I'm sorry I haven't been around. I've been moving and getting settled in. Selling stuff on eBay since ex isn't paying alimony. (He's appealed the divorce) It's really been busy around here.
My question is: Did any of you try to stop smoking after you quit drinking? I've got 107 sober days under my belt and really have no problem with it. No cravings or desire to. I'm afraid the smoking is going to be harder. I turn 45 next week and this is my present to me.
Any advice or warnings?
Sonya
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Wishing OCD was Over Concluded Done!
I have tried several times, but I just keep staying sober and I figure when I am ready, I will be successful. I couldn't quit drinking til I was ready, and same goes with the tobacco.
When I have started again, I don't beat myself up; I just wait until I am ready... again.
I'd say, it's worth a try. If you start feeling too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired from nicotine withdrawal and it jeopardizes your sobriety, then it's not worth it. But those commercials for the Patch say "it takes practice to quit smoking" or something like that. It's always worth trying. If you make it, wonderful! If not, don't beat yourself up. Like Joni said, try again when you're ready. I'm also nicotine addicted. But odds are, drinking will kill me faster than smoking. First things first.
I still smoke and it is going to be my gift to myself to stop one of these days. I really admire your approach.
I don't have any real advice, but I would say to keep your sobriety top of your list has to be important. In the past I have tried stopping smoking and failed, but I'll try again when I feel that the time is right. Here in the UK there is a saying by the health service and it's “don't give up giving up”.
I wish you luck. Please let us know how it is going for you, won't you?
Take care,
Carol
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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. ~Dr. Seuss
Us drunks and smokers arent very good quitters.. been the rounds, still smoking. But I have learned something from some very tough go-arounds.. what was mentioned in the other posts, dont give up. To borrow an unrelated phrase from the big book, 'hold ourselves entirely ready' and I would add, to the best of our ability. Powerlessness. My go arounds have also taught me about my history. I realized things in a depth I never considered. How important cigarettes are to me for example. How deeply ingrained the habit, how I, to a degree, rely on them. How they wove into the fabric of who I am over the years. How many memories, experiences, and emotions they draw their strength from. No wonder I cant just toss them aside. How can I truly admit powerlessness over something I love! And just like with alcohol, I find it's the consequences that I hate. I have found, the miracle of sobriety aside, that small things fall away quickest, leaving more of the bigger things with less support.
Why not. When I stopped drinking I tried to stop smoking a number of times. If I got worked up over something or felt on edge I started smoking again instead of drinking. Kind of used it as a buffer instead of taking that first drink. I had my last drink in St. Thomas VI on a Navy port visit. I remember it very well except for the period of time in blackout. 14 months later I was there again on a different ship and wanted to have my last smoke there also. I am grateful that it worked out. Don't plan to go back as all I have left is coffee and I'm not going to give that up. :)
I turn 45 on the 7th of Oct.
Tom
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A lie which is believed will produce the same consequences as if it were true. This is the power of the lie. If I hold it as truth then I will live my life as though it were so. Thus my behavior reflects its deceptive hold on my life.
Thanks everyone!! I had my last cigarette yesterday morning at 10:00 (9/28). It's now 10:30pm (9/29) and I haven't had a cigarette yet. I'm using the patch so the cravings have not been that bad. The hardest thing for me is reaching for my cigarettes and having something to do with my hands. But I'm going to keep it up! One good thing is that it REALLY takes your mind off of drinking. The hardest time I have is when I'm on this computer. LOL
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Wishing OCD was Over Concluded Done!
) It's really been busy around here.
