Quitting smoking....

[carolina]

Linda -
Many many vibes and prayers for your brother - thank Goodness he is well, and I wish him all the best and that he is finally free of all the problems he had from COPD.

 

[snake_lady]

Carolina: it was funny, on Monday I went to physio, and we were talking bout me starting the meds n' such...another gentleman was there and spoke up... He used the same book you recommended.... 2pk a day smoker for 40yrs, quit with the book. I'm gonna get me that darn book LOL...I'll order it later today because I have to go shower and go to physio.

Quitting with Champix:

I am cutting back alot.... I had 7.5 yesterday, and most of the whole ones, I didn't even smoke all of it... I butted it out at 2/3's.

The urge to smoke is disappearing.... but I did find one thing out, that is a downfall.

My neighbour and I usually have a smoke together. So when I went over to her house yesterday, I had a smoke...really didn't want one too bad, but had it anyways..... that was my 2nd smoke of the day at 2pm. Shortly after that one, I started getting the cravings for one.

So I know I need to kick the habit of having a smoke with her

I think it is going well so far....I'm not rushing it, my quit date is June 10th or sooner, because the med makes you just not want to smoke.

I do have one other issue to battle though... Smoking and my narcotic pain meds....they seem to go together....as soon as the effect of the pain med hits, I feel the want/need for a smoke. This one stinks because I take these meds 6x a day

but all in all I think it is coming together and this time will be my last quit

 

[snake_lady]

I really want a smoke.

My quit date isn't till next Sat. but I'm playing by how the Champix affects me. This morning it took all need for a smoke away. But I really wanted one because I want to see if the champix makes it taste like crap or if I get nothing out of it.

I've been able to put it off now for almost 4hrs.... I keep trying to put it off more and more because I think the longer I wait, the worst it will taste. At least there's been times where I haven't smoked for 2 days, then that first one tastes like crap.

I'm trying to bypass each normal trigger..... so far today I've managed to bypass the cig after my coffee, the cig after I take pain meds, and now the cig after eating.

I keep looking at the clock and saying, in 20mins I'll go out... But I get up and go do something and when I come back its longer than 20mins

I'm not going to be upset if I do smoke....and of course I'm not going to be upset if I don't smoke

But the more I can cut down this week, rid habits, etc. then I think the better off I'll be come Sat.

even as typing this out, the want has gotten stronger....and it's starting to become a need. So I'm off to browse kitty pics and not think about smoking.

 

[carolina]

Hi Chris - I am glad you ordered the book.... It is tedious reading, but it is unbelievable - it really really works better than anything else... I quit many times, every way you can possibly imagine (aside from chantix), and the book is by far the easiest way... It makes quitting EASY, if you can believe that... I can not recommend enough. This book will make you loose all the craving, not gain weight, not feel the withdraw pangs...
A few thing though: Smoke - do not quit before the book, since you already ordered it. I promise you, it will make your life easier... I am not saying to over smoke, but smoke when you are craving it, and don't feel guilty about it - you will see why when you start reading it. Your last cigarette will be when you finish your last page of the book, so it will depend on how fast you read the 218 pages... It is VERY important to not quit before then, unless you don't feel like smoking at all...
About your neighbor: I know exactly what you mean.... My best friend Karla in LA - every time I see her, or I go to LA, I crave cigarettes desperately... and quite a few times I relapsed because of this... I don't blame her at all, completely psychological, entirely my fault, but still.... The best thing would be for you to read this book and then lend it to her; if she wants to quit too, that is. That way, instead of making you want to smoke, you both would be supporting each other...
From now on, try to not think of her as an excuse to smoke.
Good luck my dearest friend!

 

[cococat]

Pull up Word. Make a list of things to do that don't stress you out when you want to smoke. Stress reliever activities, for instance, taking the dog on a walk, playing Da Bird with cat, painting a picture, writing a letter, etc. Think big, think small, type them all, give yourself variety, make it long. Post them in your bathroom mirror and on your fridge and keep one in your purse. When you have a craving of any degree, substitute in one of them instead.
Also, if you are really having trouble kicking the addiction, which can have very bad consequences for your health (cancer, having a voicebox put in, being on oxygen for life, higher risk of heart problems, etc.) and make life harder for those that love you talk to a therapist about why you keep repeating such a harmful behavior and get to the bottom of kicking your addiction and living a life free of chemical addiction. Good luck!!

 

[snake_lady]

Yesterday:

I am so happy. I made it 5 hrs before my first one, and then only smoked 1/2 of it. An hour later I finished it.... couple hours later I had #2. Then made it another 5hrs till I had 1/2 of #3 and it was alright... I went out to finish #3 and gagged.

Today:

I know my normal triggers....and I also know which ones are easier to fight off than the others.

Normal Trigger and my thoughts on how I can prevent it.

Smoking after coffee: easy to fight off Prevent by having a glass of water after my coffee, and then brushing my teeth. It removes the coffee taste, and gets rid of the want for a smoke.

Smoking after eating a filling meal: somewhat harder Prevent by not eating such a filling meal... having lighter meals. For me, its that feeling of being really full that triggers a craving for a cigarette.

Smoking after taking my one med: hard Prevent by occupying myself with something (a distraction) so during the time period that I'm craving, I'm occupied....like right now... I'm wandering thru and updating my threads, etc. Another one that is good for me is doing graphical work. I can spend hours involved in graphical work without even realising it because I get totally immersed in it. This one all depends on my hands though... if they aren't feeling too good, then I can't do it.

I'm going to stock up on some movies, and watch some older ones. Now that we have the carpet in our rec room, I am in love with that room.... plus its cooler down there, so I can watch some movies after I take my meds.

Smoking with 2 friends or my mom Hard. Prevent by: my one friend, I won't be giving her smokes anymore, and she seldom buys her own because she doesn't want to admit shes a fullblown smoker so she bums. Which I don't mind because she will throw me money, and I buy cheap smokes. I also plan on having a talk with her, she already knows that I am trying to quit and plan on quitting completely on or before Sat.

Friend #2: I've actually stopped hanging around with him for the simple reason that he chain smokes, and smokes alot. I tend to smoke more with people like him... I'll have 1 for his 3 or 4

In an hour period, I'll have 3 with him. So I just don't hang with him as much, and he knows why, and is not offended with that. He is also trying to quit with Champix. He started after me, and I saw him yesterday and he said he was down to about 15-20 smokes/day compared to 50+/day.

Mom: I don't see as often as I should, and she is pretty good with trying not to smoke around me when I'm trying to quit.

I wish she would quit, but she won't.

Those would be my 4 strongest needs/wants for a smoke.... the rest are all minor... like smoking out of boredom... smoking while waiting for someone... etc. These little ones I'm not too concerned about, because I know I can live without them and avoid the situation.... the waiting, all I have to do is pull up TCS and wander thru the posts till it is exactly time to go, or the friend gets here.

I also know that I can't spend a whole lot of time thinking about smoking. I need to get my brain out of that mode. If I think about it, I want it. Although typing this post, because I'm not sitting here directly thinking I want to go outside and smoke, has been helpful. It has taken me 30mins or so typing and thinking bout all this, plus I took a break and did my daughters hair.... so now, the med induced smoke urge has passed. It occurs when I feel the meds starting to affect me....then decreases as this particular med stabalises.


Wow, I never thought I would think this much about quitting smoking LOL. I'm analyzing everything, and preparing, etc. When I do quit, it WILL be my final quit.

Today, I will not smoke untill after 12pm. ( That will be 5hrs from waking )

 

[snake_lady]

Wow....my post count here is going to skyrocket....

I dunno how many posts I've made this morning, but I've been on and off here for the last 3hrs.

was going to go outside and take pics of my gardens but its raining now.

soon I'll think about some lunch, but for now I'm going to grab some water, and post some more LOL. 2516 posts as of prior to this....

hmmm. At least it keeps me busy LOL.

 

[crazyforinfo]

Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

Wow....my post count here is going to skyrocket....

I dunno how many posts I've made this morning, but I've been on and off here for the last 3hrs.

was going to go outside and take pics of my gardens but its raining now.

soon I'll think about some lunch, but for now I'm going to grab some water, and post some more LOL. 2516 posts as of prior to this....

hmmm. At least it keeps me busy LOL.

Wet flowers make pretty pictures

 

[snake_lady]

Originally Posted by Crazyforinfo

Wet flowers make pretty pictures

LOL...but it also makes my bushes not look so perky.... but soon I will go and look to see if any of my lilies have bloomed....

I don't want to be out too long...(outside is where I smoke, and its rainy and damp so the less I'm out, the less pain I'm in)

 

[coolcat]

still sendig good vibes for not smoking!
.......

.........

 

[snake_lady]

Thanks to several people online, and TCS message boards, I have not smoked yet.

I've been up since 6:45am, it is now 1:30pm. I have surpassed my 5hr goal...and am almost at 7hrs from waking up.

The last smoke I had was at 10pm last night.... so far 15.5hrs without any cigarettes.

(I'm not deliberately trying to quit today, but I am holding off on smoking as long as I can... Sat. is my quit date).

one negative tho: now that I've talked about it, I want one. Ugggggg.

Time for a glass of water and a stick of gum.

 

[yosemite]

If you want an incentive come with me to the hospital to visit my brother.

He is doing well so far, he is out of ICU and step-down and back in a regular semi-private room. He has had a large clot come up so they have to go back in sometime this week to see why. Keep the prayers coming for us that he survives the surgery.

Chris, you are doing well my friend. Keep up the good work.

 

[snake_lady]

Originally Posted by Yosemite

If you want an incentive come with me to the hospital to visit my brother.

He is doing well so far, he is out of ICU and step-down and back in a regular semi-private room. He has had a large clot come up so they have to go back in sometime this week to see why. Keep the prayers coming for us that he survives the surgery.

Chris, you are doing well my friend. Keep up the good work.

If you weren't 2hrs away, I probally would Linda. I did actually mapquest your location

I am glad to hear he is doing well, but lots of that he continues to do well and comes through the clot surgery.

 

[cdubbie]

wow Snake Lady, that Chantix is really working! You are doing great!


I'm at four months tomorrow: I can promise you, no matter how you feel each day with your quit, it truly gets easier. Make sure to use the Chantix as long as they said to; that seems to be v. helpful with ppl.

 

[snake_lady]

12 awake hours, no cigarette.... and a very scary stressful situation occured about 45mins ago. So stressful, I was shaking very badly, my whole body. And now I'm in incredible pain.


Do I need a cigarette? No... I'm probally breathing deeper with my lungs not having a cigarette in 21hrs than I would be inhaling a cigarette.

Do I want a cigarette, yes... because thats what I do.

am I going to have one? No.

I will not smoke before 8pm. (my goal now)

 

[snake_lady]

WOOT WOOT WOOT

I made it.....one full day.... 24hrs and 20mins without smoking.

I am so proud of me!!!!!!!!

My quit date is Sat.... but if it keeps going like this, then I have quit today.

I feel great about it... My lungs feel better, as in I can take a deep breath.... and my food actually tasted better too.

 

[snake_lady]

I did it....

One week of quitting. Well, 7.5 days smokefree..... WOOOOHOOOOOOOO.

The differences are amazing

Food tastes better, although I found out I need to cut back on the spices in my chili... it's a little too spicy for my new taste buds.

I can BREATHE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't get winded going up the stairs, even if I go several times. I went for an 11-12km bike ride last night with DD.... not out of breath even though I was sweating.

ENERGY

I have sooooo much energy. ( which is all good and dandy, if I didn't have physical problems....like today, I have to force myself not to do a whole lot because I overdid it this weekend.... but I have to find some way to burn that energy)

I did have increased appetite for 2 days, which was due to food tasting so much better. I was curious as to what other things taste like

Aside from that, no withdrawl. (will post that side in the Champix thread because it is more related to that).

I feel GREAT for quitting smoking

 

[carolina]

Good for you Chris!!! Awesome work girl!!!!!!

 

[snake_lady]

How's everyone doing???

I had my last cigarette on Sunday June 7, so would that be I quit on the 7th or the 8th?

I'll say the 8th.

I haven't smoked in almost 11 days.

I just recently subjected myself to being in the same area as someone smoking. My friend was very considerate, and kept asking if I minded, etc. But there's only one way to find out how I do around other smokers, right.

The next day she asked me if I had a cigarette.... I did, I had a bag and a half left when I quit... I was going to give the bag to my mom, but instead my friend bought it off me. So we stood in the open doorway of my garage and she smoked next to me.

Both times, it didn't bother me at all.

Next step will be going to my moms..... she and my stepdad are heavy smokers, but I know they will both try to limit how much they smoke around me... hmmmmm. Maybe I should hang out there for the day, get them to cut down. (they won't quit)

I feel good, healthwise, and looking back on this thread, and all my posts in it, I can say that I am glad I quit the way I did. It was time.

Less pressure than having a quit date.

I quit when my body told me, enough is enough. (with help from Champix to minimise the withdrawl, and desire for smoking).

The meds did not do all the work... I had to fight it on my own as well, but I don't think I could have done it completely on my own.

I was finally ready

 

[ghosthunterbeck]

I struggle a lot around smokers, but my best friend doesn't. She quit four months before me -- I passed six months in May, and I'm very proud of myself. I never thought that I'd be able to do it. I don't know why being around smokers is *still* so difficult! I even have nightmares about being offered a cigarette and taking the person up on the offer -- it's pretty terrible.

I smoked for fifteen years, and I tried to quit several times without success. I am so proud that I finally did it!

Congrats to you!