well, self, it's winter. Get over it. Another silver lining: I don't drive in snow, so I can't go to town to buy cigarettes! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! And I will spend some time shoveling, good exercise. See? Things are looking up. Right? Don't answer that.

I have read "studies" which posit that adults with undiagnosed ADHD self-medicate with nicotine and caffeine. This makes perfect sense to me and isn't a big surprise, although I never thought of it that way. Coffee and a smoke (both stimulants, the treatments for ADHD) have always had a calming affect (effect?). I have always been...shall we say...energetic. Mom used to call me Cyclone Annie. I do drink a lot more coffee during these attempts to quit smoking. After the first two cups, I switch to decaf but it, too, has a little caffeine in it; just drink more.

Withdrawal, even with the nico patch, seems worse this time. Headaches and a few brief episodes of trembling hands (that's a first) and it's still just Day One. Feeling kind of shakey (shaky? shakie? aw, eff it). I wonder what blood pressure is but am not going to check. I already take three BP meds with excellent control, have since I turned about 50. All attempts at using holistic methods of BP control have failed miserably. Thanks, Mom (and Grandma), who both dealt with hypertension. Funny, line the three of us up and there is no denying the genetic connection. Include my eldest daughter in that lineup, that makes four. Cloning is nothing new, lol. So alike, not just in appearance but voice, thought processes, behavior. Scary, in a way.

Oh yeah. No smoking so now the coughing starts. It happens to most smokers -- quit and you spend a week or two coughing. Last night I did take a dose of the inhaler that was so kindly provided when I didn't need it. Glad I got it. That may account for the shakey (shaky? shakie? why does this sound familiar; brain fog/senior moment/both) feeling. I refuse to look it up. It's the principle of the matter.

One thing I have changed, if you have read the thread on cheap vs thrifty, I keep my thermostat in winter around 66F. In an effort to keep comfort levels as high as possible, that is now turned up to about 70F and have turned on the heat in the bedroom at night. There is only so much mental strength available and all of it, or what there is left at this age, must be put towards this effort.

If you have read all of this, cheer up! In the next few days, I will run out of things to say except maybe words that have only four letters in them. Like "arggh". Wait, "argh". (Do you think "brain fog" sounds better than "senior moment"?)
 
Good for you for caring about your health!
I quit smoking in 1980, after many tries, with nicotine gum and a support group combined. I could not quit on the gum alone. The support group sponsored by the military was the key.

The only thing keeping you from quitting is the first cigarette you smoke. So don't smoke that one! 🙂

I might suggest that instead of trying to lose weight at the same time, you calculate your maintenance calories and stick to that for a while until you've firmly quit smoking. It may be too much at once.
Good Luck! It's hard but it's so worth it!
 

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