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Why is it so hard to stay smoke free for smokers?


12 years ago 0 1853 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hi members,
 
Great posts and thanks for keeping it real!  
Not One Puff Ever is so key!  And it's a good reminder that even at 9 months or 7 years, you don't want to let your guard down.

12 years ago 0 618 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hi there, 
 
 Firstly Congratulations on a good quit.  I agree with your take on trigger points, but would beg everyone to be aware of the dormant side of the Nicotine addiction.
 
I've been quit 7 years and 2 months.  I was a heavy smoker, and found trigger points all the way along the line.  You are right to say that you will have less trigger points the longer you are quit, but, even with 'brain power,'  positive thinking and determination, the odd trigger point may sneak up on you unawares.
 
The great thing about these times is you can laugh them off more easily than at the beginning.  Whether everyone can eliminate them altogether is another thing.  The only thing to do is have some coping method stored away for when they strike, and then just put it down to experience.
 
New Quitters...never think you can't do it... and as SF in GA says..."Be Informed and Ready for the War!"
 
Lolly.  
12 years ago 0 855 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hello my name is Tresa, i haven't been around for a long time because my old browser made it impossible for me to log in,I have been quit for over nine years and i did it here at SSC. I think the answer to your question is we are addicts addicted to nicotine, we always will be :(as time goes on it gets so much better that you wont think of it so much believe me dont give in to it just keep up the fight :) It looks like you are doing well, stay STRONG and hang tough, everyday is a new day stay aware, you will get this done
12 years ago 0 792 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Original Post by: SmokeFreeGA
Thank you for your attention.
I am still working on my trigger points, They became weaker but not illuminated. 
The thing with triggers ,I think , is that you have to confront each one of them to move on. Once you go through some activity that was a trigger without smoking you defeat that trigger. It will take years to confront a lifetime of activities that you did while smoking. So let it be the rest of your lifetime doing them without smoking. I am only less than a year into cessation and the triggers are far and few between already and there is no way I'm going to smoke because of some feeling of nostalgia NO WAY !
 
William - Free and Healing for Nine Months, Seventeen Days, 8 Hours and 55 Minutes, while extending my life expectancy 35 Days and 12 Hours, by avoiding the use of 10233 nicotine delivery devices that would have cost me $4,660.64.
12 years ago 0 18 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Thank you for your attention.
You are right, It needs more of a brain power than will power. Congrat. you did great 10 months nicotine free and you were a heavy smoker like me.
12 years ago 0 18 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Thank you for your attention.
I am still working on my trigger points, They became weaker but not illuminated. 
12 years ago 0 792 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Great post SmokeFreeGA.
 
 I believe it comes down to this. It"s not will power you need , it's brain power. (someone wiser than I came up with that bit of wisdom but I love it !) Anyway you obviously have plenty of brain power SmokeFree and you can not fail thinking like that !
 
William - Free and Healing for Nine Months, Seventeen Days, 8 Hours and 5 Minutes, while extending my life expectancy 35 Days and 12 Hours, by avoiding the use of 10232 nicotine delivery devices that would have cost me $4,660.07.
12 years ago 0 11213 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
What an interesting take SmokeFreeGA!
 
What triggers have you overcome and which are you still working on?
 


Ashley, Health Educator
12 years ago 0 18 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
If you are in a journey of quitting smoking . You should know that you have done a great job of prevailing the chain of your slavery to nicotine which is one the most addictive and poisonous material known to men. Have you ever thought of why it is so hard for people to quit smoking? I try my best to explain it, I hope it helps you find the reasons of desire for smoking being called CRAVING.
 
Pavlov was a Russian psychologist and preformed some experiment on animal behavior regarding some circumstantial events. One of the experiments he did was a dog eating food and listening to a bell at the same time. After a while he started ringing the bell without providing food for the dog. He noticed that the saliva of the dog started performing the way that the dog was expecting food because of the bell ring. This is known as Pavlov’s dog story.
What is happening to the smokers is the same way. Because of different situations that smokers smoke. The habit of expecting nicotine after those circumstances called trigger points. Most smokers have similar trigger points like after food, drinks, driving, at the time of happiness and sorrow. The more you smoke the more trigger points you have. Some times you may have thousands of trigger points without knowing it. Your body knows these trigger points and asks for nicotine. The more Trigger Points you have the more obstacles you have to jump and more difficult is being smoke free.
It takes a long time for your body to forget all the trigger points and adapt to the new lifestyle of being smoke free. Remember the beginning of starting smoking, your body reacted abnormally to the smell of smoke, e.g. coughing after the first cigarettes you had or getting dizzy after smoking. After a while you have to increase the dose of nicotine by smoking more and more to have that dizzy sensation and eventually you get to the point to that smoking does not  provide any sense of dizziness because you body got used to  the nicotine and there is no pleasure for smoking. It is only craving to smoke to feel normal. Some smokers get the other drugs like weeds … to have those sensations and the fall deeper into addiction problems. Some of them end up at the corner of streets after losing everything  to purchase drugs and lose everything and die in poverty and loneliness. You must be happy to be here and your problem is only smoking not the more difficult addictions.
 Most smokers smoke the rest of their lives and try many times to quit but they are not successful because they cannot keep up with the craving and give up. You should know that the longer you stay smoke free, the less become your trigger points and eventually you illuminate them totally. You may ask how long it takes to have no cravings, the answer is that how long your body and mind  needs to cope with the healthy lifestyle without smoking.
The great news is that the longer you stay smoke free the less trigger points you will have and eventually you illuminate them all and start a healthy life.
Keep it smoke free and you prevail for sure, it is a war between a nasty habit and a healthy life. You are the commander of the healthy lifestyle and Nicotine is the commander of the nasty habit. Be informed and ready for the war.
Good luck 

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