Quit Smoking Anyone?

Quit Smoking Anyone? - Sharing my experience

The Background.

The other day, I bumped into an old uni mate at Clarke Quay. Could tell he was happy to see me and I was wondering why. Turns out he thought I came out for a smoke and he found a smoke-break-buddy. But when I told him I have stopped smoking completely since August 2005.. He looked heart-broken. Guess no one would have thought i would have quit.

I was a smoker for 19 years since secondary school. Basically I grew up smoking and my whole adult life had smoking built in to my daily life. 3 packs a day was a norm.

There was not a single day of my life that I did not smoke. The first thing I reached out in the morning was for a smoke. I made sure I had a spare packet the night before. Waking up without a cigarette before breakfast was unbearable.

Watching movies in cinemas was a drag cuz 30 minutes without a smoke was unbearable. Exams? I will take toilet break and would finish a paper sooner so that I could go for a smoke. Heck I am even convinced myself that smoking can cure migraines cuz I stopped having migraines when I smoke.

So anyway, I have decided to share my experience on quitting smoking. Hope it benefits someone you may know.

Some Things I personally experienced when I was quitting smoking..

1) How do you cope with stress if you cannot smoke? I used to always have a smoke when I am tensed, nervous, excited etc.

It is not the cigarette that helps you calm down Actually what happens when we take the smoke break is that we change our mental focus away from the immediate situation that is causing tension/nervousness/excitement. It is not the actual cigarette that calms you down but rather the mental focus. So find something else to mentally focus on. For example, you can start thinking about me being naked.

2) The mouth and tongue starts having weird tastes.

This is not nicotine craving or any withdrawal symptom related reaction. It is just basically your mouth/tongue/taste buds rediscovering how it is like to start tasting again. Years of smoking has numbed the taste tissues that the return of the taste sensations tastes weird

3) The tips of your fingers/toes start to tingle and has this smooth crispy sensation. My hands started to tremble at some point a few times..

This again is NOT a nicotine craving/withdrawal symptom related reaction. It is the feeling of blood finally flowing to the tips of your fingers once again after being restricted by the harmful chemicals. Your blood pressure is becoming normal. This sensation will pass eventually (Actually I enjoyed the tingling sensation).

4) Initially the body seem to tire easily/ or you feel sleepy often.

What is happening is that your body is getting used to a healthier you. Taking short naps will help. I also remember sleeping 14hours once even though i didnt do anything particular tiring. Basically the body needs to adjust. After a week, it is would just be mainly mental and psychological.

5) Taking each hour/day/week as it comes – taking little steps.

Initially, I started congratulating myself after every hour. Going past the 4 hour mark was a milestone as the nicotine in our bodies would be cleared and our bodies would start craving for nicotine. What we crave for is not the cigarette itself but the nicotine within the cigarette. Going one day is another milestone that I would reward myself.

6) Daily Habits

This was probably one the toughest part cuz smoking is part of a smoker’s daily routine. We just need to consciously replace smoking with another activity that suits us. For example

Morning wakeup cigarette. – This was the toughest for me personally. I had to resort to eating anchovies.

Post Sex cigarette smoke – Go for another round.

Anyway, the point is to replace the smokes with another activity that will be a substitute. I remember writing a list of substitute options for each regular smoke-break habit.


7) Remembering your personal and other reasons for quitting

The personal motivating factor for me then was i was going through a period of multiple crisis which actually broke me. I was utterly defeated. Quitting smoking was the best way i could redefine myself to make a comeback of sorts. It was a mental challenge i gave myself. Quit Smoking and I am BACK! It may be lame to some people but it worked for me.

8) Believe your body will cope and adjust, the rest of the challenges are just mental and psychological

Remember the first time you started smoking? You body rejected the cigarette when you coughed and when you felt giddy. Your body then started adjusting to the poison you were feeding yourself. Smoking was never the natural state but your body adapted to it. When you quit smoking, your body will also adapt to the new state without the nicotine though it will just take time(about a week). The rest of the challenges are just mental and psychological which means it is a choice you have to make.


Anyway, thats all for now. Got to go back to work.