Cross addiction/Is nicotine dangerous to continue after getting clean?

[worried878]

Tough one I think...where do smokers fall in the scheme of addiction.  Nicotine affects more receptror sites than pills or alcohol..and can be very tough to stop.  A post I just read made me think about posting this question.  I smoked for 5 years after my divorce then stopped but did the nicotine mints for a long time...but when I smoked..I frickin smoked!  close to 2 packs a day and I stopped way before a pill every entered my mouth..also drank socially but after my divorce this seemed to be excessive//I get hangopvers easy and work hard..so stopped that too...not cos i thought i was an alcoholic but because I hate hangovers!  I stopped smoking due to continous sinus infections which led to sinus surgery...so I guess both of these had an aftermath that was not worth the pleasure they brought me.

I resumed drinking socially and never had a problem with it.   as of late a crisis hit me/in july/and i started drinking more heavily...at least my clean time made me aware of what I was doing/substituting alcohol instead of going back to my DOC

\Cross Addiction...was thinking in terms of alcohol and nictoine...curious on how many out there smoke after getting clean...or drink after getting clean?  and r u ok with it/keeping it under control?

[broknbck]

well i quit smoking for about 12 years while my kids were growing up and then started up again. i guess the addiction demon never really went away. after quitting the pills, i kept the ciggerettes. maybe they are taking care of the cravings for pills. i have not craved them once in 2 years now. if i had to choose the lesser evil, it would be the ciggerettes.

[worried878]

KAY..seems like in times of stress..i just switch addictions!...scared to death of the pills...in july during an extremely stressful time i turned to alcohol...only for a few weeks cos thanks to my aftercare I realized what was going on..My x-fiance smoked...i picked the smokes up during the stress...never really been a smoker cept for a few yrs post divorce..I know i gotta let it go..I do nuttin in moderation it seems! smokin over a pack a day///but not doing pills!  so where am i?  killing Myself with another substance of abuse!


Gonna go for it...my guy doesnt smoke and has asthma..he hates smoke...i need to hate smoke just like i used to...nicotine doesnt help nuttin..only hurts and geez i know this..i even got addicted to nicotine mints when i stopped 10 yrs ago!

Addiction really sux major hotdogs!   creeps on u evrywhere u go if u r not on guard....next feat///stop smoking!  geez i get tired of stopping stuff!

[narla]

I stopped smoking in 1999 C/T.stopped alcohol and pills 109 days ago C/T.

[BornofOsiris]

Well to be honest I do still drink socially but deff not exessively. I actually drink maybe once a month..maybe that. But I did have a couple drinks with some friends a couple nights ago and..I didnt crave! I never used when i drank anyways...I also dont smoke buuuut since i go to NA meetings now like every person there smokes every now n then I will go outside and join them.

Dallas

[edlenov09]

yeah friend you are absolutely right that Nicotine moves right into the small blood vessels that line the tissues From there, nicotine travels through your bloodstream to the brain, and then is delivered to the rest of your body.­  THolistic Drug Rehab

[122 Tactical Fighter Group]

I just LOVE this one!!  Its the only post of this type that I can answer truthfully and say that I never smoked and thats the fact!  Probably the only vice that I somehow missed embracing fully........

[JG525]

Norco- If you are someone that does well in 12 step groups, I did an online Nicotine Anonymous group called Voices of Nicotine Recovery.  They have a Yahoo Group, as well as real meetings on Paltalk.  Just like AA. It worked really well for me...best support.

A family member did well taking Chantix if you want to go that route.

[NorcoQueenoftheUniverse]

I have been clean off of my DOC... Norco since July 31st but STILL continue to smoke my cigs...dang it... Cigs are my next demon to conquer...Although.. I haven't increased or decreased my smoking habits since quitting my DOC.. I still smoke... about a half a pack a day... too much!  

Any hints or tips would be appreciated... as I really am ready to quit the cigs cus I really do hate smoking.... but I have been told to quit one demon at a time...

I know that my biggest motivation is my son....He's only 16 and I really want to be able to be there for him when he gets married.. and has a kid.. and another..(God willing)... Plus I really want to be hanging out with my husband.. and my horse for a little while longer...Puff Puff... Hack... Hack...

[JG525]

Terry: You're one of the only other people I've heard of doing it that way too.  I think smoking was much harder for me than any of my other addictions.  Maybe because it was ALWAYS there.  There was nowhere that I didn't smoke except the shower and sleep.  I try to avoid all of it now, as anything can be a trigger. Jenny

[iloveny630]

I drank occasionally while on pills....now I drink A LOT!  I know that I have replaced one addiction with another and I am working on that.  It's hard though.  I quit smoking this year because I had my tonsils removed and couldn't really smoke anyway for 3 weeks.  So I just quit.  I had been a smoker for 14 years but amazingly putting down the cigs was very easy for me.

[beatingthis]

Good question. I could drink if I wanted to. But I just know 2 things would happen. First I would smoke! 2nd I get migraines and drinking is trigger for me. I haven't had a drink since I quit smoking. Really before that. Not worth the pain.

I did find the quiting smoking was harder for me then quitting the hydro. Now they are putting those darn quitting ads on tv.....what a test! I don't think about them much anymore until I see the ads.

I smoked more when I was on the pills.

Terry

[JG525]

I can't answer with the poll because I quit smoking when I quit drinking.  Smoking was probably more my DOC then anything else has ever been and was harder for me to stop.  Then I realized I couldn't drink without smoking and that I had a problem anyway, so stopped that.  The pills came in awhile after that and so I didn't associate them with smoking.  But, for me, they are all compulsive/addictive behaviors and I think smoking would have killed me before any of the others.  It made me quite sick and I continued to do it...I'll only be 30 this year and I had asthma and bronchitis all the time.  Gone now after 3 and a half years smoke free.  I'm SO grateful that I was able to stop that.