Chronicles of quitting cold turkey

Mods feel free to move this to a more appropriate place if you need to.

I figure when the SHTF all us smokers are going to have to quit. I decided to quit cold turkey and I thought I might document the experiences and difficulties I encounter. Hopefully it will help prepare fellow smokers for what they need to be prepared for when the SHTF




DAY 1. Wife gave me hell first thing this morning. We are heading to the mountains to camp out and she has touristy things in mind while I just want to hike the mountains. First lesson learned. People who have never smoked will have no sympathy for you, and mornings are REALLY tough, especially when a disagreement occurs between you and your spouse.

 

I applaud you for quitting.

But, maybe you should give this situation some thought (not starting up again). Smokers are addicts, so there will be a demand. Perhaps this could be an opportunity for you post-SHTF to barter. If you have land, maybe you could grow your own smoke. I don't personally smoke...never have, but in a SHTF situation, I would be willing to barter most anything to keep the kids fed:

How to Grow Tobacco • Index page

The Seedman, Grow your own tobacco

Grow your own Tobacco

 

Good for you! I used to love to smoke, but I have watched too many folks die from it. I don't enjoy it any more so I don't. It is just too scary. You WILL be healthier and you WILL have more money! Good for you. Now if I could just get myself to burn 500 more calories a day or eat 500 less of them a day.............

 

As a smoker who has quit and started again, I will be using the same things I used the first time - Nicoderm CQ (aka the patch) and nicotine gum. Good news - I'm pretty sure (but not certain) these things have a decent shelf life.

In your case Hosster, maybe you could let the wife do touristy things for a day while you go hiking? She can't give you hell while she's shopping and you're clearing your mind in the mountains - problem solved!

Also, you could take the money you would be spending on cigarettes and spend it on ammo instead... because trust me, you're going to need all the stress relief you can get.

 

One option to think about is to get one of these:




The make a blend of stuff like mullen and purple top clover and perhaps other herbs and smoke that.

The mullen and purple top clover actually help you breath better (useful for sick people when no meds available)

Just look at some of the smoking blends the indians used.

Also tobacco isn't that hard to grow and you can put in up to a quarter acre without the tax man etc messing with you.

Of course quitting is quite an acceptable option also.

Thad

 

21 days in myself, of non smoking. Its hard but I'm doing it. Congrats to all others quitting.

non timebo mala

 

Well one year cigarette free.

Cinnamon sticks are AMAZING if you want to quit smoking.

 

This Saturday, 6-22-13,will be my 5th year smoke free. Best thing I ever did was to quit smoking! Found I had lot's more money to prep with!

 

I used to smoke tobacco, mostly cigarettes, pipe, and cigars. I quit several years ago, don't recall when as it did not seem like an event that required an anniversary. I sometimes miss enjoying a fine cigar or pipe but just don't want to go there.

 

Seacowboys, The only reason I remember the date so well was the fact that I had a heart attack and it scared me so bad I quit cold turkey!

 

Congrats on staying with it, Hosster! Yes, it can be one of the toughest addictions to quit, some people say it's akin to quitting heroin, in its difficulty!

Personally, I'm at 8-1/2 years, as of the end of May. Now if I could just get rid of the 75 pounds I gained, when my taste buds came back to life!!

 

Vietnam yielded some interesting research on addiction (heroin) that 40 years later is still reshaping the current understanding of addiction. There was a lot of study of Vietnam soldiers returning in 1972. Basically, soldiers were kept in Vietnam until they were "dry" then they were returned home. Only about 5% of those addicted to heroin in Nam relapsed into opiate use or addiction in the 8-12 months after they returned. Additionally, some had treatment and some did not and their rates of success were basically the same. By comparison, heroin addicts in the US undergoing treatment had a 65- 90% relapse rate (depending upon which study you look at.)

This research coupled with additional study, much more recent, suggest that changing one's environment and eschewing cues to former habits are critical keys to breaking addiction, possibly much more so than anything else including any physiological effects of the drug.

Those having difficulty breaking an addiction long term might want to research some of these findings and consult with a therapist who is integrating these new understandings into breaking old habits and environments and forming new behavior paradigms that won't trigger those old thought patterns that remember and renew the old cravings.

AT

 

Let's bear in mind also that many of the reasons for relapse are environmental and while soldiers did not return to their prior environment (stressors, "drug friends", etc), those undergoing detox/treatment in the US almost all return to their prior environment...

Soldiers returning from Vietnam who WISHED to continue usage had to find sources in an environment far different than that in which they became addicted. Amphetamine usage among helicopter crews was rampant in Vietnam, but nobody I knew continued it's use when we returned to the world...without any treatment at all.

 

You better articulated the point I was trying to make and with first hand perspective. To phrase all this more bluntly, to significantly raise the odds of breaking an addiction, completely change one's environment. Thanks.

AT

 

Get rid of the triggers, that's how it's done.

 

I trapped it down myself when I quit smoking, but I still keep cigarettes around the house for some reason, must be something like 2000 cigarettes all in all. The missus think we'll be able to trade them in for cars, guns and virgins after SHTF but I'm a bit more realistic and thinking more around the lines of food. And beer.

 

Smoked for 20 years, quit almost 16 years ago. Now can't stand the smell and the taste of most fast food.