I used to smoke upwards of a pack a day for three years. I also dipped for a while at the height of my psychosis because I would get too paranoid to go outdoors even in my parent’s backyard in the nicer part of the city…
Cigs are loaded with ■■■■ yo. I mean loaded. Nicotine is actually not that high even in a Marlboro Red. Nope. 0.8mg in a regular filter and about 1mg in a 100 (long) Marb. Red…I used to smoke those, soft pack red 100’s. Not fun. Okay it was more fun than not smoking given the context; I was insane. Insane people smoke, well at least 90% of them do.
You are inhaling carbon monoxide (what we exhale and what trees take in) which is sedating. Carbon monoxide is a by-product of smoke. There is tons of chemical ■■■■ in a cig. I mean hundreds of chemicals. They are not safe. It is not even the nicotine that is that big of a health risk; it is the smoke and other crap they put in cigs.
Also know that the way nicotine is administered results in different effects. A lot of successive quick drags sharply inhaled will stimulate you, maybe make you need to pee or poop. I would know…I used to smoke like that. Slowly savoring a cigarette is relaxing and doesn’t make such a sharp spike in your central nervous system and your cortisol (fight or flight hormone, we naturally produce too much of that ■■■■) doesnt spike as sharply if you savor a cig.
Also, nicotine is a central nervous system stimulant and peripheral nervous system depressant. What does that even mean? I sound like a duck quacking. Hell, Donald Duck makes more sense.
It means that it sharpens your mind and relaxes the body. Basically.
I strongly recommend the nicotine patch. If you smoke in the middle of the night, say you wake up niccing (needing a cig to feel normal, feeling anxious and off balance because you are) then wear the patch while you sleep, for 24 hours. If you do not wake up needing a smoke, but say you immediately light up when you wake up, take the 21mg patch and wear it 12 hours a day, right when you wake up to right when you go to bed. What will happen? Mostly mixed withdrawals. Physiological withdrawal from the sheeeet they load cigs with. Psychological withdrawal from the act of smoking, handling lighters, packing a pack of smokes, all of that. I cannot play with lighters anymore, not that I ever really did play with bic lighters, but I did have a very nice custom made zippo lighter for a year which was stolen (those ■■■■■■■ at this drunken house party).
What to do about the withdrawal? Well, lets look at real cases of people out of rehab for illegal drugs like barbituates, benzodiazapines, opiates, whatever, they are sometimes correctly prescribed (I take xanax, a benzo and they know I dont abuse or sell it because I get my refills on time not early or late, that and I have had my blood tested on my own prerogative to prove that I do not take steroids [highly suspect to that] and that I dont have HIV [highly afraid of that for good reasons]) okay back to the point look at Eminem, Marshal Mathers. He was taking Ambien and ■■■■ and Valium like one of my ADD afflicted friends chews gum. He came out of rehab running like 15 miles a day on a treadmill, full of energy.
I quit smoking and went back to the martial arts gym (I am a retired fighter) the next day. It helped me quit. I was pissed, wanted to smoke, needed to exercise and get my ass beat to get through the withdrawals. I was conditioned and brutalized at a young age (that means psychologically brainwashed to withstand pain, i.e. very disciplined) in catholic schools. I escaped to an international school at 16 and then earned a scholarship to college. I actually went to martial arts on my own choice during that time because I wanted to become a fed (FBI, CIA, ect.) and well I was actually on my way to doing it, I was training in Krav Maga (very deadly) from 16-19. It helped my life out a whole lot. That was good preparation to fight schizophrenia. I needed to fight smoking and drinking (Oh, did I mention I have a problem with alcohol? Yeah alcohol is not okay when you are taking xanax…) so I went back to the gym (well technically it’s an academy…dont go there to workout, go there to learn fight science).
Well I quit. Now I still wear the 14mg patch during the day. I tried tapering off the patch. I am a psychology student and close friends with a graduate student in neuroscience and another friend who is an addiction counselor. They and I have both read research about how we scz benefit from nicotine. There are even drugs being developed to mimic nicotine for us because it is STRONGLY SUPPORTED to enhance diminished cognitive performance (thinking straight) in people with schizophrenia. Well, I tried no nicotine and could hardly think straight at all. I mean train of thought was way off the track, in the city, ■■■■■■■ ■■■■ up.
Well, you can quit and try riding your bike A WHOLE LOT and you can stop smoking. The intensive exercise will produce endorphins (feel-good chemicals…aerobic activity produced feel-good chemicals because if it didnt, we would have no incentive to keep running away from the lions and tigers and bears and wolves…and we have not evolved to live in cities without mountain lions and bears and ■■■■) which will help you feel a similar high instead of smoking.
I hope this made sense.
And don’t want to be just like me…there is a saying in Buddhism…if you find the Buddha along the road, kill him. Do not idolize anyone. Be yourself and learn what is best for you, because what is best for you may be terrible for me and what is best for me may be terrible for you. However, quitting smoking is generally not good…in fact, like 100% of scientists say it is bad, really bad.
If I inspire you, why thank you, that is very flattering. But don’t try to be like me. I have my own heroes, Frederick Frese and Elyn Saks. I do not try to be just like them. I learn from them but do not exactly idolize them. I would not have fun doing exactly what they do. They don’t workout like I do! NO FUN!!!
But they’re way smarter.
One thing to note- do not fall for the vaporizer cigarettes bullshivic. Those things are not studied and are generally not a good idea…they actually have like twice as much nicotine as cigs…and I heard that there is formaldehyde in the vapor…dont inhale things…just don’t do it…inhale clean air…it is proven to be better than not inhaling clean air…