Shadowrun
Off-topic => Off-off-topic => Topic started by: Chipped on <08-10-13/1953:17>
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Okay i'm a heavy cigar smoker and i'm trying to quit with nicotine gum, but the cravings for cigars intensified. If you have quit I wouldn't mind your advice and tips. Tired of smoking a pack a cigarettes during a PnP game sesh.
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Addiction rules can be found in Sim Dreams and Nightmares (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/112345/Shadowrun-Sim-Dreams-%26-Nightmares) and SR5 (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/115985/Shadowrun-Fifth-Edition-Core-Rulebook). :D
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I quit smoking Ecigs and cigarettes a while ago. My best advice is Nic gum and anything cinnamon that pretty much got me through all of it.
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Cigars are a big ritual thing too (besides the nicotine), so it makes sense if the gum doesn't fully "do it" for you. Just makes you want the ritual. I would suggest working out if you're so inclined, or just walking even, when you get a bad craving - something physical. When I quit smoking after college, I did it by being able to identify and then 1.) remove myself from trigger situations and 2.) physically doing something else instead (for me it was play guitar or ride a bike... or drink more >.<, I don't endorse that one). Maybe for you it's just reading or playing a video game or taking the dog on a walk, something you enjoy that's not a punishment.
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Cold turkey when I physically had to.
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I carried around a toothpick wrapped in paper that was about the size of a half smoked cigarette. I "smoked" it during regular smoke breaks and always had it in my hands/mouth while driving. I tell you what, just the action of smoking and ashing it helped so many of the urges. Besides that I won't bs you, it sucked for the first couple weeks and then again about 3 months later, but 5 years later I'm enjoying the cash I've saved.
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I chewed peppermints and wintergreen lifesavers for months after I quit smoking the first time. It might help.
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Funny I should run across this, I used to smoke (Pall Mall studs) quit that because the Sheriff's office I worked for didn't allow smoking in the patrol vehicles. My supervisor offered me a dip of Skoal which has been a monkey on back ever since. For reference when I first started a pack cost 75 cents and you could get them out of vending machines. Longest I have quit for was a year, latest was 8 months which ended with a thud as I fell off the wagon three days ago.
I do it cold turkey but the cravings last for a hell of a long time after that. It is a long and brutal battle...but...you already know that.
Not much in the way of help, but I am told that misery loves company.
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Cold turkey. I tried it with water wings (gum etc) a couple of times, but I found that the smoking cessation stuff just made me think more about smoking.
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In my younger,stupider days I was a pack a day guy. One day my father brought me a carton of Russian cigs he got from a client. 2 in and I was done - cheapest grade of tobacco possible that could still be classified as tobacco and these crimped cardboard tubes with no filter.
Haven't had a desire for one since.
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I use to smoke something similar to that, but they were flavored tobacco with a camel like filter filled with pipe tobacco. I think that is what got me into smoking was flavored tobacco, and habanos.
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Try electronic cigarettes. With them you can decrease the nicotine level step-by-step while carrying on with the ritual. They make electronic cigars too, if that's your thing. My electronic pipe helped me quit two years ago.
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Nicotine E-Cigs are banned in Canada, I believe. Or at least in my province atleast.
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I weaned off in a pretty disgusting way. I saved my halfies for the last week I smoked, then smoked 'em again over the next two weeks.
Didn't feel much like smoking after that. 20 years. Done.
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Nicotine E-Cigs are banned in Canada, I believe. Or at least in my province atleast.
You don't say! Why? Is there a reason for this?
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Nicotine E-Cigs are banned in Canada, I believe. Or at least in my province atleast.
Legal in Manitoba, you just can't smoke them inside public buildings. (They encourage regular smokers to light up.).
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After smoking from my 13th 'til my 27-28th, I quit smoking with the help of Champix.
When I asked my doctor what exactly the stuff was, he explained that it was originally developed as an anti-depressant; but the product failed and now is used to help people quit smoking.
The instructions leaflet (is that how it's called in English) mentioned at least 10 times that you and people surrounding you should watch out for signs of depression and feeling suicidal; along with some other fun side effects.
So yeah..... It started very encouraging.
I took 'em regardless, for 3 months.
You start with a starter package for 3 or 4 weeks, slowly increasing the dosage. After that you go to the doctor again to see if the stuff it's doing to your brain and mood isn't too bad. If the signs aren't too bad, you get the rest of the pills.
The 3 months I took the pills, I walked around like a zombie. I had to explain to my boss that I was taking these pills an what they did because he was concerned about the drop in my job performance. Things happened and I'd just, you know, watch and think or feel nothing about it. People that knew me frequently asked if I was okay, if I wasn't feeling well, that I seemed really distant.
Only good thing was, it was the same with quitting smoking. I just didn't give a damn about cigarettes anymore. I tried smoking once or twice during the course -somewhere at the end of the first month- and recognized it to taste like crap (well, ashes and other burnt stuff) and tossed the cigarette away after one or two pulls.
Two years later now and I'm still not smoking. I still get a slight urge every once in a while (usually on 'occasions' with plenty of food and drinks), but it's happening less and less frequently and I never had a problem just thining "nah, best I don't smoke".
But truth be told, to me the major incentive not to take up smoking again is because I never, EVER, want to have to take those damned Champix pills anymore. The stuff it does with your head... like you're a bystander to your own life, like nothing means anything... I'd never recommend it to anyone. But it does get you off smoking, I guess...
Still, don't take 'em unless you're sure your mind and emotional state is up to it and you can surround yourself with people who can help you through it. The stuff is poison and while I'm glad I stopped smoking, looking back, I'd never do it again with those drugs. Had I know then what I know now, the mere thought of them would've been enough to just quit smoking.
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I smoked for 21 years, but now I'm two years away from smoking, I used nicotine gum for the first year. Then I weaned myself off the nicotine gum and onto regular gum.
It was before e-cigs got popular, so my options were somewhat limited. I would encourage you to actually over-dose a little on the nicotine at first, that way the chemical portion of the addiction is definitely under control. Everything after that is just the psychological aspect of it. There used to be 12-step groups out there called Smoke-enders that offered support, but I don't know if there still are. Getting support for your new way of life is going to be key in the process, stop going where you used to go and doing what you used to do for a while.
Giving up a habit that has a very high chance of killing or maiming you (ever seen someone who lost their jaw to cancer of the gums?) is a serious act and should be taken very seriously. I wish you all the luck in the world.
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Started with cigars back in '95, switched to snuff a year later, then quit 6 years ago due to my ex girlfriend. Though I am ashamed that I have fallen off the wagon for a brief while a year ago(had 12 cigars all together over the past year) I have promised myself never to light up again. Surprisingly enough, I really haven't had the nicotine cravings this time around like I did when I first quit. Though ironically enough, I have become a bit of a borderline alcoholic(unrelated to quitting smoking), something that I'm slowly weaning myself off of.
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i smoked a pack a day for 17 years.
probably never woulda quit if not for the whole e cig thing.
I still hit the e cig, but i spend less than a tenth of the money i used to, i dont stink anymore (well, not cause of smoking), and i can run and swim without getting tired again.
Some people downgrade the nicotine content in their e cig as they go, and eventually stop doing that entirely, but not me.
I'm a nicotine junkie and i aint trying to quit. I'm just trying to find a less damaging way to get my fix.
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i quit smoking after smoking i believe 12 years but i use tho old method cold turkey