Current mood:	accomplished
Entry tags:	smoking cessation journal

Smoking Cessation.
I’m actually quite amazed with myself, I didn’t honestly think I could do it, but I’ve been smoke free for a week.

There are times when I am VERY tempted of course, but they are fewer and farther between. There are some facts I need to remind myself of from time to time, and that I wanted to share with any of you who are interested.

The addiction to Nicotine is very real, and second only to Heroin.

Nicotine binds to the following receptors:
Dopamine – makes you feel good, gives you that rush
Serotonin – quiets strong emotions, anger and depression
Norepinefrin – strong appetite suppressant
Acetylcholine – cognitive enhancer

There are 4000 toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke. Some of them are:
Arsenic; Acetic Acid; Acetone; Ammonia; Benzene; Cadmium; Carbon Monoxide**; Ethanol; Formaldehyde; Hydrazine; hexamine; Hydrogen Cyanide; Lead; Methane; Methanol; Naphthalene; Nickel; Nicotine; Phenol; Polonium; Stearic Acid; Tar; Toluene…to name a few.

Carbon Monoxide Facts
AT 6ppm and below is the acceptable norm for a non smoker
8ppm – the carbon monoxide in you bloodstream if you have even one cigarette
9ppm – the carbon monoxide detector in you home will sound
20+ppm – the average for a heavy smoker
35ppm – OCSHA will condemn a building as unsafe for human habitation
72ppm – your dead.

Weeks one and two of the class I blew: 21ppm and 35ppm
After being smoke free from just forty eight hours: 3ppm

Behavior Aspects
Each cigarette represents approximately 10 puffs or ten times that a smoker lifts their hand to their mouth.

At 10 puffs x 20 cigarettes a day = 200 times a day or 73000 time a year
If you smoke a pack a day for twenty years as I have it = 1.5 million times

Can you think of any ‘voluntary’ action you have performed with purpose that many times in your life? Eating and other bodily functions don’t count.

That is the physical habit I’m trying to break. I need to give myself permission to struggle with this for a while, and if necessary to accept that it’s going to be hard, and that’s OK.

The biggest thing I’ve learned this week, I learned with XT’s assistance – though he probably didn’t know it at the time. Smoking has always played a part in the process of writing for me, either to get motivated, or to step away from a piece of work. I will need to re-learn or replace this behavior in the process. Most importantly, I need to find other ways that enable me to step away from a piece of fiction and to percolate if that’s the phrase. (Meaning step away and think about it for a while, prepare myself to go back at it) I have been white knuckling this, and trying to force myself to stay put and focus, the natural response to which was a complete lack of focus or patience, and the results were ‘forced.’ I also need to learn to give myself permission to play again, and to experiment. Being a competitive person, I think most writers are, I have gotten very keyed up about results – as is my flaw – and not allowed time for the process.