Friday, January 05, 2007

Oral fixation.

I read somewhere that it takes 21 days to break a physical addiction. That anything that comes thereafter is psychological and as such more manageable. I don't know if this is true but my guess is that if you can do without anything [but sex] for a month then chances are you won't ever need it again.

As you know, I've been sick for weeks and have managed to get myself sicker and sicker all in the spirit of a good party. Until New Year's Day that is. I got so incredibly sick that I couldn't even breathe. Needless to say, no cigarrettes were smoked after I finally went to bed that day and no cigarrettes have been smoked since.

It's been 4 days and 4 days may not seem like much but for someone who has been smoking since she was 14, that's a huge deal. What's more, the fact that I'm trying to see how long I can stay smoke free says a lot because most of the time I really couldn't care less. I mean, my friends and family all smoke and I don't smoke so much that I need to have a cigarrette in my hand at all times so my life is not particularly affected by smoking regulations.

But anyway, today I woke up feeling well enough to smoke. But I didn't. Or more like I haven't and I'm trying not to. But it's hard. In the past couple of days I've come to realize that I have a serious oral fixation- which may very well be the physical end of my addiction. By last night I had already bitten all my nails [which anyone who knows me will tell you is a huge deal because I can't handle unkept fingernails], eaten 4 lollipops and a tin container full of butter cookies.

If I was obsessing about the 6 extra pounds I brought back from Miami, imagine how I feel about the possibility that those 6 might become 20 if I don't continue to smoke the way I always have! It's terrifying. But at least I am aware that the reason why I smoke is so I can have something in my mouth because the headaches that I keep hearing people get the first week of quitting I haven't gotten and I'm not any more irritable than usual. Hell, this is a walk in the park in comparison to what I went through when I quit drinking soda [it's been 3 years and still going strong]!


I think that what I need is a little more exercise. When I am back to 100% I'll get back into it. Maybe I should carry around cellery sticks and eat those when the mood strikes. Or just sleep for the next 17 days...

Anyone have any REALISTIC suggestions? If you have successfully quit smoking I would particularly like to hear your success story...

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

when my ex girlfriend wanted to quit smoking she realized she had an oral fixation too. We worked together so i was able to help her quit successfully. sort of. We started having the best oral sex ever.
I guess you could say she replaced one addiction was another. I totally enjoyed it.

I should give her a call this weekend.

annush said...

i wouldn't call any kind of oral sex "the best oral sex ever" unless i was the one in the receiving end. hahahaha
seriously though, i'm too selfish to ever get addicted to something so selfless...plus that's not nearly as rewarding as say eating a lollipop.

Unknown said...

I haven't bitten my nails since December 30. If this is true, I am almost home free!

Libélula said...

My mom, my sister and I made a pact: we would quit smoking on January 31st... When you get the advice, save it so you can pass it on to me. I'm sure as hell gonna need it!!!