In which I tackle the old nicotine addiction. Again.
I quit smoking two or three times last year, and each time I was really ready to succeed… but failed because I just had one cigarette. Or three. Or five. Which, of course, led to smoking full-time soon after.
The first time I quit, I quit cold turkey. It worked for a few weeks, but then I broke down and bummed a smoke at a gig and bought a pack within the week. The second time, I used nicotine gum. It worked for awhile, but the gum tastes bad and the whole park-and-suck routine made my gums sore. The third time, I used lozenges, but those gave me mouth ulcers and made my already rapid dental tartar build-up even worse because of the sugary, chalky gunk they’re made of.
I failed to stay on the recommended dosages with both products because they were mildly uncomfortable to use. When in a high-risk circumstance I’d just go ahead and smoke because, let’s face it, that’s what my neuroreceptors wanted me to do: smoke the damn cigarette and ease the annoying cravings. There’s no better way than inhalation to get nicotine into the brain. Mmm, smoking.
Apparently, the longer one uses nicotine the more nicotine receptors the brain produces, so that a smoker’s brain has lots and lots of slots for nicotine. Recidivism is absurdly high, compared to other addictive drugs.
My dad, who was a heavy smoker, quit successfully at least a decade ago using the patch, and told me the last time he was in town that the patch was the only way to go. Today, I talked to a pharmacist and bought a box of 21mg transdermal Step 1 nicotine patches. I chose tomorrow as my quit date because I have a prophy appointment in the morning, and starting with a sparklingly clean mouth seems like a nice way to go.
It doesn’t hurt that I’ve already lost twenty pounds, so my fear of getting fat due to quitting is somewhat assuaged. (From what I’ve read, the average first-year weight gain after quitting smoking is thirty-five pounds. The average. Ye gods. Holy wonky metabolism, Batman.)
I’m using the manufacturer’s website, smokefreeprogram.com, for support and encouragement. (Like all the sites I’ve tried, it tells me my nicotine dependence is ‘light’ because I don’t smoke in the morning, to which I say, “Bullshit.” A pack a day is a pack a day, whether it’s for breakfast or right before bed.)
Anyway, this should be my final quit. I know I’ve already asked you for this before, but please send me all the good vibes and encouragement you can muster, because quitting smoking – no matter how motivated one is to do so – is difficult and bothersome and irritating and pretty much totally sucks, and shame support really helps.
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Do it! (Just think how much better you’ll smell!)
I’m doing it! 🙂 -m
yay! you’ve got my support all the way. i tried quitting using various methods and found the gum was the only way that worked. however i couldn’t leave the gum in my mouth as i got mouth sores. i’d just chew enough to get me past the nic-fit and then pull it out and put it on a small plate i had next to me all the time. it didn’t hurt that i never left the house so the plate was literally next to me all the time. the trick for me was less the nicotine gum, though that was vital as well, was prepping myself for quitting the previous month up to the quit date. instead of quitting because we had no money to buy smokes, i quit when we had money but i was mentally prepared to quit.
they didn’t have lozenges when i quit so i can’t comment on them.
the patches caused all kinds of painful rashes from the nicotine and adhesives. i recommend that you shave the hair off on all placement sites. pulling the patch off of hair, even those little teeny body hairs, hurts.
there was one method that i tried ages ago that was geared to interrupting the smoking routine. you spent a week inputting into the little computer your routine of smoking and then it would set up a new routine and you had to follow it. you turned it on when you woke and off when you went to bed. yeah. it didn’t work because i couldn’t follow when it told me to smoke.
if you’re ready to quit then you’re going to be far more likely of success than if you’re quitting on the fly. either way though, you have my 100% support. if i were there i would totally be your phone up nic-fit person.
The lozenges are huge and bruised the inside of my mouth! I guess they have mini-lozenges, but I’m off sugar and not interested in trying them. -m
Yes, you need to quit. Seriously. We’ve already had the talk about you damaging your instrument. Plus, quitting is a prerequisite for coming to visit and having some of my most excellent masala chai.
Sadly, the voice argument turned out to be not true: a few weeks after quitting last time, I could no longer sing in tune! (I’ve smoked almost as long as I’ve sung, and I learned how to sing as a smoker. Quitting makes the instrument foreign and fucked up. I’ll have to learn to sing all over again, and I will probably bitch about it.) Yay chai! -m
Ya gotta stay ahead of your head. That’s the real battle.
It’s already telling me that if I smoke in secret, nobody will know. WTF, head?! -m
yes, have you ever rewarded your amazing ability to not smoke by having a cigarette?