The Zen of Drinking Alone

Re:The Zen of Drinking Alone by nexuist on Saturday January 15, 2022 @08:16PM (#29952301)

Well, one of the problems with alcohol and nicotine is that you also can't just cut them out entirely. Withdrawal symptoms are brutal and not compatible with modern 40 hour week jobs. Cutting out food, especially sugary ones, probably would bring about some subset of the same withdrawal symptoms...so the problems are more closely related than they appear, IMO (disclaimer that I have never been addicted to either so I may be completely off).

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Re:The Zen of Drinking Alone by wyclif on Sunday January 16, 2022 @12:30AM (#29953673)

Sure, if you stop you're going to struggle against withdrawal symptoms. As far as nicotine goes, the good news is that if you can stop for a week, the temptation dramatically decreases. If you can stop for two weeks, the residual nicotine has completely left the body and you shouldn't be feeling withdrawal symptoms. If you can be disciplined for just two weeks, you can kick the habit.

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Re:The Zen of Drinking Alone by seadan83 on Sunday January 16, 2022 @01:18PM (#29958400)

It took me 7 years to quit nicotine. The first two weeks were the toughest and every minute my mind was screaming at me to go smoke. The next three months were still constant cravings, all the time, all day. After six months cravings were once a day and easier to let go. The entire first six months were difficult.

It wasn't until about two years later until I would have several days without cravings.

10 years later, I get cravings maybe once every few months and they are easy to let go of. Two days ago I got into a Lyft and someone dropped a pack of cigarettes in the back seat. The temptation was moderate to take them.

I think in part the brain hardwires to confuse nicotine as a type of food. Do not eat for two days, and that is what a smoker feels like for the first 2 weeks. Do not eat fir a day and that is what the first 3 months felt like (all the time, constantly). Your mind is telling you that you will literally die if you don't resolve the urge.

I think this is why relapse is so high for nicotine. You have to be consistently strong every time for months to almost be hone free. During that 7 years I had relapses usually after days, a few times I made it a week or two, once I went 3 months, and had gone 6 months twice as well before relapse.

FWIW, a person just has to keep trying. I admitted that 1) I deeply loved smoking. It is amazing. 2) there is no such thing as one last cigarette. Relapse would likely occur, and when that happens, my cessation efforts would continue.

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Re:The Zen of Drinking Alone by cbsmith on Sunday January 16, 2022 @06:41AM (#29955169)

Most of the physical consequences of nicotine go away within a couple of weeks. There's a never ending psychological battle, but that is pretty compatible with holding down a job. Find a way to get two weeks off at once if you have to.

As for alcohol, I'll just say that as incompatible as withdrawal is with holding down a job... being drunk is pretty incompatible too. I think if you can finesse one, you can probable finesse the other.

In general, my observation has been that as horrible as withdrawal is, that's the easiest part of kicking a habit.

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Re:The Zen of Drinking Alone by tempestn on Saturday January 15, 2022 @08:18PM (#29952317)

I was mostly thinking over the longer term.

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Re:The Zen of Drinking Alone by hammock on Saturday January 15, 2022 @08:47PM (#29952477)

There is no long term when it comes to compulsions

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Re:The Zen of Drinking Alone by tempestn on Sunday January 16, 2022 @05:40PM (#29961116)

My point is that once you've managed to quit, what you need to do is simple: not have any. Doesn't mean it's easy, as there are still compulsions. But with food you can't do that—you still need to eat.

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