Quitting smoking

[danmcq]

You can do it Laurie, with the resolve I hear in your post. The best advice I can offer is to stay BUSY, that was the only thing that would get wanting a "Cigg" off my mind.

 

If I sat idle for too long, my brain would kick in with the nicotine addiction urge. All I could do to combat it was to stay busy at things I didn't enjoy and things I did enjoy.

 

Best of luck to you!!!

[siobha9]

I quit smoking 1 year and 3 months ago.. but who is counting .... I am... every single day....

 

It was the hardest thing I ever did, and I tried repeatly for 2 years before I managed to quit. My brother died at 41 from smoking (heart attack) and I was determined to give up. Honestly the worst thing for me was other people telling me I really should give up.... you know for the kids, the birds, my health, my parents, my pocket and all those other millions of reasons.

 

I quit when I was ready. Really really ready. The best thing to distract me funnily enough was Liath. She could tell if i was tense so I held her constantly and had to stay relaxed.

 

Best of luck Laurie... and I really mean that. It is the hardest thing you will ever do, and the best thing that you will ever do!

 

Siobhan

[Laurie]

Today was very up & down. Mostly down. For some reason I could not sleep last night, so it was (a) Monday, (b) I'm dead-tired, and © now you're saying I'm not gonna smoke? WHAT!?!?

Somehow I made it through, and I have not smoked yet. I'm not going to make any crazy guarantees at this point, but I am just miserable enough that I don't want to smoke (after all the hell I've been through) but I don't know what it is that I want either. Am I making any sense? I know what you mean about staying busy, Dan. During one of my previous quits, I pulled every, single weed out of our brick patio (even the teeny tiny ones). And there were a lot of 'em! LOL

Ok, I'm off to clean Klaus' cage.

Thanks for listening, guys!

[Laurie]

Oh, and way to go, Siobhan!

You're an inspiration to us all...

[judygram]

You can do it Laurie, I know you can.:cheer:

[danmcq]

Your doing great Laurie!!

 

I hate how addictive Nicotine is. It is as hard to quit as being addicted to Heroine or Crack!! The only difference is you don't start hallucinating or throwing up with chills etc. The withdrawals are just as hard and driving you to go to whatever lengths for a nicotine fix...grab a cig out of someones mouth walking by :evil: , bum a cig off of them etc.....it's BAD :huh:

 

I am so proud of you, I may just quit too....er.....well any day now :-) It has been on my mind pretty strongly for the last 3 months and is really eating at me.

 

Your setting a great example!! I can't be out done by a Woman ;-)B)

[judygram]

Way to go Dan, I would be so proud of you if you could quit and you know you have the full support of most here on this forum but from me for sure.

 

Laurie is setting a fine example isn't she and you cannot pass this opportunity up Dan so go for it, just do it!!!!!

[Talon]

Well, I don't smoke, but am happy to post here and cheer the others on that DO want to quit smoking. I know it is hard, just like losing weight or other addictions. So, please everyone here who smokes, let's keep us updated on your progress no matter how small it may seem to you. Small steps at a time.....are what makes a difference to ALL of us!

 

Good luck all, and know that we are here cheering you on!!! :woohoo:

[Laurie]

Made it through another day.

I am learning sooooo much this time around.

First of all, I didn't sleep again last night. So, I went to work, pulled up QuitNet.org and basically posted an apology. Sorry, guys, I cannot do this. I was not counting on sleep deprivation on top of everything else. I need to start over and make sure (1) I quit on a weekend (and take an extra day or two off) so I don't have to face people. (2) Have sleep aid drugs on hand. I CANNOT DEAL with the lack of sleep, people! and (3) Do some Wellbutrin or something so I won't cry (or feel like I'm going to cry at all times).

So, what did the people at QuitNet say to me? Well, I can tell ya, they did not let me off the hook. One said that I sounded like I was looking for permission to smoke, and that I wasn't going to get it! Overwhelmingly the message I got was, "You've got two days, girl. What are you going to do with those two days? Blow it?" I'm about to cry again typing this. Those people (and you guys) are saving my life. I HIGHLY recommend the QuitNet to anyone who is contemplating quitting. There is so much more known about smoking and why it's so hard to quit these days, it's unreal.

I picked up some over the counter Unisom today, hopefully that will help me sleep so I can face tomorrow smoke free.

Baby steps...

Baby steps...

Hee-hee (remember the movie What about Bob?)

[danmcq]

That's a great example of stamina and determination Laurie!! The quitnet sounds like a great support group that offers no slippage option, which is vital to success.

 

One second, minute, hour, day at a time...you go girl!!

 

I hope the unisom gives you a good nights sleep. :-)

 

Thanks for keeping us updated on your journey of quitting.

[judygram]

Laurie, I can't imagine what you are going thru but I support you 100%, I know you want to quit and you will do this with our help, we are here for you. I hope you can get some sleep, that is an awful feeling when you cannot.

Small steps, small steps...............:cheer:

[Talon]

Go Laurie! You can do this!! 2 days is awesome, don't give in, fight that little voice that is giving you excuses to lite one up. You can do it, an hour at a time. Keep busy, occupy that mind of yours, I hope you get some sleep. Good luck, we're here for you whenever you need us.

Your in my thoughts....:cheer:

[siobha9]

Are you using any nicotine replacement Laurie? I used some and it really helped. I kept telling myself I am not longing for a ciggy, I am longing for nicotine, so the gum crushed the craving.

 

Its worth a try....

 

Siobhan

[lovemyGreys]

Keep it up Laurie, you have done so well, ,mind over matter & hey what about the money you are saving

[judygram]

That brings up a good point Tracy, thats the real reason I never smoked, I couldn't afford it.:laugh:

[icegudi]

Go Laurie you can do it! REALLY REALLY!

 

Even though I have never smoked I do have people around me that have and I understand that this might not be a super advise since I will never fully understand how incredibly hard it is to quit smoking.

 

But my parents smoked my whole life until I was about 13 and I will never forget that last year, the year they were quiting. It was especially hard on my mother but one day at a time she did it finally. Thank God, but she had such a HARD time, difficult for a child to understand but today I understand it better.

But her smoking did have consequences for her life, she has now been fighting cancer almost 8 years and the doctors don't know of any other reasons for the cancer than smoking, of course it could be something else but it is still very likely.

For me it is easy to use the smoking as a reason, because sometimes you just need a reason, something to answer your "why?" questions.

 

And today I get to "suffer" for my mothers bad decisions,(apart from worrying and suffering seeing her so sick). I was applying for "extra health insurance" the other day (everybody is insured by the government here in Iceland but you can get extra one that pays for everything if something big might happen to you, cancer, heart decease etc, it even pays you your salary if you are out of work) but the insurance company wont give it to me because my mother has cancer. That is the only reason, I am healthy and have never been sick in my life. This is really sad and I am not really angry about it, especially not at my mother. But sometimes the consequences of our actions are much bigger than we ever think about. So smoking doesn't only hurt one, it can hurt the people around you, in more ways than one knows.

 

I am just telling you this because sometimes its good to have a higher reason, I know that might not really help during those hard moments but it might help the cause looking at the big picture. I come to that inclusion because when I first met my boyfriend he smoked. He really liked me and I liked him to, so I told him about my fear of smoking and my mother being sick for so long (6 years then. So he just decided to quit smoking and he didn't even tell anyone, just quit. He had a higher reason that really really helped him. Sometimes I think he is superman because it seemed just so easy for him to quit... but for him it was that alternative reason, he knew his life would be better with me in it.... awww thats so romantic...

[siobha9]

I absolutely agree with you. I needed a higher reason too. All those obvious ones.... the cost of them, the effect on my birds, the effect on my kids, the smell etc, wasnt enough for me. My brother dying suddenly was the start of my wake up call... but even that didnt really do it.

 

One day it just dawned on me (ok maybe I am a bit slow) that my kids needed me for quite a few more years, and I was then only a few years younger than my brother had been. It scared the living daylights out of me, and I finally did it! I was finally ready.

 

It sounds to me like you are too Laurie. I hope you had a good day today. And if you didnt then start quitting again right now. Dont wait till tomorrow.

Siobhan

[Laurie]

Hey, everyone! Day 3 was quite challenging. We're having a snowstorm here in Detroit, and it took me 2-1/2 hours to drive home from work. This is usually PRIME smoking time for me. I'm trapped in the car, bored, frustrated, no birds or kids around me to worry about. But I did it. I drove all the way home without one and viola! The world didn't end. I'm not in a loonie bin. It's ok!

Oh, and I did finally get some sleep last night. I took Unisom and got like 5 straight hours which felt like heaven.

So I have got to share this with you. I have discovered a book about quitting that is awesome so far (I'm only about halfway through). It's called Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking. Have any of you heard of it? I downloaded it for free - shoot I don't have the web address I got it from. But if interested, you can Google it, or ask me, I'll make sure to bring the full address home from work. Any way, I love this guy. He is not a doctor. The only credential he has for writing this book is that he used to smoke sometimes 100+ cigs a day. He became obsessed with WHY. Why can't we quit? We are intelligent, we're not stupid. We know this is the absolute dumbest habit EVER and yet we continue to do it, and we're scared to try to quit. So it's very interesting reading. I haven't got to the part yet where he reveals what this "Easy Way to Quit" is. Even though I'm already technically quit, I like reading this to keep me inspired and motivated.

[Laurie]

Oh, and IceGudi and Siobhan (and everyone!) thanks for your awesome support.

I am not doing any gum, patches, etc.

It started out because (duh!) I though hypnotism was going to do it for me. I couldn't have been more wrong - I could not have planned this any more poorly. But somehow it's working, so I'm sticking with it! Anyway, no nic replacement because I didn't think I'd need it, and by the time I thought about it seriously I'd begun Allen Carr's book and he doesn't recommend it. If you smoke, or get nic from a gum or a patch, you're just prolonging the addiction.

Now that's not to say this whole thing might not fall in on me like a house of cards, and I'll find myself trying to go that route another month from now!

Anyway, thanks for everything guys - for listening and for putting up with me!

[danmcq]

Wow, great posts by everyone!

 

Icegudi - Thank you so much for sharing the story of the battle your mother has been going through and how it affects you and other loved ones, I'm sure. Now that brings up the collateral damage, that I don't thing most of us smokers really consider. I am care not to smoke around non-smokers, certainly not even in my own house and not in the car. But, you bring up such a good point of the damage and pain family members go through if and when health problems arrive. I am so sorry to hear of this very long and painful trial your mother, you and family have` been suffering through.

 

Laurie - Great Job!! You are an inspiration to the rest of us considering stopping and I am going to find that book!! :-)

[Laurie]

Not to get preachy, but for any of you who are considering quitting, I'm going to say that book is a must. I can't believe I've never heard of it before now. This guy takes everything you've ever thought about smoking and turns it on its ear.

[siobha9]

I read it too. But I didnt find it quite as easy as he said. But I love the boat story... the guy qho went out for a day sailing wiht his friend and realised he had no ciggies, so he made his friend turn around and go back. That sounds so like me its scary!

 

He makes you feel like a total idiot for smoking doesnt he but not in a patronising way? I reckon you would have to have a fairly thick skin to read that book and NOT quit!

 

Keep up the good work...I am rooting for you!

[siobha9]

Just a little more inspiration....

 

Since I quit smoking I put the money aside I would have spent on cigarettes and I have :

 

1. Bought Liath a HUGE cage

2. Had Lasek eye surgery (€2,500)

3. Bought Oisin

 

Food for thought anyone????

 

Siobhan

[Laurie]

Yeah, I've already been fantasizing about the cool toys I can afford for Klaus with cig money.

I'm hangin' in there on day 5 here - it's hard to believe Hell Week is almost over.

I have tried to quit before (and failed of course). On this particular quit, I've done so many things wrong it's not funny (wasn't prepared for the sleeplessness, somehow managed to arrange my first full smoke-free day to be the Monday of our busiest week at work DOH!, didn't bother to see the doc for some Wellbutrin so I wouldn't feel like crying a lot of the time...And yet somehow, for some unknown reason it's working. Against all odds. At this point, I'm telling people I'm hanging on until someone stomps my fingers and I let go of the edge of the cliff!

Again, thanks for listening. I'm also hangin' on QuitNet, but I've gotta say, you guys are my family - while everyone over there is nice, I don't feel like I KNOW anybody like I know you guys.

So thanks again. Have a great weekend!

[judygram]

Wow Laurie that says a lot about you that you are continuing with quitting in the face of all the obvious obstacles that should and could cause you to say the hell with it and pick up that cig, you are a strong woman and I am very proud of you.

 

We are here for you any time you need us, thats what friends are for and you will get over this and it will get easier to deal with but in the meantime holler if you need us.

 

You have a great weekend too, stay busy!!!