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YOU ARE NOT YOUR ADDICTION

11 years ago 0 +0 / -0 2778

I though I would take a moment to bump this post forward in case all of our new quit buddies hadn't made their way through the threads to find it! This is a great post started by a very thoughtful member who always has provided us with something else to think about! Check out some of the other threads Nonic has started to see what I mean! Good Stuff!!!

Stay strong, read and learn!

Jim

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13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 12

Thank you, Jim ! :)

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 2778

Bump for Petya. This may not answer your question about how long it takes to get to feeling normal. It will give you something to think about though.

Jim

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14 years ago 0 +0 / -0 2534

Bump

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14 years ago 0 +0 / -0 880

Oh yes, smoking covers a great many issues in a human being. I drained my own spiritual and mental swamp during the process. The resulting sub-sea landscape was not a pretty site. Most of my anxiety around seeking cessation in the first place revolved around the fact that I knew I was using the addiction to keep some of those less than attractive features buried beneath the nicotine rush.

But if cessation was ever to be achieved I realized that I had to accept my short-comings and deal with them in other ways. And like Kelly, I was not going to go the route of taking medication to adjust my body chemistry in a way that allowed me to do this. And remember, this is only my choice. Anyone going through depressive states should seek all options available and if meds are the choice, then there is nothing wrong with going down that road. Everyone must choose for themselves and if meds are the way to go, then that avenue should be aggressively pursued.

I knew that if I wasn't going to adjust my body chemistry with uptake drugs and the like, then I needed to do it with exercise, food, and positive thinking. I was not always successful, there where dark times, but it was a learning process and eventually, the need for smoking became a memory. The single most important element in all of this is focus. Cessation must become an all consuming passion if you will. At the end of the day one must strive not to destroy the vessel (the body) in order not to experience it's contents (the soul). Instead, it is best to care for the vessel in order to imbibe heavily upon its contents.

This is a rather tricky addiction, because it is so entangled with the workings of the brain. I imagine that the extent of its intrusion upon our bodies is yet to be fully understood. But one thing that is well understood is that smoking is a very bad thing and all steps taken to banish it from one's life are very good things indeed.

stay well

nonic

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14 years ago 0 +0 / -0 967

Well, I can give you my thoughts on that one for what its worth.

I struggled, desperatly with the "blues" and got a ton of support here from everyone and made it through each day with a struggle. After some time, and it not going away, somebody suggested I see the doc. I did and went on meds. I started to feel better after a few weeks and stayed on the medication almost a year, then weened myself off and I was fine. I tried to get through it by myself but I couldn't, I was one that needed a little extra help until I was on my own two feet. I didn't want a medication to take the place of nicotine, but I didn't want to lose my quit either, and that feeling of true despair was to much for me to handle alone. I am a true believer in doing whatever it takes to make the quit stick. I had MANY challenges, the anxiety, the depression, rage, hate...and I still live with a smoker. I did it, I never thought I would be able to say it.

Now, I don't worry about the smoking anymore, I rarely think about it, it can be done, but it is hard work.

I wish the best to everyone. I know there are over the counter vitamins that help with mood, Vitamin B's are good and some take HCG. They never were enough for me, but it may be for others..everyone should always check with their doc though, it could interfere with other medications they are taking.

I also bought hypnosis CD's, both regular and subliminal for quitting smoking. I don't know if that helped me, but it forced me to relax my body for the 1 hour duratation of the chants.

Distraction is Key, pampering yourself and coming here to get help from your friends, thats what will get you through.

Take care everyone.

Kelly

14 years ago 0 +0 / -0 653

Thanks for your posts, Nonic!

I know some others here are struggling with the blues. Can you share with some of your coping techniques for that? Also, how long would you say it lasted for you?

Or anyone else, of course!

Tiana, Health Educator

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14 years ago 0 +0 / -0 880

Tiana:

Sorry I got all caught up in my I and Thous there...I forgot to mention that the fact you point to is one of the key things that helped me quit. I was, indeed, dependent upon that rush of serotonin. Once I got that firmly in my head (no pun intended), I figured out ways to make that happen without buying another pack of cigarettes. And for my money that is one of the basic things people should learn about the addiction.

stay well

nonic

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14 years ago 0 +0 / -0 880

Tiana

I understand. For some reason ever since we are born and become aware of ourselves as separate beings from others (I and thou), we begin a search for definition. In a way we say "ok, now I know who I am not, but that does not tell me who I am. So off we go seeking that definition in all kinds of places. Depending upon what stage of life we are in, we begin to define ourselves by our roles (son, daughter, mother, father etc.) then we define ourselves by our work, or by our financial status or by a million different things. Eventually though, I think we finally come to the realization that none of these definitions is really satisfactory. And so we must in the end either choose to believe that if we can not determine who we are, then we must be nothing at all. Or (and this is what I choose), accept that our original idea of I and thou was wrong. We are in fact not separate, the ultimate answer is that we are really as Carl Sagan said "star stuff"...I like that... that's pretty magical...

stay well

nonic

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14 years ago 0 +0 / -0 653

Hey Nonic,

One of your posts reminded me that I had heard something in a yoga class: we are more than just our bodies, more than just our jobs, more than our financial status, more than our thoughts, etc, etc. So, althought I used the word "greater", it might be easier to understand "more than just" as a concept... Kinda like we are more than the sum of our parts. We are magical beings, as you said, and it behooves us to realize that and know our greatness!

You mentioned using smoking as an anti-depressant. Well, smoking causes the release of the 'happy hormone', serotonin, in the brain. When you know that, you realize why so many people love smoking despite the logic of how it is harming them.

Breather- insightful comment! I never thought of it that way- people fall into one of those two groups: they believe they have the strength, or they believe in a higher being that will give them the strength, to quit/fight their addiction. I like that.

Tiana, Health Educator

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