Aa
Young Lawyer can't quit
The stress from my job is killing me, but I can't quit smoking no matter how hard I try....
I've been smoking since I was twelve, smoking regularly throughout high school, smoking even more college and law school; and kept on smoking during my two years working as a law clerk for the county courthouse, almost two packs a day for the past ten years --- and I just dont know how to quit. My new job as a entry level associate has me so stressed out Im smoking more than ever, but its getting me into trouble at work because Im always needing to take smoke breaks at the office, usually two or three in the morning, another for lunch, and at least another two or three more smoke breaks every the afternoon.
My new boss even recently complained that I always smell overpoweringly like stale cigarettes!! Even though I wear alot of perfume and chew alot of Nicorette Mint gum, its still not enough! Im afraid Chantix would make my anxiety attacks even worse and terrified of the thought of not being able to smoke again. I know thats just the addiction talking, but I dont know what else to do.
I've been smoking since I was twelve, smoking regularly throughout high school, smoking even more college and law school; and kept on smoking during my two years working as a law clerk for the county courthouse, almost two packs a day for the past ten years --- and I just dont know how to quit. My new job as a entry level associate has me so stressed out Im smoking more than ever, but its getting me into trouble at work because Im always needing to take smoke breaks at the office, usually two or three in the morning, another for lunch, and at least another two or three more smoke breaks every the afternoon.
My new boss even recently complained that I always smell overpoweringly like stale cigarettes!! Even though I wear alot of perfume and chew alot of Nicorette Mint gum, its still not enough! Im afraid Chantix would make my anxiety attacks even worse and terrified of the thought of not being able to smoke again. I know thats just the addiction talking, but I dont know what else to do.
Smoking less can work, if you want it to. I will be honest with you, and this IS a non judgmental comment. You will not quit unless you want to.Whenever you give a reason why you are still smoking, it's an excuse, period. This applies to me as well. You are not alone in the "I picked a bad day to quit" line. There will ALWAYS be a reason why you are stressed and why it's a bad time to quit.
I wanted to have a partner in quitting smoking, they posted on here and agreed. Starting the first day they just stopped messaging or talking to me.
Having someone help you is a great motivator. Again though, you won't stop unless you want to. There is incredibly small physical addiction to your smokes, it's almost all mental. Small cutbacks are better than none. What I see though is you saying "I don't think I could quit cold turkey" and "I would love to take a week or month off to quit". These are things to keep us smoking. It is amazing what the mind will come up with to keep us doing something we are addicted to. Oh, and if you are at four packs a day, or even if you get down to three, please stop with the gum too, for health reasons, this again is not to judge you, I have done both also.
This is the final thing, please think about it, because it's the one nagging thing keeping quitting on my mind.
"Having a job, car, house, family means nothing, if you are in a hospital room hooked up to a breathing machine or in the ground because you were not able to stop".
Harsh, but true. When I say this, it's not like some people on the site, some who made the same promise to me. If you need to talk or want support, I am here for you.
I wanted to have a partner in quitting smoking, they posted on here and agreed. Starting the first day they just stopped messaging or talking to me.
Having someone help you is a great motivator. Again though, you won't stop unless you want to. There is incredibly small physical addiction to your smokes, it's almost all mental. Small cutbacks are better than none. What I see though is you saying "I don't think I could quit cold turkey" and "I would love to take a week or month off to quit". These are things to keep us smoking. It is amazing what the mind will come up with to keep us doing something we are addicted to. Oh, and if you are at four packs a day, or even if you get down to three, please stop with the gum too, for health reasons, this again is not to judge you, I have done both also.
This is the final thing, please think about it, because it's the one nagging thing keeping quitting on my mind.
"Having a job, car, house, family means nothing, if you are in a hospital room hooked up to a breathing machine or in the ground because you were not able to stop".
Harsh, but true. When I say this, it's not like some people on the site, some who made the same promise to me. If you need to talk or want support, I am here for you.
Hey just wanted to say really the only way to quit is cold turkey. You may get really intense urges to smoke... but the only way to get those urges to reduce in frequency and intensity in the quickest way possible is to go cold turkey.
Did you consider the option of electronic cigarettes? At least you won't have to suck back all those bi-products of tobacco combustion that are highly carcinogenic.
I looked at your picture, you do look pretty and young... why you want to make yourself older faster? Wouldn't you rather stay young looking longer? I bet you would look even better if you quit smoking, and after quitting for about a month you'd probably look a year or two younger even.
Honestly smoking 3 packs a day is unbelievable to me... I don't think I've ever known anyone who could smoke that much... 2 packs a day is already extreme to me, and 1 pack a day is about what I would consider almost a chain smoker.
Where I live it's rare that a person even smokes a half pack a day because you can't even really smoke anywhere these days.
Smoking 3 packs a day is scary don't you think? And your lungs can only heal and regenerate to a certain extent... What about being able to enjoy the fresh air outside?
Just think about it... 1 month after you quit smoking you will be so glad that you had quit smoking and you won't even care about that cigarette you're thinking of right now. Instead if you make the choice not to have that cigarette you'll be glad you did in 1 months time I can tell you it's true.
As for myself... I regret smoking every cigarette I have ever smoked.
Please do yourself a favor and go on this website
whyquit.com
This website had the power to make me quit immediately... mind you I had 1 more cigarette but still. Just go through that whole website I bet it has enough information to make you seriously consider quitting. When I went through that website it gave me nightmares the same night and made me officially scared ******** of tobacco!
Did you consider the option of electronic cigarettes? At least you won't have to suck back all those bi-products of tobacco combustion that are highly carcinogenic.
I looked at your picture, you do look pretty and young... why you want to make yourself older faster? Wouldn't you rather stay young looking longer? I bet you would look even better if you quit smoking, and after quitting for about a month you'd probably look a year or two younger even.
Honestly smoking 3 packs a day is unbelievable to me... I don't think I've ever known anyone who could smoke that much... 2 packs a day is already extreme to me, and 1 pack a day is about what I would consider almost a chain smoker.
Where I live it's rare that a person even smokes a half pack a day because you can't even really smoke anywhere these days.
Smoking 3 packs a day is scary don't you think? And your lungs can only heal and regenerate to a certain extent... What about being able to enjoy the fresh air outside?
Just think about it... 1 month after you quit smoking you will be so glad that you had quit smoking and you won't even care about that cigarette you're thinking of right now. Instead if you make the choice not to have that cigarette you'll be glad you did in 1 months time I can tell you it's true.
As for myself... I regret smoking every cigarette I have ever smoked.
Please do yourself a favor and go on this website
whyquit.com
This website had the power to make me quit immediately... mind you I had 1 more cigarette but still. Just go through that whole website I bet it has enough information to make you seriously consider quitting. When I went through that website it gave me nightmares the same night and made me officially scared ******** of tobacco!
Stephanie, you've got no interest in quitting. In fact, you are using every excuse that every addict in the world uses. Stressful day at work.... (Is your job harder than everyone elses at the office??? I'd guess not, so how many people in your office smoke as much as you do?) Carrying 5 packs in your purse is simply ridiculous.... and buying them online, getting a "deal" on them is just another excuse to keep smoking.....
You dont want to quit. Worse than that, you are sucking nails at the rate of 3 packs a day and are chewing Nicorette to subsidize your nicotene intake.... that is addiction. And by the way, the money you saved on buying nails online is now being screwed off on Nicorette....
As long as you are going to keep making excuses, you are going to keep smoking. If the way you feel doesn't work as motivation, nothing will. If your bosses complaining about how you smell is not enough, I don't know what is. If your ex-husband who was a smoker is telling you you are out of hand, you are simply out of hand. OUT OF CONTROL!!!!
Now, I'd guess that the excuse of "your addiction is worse than mine" is going to come down the line at me.... and to that I'd have to say yeah.... cuz I quit! I told myself, 'no more"!!!!! Day 22 is today.... none, cold turkey.
Your cut down method has sent you into a spin out. Instead of carrying less cigarettes, you are carrying and using more!!!! You need a damned intervention. Im sorry, and I don't want to disrespect you, but you have the worst cigarette addiction I have ever heard of.... and chewing Nicorette to boot while smoking 3 packs a day????
That is essentially dang near 3 cigarettes an hour, all day every day, even while you sleep..... YOU'RE OUT OF CONTROL.
You dont want to quit. Worse than that, you are sucking nails at the rate of 3 packs a day and are chewing Nicorette to subsidize your nicotene intake.... that is addiction. And by the way, the money you saved on buying nails online is now being screwed off on Nicorette....
As long as you are going to keep making excuses, you are going to keep smoking. If the way you feel doesn't work as motivation, nothing will. If your bosses complaining about how you smell is not enough, I don't know what is. If your ex-husband who was a smoker is telling you you are out of hand, you are simply out of hand. OUT OF CONTROL!!!!
Now, I'd guess that the excuse of "your addiction is worse than mine" is going to come down the line at me.... and to that I'd have to say yeah.... cuz I quit! I told myself, 'no more"!!!!! Day 22 is today.... none, cold turkey.
Your cut down method has sent you into a spin out. Instead of carrying less cigarettes, you are carrying and using more!!!! You need a damned intervention. Im sorry, and I don't want to disrespect you, but you have the worst cigarette addiction I have ever heard of.... and chewing Nicorette to boot while smoking 3 packs a day????
That is essentially dang near 3 cigarettes an hour, all day every day, even while you sleep..... YOU'RE OUT OF CONTROL.
Hey just wanted to say that I used a smoking death calculator and if you continue to smoke 3 packs a day for the rest of your life you have a 50/50 mortality by age 47.5. That means there's just a 50% chance you would live even that long!!
Each pack of cigarettes you smoke varnishes the lungs with a drop of tar about the size of a water droplet. The longer you smoke the more you kill your lungs and harm your lungs own ability to heal and clear out the lungs. If you wait too long you may get to the point where your lungs or bronchioles will actually hurt if you don't smoke.
You say that you are a young lawyer... If you continue to use nicotine in that amount you may actually destroy the grey mater in your brain, and it also constricts blood flow to the brain, as well as at 3 packs a day most of your hemoglobin in your red blood cells are probably about half saturated with carbon monoxide so you are even depriving yourself of oxygen.
Your smoking is extremely self destructing and you said your previous husbands left you because of your smoking? It's most likely because they don't want to end up being widowed with children.
You need to quit smoking now. You should consider taking time off work ASAP. Your health is a million times more important than your job. How are you supposed to work when you're always pre-occupied with wanting to smoke? What about all that time you are wasting going out for a smoke? You are wasting your time smoking and it's killing you at the same time.
Well anyways, I think I'm done preaching now and most of this stuff you probably already know.
I'm here to help you quit and hope that you can!
Each pack of cigarettes you smoke varnishes the lungs with a drop of tar about the size of a water droplet. The longer you smoke the more you kill your lungs and harm your lungs own ability to heal and clear out the lungs. If you wait too long you may get to the point where your lungs or bronchioles will actually hurt if you don't smoke.
You say that you are a young lawyer... If you continue to use nicotine in that amount you may actually destroy the grey mater in your brain, and it also constricts blood flow to the brain, as well as at 3 packs a day most of your hemoglobin in your red blood cells are probably about half saturated with carbon monoxide so you are even depriving yourself of oxygen.
Your smoking is extremely self destructing and you said your previous husbands left you because of your smoking? It's most likely because they don't want to end up being widowed with children.
You need to quit smoking now. You should consider taking time off work ASAP. Your health is a million times more important than your job. How are you supposed to work when you're always pre-occupied with wanting to smoke? What about all that time you are wasting going out for a smoke? You are wasting your time smoking and it's killing you at the same time.
Well anyways, I think I'm done preaching now and most of this stuff you probably already know.
I'm here to help you quit and hope that you can!
You'd think someone with the determination and drive to make it through law school would also have the ability to give up smoking. Stephanie, in some of the same breaths you've said you want to quit, but you want to continue.... that is conflict and its common in addiction and addicts.
I'm going to go off on another tangent here about the length of your day compared to others. Stephanie, that is an excuse. You day, just like any other peoples days consist of 24 hours.... where you day can be classified as longer is that by the numbers you gave above, you smoke constantly.....3 smokes an hour 24 hours a day damn near. So yeah, your day is longer and I get that. Even 2 minutes smoking is a long time to inhale smoke, but you do it all day.... every day..... and every night.
Since I quit I've become a bit self righteous and I'll tell you why. I look at people, people still addicted, that will go to any lengths to smoke. -25 below zero, and these addicts will go out in cold that can freeze your lungs, then inhale smoke.... It is pitiful! I used to be an addict like that. (I chewed, not smoked and damn near for as long as you've been on the planet) I've watched people freak out because their smoke routine had to be altered because of work.... I've watched people not do things they would love, because of smoking.
You know, you're only here once. I've chosen to not be a ***** to nicotine anymore. I've chosen to actually live my life, and do things I enjoy, and tobacco is not a thing I enjoy.
You have been given numerous ideas on how to quit, but you continue to put them off. Excuse after excuse.... and its pitiful. Do you think anyone here feels sorry for you? Do you think for one second that your day is longer than mine? Do you think your day is tougher/harder than mine or anyone elses? If that were the case, we'd all be addicted to nicotine, and were all not addicted to nicotine.
I'm going to go off on another tangent here about the length of your day compared to others. Stephanie, that is an excuse. You day, just like any other peoples days consist of 24 hours.... where you day can be classified as longer is that by the numbers you gave above, you smoke constantly.....3 smokes an hour 24 hours a day damn near. So yeah, your day is longer and I get that. Even 2 minutes smoking is a long time to inhale smoke, but you do it all day.... every day..... and every night.
Since I quit I've become a bit self righteous and I'll tell you why. I look at people, people still addicted, that will go to any lengths to smoke. -25 below zero, and these addicts will go out in cold that can freeze your lungs, then inhale smoke.... It is pitiful! I used to be an addict like that. (I chewed, not smoked and damn near for as long as you've been on the planet) I've watched people freak out because their smoke routine had to be altered because of work.... I've watched people not do things they would love, because of smoking.
You know, you're only here once. I've chosen to not be a ***** to nicotine anymore. I've chosen to actually live my life, and do things I enjoy, and tobacco is not a thing I enjoy.
You have been given numerous ideas on how to quit, but you continue to put them off. Excuse after excuse.... and its pitiful. Do you think anyone here feels sorry for you? Do you think for one second that your day is longer than mine? Do you think your day is tougher/harder than mine or anyone elses? If that were the case, we'd all be addicted to nicotine, and were all not addicted to nicotine.
I know my smoking addiction is pathetic and out of control, and I know I really need to get a handle on it. Maybe I am just feeling sorry for myself, although Im really not trying to. I know Im also depressed over my second divorce and job stress, and thats been making me smoke more than ususal, but I also know that every other smoker out there has always got a million excuses just like I do.
I feel terrible about smoking 3 packs a day for so long, my lungs really do feel tired and worn out sometimes, and I know that it could be considered almost insane for a person under age 30 to be smoking so heavily in this day in age. Although I do know at least a few other women my age who smoke one and a half or two packs a day, and are considered chain smokers by their friends and family. The fact that one of my best friends smokes not quite two packs a day and made fun of me this weekend for being a hopeless addict smoking 3 packs a day should be a huge warning sign as well.
Im really not trying to sound to pathetic, but maybe some of you just have nerves of steel and can face down the cold turkey quit better than me. Although I fell short again this weekend, and didnt manage to keep it under 3 packs either Friday, Saturday or Sunday, Im so determined that this week I will be able to have at least one day when I control my OCD anxiety ridden personality, and smoke less, even just a little less than three packs, for just a single day this week. If I can do that, then I can keep going towards the goal of cutting back and getting in charge of my smoking addiction.
I feel terrible about smoking 3 packs a day for so long, my lungs really do feel tired and worn out sometimes, and I know that it could be considered almost insane for a person under age 30 to be smoking so heavily in this day in age. Although I do know at least a few other women my age who smoke one and a half or two packs a day, and are considered chain smokers by their friends and family. The fact that one of my best friends smokes not quite two packs a day and made fun of me this weekend for being a hopeless addict smoking 3 packs a day should be a huge warning sign as well.
Im really not trying to sound to pathetic, but maybe some of you just have nerves of steel and can face down the cold turkey quit better than me. Although I fell short again this weekend, and didnt manage to keep it under 3 packs either Friday, Saturday or Sunday, Im so determined that this week I will be able to have at least one day when I control my OCD anxiety ridden personality, and smoke less, even just a little less than three packs, for just a single day this week. If I can do that, then I can keep going towards the goal of cutting back and getting in charge of my smoking addiction.
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Smoking Cessation Community
Is treating glaucoma with marijuana all hype, or can hemp actually help?
If you think marijuana has no ill effects on your health, this article from Missouri Medicine may make you think again.
Julia Aharonov, DO, reveals the quickest way to beat drug withdrawal.
Tricks to help you quit for good.
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
