Victory! 🌷💥🎆🎉😎 I'm a Rockstar!

[Cynical]

Nicotine is actually a stimulant, but people use it to calm down because the big long drag of breath is calming.

It’s not the act of smoking that calms me, it’s the spending five minutes away from my keyboard that gives me time to recover my thoughts. I’ve never been under any illusion that nicotine is anything except a stimulant but I’ve always been the type of person that depends on stimulants to flood out the extra noise in my head and help me to focus.

It’s a double-whammy: I get five minutes to compose my thoughts and I get to load up on caffeine and nicotine at the same time.

The stimulant effects of both are simlarly “useful” in helping me focus but whereas caffeine starts to make me feel jittery and nauseous after ingesting too much, my stress response to nicotine has always been quite positive.

I can end up coughing my lungs up and regretting each cigarette I smoke but it’s always a net positive for me when I’m stressed. The combination of stepping away from everything stressful for a moment and inhaling a strong, instant-acting stimulant is a pretty powerful thing.

In my (much) younger days, I had easy access to amphetamines and, while I never became dependent on them, I definitely used them to overcome anxiety, fatigue and general ennui. I’ve always felt that stimulants have helped me to become “my real self”, if that makes any sense.

I’m sure there’s probably something that is, as yet, undiagnosed within my head that is common to all of this.

The thing is though, if nicotine weren’t going to eventually kill me, I would have no problem with my relationship to it. It does the job I need it to, it wears off quickly enough, it helps me to focus and it shuts down my anxiety enough to feel like the person I “Need To Be” in any given context.

I’d be happy to talk about it with you further if you want to PM me but I should warn you now that I’m not entirely convinced that breathing exercises will replace the exact thing that I get from nicotine.

I already meditate and use breathing exercises to calm myself when I am anxious; if you have suggestions about how to make what I am doing more effective, I’d be more than willing to learn…

[LearnedCoward]

It’s not the act of smoking that calms me, it’s the spending five minutes away from my keyboard that gives me time to recover my thoughts

I wish I was a smoker just so I could take smoke breaks. Get away from the desk, hit the reset button, and come back refreshed. A shame that that’s only really tolerated for smokers.

[Wisconsin_Platt]

I have heard of a guy and a neighbor company who took up vaping with 0,% nicotine to get his “smoke breaks”

[kxkvi]

When I was working, I would fill my mug with water and a tea bag, put in the office microwave, then walk the corridors for the three minutes it took to heat. Boy that really helped recharging my batteries. (I know, not the optimum tea making method but it worked for me).

[Cynical]

One of my best friends used to go out with the smokers, just to clear his head even though he didn’t smoke.

There is a lot to be said for the pattern of productivity that goes along with taking five minutes out every hour or so to reset your head.

People aren’t meant to grind away in one place for nine hours a day; taking regular breaks is important, even if it means you lose some of the time that non-smokers spend staring off into the middle distance or browsing Facebook or whatever.

[kxkvi]

We aren’t built to sit for hours at a time, that’s for sure.

[Cynical]

The terrible mess that is my lower back can unhappily vouch for that.

That said, pump me full of enough naproxen to stop the spasms and I could spend the rest of my life sleeping on whatever nearby wall was sturdy enough to support me, standing at a 45° angle.

Maybe there’s something… untoward about the way we approach medication…

[gadgetgirl]

I wish I was a smoker just so I could take smoke breaks.

At one company I was at, breaks were frowned upon unless you were a rock star dev or sales guy. Then you got to use the ping pong table in the kitchen.

Unless you were a smoker. Then you could take smoke breaks.

So I used to go out with a cigarette pack-sized bulge in my jacket pocket. It was my sock knitting. I’d do a few rounds, clear my head, and then come back inside.

[ChickieD]

At my first job, the whole tech docs team would occasionally take nonsmoking breaks. But I haven’t done it since then. My doctor recommended keeping apples in the car and taking a walk to get them.

[Wisconsin_Platt]

Maybe there’s something… untoward about the way we approach medication

That’s a great topic to discuss over a few drinks.

[LearnedCoward]

At one company I was at, breaks were frowned upon unless you were a rock star dev or sales guy.

Gah. I’m glad I don’t work in software. It sounds like such a dysfunctional industry. “rock star dev” lol.

[Pogo]

Hmmmmm?

[DaakSyde]

Nicotine is actually a stimulant, but people use it to calm down because the big long drag of breath is calming.

The last time I was trying to quit, that was what made the difference for me. I would go out, same as I did previously for smoke breaks, walk around the parking lot, same as I had when smoking, and just inhale deeply as if smoking, but fresh air instead. It did help tremendously, got me through the days (I got from a pack a day down to 3 cigs a day - one after each meal).

I relapsed after awhile (as expected for quitting smoking attempts), but I would definitely say that it was every bit as effective as my attempts with a vape pen and more so than the patch or gum (which aren’t really a substitute and do nothing for your lungs).

I wish I was a smoker just so I could take smoke breaks. Get away from the desk, hit the reset button, and come back refreshed. A shame that that’s only really tolerated for smokers.

I’ve seen a lot of posts around the internet like that, but I’ve never been in a job that doesn’t have breaks (aside from the one time I worked shuffling produce with migrant workers). Even in entry-level fast food or retail, they made sure that we got one roughly every 2 hours. In office jobs, you just go whenever you need to. I have seen non-smokers who seem to brazenly refuse to take breaks, sitting at desks for 8-12 hours without even getting up to go to the bathroom or get a drink. I don’t know why. Maybe they think they need to ask permission since no one told them to? They seem to be trying to be heroic, and seem to be the ones that make those complaints. Honestly, their work usually isn’t as good as it would be if they took breaks (no offense if you’re in that position), and a decent employer will recognize that.

At my old job we had a ping-pong table in the warehouse (for some reason) and would try to push the nonsmokers to at least go play a game or something. The job before that, we’d drag them outside for a walkaround or a wiffleball game. That wasn’t perfect since the nonsmokers going outside with the smokers meant that the nonsmokers who were nonsmokers because they had quit had a tendency to start again.

[gadgetgirl]

In office jobs, you just go whenever you need to. I have seen non-smokers who seem to brazenly refuse to take breaks, sitting at desks for 8-12 hours without even getting up to go to the bathroom or get a drink. I don’t know why.

That’s easy. History.

Back when smokers could smoke in the office, smokers didn’t take breaks either. It’s not actually true office workers can take breaks whenever they want – there are regulations and policies, even if some people break them. I know people who have been fired for taking too many breaks.

If you read accounts of old project death marches, it’s not unusual for writers to note the ash trays were overflowing as a way to indicate how long people worked without taking a break.

Enter smoke-free offices. Smokers howled about it. Not just the going outside part, but about how their productivity would take a hit.

But instead they got breaks, which it turns out is a good thing.

Non-smokers don’t take breaks because they’ve never had them, and they don’t have the medical reason of nicotine addiction to take them. Where I work now, the main excuse for a break is “let’s get some real coffee” – addiction again.

I wonder how people who are against safe injection sites feel about smoke breaks.

[Nytespryte]

Ok,

Another quick update, I’m starting on a low dose of an ACE inhibitor before bed tonight. There is a chance that will get the kidneys under control.

If I’m still leaking too much protien and have a high anti body count next step is immunosuppressants.

Although my doctor touched on it I actually don’t know what the next step would be if I’m free of anti bodies but still leaking too much protien. Still waiting on that blood test.

The apparent weight gain I had when I saw the endocrinologist was probably water weight because it disappeared in just a couple days. But still not having serious edema again, it was just a 5-7 pound menstrual spike.

But my endo blood work was great and I’m keeping the same dose of anti-thyroid meds for 3 months before my next endo check. TSH should show improvement by then.

So mostly ok news for now but it’s definitely been exhausting.

[ChickieD]

Sorry you are still not back to full health.

[ChickieD]

I moved to Chattanooga this week.

About 2 years ago, I took an organizing course and over time I’ve gotten to where what I learned is very natural for me.

As I’ve unpacked my kitchen items, I found they were coated in a layer of grease from my old place not being properly vented.

So, I’ve spent an entire day and a half scrubbing pots and pans with degreaser (Myer’s Method, highly recommended) and soaking things in vinegar and water, and running loads of dishes, and now every single thing in my kitchen sparkles. And it’s really nicely organized.

I’m really proud of myself. Just that I waited to get the rest of the place unpacked so the kitchen willl be lovely, and that I actually learned how to put together a space so I can keep it clean - it’s tajen me a long time to do this.

I feel like this move is a huge shift for me to finally be able to create the home that reflects my personality and supports me to be my best.

[gadgetgirl]

Fabulous!

[adds Meyers to shopping list]

[ChickieD]

I double checked and the product is Method not Myers. I’ll edit the original post.

[ChickieD]

https://methodhome.com/products/heavy-duty-degreaser/