Cognitive Quit Smoking

After leaving work yesterday, I went to the mall to order some blinds for
our windows. Several of the windows were larger than 1 blind size, so I
needed to make decisions about how I wanted those blinds to be. I sat with
the store clerk looking at different options, and suddenly Warren said “Need
to leave to go have a cig”. I immediately stopped and tried to assess what I
was feeling. Physically I was feeling fairly normal, no stiffness, no rapid
heartbeat, no tension, etc. What was this? Where was it coming from? I kind
of stuffed it away, and tried to concentrate on the task at hand, but
realized that I could no longer focus well at all. The clerk went to make a
phone call to verify some information, and I tried to figure out what the
“Situation” and “Emotions” were. I realized that since I’ve been a smoker, I
have had a certain time limit that I allow on any given task that doesn’t
really stimulate me. Before I went into the store, I had taken the
measurements, and looked up on the chart what it was that I needed to order.
When I went in, I figured it would take me about 45 minutes to get them
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Well, I’ve had an interesting couple of days! I stopped smoking on Thursday
morning. I worked for about 6 hours, and had a really bad headache and
decided I needed to go home and take a nap, and pamper myself. I did just
that, and at 9:00 pm I was thrilled to have gone 24 hours without a
cigarette. Friday morning, I woke up, thought about a cigarette, and used my
morning ABC to remind myself that what I needed was to brush my teeth,
shower, and eat a healthy breakfast. I was in the middle of doing that, when
I heard a noise outside, and looked out to see my neighbors home on fire!!
Long story short, we got them out, and stood and watched as the house burned
almost completely. There were lots of people standing about outside, and the
adrenaline had just started winding down, and a different neighbor walked up
to me while smoking. I immediately said “Give me one of those!”, which he
did. I smoked that without even thinking about it, and began helping remove
any belongings we could find from the wreckage. This was a long, slow,
tedious process, and throughout the day I smoked about 5 more cigarettes.
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Well, I went out last night with some friends from work. Steve had
actually helped me with ABCs for this night. I decided at the
beginning of the evening I would not drink a lot because I wanted to
maintain control. I ended up having 2 drinks about 3 hours apart and
then drank water because nobody wanted to take a cab and I figured I
would drive people home. I did feel outside of the group. The jokes
weren’t as funny. And their smoking did bother me. BUT! Here is the
what I learned. The only one I felt comfortable with was my friend
Becky (she smoked) but she was not getting ‘trashed’ like every one
else. So, I thought back to other times I had gone out with these
people, and I never have felt comfortable because I normaly don’t get
trashed and I very much dislike the type of bars they go to. There
was one time I had fun with them and enjoyed the bars and that was
the one time I went out with them and did drink a lot. But, when you
drink a lot you not only let your inhibitions down you let other
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I just drop by to say hello to all. A warm welcome to
all newbies.
I am doing well in my quit this time. I have been
working nicely with Warren and he no longer offers me a
smoke to deal with life. I have been through a lot of
stress the last month but did not smoke. I go now out
for many times for walk. I also found a way of nicely
backing off in a hot situation “washroom break” just
works as good as a “smoke break” if not even better.
My hubby still smokes, and now he even smokes inside
but other than that the smell of it buggs me I have no
problems with it.
However, recently I have noticed that when I read or
listen to smoking related issues I feel like smoking.
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And, I find myself a very mean person. I need to ask others, after that amount
of time, what you felt like? I had one person tell me that i had stopped
smoking but i have not yet quit. that i have been hanging on by my nails for a
year. he’s right, i have been. i don’t know what to do. is this a common
thing for quitters to go thru or am i in the very small minority of people who
are able to stop smoking but become depressed and mean because they’re mired in
the ‘loss’ of it? help, i’m at my wits end and ready to go on antidepressants
out of desperation.
thanks,
cris

HI, I am Cecile and a nicotine addict. I joined the group some time
ago. Tonight, I remembered the Dr. telling me I have a mild case of
Emphysema. I didn’t know what he was telling me. I got on the
internet and started reading. I am now conviced I must quit NOW! I
have had a hard time making it past the 15 hour mark. My silk quit
meter says I have been quit for 5 hours, 33 minutes and 44 seconds. 5
cigarettes not smoked, saving $0.29. Life saved: 25 minutes. Boy I
can’t believe it! I got so engrossed in learning about Emphysema I
didn’t even realize the time that had passed. I suggest that anyone
who is still smoking go to the search engine and look up emphysema.
It sure opened my eyes and hopefully. my lungs. Reading those stories
was like reading my life. I am determined not to let things go any
further than they have because of constant smoking.
I hope you don’t mind a lot of post and questions. I intend on
finding out the list for the first 72 hours of quit. I have read it
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Hi. I was a member of this group back in 1999 and again in 2001. I
stopped smoking for 8 months the first time and 5 the second time.
Although I read the posts here and did a little of the approach, I
was not systematic about it. Both times, I did well with my quit
until I started directing my attention elsewhere. As soon as Warren
was put back in charge and a situation came up that called for a
smoking response (both times it was a sustained period of worry or
anxiety) I ended up smoking again. I quit on Tuesday March 23,2004.
Physical symptoms are not as strong as they have been in the past. I
had trouble sleeping for the first couple of days but seem to be
doing better with that now. I am having difficulty “getting started”
on productive activity like work. I have moderate restlessness and
mild munchies. I know that in order to get to a comfortable quit, I
need to do the cognitive work. My smoking associations with anxiety
and worry are very strong and I need to find more appropriate
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Hi Dallee,

Just as a warning, quitting usually includes a period of sleep
disruption. I don’t know of any quitters who haven’t had to put up
with insomnia and/or wanting to sleep non-stop alternately. The sleep
issues are tied to recovery from our physiological dependence on
nicotine and it typically takes a couple of weeks at least for sleep
to level out. I mention this because you don’t want to go into a quit
with an unrealistic expectation. That too often leads to surprise,
dissappointment, and sometimes losing a quit.
Steve

Okay, I have continued to do the timer exercise. Sometimes when the timer
goes off, I feel like a complete idiot because I can’t identify anything
until I really think about it for a while. Hopefully by doing it regularly
it will get more apparant, and quicker. Am I supposed to post my day?
One thing that I have been trying to identify is the
event/emotion:condition/physical sensations that occur right before I
typically have a cigarette. I have been really trying to focus on it, and
it is harder than it seems. During my week when I am at work, my smoking
usually revolves around a timed schedule rather that just my desire to
smoke. I smoke on my drive in, and then work for about 2 1/2 hours, sneak
outside quick, have a cigarette, go back to work for 2 hours, eat,
(sometimes have a cig before eating, sometimes not) definitely smoke after
eating, work for 2 more hours, run out and smoke, and then leave 2 hours
later and smoke on my way home. What I am trying to explain here, is that
lots of times I want a cigarette after only 1 hour, but I think to myself “I
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I just wanted to check in to say hello to everyone and anyone who is
learning how to quit using the cog quit method. It works, stick with
it. I rarely think of smoking due to this method of quit, it’s a
freedom that I hope that all of you will find in the days ahead.
The late congrats goes out to my sister, Bobbie, who I coached by
copying Steve’s method of assisting myself to quit. She quit 2 years
ago on St. Patrick’s Day and also used cognitive thinking to lose
weight since quitting the smokes. So, she is still smoke-free and
has lost over 80 lbs. Her decision to change her everyday choices
has changed her life. For the better, of course So, as I mentioned above, stick with this method, it does work if you
do the homework. Take the time because everything else can wait
until you get this most important thing done.
Later Gators,
- Cat (quit 2Y 5M 1W)