When I was 12 years old cigarettes were 50 cents a pack. It was very cool to smoke... "OK maybe I'll try one". That was 38 years ago.
For most of the last 20 or so of those years I have listened to everyone and their brother tell me why they thought I should quit. Not one of those reasons worked for me. I simply was not prepared to quit. Besides I had a secret. Check below the fold for more..
Yep for all of those twenty some odd years I have known that (aside from food) this was my true addiction.
For me to quit was going to be hard. I mean really hard.
On Friday March 13th, 18 days short of my 50th birthday I made a conscious decision to finally fight this demon. Approx. 11pm I smoked my last cigarette.
As I write this I have now gone 72 hours with no nicotine. It is both harder and easier than I expected. The cravings can be easily divided into mental and physical.
The mental: easier than expected. Things like reaching for a smoke when I get into my car, after I eat a meal, while playing on the computer. These are easy to defeat. just don't have a pack there, continue to "forget" to buy more, have gum jerky or something there instead.
The physical. There is the hardest. It is far far worse than I expected. The first night I was surprised at how quickly it was an issue. I have certainly, over the course of the last 38 years have occasion to not smoke for days on end. But here I was 7 hours after quitting, skin crawling, leg jittering, can't sleep. WTF.I searched my house for even a butt to smoke. nothing. I had been careful to be certain there weren't any in the house. Each night has gotten a bit easier, fortunately.
I am still tempted. I will probably stay this way for a while. But I have done it. I beat the demon. At least for today.
Update: I have now been a former smoker for 9 days. I think I will like it!