cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Share your quitting journey

With great shame and humiliation I am writing this post...

jennifer53
Member
0 21 176
I tested the one puff law and lost. Of course. Duh. It started a week ago from today. It was girls night. Damn those girls nights! Out with my friends and after way to many shots I decided well hell...I've been quit for 80 days now, I really can have just one. Hahahahahahaha! (that was the nicodemon sitting on my shoulder and laughing because he realizes he is in control once again). I bought a whole pack at the bar because I cannot stand people who "bum" cigs. I bought the pack thinking I will have one out of it. How stupid...it was the alcohol and nicodemon working as a team against me.

I did smoke just that one that night. On the way home I said man I gotta throw this pack away. I didn't want to throw it out of my car window because I hate littering. Well when I made it home I realized I couldn't throw it in my trash can either because surely my husband would see it and I would get in trouble, so I stashed it in my glove box with the intention of throwing it out the next day at work. Well the next day came and went and I completely forgot they were even in there.

Then came Saturday...two whole days later. My husband was out somewhere...I was home alone sitting on the porch reading a book and drinking a glass of wine. Out of nowhere the nicodemon comes and reminds me I have a pack of cigs in my car, really I should just go have one. So I did. Actually I had three before my husband came home. So now I was up to four cigs out of the pack. Oh boy did I feel really guilty. But again I stuck the pack back in my glove box instead of just throwing them away.

Then comes Sunday...husband gone again...I'd just finished cleaning the house doing laundry etc. and was ready to relax. Again I heard the nicodemon and obeyed his demand that I go have a cig. 5 cigs now. Rush to wash my hands and brush my teeth so my husband doesn't smell it on me when he gets home. Come Monday morning, I'm up waaaaay to early. Husband leaves for work at 4:30 am. I get up, make some coffee, watch the morning news, and oh boy would a cigarette just be great right now. So I go have one. Then another. 7 cigs now. Lunch hour at work...I have nothing to do. No errands to run, a whole hour with nothing to do. So I go find an empty parking lot, park my car and have a cig. Pray nobody sees me and tells my husband. Oh the shame. I am now a closet smoker. I feel dirty. 8 cigs. Tuesday the same routine, except two at lunch. 11 cigs.

Funny...now I realize...what happened to just smoking that one? So in between yesterday and lunch time today I finished the last 9 in the pack. 1 puff just turned into 1 pack. Maybe it is because I am young and somewhat naive, maybe it is because this was my first quit...but more likely it was just because I was so friggin hard headed and stupid that I truly believed I was different than everybody else and I believed I could have just one. So listen up newbies, I am a real and honest testimony - there is no such thing as just one!!!!!!! How easily did that 1 turn into a whole pack?!!! Waaaaaaaaaay to easy. So easy I didn't even have to think about it. So it is with great shame that I admit to everyone right here and now that I have to start over from day 1. One puff turned into another day 1. Do you remember how day 1 felt? Well here I am feeling it all over again because I did not heed the warnings. It is with great shame I go now to reset my clock and start again.

Much love.
21 Comments
hwc
Member
Yep. You can either learn about just one puff the hard way or learn about it from other people who have learned about it the hard way:

The One Puff Files

You, unfortunately, learned it the hard way. With any luck, your post here will help just one other person learn the lesson without having to start over.

There's no point in beating yourself up at this point. The thing to do is file it away so that you beat the hell out of yourself next time before you take one puff! My sense is that you have figured that out and that you know what you have to do.

BTW, they've done studies on this. 90% to 95% of ex-smokers who take one puff end up back at their full rate of smoking. The odds are insurmountable. That's why all of us who quit have to just assume that one puff equals the whole enchilada -- a pack a day, two packs a day, whatever. Here's the kicker. I don't know about ya'll, but it took me 38 years to quit the first time. If I started smoking again, I might be over 90 before I could quit if it goes like the last one. So for me, I have to consider that one puff is probably a decision to smoke until it kills me.
jennifer53
Member
Thanks HWC...I think I was more worried about disappointing you than my own husband lol. It took alot of nerve for me to admit I failed. Thank god it only took me one pack to realize I had to get back on this horse and start over...
lynne4
Member
Greatpost and great reminder, you never dodge the nicodemon. Thanks for sharing your story. The good news is you want to start right away....you already have the triggers beat, so now you just have to remember to never give in again, some can do it, some can not, I guess you aren't one of those!! Hang in there, one slip doesn't mean you can't and won't do it again.
carlie
Member
See what you've done now ??? You made hwc bring out the "One Puff Files" !!!!!!!!!!!

Alcohol and smoking go hand-in-hand...........got that yet ??? Open door for the nicodemon !!!! Never...NEVER take that for granted !!! You need to get a few more months under your belt before you should try to conquer THAT one !!!!
People have thrown away quits much longer that your 80 days....don't beat yourself up...it's part of the learning process for some !!! Learn and go on !!!!
Takes guts to blog about it...I think that's one of my main reasons for not smoking again !!! FEAR is a healthy thing sometimes !!!
You're young...but you're STRONG !!! Remember THAT, too !!!
sara-lee
Member
AND THE WORLD STILL SPINS...saddle up girl...get back on that horse and ride...you have nothing /no -body to apologize to except yourself.
you can do this !!! we are here to help you, not hinder you, devalue you or belittle you...you are a beautiful
and valuable part of this human race...look i already love ya and haven't even met you!!
jut keep on keeping on and just breathe!!!
cory7
Member
Thanks for sharing. it is a great reminder of much control that "one puff" and this addiction has over us.
2 thoughts.... don't drink for a while. alcohol makes us let our guard down, as you found out. AND never let yourself buy another pack.
if you don't buy any, you won't have any, thence, you can't smoke any!
jennifer53
Member
Absolutely never buy another pack...I think that was my biggest downfall. If I didn't have those cigs in my glove box I never would have smoked them. Lesson learned!
Demando
Member
DAMMIT JEN! j/k .... blame it on the alcohol ! Put it this way..as of right now you are smoke-free again, so you are in the same position as you were the minute before you smoked that cig... As long as you don't go out and buy anymore packs you will be Goldennnn.....
victoria-gomez
How Funny! your story sounds just like Me in so many ways lol . I hate to admit this but thats me every time i try to quit! Im hoping this time will be different! Im going to give it 110% I want it now more than ever... My Daughter is 3 now and I just got married Aug. 15th I couldn't be happier!! I would just hate getting sick and putting them through possibly losing a wife and mother, only to look back and know i played a big part in it sick in the first place.
jennifer53
Member
Thanks for the words of encouragement guys....I've reset my clock. I am praying second times a charm for me!
edith2
Member
Remember the show Fear Factor? Where people would eat bugs, bull genitals, death defying feats, let scorpions, rats, spiders, snakes crawl all over them? These people were willing to go to any lengths so Joe Rogan could tell them "fear is not a factor for you" and win 50 grand? I suggest that you go to any lengths to quit smoking and your rewards will be more than 50 grand. It's kinda like you jumping out of a plane and me suggesting to you that you pull the rip cord of your parachute.
fear factor material Pictures, Images and Photos
Sky Diving Pictures, Images and Photos
Rick_M
Member
It's the booze, Jennifer. You went 80 days, you know how to do this. Make this one the lifelong quit.
maria12
Member
Booze is one helluva trigger....I'd have to be farther down the road to freedom from nicotine before I'd be willing to risk it. No such thing as one puff or one cigarette for me...shoot! I could put away 3 packs a day, easy.! Trouble is...they were putting me away too! Away from all the fun things, like breathing and moving! C'mon Jennifer....chalk it up to lesson learned and give it another go. If you can do 80 days, you can do it again! 😉


Landscapes Comments

Spicecomments.com - Landscapes Comments

Giulia
Member
A Lesson in Relapse. How One puff turns into a pack. Amazingly easy, isn't it. Live, learn and...learn some more. The demon is real smart. Glad you're jumping back into it immediately. That's the way to do it.
hwc
Member
I think I was more worried about disappointing you than my own husband lol.

Good. If I can make just one person walk away from a thought of smoking because they are worried what I think, then I might have made the one little bit of difference between someone quitting or dying from smoking. That would be pretty cool if it ever happened.
Giulia
Member
That is SO TRUE HWC!!!! And I'm reeeeealy jealous!
hwc
Member
Giulia:

People think I get "mad" at relapsers. That's not it. Maybe it's because it took me 38 years to quit, but I look at an attempt to quit as, quite possibly, a one-shot, now or never deal. I knew, for me, that if I didn't git 'er done I was going back to smoking til it killed me. I mean, once I got three days into it, was there ever going to be a better shot? I wasn't going to wait around for Santa Claus.

I honestly believe that, if a quitter will invest an hour a day in education and reinforcement, for four months, they can quit and stay quit. I've got myself so brainwashed that I don't think I could light a cigarette without thinking, "well big fella, so you are deciding to smoke a pack a day until it kills you, is that really what you want to do?" That's where my mind would go. I'd see Joel Spitzer. I'd see Allen Carr. I'd see people like you and Connie and Peggy.
Giulia
Member
Hmmm, why do I have the feeling your in disguise? Well. No matter. I've never thought you get "mad" at relapsers. I've just always thought you gave some of the best support on this site. Because of your clarity and caring. And if getting "mad" works - hey, I'll GO FOR THAT!!!.
kim18
Member
I'm cringing FOR you Jennifer but definitely have confidence in you to stick with it from here on out! We all have stumbled - I hardly know anyone who quit and did not do this a time or two or twenty! So once, let it be let it be let it be Beatles style and turn towards the future! *hugs* We are all here to support you.

I for one am glad you shared this with us and didn't just disappear and leave us hanging. This takes a lot of guts to admit you faltered but will get right back on track with ALL of us by your side.

Here's to new beginnings and new knowledge!
Denise28
Member
I've done this sooooo many times as well over the past 2 years. So happy for you that jumped right back into it!!!
jennie2
Member
I am new to this site and also quitting smoking. I have tried unsuccessfully in the past but wasn't really putting any real effort into it. I am on day 4 now which I know sounds like nothing. Yesterday I experienced something in my life that a cigarette would have made so much better. You know for 16 yrs it was my security blanket, instead I got on this site and found your blog. It gave me the strength to overcome the urge and not let the cigarettes win and control my life again. Thank you so much for contributing your experience for others to see.