I haven't had a cigarette today and want to hurt people.

Oh, John…good luck to you! I, myself, am murderous when off the smokes.

My heart goes out to you, Johnpowell. Quitting smoking is the hardest thing to do. I am very familiar with the rage and anger that builds up inside you when you are trying to quit. You don’t want to turn into the devil and boom there it goes…you become Satan himself.

Staying busy….very busy…helps. Hard candy and gum help also. A good support system is crucial. Someone who will be there for you when the going gets tough. My dad used the patch, and it worked for him.

Just keep in mind all of the benefits of quitting. Things will smell better and stronger. Food will taste better. You will feel so much better. Your health will be so much better!

I am pulling for you. I know you can do it!

PS…the patch will help, why on earth did you wait ‘till now to get it?

Best of luck to you Jp. You can do it! We believe in ya! :)

@augustlan :: I am stupid.

Day one without caffeine. I’m going to collapse very soon.
I wonder how the others are doing.

Delirium had it easiest. Good work lefteh. Your support is helpful.

lefteh…best to wean yourself off the caffeine…the headaches can a be killer.

JP: Silly, maybe…stupid? No.

cmon ryan, i know you’re not some pussy who’ll reach back for his death stick, cmon, i went computer cold turkey and made it, you can too

btw, if you go back to smoking i’ll punch you in the dick too,...

Ha..

@jp; Congratulations. I will also give up sex, caffeine, alcohol and nicotine just to be supportive.

I’m not quitting caffeine for good, augustlan. Just temporarily to support johnpowell.
And yes, I got QUITE the headache at work today.

One week..

I should be sane by then.

Oh…well that’s sweet, then. I’ll give it up, too. lying, haven’t had it in 20 years or so

yeah, i’ll give up sex to be supportive too…

(I quit smoking one second after a phone call from the Oncologist who did a breast biopsy. “It’s malignant,” he said.) Easy but I wouldn’t recommend it. Not one single moment of craving, I might add, probably because I was so terrified of the cancer. 12 years now without either cancer or ciggies.

@iwamoto
So business as usual?

J/k man.. It was too easy.

JP – I feel your pain, but you can do this! If you can get thru the first ten days, you will make it! Get the gum!!!

@gail
You go girl. I definitely notice the effects on my health. It is time to quit.

When I quit, I remember this girl walking down the hall outside of my office, and I wanted to go scream at her for her noisy heels. Really. I still made it. You can, too. Don’t give in. I drew a skull and crossbones on what was to be the deal-breaking cig for me. I did not smoke it. You can do this. Go John! Go John!

I smoked for a year in my early teens, and got out early.

JP: The miracle will come when someone who is smoking near you or smells of smoke makes you gag and want to get some fresh air. You have a huge cheering squad here. Whine to us as much as you want.

@gail :: I look forward to that moment.

I quit caffeine and nicotine on same day last July 4. I went COLD, cold! I drank lemon water for 3 days with no food. Total fast.

Then I went on green vegetables with brown rice for 28 days. I cleaned out my entire system. It wasn’t easy but it didn’t make me reliant on drugs or a patch. I had tried Wellbutrin before and that helped too. It made the cigs taste bad and that made me quit fast. It wasn’t what did it finally for me but it helped me quit a time before.

The hardest part is getting around how easy it is to go get a fresh pack. It is very easy and that is frustrating. I can only recommend drinking water at a craving. People say walk and people say exercise. I say drink water and go kick something!

Hopefully I will put on weight. I’m really skinny now.

@jp This sounds very simplistic, but try deep breathing. One major component of smoking is breathing in deeply; deep breathing is very calming to the nervous system, and might help mellow you out.

Just out of curiosity, what does the winner receive? Admiration or something better?

my mom used to be a big smoker, for more than 30 years, one day, she said, THIS is my last cigarette, and guess what? it was! never smoked again!!!! she said that people who say it is hard, are just weak, i couldn’t tell, never smoked….

Good luck with the quitting process. Personally, I am still a social smoker but for some reason I have never become addicted to cigarettes. I am however addicted to alcohol which i will never be able to quit

I have the patch on my arm now. These things are expensive. But less than smoking a pack-a-day.

Oh my gosh!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I quit 1 year, 8 months, and 1 week ago. I never thought I would say this, but I don’t miss it a bit. You are doing a wonderful thing for yourself.

I also went cold turkey. Chewing gum helped. And if you need someone to be cranky at, I owe you one. (Also fifty bucks. Have not forgotten.)

The warning on the patches are crazy. Might burn skin? WTF?

JP- I was under the impression you were fat and didn’t smoke. I smoke (somewhat gayly as people have mentioned) but that doesn’t stop me. It is a major concern. I feel like I sleep next to my own blackened lungs at night and encourage them as if they are a girl I want to have sex with but don’t really like. Turns out I like them. Sound like I too need to make a decision. Please let us know how of goes.

Punctuation bitch!

6’ 0” and a 140 pounds. Skinny punk rock computer nerd here that wears glasses..

I give you a big high five on quitting smoking. I have smoked for over 21 years.I wish I could say that about the smokes but I am almost for months clean and sober off alcohol and most drugs and I do not think it would be the best for me to quit smoking tobacco cigarettes at this time.Eventually I would like to quit though. I am pulling for you.

JP- noted

@JP: That’s not how I pictured you at all. Of course, before those comments, I didn’t even realize I was picturing you! Go to bed early tonight…sleeping is a great way to beat the cravings.

Congrats John!!! If you can make it through the day with no cigarettes AND no homicides, it’s a good day!!! I’m right there with you, buddy, but I found that the gum works better. It’s self dosing and gives your mouth something to play with. Plus, the darn patches kept falling off me when I used them. Good luck!!!

You got this bro. From your posts, you seem like quiting is something you really want, which is the biggest hurdle in overcoming something. Count me on that support team!

JP: today will be over soon. Have some ice cream or other fattening food you like. 140 lbs. Yikes. (When it gets dark, go outside and look at the moon.)

I thought I told you nobody likes a quitter. Well, if you won’t take my advice I guess I’ll just wish you good luck. Fortunately, I’ve never been a smoker but know many who’ve tried to quit, some successfully. But you have will power, right? Here’s some “good luck” lurve to help you out (as if you needed anymore lurve!). G’luck!

I’m brand new so I hope I’m not asking a stupid question that has already been discussed before…. Anyway,

Have you tried Chantix? I’ve heard good and bad about it, but my roommate used it and quit with a two-week plan. No irritability, no cravings, nothing… Worth a try if you’re not completely against it for some reason

These camels Im smoking sure are smooth.

Not funny, not helpful and unclear motive ^^.

Buster is cool. I know what he is doing. Being a dick. But I am cool with that.

Day one almost over. you think quitting smoking is hard…try quitting chocolate :P. we all have full faith in you and wow, i cannot wait for this month to end!!

And just try to quit chocolate cigarettes. Almost impossible!

Almost done with day one.. The patch is helping. I don’t want to kill anyone anymore.

I actually feel mellow.

very good jp…you’re doing well, grasshopper ;)

jp I think you are on a Hero’s Journey and letting all the little forest animals (us)
cheer you on and give you tips. Ya ya ya ya you are doing great!!!! Giving up
murder thoughts is a big step. When it comes back, tell us in detail. Could be
our next novel.

can i be the racoon ? or would the sly fox be more of a suitable animal for me ?

Endure John, endure (I quit a month ago, and the other day I had one, o.k. maybe to, but, I used to smoke half a pack every day, and now, I’m doing my best to quit, I’m sure you will)

fox sounds good, iwa…

This is another day. How doing, jp? Here in south puget sound
the early light is yellow and streaming sideways. The air is cool. It’s good
to breathe it. Delicious. Have some:
whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh….

Second susanc, how is day 2? I remember the evening of day 2 as being the worst of it, but I didn’t have the patch. I went cold, and the Jones was really on me then, approximately 48 hours after I stubbed the last one out. I lasted through the night, and the morning of day 3 was better. By that evening, I was far from symptom-free, but I knew I had it whipped.

It took around 5 weeks before my sleep returned to normal. It took 3 months before I stopped having cravings altogether, but I’d had a pretty serious habit, pack-and-a-half of Marlboro reds a day for nearly 13 years. I was 31 at the time. I think it would have been easier had I quit at an earlier age, but better late than never. My dad never stopped, and he died of lung cancer at age 70.

JP; cheering for you from 3400 miles away. I didn’t have sex, nicotine or alcohol yesterday and only 1 cup of decaf tea this morning in your honour.

I’ve managed to successfully stay away from caffeine so far.
I’m having awful headaches, but I’m successful so far.

I didn’t have sex yesterday, either, jp, but sympathy had nothing to do with it.

Oh goody a competition.

Okay I had caffeine – lefteh’s the man for that – but no sex, no sugar, no alcohol, oh wait, but it was champagne,
does that count?
With you all the way jp. Today no champagne, even. I promise.

This morning was bad. I put on a new patch about 90 minutes ago and that is helping. So far, so good. I haven’t punched anyone in the dick yet.

Day 2
6:15 PM PST

You shouldn’t punch anyone in that place for any reason – smoking or not. That is just not right.

Keep it up. Your craving is just your body trying to figure out a new way to deal with stress. Give it that new way – drink water, breath, take a walk. Pick something new. Don’t pick up a pack though or a single smoke. Gums and mints only go so far.

One thing that really helped me was going to Whole Foods (or a local nutrition store) and getting Tea Tree Oil Australian Chew sticks. They are really just toothpicks soaked in a strong antiseptic mouth rinse. But…they create a burn type sensation that really was soothing for the ex-smoker. Don’t really chew the sticks and swallow (that would be bad as you may get splinters), but just try them out as a toothpick.

They had two flavors: regular and cinnamon. Cinnamon didn’t taste as strong as the regular ones.

Really, these helped take that edge off like nothing else!! I highly recommend it. Especially if it saves someone’s penis from being punched.

you didn’t punch because you’re too weak ryan !
does the helicopter in front or ryan, mc hammers can’t touch this plays in the background

Shi-Sta! That’s getting rough…and graphic.

WAY TO GO JOHN!!!! Keep it up man, you’re doing it!!!!

Need a progress report, jp. Got to keep you on the straight and narrow. How did the weekend go?

My caffeineless stint ends tomorrow….

I thought it was a month.

You mean I can have sex and alcohol tomorrow. Now, where did Lochinvar disappear to with his wine-in-a-box?

I think Devi is doing a month. I will do longer if Ryan wants me to.

What is the status?

He hasn’t been online for the last 2 days….I might have to go hunt him down soon.

Wait what? jp not online for 2 whole days?! everybody panic!

Hmmmmmm…..

make that 4 days. i think he might be in the process of moving though.

Oh ok. So he’s not at work?

I was rushed to the ER Monday morning. I just got out Wednesday at about four PM (seven hours ago). I am still alive. I didn’t have a computer while I was in there.

I still don’t really know what my exact problem was. I got a few totally different answers from different doctors. But my temperature was 93 when I got there and I could barely walk. In the ER the hooked me up to an IV and piled warm blankets on top of me to bring my core temperature up. I was in the ER for about eight hours then I got a real room with a TV. I was hooked up to an IV the entire time (except when they were taking blood).

JP: So glad you’re back! What the heck happened, and what different answers did you get? maybe it was withdrawl

**hug**

Glad to hear from you, but not about the circumstances. Nicotine withdrawal can give you a drop in BP. No idea what those patches do; they didn’t have them when I quit. Listen to your doctors and get well.

Wow. Good too hear you are alive. I’m not sure what this means though.

geez ryan, you fragile little nerd you, i’m curious what it was, i bet we’ll get an update soon

why did i suddenly get lurved for this ? and by whom ? why why why ?

3/3 – I just linked to this from a current thread – how did it all turn out for JP? Did he quit; did anyone get “punched”; did lefteh stay off the caffeine??? I need the sequel!

let’s just say i walked around with quite a large bruise on my penis for 3 weeks… yeah, guess that whole “punch you in the dick” wasn’t a joke.

I’m back to a cup of coffee every morning.

And as far as I know JP is smoke free !!!!!! :)

and PnL is very much back with her chocolate/day

Just got linked to this as someones fav questions and typing this whilst listening to the initial link!!! Funny!! It gets my vote!

Hope you are still smoke free!

I can’t believe I listened to that whole song.

—-ROFLLLOLLLLing!!!—