A question to ex-smokers
 

I haven't been smoking for about 3 months until yesterday. I was going through a lot of mood swings, overall depression and lack of inspiration during this time. I had to control myself almost all the time.

So for the last few days, i smoked again and it was like the light from above - instantly back to the nice and relaxed life. :pimp

Maybe i'm exaggerating a bit, but i really don't want to continue quitting anymore, because of this contrast.

If you have quit this habit, how do you deal with your moods?

Honestly.. i have gone through the same like you and iam smoking again :(

It's all in your head, really. You just *think* you have mood swings because that's what you think happens once you quit smoking.

Bottom line, you're just trying to find excuses to pick it back up, consciously or unconsciously.

Yeah, that's the ruff stuff with quitting it..

The shit hooks into Your brain's mood regulatory signaling system(s?).. :(

Either continue despite the negatives... or quit, and deal with that whole ordeal - if it get's bad, go talk to a doctor about it and get on mild antidepressants for a year or two.

Shouldn't be necessary though as long as You've got enough "natural joy" in life, or something like that.

But it feels very real. :(

I will buy the strongest Nicorette gum available and will try to get me hooked on that. Hopefully, that will be a good substitute for cigs.

I quit cold turkey in Feb after 10 years of heavy smoking and never looked back.

repost.....

dude, this is Spartaaaaaaaaaaaaa, you either have what it takes or you don't


how long has it been for me? 3-4 years now? after more than 10 years of smoking

btw I chewed so many Nicorette (sp) gums that my jaw started hurting ;)

Yeah, that's the point. No matter if it's only in my head, but it still makes me feel better when I'm in a bad mood. It's bad I know, but it's true :(

I stoped smoking 2 years ago and since then I smoked only twice, both while I was drunk.

I don´t really want to smoke again, because I realized that I can´t control it, if I smoke, I smoke 40 cigarretes a day, no doubt that smoking such amount of cigarrete I won´t pass my 40s, I don´t want to die so soon.

After 6 months everything is much more easy, at least you are get clearer body and mind. During those first 6 months I went very often to gym, I made many sports... The best for me was running until getting with no air, feeling fucking pathetic...

Also what it helped me was the fact that I smoke weed between 1 and 3 times a week, that help a lot...

But what is sure, if you want to stop smoking, you must be clean for at least 6 month. During first 6 months, you didn´t really stop smoking, you are still in process.

I rationalized that I'd quit at some point in my life.

And since I was going to have to quit anyways, if I were to start smoking again, all the suffering I had already gone through would be in vain as I'd have to go through it all over again.

That mentality got me to about year one... after that, it became much easier.

almost 7 years now, and not a single cig lit - but comfortable enough with the mastery over my addiction to have one or two cigars a year as the festivities dictate. :)

After 40 years of smoking I gave up 2 months ago........ I must have I depressed/fucked up head because boy is it hard......... I have great difficulty in concentrating now, have put on loads of weight, and have fairly frequent pangs of wanting to smoke... But I've not given in... I'll stick it out come hell or high water to remain an ex smoker....

i still smoke,lol

I'd like to quit, but at the same time, I really like to smoke. I mean, I wake up everymorning coughing half my left lung up, I'm tired of it. It's hard when my girlfriend, her family and most all of my buddys smoke too.

My dads friend told me that he hasnt had a smoke in about 10 years or so, but he still craves it most every day. That sucks. Do you guys feel this?

I never really noticed the mood issues, but I hadn't been a smoker for very long when I quit (about four years). It was crazy hard, don't get me wrong.

I definitely think you should look into other things to help with mood. Perhaps you can find something else that will help you to feel less depressed? Getting outside and getting enough sunshine, going for a run, tanning, eating good things, taking a nap? Who knows what will work. If you have to, talk to the doctor... get pills ;)

I've been smoking 11 years. Then (tried to) quit 2 months ago.

I still have 1-3 smokes per day to keep my sanity.

But it's a slippery slope

have the ocassional cigar :thumbsup they help, just don't inhale :helpme

A lot of exercise really seemed to help me as far as the cravings went when I quit. I still put on weight and am still working on getting that back off but being able to breath without the hacking in the morning sure starts the day off a lot better :thumbsup (It's been a year or two now since I quit and it still is hard at times to be around others that still smoke without wanting to light up myself)


Good luck to you!

I quit cold turkey about 8 years ago. From 2 packs a day to nothing.

Get to the gym, chew gum and explore a healthier food regimen. Once you start feeling great physically & mentally you won't go back.

yeah, that's true...doing excercises is a great thing to forget about smoking. but when come out of the gym, it's soooo good to light a cig :1orglaugh :pimp

Sorry to hear that! I've quitted a couple of years ago now, I went through the mood swings and the weight gain (yeah, the one that is quite difficult to loose) but nothing beats that I feel much much better compared to when I was smoking (even improved my sex life!).

I smoked for 20 years. I knew someday I would stop but I enjoyed it so I kept smoking. 5 years ago I went to the Dr. with what I thought was a cold that wouldn't go away. Dr. told me I had serious lung scarring from smoking and I probably would live to see 50 if I kept smoking.

At that point my children were 6 and 7 and that meant I wouldnt see either graduate from highschool. Why, because I was a selfish asshole who cared more about smoking than I did about taking care of my family. I haven't had a smoke since. So it was really easy for me to stop. But it took almost ruining my health to finally kick the habit.

I was smoking for 35 years and quit overnight, no side effects, no withdrawls, nada, not even weight gain.

If you wanna do it, it will cost you,
the whole $11 dollars:
http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Way-Stop-.../dp/1402718616

http://allencarr.com/central/
and here is the catch:
You MUST smoke 'til you finish reading this book

bingo

buddy should read about the medical affects of nicotine

nasty shit

this is my recipe as well.. plus it is much cooler to smoke stogies.. and they taste better. but not daily.. only once a week at the most.

I attest to that. With more blood getting to one's cock, the libido goes thru the roof. The good news is -
you'd still spend less on condoms than you would spend on cigarettes and lung doctors otherwise.

I had 3 cigars since I quit in February....
the side effect:
in the morning your mouth feels like cats pooped in it.

You have to want to quit.

Midnight March 5th 2002 I smoked my last cig. I've had 2 or 3 in my hands since then and 1 unlit in my mouth. I was drunk and it still never got lit, even tho several people tried. Point is, either you want to quit or you don't. I can tell you, I feel so much better since I quit. Never had the mood swings, refused to.

seems like a unique method, a lot of quit methods such as gum and patch already want you to stop smoking before using them. i may give this book a shot.

Its been 17 years since i took my last drag on a fag ( thats a cigarette to those of you who are not British ) I went to a laser clinic in Wimbledon London and had what can only be described as laser acupuncture. Sounds painful ? but it wasn't. It lasted about 30 minutes and after the treatment i felt so relaxed i fell asleep in the treatment chair. They woke me after an hour and when i stood up i felt a little weak and disorientated, this passed in a few minutes but the relaxed feeling stayed with me for 4 weeks during which time i took a course of suppled vitamins and drunk a huge amount of water, about 2 gallons a day!!!

The upshot was that i never felt any urges, withdrawal symptoms or mood swings during that 4 week period, i was happy to be off the 60 fags a day and my health improved over the following year. So much so that i was able to complete a 120 mile hike at 10,000 ft along the Swiss Alps recently and for an old fart im happy with that..

I see that this treatment has come to the USA, there is one in San Diego called Matrix Laser Centers http://www.matrixlasercenters.com and more all over the states. The good thing about this treatment is its amazingly effective (85%) for those who have tried other methods to stop and if you start to feel moody its possible to have booster treatments for just $80 that stop you from relapsing. Cost of this type of treatment is around $400.00

Cost of this treatment in the UK was £5,600.00 or about $12,000.00 and that was 17 years ago so prices have dropped a lot

This is correct half the battle is wanting to stop there is no magic bullet, at least not yet

I quit in feb. I smoked over 10 years solid, first time ever trying to quit- just went cold turkey and so far haven't looked back, not even for a drag.

One thing I've noticed, and it took a while to happen, but now cigs smell gross. I don't remember cigs ever smelling so gross in my life. Every time someone lights up I feel like they're rubbing my nose in an ashtray.

I still get cravings for it though, especially when people smoke in the car. I guess it's kind of stupid to let people smoke in the car since I don't smoke any more, but I feel like I would be being a hypocrite to do otherwise.

I went through the same thing, my moods lasted for about 3 months.. it was horrible. I just fought through it.

Of course I started smoking again about a year later.

Then quit again.. fought the moods, although they weren't as bad this time around.

Then started up, then quit etc. etc. etc.

I eventually quit again and haven't started up.. been about a year now.

You just deal with it like everything else in life, with booze! :glugglug

(in all seriousness, i quitted around 3-4 years ago and never looked back and even now i then i deal with a bit of a craving, but i now is nothing compared to not smoking)

I used Zyban when I quit made me moody as hell but I got thru it. Have been a happy nonsmoker now for 5 years plus.

Mind you zyban is now of the market cause it makes people crazy.

maybe you should address the moods instead of trying to fight them. i know this sounds lame and easy to say (but hard to do), but exercise is one of the biggest natural anti-depressants. and you can't really exercise a lot when you're smoking. also, you mentioned depression. maybe talk to your doc about a light dose of wellbutrin (antidepressant) which not only helps level off your serotonin, but it curbs your cravings for cigs.

i quit two years ago. i know this doesn't work for everyone, but after i quit and knew i could quit, i have smoked a few here and there and not picked it back up. like, when i'm at a party or drinking or super stressed, i have one, and i don't kill myself about it, but i always get back on the wagon. don't kill yourself if you slip up, and don't torment yourself if you're craving one and you feel like you're gonna go homicidal on someone. have one, get the stress out, then get back on the wagon. good luck...it's worth it to quit!

I quit after smoking for 15 years and I'm at 4 months now. I totally agree that the overwhelming feeling of wanting to smoke is worse now than a couple weeks after I quit. It is really weird. The first week was pure hell then it was great. I felt better, I wasn't weezing, and no mood swings at all. Now at 4 months, I have mood swings and the craving is at an all time high. Not sure why but it's true.

I've been doing breathing excersices and other shit to keep my mind off of it. I think DamageX said it the best; the mood swings are all in our heads and we're looking for any excuse to start smoking again.

bad advice purplehaze.
You either a smoker, and than you need a drag from time to time and you will slip one day or...you are not a smoker. No smokers don't need the drag...ever.

What I like the most about Allen Carr's book is that it brainwashes you and makes you feel like you felt on the day BEFORE you put first cig in your mouth.

Self brain washing is a powerful tool. It's hard to convince other (that you are not shaving for example) but convincing yourself of anything? Piece of cake.

Hardest thing I ever did was quit smoking.. even harder than stopping a daily alcohol/meth habit. Honestly.. my moods are better than they ever have been without any of this shit in my life so I'm really not "dealing" with much of that anymore... almost 6 months clean now:thumbsup

I even went to a hypnosis session for quitting smoking. I didn´t smoke for like 1 month and that was it.. I guess I need a really good reason for letting it go..hope it won´t be too late then... :Oh crap

I was diagnosed with peripheral vascular disease at age 35 greatly accelerated by smoking cigarettes, drugs, booze, etc..etc.. Death is a good reason to stop.

"instantly back to the nice and relaxed life"

im sure u dont mean that!
why did you quit in the first place then?

Good to see so many quitting smoking. :)

here's the deal: I quit 13-14 years ago. haven't smoked since. I would like to smoke however I don't want to get caught up in all the crap with it again. now this, emotionally there are a few bad times, like 3 months, 6 moths. I thought I was gonna have to shoot myself from the emotional 'crash' ... the thing is that's just the cycle of nicotine withdrawal. go ahead a quit again, make a note in your calender app to remind you when you hit these areas of time, realize what the problem is and do not start again. on another note: the urge to smoke goes away whether you smoke or not. pay attention to see if you're 'smoking at people' you'll see it if you watch yourself closely and watch others, it's the weirdest thing :)

now here's how I quit: treated nicotine like heroin. I lowered my dose by switching to lower nicotine cigarettes and smoking like I always did, don't like fucking with myself for no unnecessarily by trying to smoke at this time or that time and only "X" amount of ciggys per day. fuck that for sure. I bought cartons, went from regular to mediums to lights to ultralights... took a year and then one day I just stopped. now the bad news::I prayed every morning and every night for the willingness to quit. also went to smokers anonymous for about 3 months, once a week. got invaluable information. and there ya have it. -bmb

You should to know one thing: NICOTINE DOESN'T IMPROVE YOUR MOOD. It makes it worse. You have to be honest with yourself: you have started smoking again because you are nicotine junkie (nicotine slave or nicotine whore if it sounds better for you) - your mood swinging is just an excuse.

PERIOD.

I stopped 4 years ago, one of the best decisions i've ever made
I just stopped without any help...
Most important thing is that you WANT to stop otherwise it has no use
Moodswings are normal, forget them :)

Hmmm, the mood thing never really happened for me when i quit...

the mood thing didn't really happen to me, either. the hardest part for me was i breaking the habitual times that i would smoke (after dinner, work breaks, in the car, etc), i didn't have too much trouble with physical nicotine cravings, and i wasn't grumpy either. best of luck to you. :(

when so doctor tell someone who smock that he got cancer and there is nothing he can do to help him .. then u will quit smocking for sure ;)