I decided last night after a rough weekend, that I am quitting smoking and drinking starting today!! I have been drinking heavily since college, 5 years or so now, I have been smoking for the last 3. My life has gone to **** since I started drinking so much. cause a breakup from a 5 yr girlfriend, caused me make numerous mistakes that i wish i could take back, and even giving me a bad reputation among fam and friends lately. Any advice to help me along? anyone else gone through this? I am one of the most determined people u will ever meet once I decide something, but any additional advice would be greatly appreciated.
2006-11-27 03:39:31 · 4 answers · asked by Andy R 1 in Health ➔ General Health Care ➔ Other - General Health Care
I assume you don't mean cigarettes? If it is cigarettes, don't worry about those right now. You can quit those later.
It's always most important to quit drinking and drugging before anything else. Get help. Trust me on this, you can't do it alone or you WILL be right back at it. Get yourself to an AA meeting. I'm serious. Start hanging out with people who have done the same things you have in the past and learn how they live without drinking now (not to mention having a blast without booze.)
Find a meeting here: http://www.aa.org/en_find_meeting.cfm
2006-11-27 03:48:24 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'd advise picking one vice to quit rather than two. You can quit the second after you have quit the first. I'd pick drinking first--it is most likely to cause detriment to your life in the short term. Once you quit drinking, then you can quit smoking.
If you really want to try both at once, I'd say your best chance for success would be something similar to the Christian idea of born again. You leave all that behind you, and find new things to do instead--this is the new you, and the old you is dead.
That said, I think that quitting these substances could be stressful, and that you should quit drinking until you can handle it, and then stop smoking. Quitting both at once could set you up for failure--a bad week and you could relapse into both and get nowhere. If you just try to get thru without drinking, I think it will drive you less nuts and increase your chance for success.
2006-11-27 03:48:33 · answer #2 · answered by wayfaroutthere 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do them both now!!! The cigarettes are not a big deal, but if you've been drinking heavily for those five years, you may need help of a medical nature. Talk openly and honestly with your doctor about this, cold turkey off of alcohol can be potentially lethal. It sounds like there is probably an addictions issue here and I would recommend that you find the closest Narcotics Anonymous meetings in your area to help and get to a meeting tonight. They should be very easy to find on the internet.
2006-11-27 04:18:30 · answer #3 · answered by dirkle1 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Quitting smoking is a great opportunity to learn about ourselves.
Congratulate yourself on having the desire to stop - then you are over the worst, but still need to maintain your resolve. It's just so easy to start thinking that just one won't hurt, but it does. Just one achieves nothing except feeling the need for another. Whatever you do, don't have just one. Beware - alcohol will weaken your resolve.
Here's a few home-brewed tips that might be useful.
It's not just nicotine addiction - there are 50+ chemicals in cigarettes. Also the main problem is habit.
We have been used to having body sensations which we translate as 'my body needs something', which we have attempted to satisfy by having a cigarette.
When we try to stop smoking, we still get these 'my body needs something' sensations, and we still feel that we want a cigarette. We have to train our body to be more selective. When we feel we need something, we have to work out what it is that we actually need.
A glass of water is an excellent substitute if nothing else comes to mind, as it helps with the clearance of the toxic substances in our body. Another good substitute is a bag of salted peanuts, used in combination with the water.
Another thing to do is to find an activity which occupies the mind or body. Go swimming - nobody wants to smoke while they are swimming. Slowly, as our body adjusts and translates the 'want something' feelings into something other than cigarettes, then the feelings begin to go away. We know its not a cigarette that the body really needs, because as soon as we've had one we still have the feeling, and want another!
We will have a few bouts of feeling or even being short tempered. We must try to bite our lip, and control; ourselves. Recognise the short temper as being the removal of toxins which are trying to find a way out. They went in through the mouth, and they try to get out that way to. We must learn to keep our mouth closed, and force the toxins out the other way.
After we have stopped for a while we will begin to feel that just one wont to any harm.
All that leads to is a desire for just another one. We must guard very strongly against the desire to have just one.
2006-11-28 23:05:05 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
bmac said most of what I wanted to say.
Promise us that you will reach out and get help from others and find a support group of any kind. Using yourself and your will power as your only tool and support in quitting anything is just setting yourself up for failure - no matter how determined you are!
I wish you good luck. One step at a time, one day at a time, one hour at a time. You're in for a long, hard struggle, but keep your head up and trust that you can do this.
2006-11-27 04:04:40 · answer #5 · answered by Jocelyn 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
smoke and drink till you pass out and you will never do it again
2006-11-27 03:42:23 · answer #6 · answered by SAYCORAXZ 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋