COPD and Can’t Commit to Quitting Smoking

@urjldjt22

happy 😃 I could help

Namaste 🙏🏻

Nicotine addiction is real, as most of you here know and feel. Like any addiction, it rewires your brain. It alters your reward system and creates pathways that change what your brain and body believe you need to survive. Over time, you build a tolerance, and when that level isn’t met, you experience physical withdrawal—your body signaling that it’s missing something it has grown accustomed to.

These changes didn’t happen overnight, and unfortunately, even with a significant or severe diagnosis, it isn’t as simple as just stopping. Be proud of any amount of time you go without using. Every break from the chemical gives your brain a chance to practice functioning without it. Healing takes time.

It is never to late to make a change. Each day we have the opportunity to start new.

@uma1, @hobbity, @gigipatula, @tia8marie, @crabby55, @hectorheath, @jenicamom, What is one small win you've noticed recently, even if it feels minor?

@kelseyt
Hi ! I plan on quitting tomorrow. No matter if I fail I will.keep trying until it sticks . Flu season is making scared and smoking certainly won't help my situation . Thanks for the pep talk !

Oh boy! Do I ever know your current situation @peacelovejoy! I was a dedicated smoker of cigarettes for 42 years. It is an addiction. And to those who serve their cigarettes demands, the embarrassment of defending our little "friend" keeps us in a vicious cycle.
There is only one way to quit smoking.
What is it you ask?
The way that works for you! It is in YOUR power to stop, not a patch, not an e-cigarette, not gum...those all contain the drug you crave.
I quit January 8, 2018. For anyone with this addiction, you never forget the momentous day of ending your slavery to this little, stupid, liar. I said your same words... "I can't quit because I can't handle the stress in my life". Cigarettes lie. We think we need them to calm down. We need them to enjoy a party. We need them to think. We need them if we have a cocktail. We need them when we are happy. We need them when we are sad, mad, stressed. It's all a lie. The truth is it is an addiction. And it is the most powerfully addictive substance on Earth. More addicting than heroin. The withdrawals are nothing like heroin though...it's in our mind where the addiction lives.
May I suggest a book that really helped me? Allen Carr's Easy Way to Quit Smoking. I found it fascinating how nicotine works in the brain, and the psychology behind all of it. It has been 5 years since I smoked my last cigarette. I will not say it was easy. It was really, really a battle in the beginning. But I wanted to be the one in control, not allow some stupid little object to control me. Cigarettes are liars! I won't say I still don't want one, but the times I crave them are further and further apart. I was so amazed one day when I realized I didn't even think of having a smoke once that day. That is when I knew...I made it! Every person is different. I quit cold turkey. I read that only 8% of cold turkey quitters make it. I am one of them. Some things that helped me in the very beginning: I went to the Dollar Store and got bags of hot cinnamon hard candy. I had a habit in the evening of smoking between commercials on TV, so when a commercial came on I would go straighten the linen closet, or my shoe rack, or the pantry, or my sock drawer. I kept my hands busy and my mind occupied with a task so I could ignore how badly I really wanted a smoke. It all worked eventually, but it was not easy. The Allen Carr book was helpful in the explanation of the little monster who lived in my head, demanding me, telling me, lying to me, that I "need" a cigarette. We need food, water, shelter, community. We do not need cigarettes.
I really do understand where you are coming from. I hated that I smoked. It's like we are outcasts in society and get dirty looks from people who are so much smarter and better then us. We are banned from buildings, and are just generally lowly people. I also really, truly believed, with all my heart, that I would never enjoy my life again without my little friend. I feared not having them when I was stressed. I needed them after all. But again, it is just a lie. So here is the truth: Stress will always be part of our lives, period. Whether you smoke or not, the cigarettes add no value, do not fix problems, and hurt your health. It's easy for others to look at a 600 pound person who eats all day and is going to die. Why don't they just stop eating? It's killing them! Or in your case, being diagnosed with COPD, knowing it is from your addiction. Why don't you just stop? It's killing you! It sounds easy to say unless you walk in your shoes. So @peacelovejoy, I do understand. I did walk in your shoes. And I pray you find the will to live your best life, free from the little liars as soon as possible. Make today be your last day spent serving your cigarettes, and tomorrow a new beginning. Free. The feeling of being free from them is amazing! Every year in January, I add up how much money I saved from not smoking. In my case it would be around $1,000. A year! Anyway, I buy myself a little something. Like a pair of boots. Or a pretty new outfit. The point is there is absolutely NO downside to quitting. You save your health, which is the most precious commodity, you save money, you feel better, smell better, and life is better. You know the downside. Nobody has to ask you, 'don't you know what you are doing to yourself?' Of course we know! We are just slaves to the little monster inside our head. Quitting changed my life for the better in ways I can't describe to you. Oh how I wish the same for you!
After you learn that cigarettes are just liars, what do you think will be the biggest obstacle you face?