Smoking Dilemma

[Breakfast Clubber 4.0]

Hello everyone!

First of all, I am new to this forum, and a new massage therapy student. I enjoy reading through all of the posts to find some interesting answers to some interesting questions. I have searched the forum to try to find some advice on my question, but haven't really found what I was looking for, so here is the dilemma...

I am a smoker. I suck.

Our instructor informed us that if we smell like smoke, she will kick us out of the room and make us do something else. At first.. I took offense to this... HOWEVER... after i got over my stubborn self I realized, if I were getting a massage, I wouldn't want a stinky smoker working on me either. Not only do I not want to be booted out of class and miss valuable information, I think it is my responsibility to respect other student that have paid thousands of dollars to be there as well.

Now, I am not the only smoker in the class, infact... we have quite a few. The point is, I want to quit. Not today, not tomorrow... but my goal is to quit before I graduate my class.

So in the meantime... what can I do to keep the smell to a minimum? I chew gum, I wash my hair daily, and wash my hands religiously (and use hand cream : ) I can't even begin to think about spritzing perfume, since others may be sensitive to it, and honestly I think the smell of smoke, mixed with a strong perfume.. is worse than the smell of cigerettes by itself.

I know I need to quit, but I am just not ready. I have been a smoker for 13 years... and I can't let it go just yet. So until that day comes that I say to myself, "I am a dirty smoker and I am going to quit" what can I do to not stink terribly?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Arafat]

as a former smoker, i think one big thing is limit your smoking to out doors. do not smoke inside your home, do not smoke in your car.
if you smoke inside your home and car, all of your clothes and table linens (not to mention table and chair) will smell like a stale dirty ash tray to a sensitive non-smoker or former smoker. (i will not take my massage equipment to out-calls at a smokers house.)

frequent hand washing and breath mints can go a long way, but try to avoid smoking before you have a class or sessions with a client. try to wait until the end of the day, class, or shift. this may also give you a kick-start to cut back or quit, if you are leaning that way. (good luck with massage school, btw, and i think a lot of people start making much better health choices after beginning this career path.)

i think that is a pretty strong stance for your school to take. i remember one smoker in my last class. she sat three desks away from me, but i could still smell her smoke. she was a nice lady, but my first thought of her was "stinky". it's sad, but clients will probably judge the same way, unless they are smokers too, and don't notice.

 

[jmau]

Um...this isn't the answer you want to hear, but...quit smoking. It's the only other way to get rid of the smell...you can't cover it up.

I used to smoke...smoked for 9 years before I quit successfully. (This was long before I became an MT.)

My biggest obstacle was that I liked smoking.

I take that back...I didn't like smoking. I liked not having withdrawl symptoms.

I suspect this is what is holding you back as well. It's the hardest thing for most people who smoke.

So, how do you quit without suffering the withdrawl? I tried quitting cold turkey...lasted maybe 2 days. I had to have help.

What finally worked for me was the patch (NicoDerm, etc.). It gives you a steady stream of nicotine throughout the day to help you cope with the withdrawl while you break your habit of lighting up and figuring out what to do with your hands. You gradually reduce the size of the patch to reduce the amount of nicotine until you can finally say you don't need it anymore.

And I thought the patch gave me a way better rush than the cigarettes. And without the smoke clogging my lungs, I enjoyed my day much better.

And just think...you'll be getting lots of massage work done to cope with the stress!

 

[thatswhatshesaid22]

My biggest thing is, how can I possibly promote health and healing if I myself am destroying my body with cigerettes? It makes complete sense to me that way. MT is becoming my life, and I don't want my silly addiction to cigerettes hold me back from my dreams and goals.

So, how hard is it to quit after a 13 year addiction? I've tried cold turkey in the past but.... never worked.

I was thinking about keeping my class clothes in a "space bag" right after washing them, and changing when I get to school so at least my clothes dont smell bad. Arg! Just thinking about quitting is making me want to smoke! :roll:

 

[NJKay]

ok. here is how i quit the first time (after 5 yrs pack a day):

cut back leading to cold turkey.

i planned my quit date. i limited amount of daily smokes. only 10 a day for the first week. this cut my smoking in half. the next week, only 5 smokes a day. cut in half again. (by this point, self hate increases with each puff). the next week, i allowed myself 3 a day, but was only really smoking one.

i found that if i didn't have that first cigarette of the day, it was easier for me to go longer without smoking. so while cutting back, i also limited what time of day i might smoke (not til after lunch, not til i get home from work, until finally, not til before i go to bed). the longer in the day i waited to smoke, the more nasty it tasted and felt in my lungs.

i was smoke free for over 3 yrs.
i relapsed during a time where i made several bad choices at once. i picked up where i left off at a pack a day for 2 more yrs. at this point i attended massage school, where smoking was not allowed on the premises. the school was in a medical center, verbotten.

the more i learned anatomy and physiology, and like you the more i focused on wellness, found smoking to be contradictory to my new life.

the second time i quit:

nicotine patch. steps down. takes some time to get your body in the rhythm with the patch, but i personally felt so much better and more natural not smoking again. now smoke free for over 3 yrs.

i know it is not easy to quit. that cigarette is your friend... it has been there when you cried, when you had fun times and celebrations... your cigarette never judges you, it is always there when you need it, unlike so many other things in life. but you need to love yourself more than you love that cigarette, because it is not only draining your wallet, it is taxing your health. and if you continue, it will probably kill you or cause you great ill.

my grandmother quit after 50 years of smoking. she had to quit because of asthma and emphysema. now has copd as well with frequent colds, bronchitis and fear of pneumonia because of compromised immunity. the emphysema will most likely NOT be the cause of her death, thank god, say her doctors. she did quit with the help of a prescription from her doctor. this prescription is a frequent choice for many people.

 

[Elsabe]

Amy;

Good for you for even THINKING of the impact of smoking on your clients, and wanting to end your relationship with cigarettes.

I'm not a smoker, but was married for thirty years to someone who lived most of his life succumbing to the addiction. I HATE cigarette smoke, the smell on peoples clothes, fingers, and breath. It would most certainly cause me to think twice about scheduling with someone if I detected the smell. I'd be visioning dirty ashtrays the whole time......

My husband developed emphysema in later years, and although it didn't directly kill him, it certainly made the quality of his life poor. He managed to quit again two years before he died due to a terrible accident that put him in ICU for five days. When he was discharged, he realized he hadn't had a smoke in 5 days, and might as well quit. He never smoked again.

He was rightfully so very proud of himself and he died a non-smoker. He read once that cigarette addiction is as tough as getting off heroin.

In conjunction with whatever method you use to stop smoking, guided meditation Cd's can be useful. At the very least it's soothing. You can listen as you drift off to sleep, and play it again in the morning when you wake up if you're time crunched. Belleruth (can't spell her last name) does lovely ones and her website is
http://www.healthjourneys.com Her Cd's are wonderful. I was introduced to her work when I was having chemotherapy and she was recommended by other patients.
savannah

 

[Tatianna.]

Kudos to you for thinking about it! I smoked and tried everything. Finally, it was educating myself online about the effects, joining a yahoo support board for it, setting a date and using Nicorette gum that finally did it for me. I quite 12 years ago.

I have to be honest, you cannot get rid of the smell. It will be somewhere, hair breath, fingernails, skin. Nothing can mask it. And to be quite honest, the smell now makes me sick and so it will ruin a massage for me.

 

[maca]

I know a dental assistant who smokes and afeter she goes outside and has a cigarette she spritzes herself and her clothes with Febreeze. then she would stand outside for a few more minutes to let the fresh air work the febreeze oder out.
Wasn't perfect, but it definitely did help.

I think the most telling is smokers breath. I don't smoke but I do outcalls and eat on the road most days. I bought a bulk package of pre pasted toothbrushes and it helps also,,that might help you also while you are still smoking. Brushing is so much better than a breath mint for cigarette breath.

Good luck!

 

[Pompal 09.]

There are pre-pasted toothbrushes?!

 

[Jim The Baptist]

There are pre-pasted toothbrushes?!

Yes! Actually there are probably several on the market and I think you might find some at a drugstore? But I order in bulk ( knowledge gained from my dental office days) and the company is:
NEXADENTAL and the actual brand is Oralpro:

800-437-5606
http://www.nexadental.com/wfdata/frame2503-1249/#disp

they "say" that the prepasted brush has an exciting minty taste,,, hhmm,, well,,, not really but it definitely cleanses well.

 

[Joan [RMJF]]

So, how hard is it to quit after a 13 year addiction? I've tried cold turkey in the past but.... never worked.

Amy,

I feel your pain. I was a smoker for about 13 years. When I started school I cut way back. I would only smoke after class and weekends, and I stopped smoking in my car. I had never smoked in any of my homes so fortunately I didn't smell like smoke. Many people were surprised when they found out I smoked.

I even smoked wearing a winter glove in hopes of keeping my hands from smelling like smoke. LOL!! :

When I went into private practice after graduation I followed almost the same rules. I wouldn't smoke until the end of my day and I would only have a few and would really enjoy them. I really did enjoy smoking.

What made me finally stop? I was done. On some deep spiritual/emotional/physical level I was finally done. I just stopped. I rarely even think about it anymore. It's actually odd to think I used to smoke. Don't get me wrong, there are times that I still crave a cigarette, but I work through it in the moment and it passes.

I believe (100% my opinion) to be successful at quitting, you have to reach that place of 'I'm done!' I believe it comes from a deep place of finally honoring and respecting your body enough to say 'I'm sorry I've done this to you for so long. I choose to be healthy and love you from now on.'

It was a powerful place for me and made a huge shift in how I look at my health and take care of myself. Cigarettes are a toxic drug and I no longer wanted to hurt myself. I feel so much better and I am so proud of myself for this accomplishment. I love me!


I know it can be a difficult process and I wish you all the best!!

Brian

 

[white rabbit]

I believe (100% my opinion) to be successful at quitting, you have to reach that place of 'I'm done!' I believe it comes from a deep place of finally honoring and respecting your body enough to say 'I'm sorry I've done this to you for so long. I choose to be healthy and love you from now on.'

[...] I love me!

I totally agree Brian and thank you for posting this. I also used to smoke and my experience 'quitting' (i actually called it 'stopping') was very similar to yours. One day I had an almost spiritual experience of breathing deeply, fresh, clean air and feeling my whole body oxygenated and I thought "Why would I ever breathe smoke?" and like that, I was done.

I had smoked for 6 years, at times a pack a day (or more!) and tried to "quit" several times but always came back to it. It wasn't until I looked at it from this positive side that I actually lost the desire to smoke. I really believe that my smoking (my opinion here about ME) was a subtle, unconscious way of devalueing myself and punishing myself. "Ah, life is so tragic...puff puff puff" Ha ha, rather melodramatic, really.

I think looking at the core believes surrounding your desire/need to smoke could prove useful. Everyone's got their own brand of addiction. Just surpressing the urge often is ignoring the true reasons why we are doing it, and the urge can then show up in other compulsive habits. If you can find out what you are getting out of smoking, and then either heal that, or get it somewhere else (heal it is the better option, usually), you can just stop smoking, rather than "trying to quit." It sounds like you are already on that track with realizing that it does not line up with your beliefs about health. Best of luck to you.

 

[Alia M]

Congratulations on your new journey to be a non smoker!

I smoked for about 15 years. What worked for me was a combination of things: first was the rationing of the smokes, as someone else described here. I was a pack-a-day smoker and I eliminated 2 cigarettes a day per week. I would space them out somewhat evenly throughout the day. It was a very mental kind of discipline. Plus, it's cheaper than buying the patch, which is still feeding your addiction through a different behavior.

The other thing I did was buy a bike. I started out riding a couple miles, and as my fitness increased and my dependance on cigarettes decreased I became more motivated. At some point I realized I was through, as CSTbrian said. Coming home from a ride and torching up was just the dumbest thing ever! And as soon as I really quit, my ability to ride shot up, and I was riding about 100 miles a week.

You can do it if you really really want it. But you have to want it for YOU!

 

[Sindy]

Don't let that fear of "How can I be in the health field and smoke" get to you. If that were the case, all of us would have to have perfect diets, perfect weights, ect.

All the advice offered should get you in the right direction.

I have a MT friend who smokes..... she always changes her clothes before working even though she doesn't smoke inside.

PS. disposable toothbrushes??? More stuff in the landfills.

 

[Adian]

Ya, Do it for your health.Please don't let people discount all that you do right and all that you know because you smoke. No one is perfect and our human failings do not take away from the good.

I once had someone tell someone they could not learn from me because I have a weight problem and there was a hole in my sock.

 

[big red bon bon]

That's such a bizarre thing to say to you, Spock. Like your sock was a window to your soul..........
I once had someone tell me I wasn't a "real woman" because I'd never been a waitress............hmmmmmmmm.
savannah

 

[Noir]

I once had someone tell someone they could not learn from me because I have a weight problem and there was a hole in my sock.

It would have been great if you told her that the hole allowed a more direct connection between you and the energies of the earth, and that you couldn't work with her because she was so unconnected.


Brian

 

[Musicisthebest]

Here is something that may help you put a positive spin on quitting smoking- along with all the other fabulous comments so far, here are some of the benefits of quitting:

from the American Lung Association http://www.lungusa.org

When smokers quit, within twenty minutes of smoking that last cigarette the body begins a series of changes.

At 20 minutes after quitting:

* blood pressure decreases
* pulse rate drops
* body temperature of hands and feet increases

At 8 hours:

* carbon monoxide level in blood drops to normal
* oxygen level in blood increases to normal

At 24 hours:

* chance of a heart attack decreases

At 48 hours:

* nerve endings start regrowing
* ability to smell and taste is enhanced

The first year after quitting:

At 2 weeks to 3 months:

* circulation improves
* walking becomes easier
* lung function increases

1 to 9 months:

* coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, shortness of breath decreases

1 year:

* excess risk of coronary heart disease is decreased to half that of a smoker

Long-term Benefits of Quitting

At 5 years:

* from 5 to 15 years after quitting, stroke risk is reduced to that of people who have never smoked.

At 10 years:

* risk of lung cancer drops to as little as one-half that of continuing smokers
* risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas decreases
* risk of ulcer decreases

At 15 years:

* risk of coronary heart disease is now similar to that of people who have never smoked
* risk of death returns to nearly the level of people who have never smoked

 

[iris_ankur]

Of course I have to put in a plug for EFT

The counselor who taught it to me specializes in smoking cessation.

Check http://www.emofree.com/ for free instructions and a practitioner database.

 

[yyyyyy]

Of course I have to put in a plug for EFT

The counselor who taught it to me specializes in smoking cessation.

Check http://www.emofree.com/ for free instructions and a practitioner database.

I don't get it???
Can you explain it better than the website does?

Of course in may be in due to the fact its 2:30 am and my mind is in a zillion places right now.