We Quit Cigarettes

[pertnear09]

Hey Quitters, I'd just like to run by here and say that I'm glad to have a thread like this here on BYC. Though my struggle hasn't been with cigarettes or nicotine, I am an addict in recovery and have been sober for just over a year now (January 4th 2023 is my sober date). Addiction really just isn't something you can comprehend through an outside view and I don't get much exposure to people who share my struggles. I'm glad to see the support in this thread between people who can truly empathize with such a difficult thing.

Although I've been sober for a year that doesn't mean my addiction is gone as some people in my life seem to believe. I'm still struggling every day to keep my sobriety and it's the hardest thing I've ever done. Even just writing this post and remembering it makes my body feel like it needs it again. But it nearly killed me and I don't want that version of life again. Even after a year I'm not yet secure in my sobriety and know I could easily relapse no matter how badly I want to stay sober. The addict in me is very persuasive, but I hope over time I am able to overpower that weakness. If anyone wondered where I disappeared to last year, I was in rehab for 13 months. I won't really speak on how that went because its a whole crazy story of its own, but in the end, it got me where I am today and for that I am so grateful.

Wishing you the best in your quest for sobriety. I have a daughter lost in addiction and refuses to be found. So bewildering. Maybe one day.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Wishing you the best in your quest for sobriety. I have a daughter lost in addiction and refuses to be found. So bewildering. Maybe one day.

Pert, I prayed for my alcoholic son for ... 30 years? Maybe? He started drinking at 15 ... we never had alcohol in the house, and warned him against it, as 3 of his grandparents were alcoholics ... he is now 48 and just started his path to sobriety about 3 years ago. Don't give up hope! There is infinite power in prayer, and in love!

 

[Nym]

In 2007 I was hospitalised for surgery and was given a weeks worth of morphine belly injections. I never wanted another cigarette again! Even when the women across the room would return from having a smoke I got the sickest feeling. Anyway, yrs later, as I was listening to my fave scientist, Dr Carl, unravel listeners mysteries on his weekly radio spot, a woman called in stating she and her husband had tried everything to quit cigs. Then she had morphine post hip replacement surgery and never wanted another smoke, but her husband was still battling. I listened as Dr Carl tried explaining how this "might work in a small number of the population" by way of over-riding the brain's nicotine receptors. Before this I had no idea it was the morphine that turned me off cigs. When I mentioned it to my GP, just for interest sake, he laughed qiuetly and said: "yeah, don't tell anyone." I still get that queasy feeling if I'm sitting in traffic and the driver in front has a cigarette wafting out the window.

 

[R2elk]

In 2007 I was hospitalised for surgery and was given a weeks worth of morphine belly injections. I never wanted another cigarette again! Even when the women across the room would return from having a smoke I got the sickest feeling. Anyway, yrs later, as I was listening to my fave scientist, Dr Carl, unravel listeners mysteries on his weekly radio spot, a woman called in stating she and her husband had tried everything to quit cigs. Then she had morphine post hip replacement surgery and never wanted another smoke, but her husband was still battling. I listened as Dr Carl tried explaining how this "might work in a small number of the population" by way of over-riding the brain's nicotine receptors. Before this I had no idea it was the morphine that turned me off cigs. When I mentioned it to my GP, just for interest sake, he laughed qiuetly and said: "yeah, don't tell anyone." I still get that queasy feeling if I'm sitting in traffic and the driver in front has a cigarette wafting out the window.

It may have worked for you but I can guarantee that it does not work for everyone. When I was given morphine for pain following surgery, it had no effect on my smoking.

 

[Nym]

It may have worked for you but I can guarantee that it does not work for everyone. When I was given morphine for pain following surgery, it had no effect on my smoking.

Bummer. Not everything works the same way for everyone.

 

[BDutch]

Hey Quitters, I'd just like to run by here and say that I'm glad to have a thread like this here on BYC. Though my struggle hasn't been with cigarettes or nicotine, I am an addict in recovery and have been sober for just over a year now (January 4th 2023 is my sober date). Addiction really just isn't something you can comprehend through an outside view and I don't get much exposure to people who share my struggles. I'm glad to see the support in this thread between people who can truly empathize with such a difficult thing.

Congrats. If you can make it for a whole year, the following years will get easier. You learned how to coop!

And I wish you lots of wonderful moments with your new support group.

 

[BDutch]

Wishing you the best in your quest for sobriety. I have a daughter lost in addiction and refuses to be found. So bewildering. Maybe one day.

That must be really hard. I hope she will return one day and accepts the help she needs. and

 

[sourland]

Hey Quitters, I'd just like to run by here and say that I'm glad to have a thread like this here on BYC. Though my struggle hasn't been with cigarettes or nicotine, I am an addict in recovery and have been sober for just over a year now (January 4th 2023 is my sober date). Addiction really just isn't something you can comprehend through an outside view and I don't get much exposure to people who share my struggles. I'm glad to see the support in this thread between people who can truly empathize with such a difficult thing.

Although I've been sober for a year that doesn't mean my addiction is gone as some people in my life seem to believe. I'm still struggling every day to keep my sobriety and it's the hardest thing I've ever done. Even just writing this post and remembering it makes my body feel like it needs it again. But it nearly killed me and I don't want that version of life again. Even after a year I'm not yet secure in my sobriety and know I could easily relapse no matter how badly I want to stay sober. The addict in me is very persuasive, but I hope over time I am able to overpower that weakness. If anyone wondered where I disappeared to last year, I was in rehab for 13 months. I won't really speak on how that went because its a whole crazy story of its own, but in the end, it got me where I am today and for that I am so grateful.

8-20-92 is my sobriety date. Stick with it. You can not believe how good life can become.

Keep winning. You can do it.

Absolutely. You can do this - one day at a time. It becomes easier, more natural.

 

[sourland]

Wishing you the best in your quest for sobriety. I have a daughter lost in addiction and refuses to be found. So bewildering. Maybe one day.

I have a grandson on his second try. It is bewildering because we have no control. They/we have to want it on our own. It just takes some longer to reach their bottom and want to get better.

 

[CHlCKEN]

Keep winning. You can do it.

Every single day is another win

Wow to the resiliency and amazing strength in you and others here that have said quits. I'm grateful for people like you who are like walking superheroes in disguise to have overcome and are overcoming as the distance gets greater from the chains that fell off! Congratulations

I truly appreciate the recognition in the effort it takes. A lot of people don't see that.

Sobriety happens one day at a time. Thank you for sharing your story.

Every single day I'm getting better

Thank you for posting - it is certainly a long hard struggle, but you CAN do it.
I think it took me well over 5 years for my cravings to completely vanish (cigarettes).
I quit in 1988 (I think it was 1988!).

The cravings are insane and debilitating sometimes. Being able to get through them takes so much out of me, but it proves to me that I am capable of so much more, too.

Wishing you the best in your quest for sobriety. I have a daughter lost in addiction and refuses to be found. So bewildering. Maybe one day.

I'm not the only addict in my family... I've seen exactly that and it is so hard to watch. Quitting is so difficult though and the longer you indulge in addiction the harder it will be to walk back out. Truly the best thing you can do it stay by her side through this. It will help tremendously.

Congrats. If you can make it for a whole year, the following years will get easier. You learned how to coop!

And I wish you lots of wonderful moments with your new support group.

Thank you so much