Staying Nicotine-Free
Confession: I had one puff of a cigarette last Saturday.
I don’t know why I can’t overcome that urge to have just one puff. No way would I smoke a whole cigarette. So, is one puff “falling off the wagon?”
I’ve been reading about the correlation between the length of time you abstain from smoking and success at quitting.
Smoking cessation and cancer pundit, Dr. Michael Fiore M.D., director of the Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention at the University of Wisconsin Medical School, says, “Most people who abstain from smoking for three months can be cigarette-free for the rest of their lives.”
That’s really encouraging. I just have to keep it up.
About Those Cream Puffs
After reading my guilty comments about downing those five mini cream puffs, Jeff took a look at the nutritional information. Shoot! It takes six to make a single serving. I could have had one more.
August 23rd, 2006 15:44
Nice blog, bummer subject. I quit smoking on January 1, 2006 after 20-odd years. I fell off the wagon after 7 months in mid-July but have climbed back on for the last 3 days! I am back on the patch (5-mg version) and am going to take the anti-depressants as I’ve heard they help.
My wife and I had a long, exhausting conversation about my re-lapse last night. (I wish I hadn’t started back because of that conversation alone!) We both likened my behavior to a cheating husband.
Aren’t junkies silly?
August 24th, 2006 08:35
Congratulations on 3 days–stick with it!
I’m curious to know why you fell off the wagon. I suppose I want to try to understand what dangers lurk!
Yes, after all the support and congratulations, I think I’d feel terribly guilty if I smoked. I’m very sheepish about the single puffs.
Also, from working on this blog, I’ve learned a lot more about second-hand smoke and I know how unfair it is to my family–even if I’m smoking outside or in the basement.
Stick to your quit guns!
August 29th, 2006 09:10
Why did I fall off the wagon? I felt I deserved a smoke because I had been so good for 6 months. But it did not take very long for to become that person who used to smoke. Why can’t I enjoy just one (or two) when there are all those people out there who can have a couple and then go without for two months? Why can’t I have one (or two) every couple of weeks?
We’ve been watching the Sopranos series on DVD for the last year or so. We’re at a point in the show where one of the characters has quit doing heroin, drinking alcohol, and smoking marijuana. But he will occasionally fall off the wagon and have a glass of wine or smoke a joint. His reasoning was “Why can’t I get high like a normal person?” His AA sponsor says “Because you’re not normal.” So, that’s me with cigarettes. I’m not a normal person- I’m an addict. It pisses me off that I can’t have one every once in a while.