Help me shut up the devil on my shoulder!

September 12, 2007 4:55 PM

Three months ago, I quit smoking, but on occasion I'll crave a cigarette. I envy those who say "God, I HATE the smell of cigarettes!". I want to hate that smell, as it would make it all the more easy to be a non-smoker...but I don't. I'm rather indifferent to the smell. Can I get some lessons on how to hate the smell of cigarette?

I smoked for nearly 10 years, and 3 months ago I read Allen Carr's "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking" and it worked like a charm--I read the last page, smoked one more cigarette, and haven't had one since. Most of the time, I don't want one, and if I smell cigarette smoke on the street, I'm pretty much indifferent about it.

But sometimes I do want a cigarette, and I think I've narrowed down the stimulus: whenever I've completed a task or activity, like finishing (a tough day at) work, after a movie, after a long trip, etc....these are the only times I still--not usually, but sometimes--crave a cigarette.

I hear people say "I hate the smell of smoke!" and I'm jealous, because that would make my continued quitting so much more easy. But I'm just indifferent to cigarette smoke. At worst, it can be just slightly annoying. Ex-smokers, how to you keep on keepin' on?

posted by zardoz to Health & Fitness (20 answers total)

It may just take time. I didn't stop craving cigarettes or start disliking the smell until I'd been quit for a few years... and even now, 12 years later, I sometimes like the smell of smoke. But most of the time I hate it. (Try smelling it in its least attractive form...the stale odor that lingers in your clothes after you've been around smokers. I never liked that smell.)
posted by Daily Alice at 5:15 PM on September 12, 2007

For me, the associations changed in my mind over time. I quit smoking because I became convinced that it's about the worst thing you could do for your health long-term (barring drug/alcohol abuse). I make a point, when I see someone smoking to be thankful that I'm not suffering from those health risks anymore. I think that helped me to, within the last three years, associate the sight/smell of smoking not with pleasure, but with those health risks.
posted by keith0718 at 5:16 PM on September 12, 2007

Probably not what you're looking for, but if you breathe in chlorine - from going swimming in the pool or cleaning using bleach - it somehow changes the scent/taste of the smoke that makes it really gross. Not sure of the practical application of this, but I know that swimming in the pool makes me want to stay the hell away from cigarettes for at least an hour afterward.

You could try going out to a smoky club and dancing and getting sweaty and then letting your sweaty clothes absorb the smell of smoke. That's pretty gross.

Good luck with quitting! I'm right there with you.
posted by SassHat at 5:29 PM on September 12, 2007

Here is a way I have heard about people grossing themselves out enough to stop smoking:

Take a mason jar, fill it with cigarette butts and ashes. Fill with water. Stick it in a closet. When you get a craving, open up that jar and take a big whiff.

I feel sick just thinking about that. Ew.
posted by idiotfactory at 5:36 PM on September 12, 2007 [1 favorite]

Make the mason jar thing idiotfactory suggested. Eat one cigarette (yes, eat it, minus the filter!) while breathing in the aroma from the jar.

You'll probably puke... and then you'll probably hate the smell of cigarettes for a while after that.
posted by Rykey at 5:53 PM on September 12, 2007

hypnosis
posted by hortense at 6:25 PM on September 12, 2007

You quit smoking only 3 months ago? You're still in the infancy stage of repulsion. By the end of the year, I'll bet you're ready to kick smokers in the butt (no pun intended) for smelling like they do. I quit smoking 15 years ago, and by the end of the first year, I was really hostile about people smoking around me. I got over the meanness for a few years, but then I developed asthma and got hostile again -- because smokers are endangering my health, too.

Meanwhile, if you want to learn how to gag at the smell of cigarette smoke, go to a bar and sit next to a guy (or woman) whose pores and clothes ooze old tobacco smoke, and whose hair smells like it hasn't been washed in, say, 12 years. Nasty!
posted by Smalltown Girl at 6:41 PM on September 12, 2007

It's willpower, mostly. I quit smoking two years ago, and I'm only just NOW to the point where I'm not irritated that I can't smoke anymore. After a while, the smell just stops being good, and you quit thinking about it all the time. Three months in is still very early; chew some Altoids and keep moving. Good luck!
posted by headspace at 7:42 PM on September 12, 2007

Does imagining sitting in a new car on a stifling hot/humid day with a cigarette burning in the ashtray not make you want to barf?

No a/c, just new car smell and chemical smoke burning your nostrils and interfering with what little oxygen your poor lungs can find... hot, stale, oppressive, chemical... nasty!
posted by MiffyCLB at 8:06 PM on September 12, 2007

As a kid my dad was a heavy smoker, and after he quit many years ago (Go, Dad!) I absolutely loved the smell of smoke for maybe a year or so. I would stand in the path of drifting smoke just to get a whiff. Years later I find it unpleasant, although in very slight concentrations it can be somewhat pleasant (particularly pipe smoke), in the same way that burning leaves or wood is nice in light concentrations.

Do the `butts in a jar' thing, it is awful, and effective.
posted by tomble at 10:39 PM on September 12, 2007

Imagine the hottest person on the face of your planet just walked by as you were finishing a cigarette. He/she noticed your gross indulgence, but your charm was able to persuade this amazing person to overlook the fact. So much so, that you were able to bed them that night, and wound up having the best sex of your life.* And you know that when you sober up, you'll want to do it all over again.

Except that now it's morning, and you're facing each other in bed. Instead of typical morning breath funk, you have poo mouth. And you don't have to be reminded of what poo mouth smells like, because you can FEEL it. And you remember being in his/her shoes once, feeling Dante's Inferno of hot air in your face...it was positively vile. You want to get the hell out of there, except you're at home.

And all the toothbrushing and all the mouthwash could not put this moment back together again.

Think about that before you "treat yourself" after an accomplishment. It's just not worth it.

*This is where we jumped the shark. In reality, this scenario could never happen, cause you really smell like ickypoo (even if you're ok with it, or even like it, I bet that he/she doesn't, which therefore makes you sexually undesirable in his/her eyes).
posted by iamkimiam at 10:40 PM on September 12, 2007

Btw, I asked a very similar question a while back, in my post "I can pass up the pack, but the drag is killing me." I hope you find some useful answers in there.
posted by iamkimiam at 10:43 PM on September 12, 2007

There is a simple answer to your question: those nasty low-nicotine or no-nicotine cigarettes, which conveniently also smell and taste disgusting. If you make yourself smoke those for a month, you will hate the smell of all cigarette smoke forever.
posted by jcwagner at 11:23 PM on September 12, 2007

All of this advice may not work.

Why do I say this? After 20 years of smoking, I quit. Years later, I still feel the urge to wolf down a WHOLE DAMN PACK OF SMOKES OH MY GOD THE SMELL IS SO DELICIOUS OH GOD NO PLEASE JUST ONE MORE SMOKE DAMN IT ALL TO HELL.

But sometimes it's not so bad.
posted by bradth27 at 11:38 PM on September 12, 2007 [1 favorite]

As an expert on quitting (I lost count of the times I quit but now I'm past 600 days), I think you've got the cart in front of the horse. The smell-hating comes about because you're no longer craving cigarettes. Cravings don't go away because you hate the smell. In fact, I have smoked absolutely revolting cigarettes (my old brand) because I craved the feeling nicotine used to give me.

On the upside, you may well start hating the smell. Maybe educating yourself (if you haven't already) on what's in smoke (I forget, but there's things like ammonia and benzine) and you might find yourself avoiding it anyway.

Well done on three months! You're past the hardest part. Please don't try smoking some foul cigarettes just so you can hate smoke. Really. Not a good idea.

If you ever feel the need to whinge to some other ex-smokers, the link in my profile will take you to a forum.
posted by b33j at 2:15 AM on September 13, 2007

I was a 2 pack a day smoker for a number of years and finally quit because I got a job working with babies and felt bad touching them with 'smoker's fingers'. I chewed pen-caps to get over the oral craving, but the smell was always something of a nostalgic pleasure for me.

Still is, 16 years on. I don't imagine that for some people that kind of thing ever goes away. Sure, ingesting soggy tobacco from a mason jar that's been frementing in the corner for a month will make you puke, as will wearing only those clothes you've allowed to become permanently impregnated with a smokey musk; but ultimately your association with the smell of smoke is positive and has a history longer than a single stunt or method can assuage.

I think the solution to your problem is a less-than-comforting combination of willpower and realistic expectations. Realise that quitting smoking has been hard and that staying quit will always require you to exercise a little willpower, and know that it's OK to enjoy the smell of smoke or even have the odd cigarette. Certainly, smoking even a little is bad for you, but so is drinking a little, going out in the sun a little, eating a little too much tiramisu, or working out too little. Moderation is the key here, not draconian adherence to a single method.

Sorry for the cold comfort. Just know that you're doing the right thing for you and your efforts will pay off in the end.
posted by Pecinpah at 6:09 AM on September 13, 2007

The main way I could stay the course and make myself feel disgusted by the smell of smoke was to look at disgusting things that have happened to people as a result of their continued smoking and say to myself, "By not smoking, this is what I am preventing." Those commercials (here's one. really nasty, you've been warned) actually have done wonders for me. The voice-box guy commercials have been pretty effective too.
posted by zackola at 6:53 AM on September 13, 2007

iamkimiam What a thread that was, thanks. Motivational. Thanks, OP (ha, OP is also the brand you've been smoking. Other Peoples.)
posted by Goofyy at 7:51 AM on September 13, 2007

From a physiological standpoint--it's unlikely you're going to start hating the smell of cigarettes. It just doesn't really happen. What you could do, is to get away from the reminder of cigarettes--clean your house from top to bottom--remove any residual smell, even clothes, carpet, etc. Next--stay away from places were ppl smoke; I know this is hard, and I'm completely against the bans and mal-information these anti-smoking companies are feeding us, but you need to do things that will get the memory out of your head and system.

Lastly, if you really need it, try something different--cigar or pipe. I've been a cigar smoker (why i'm against the bans, etc), and truthfully, I wouldn't know how to smoke a cigarette if I tried. You don't inhale on a cigar, and any risk is much less than that of cigarettes. I understand you're trying to quit, I applaud you, and am pulling for you. But there's other ways to "smell the smoke" and to cut back moderately until you don't even think about them any more. Good luck, hope it all works out for you.
posted by uncballzer at 8:54 AM on September 13, 2007

I was never a smoker but grew up with chain smoking parents and grandma. Our living room typically had a hazy cloud in it about 4 feet off the floor, like something in a Cheech & Chong movie.

Anyway, I grew up viewing that smell of tobacco smoke as "normal". I would recognize it and it was kind of comforting. At some point during college, the smoke smell started to take on a less familiar nature, and now it just about gags me.

I think it's just time away from it that does it. I suspect it takes a matter of years to get to that point, and it probably takes less time if you never (or hardly ever) expose yourself to cigarette smoke (like in bars, etc.) If you routinely frequent places that are smoky, your brain never takes that smell out of the comfortable/familiar spot in your memory.

You have to make the smell seem foreign to your senses.
posted by Doohickie at 9:36 AM on September 13, 2007