Quit Day Tomorrow

neacail
neacail Posts: 228 Member
I've purchased my nicotine patches. I only have enough smokes to get me though the rest of the day.

Attempt #9.
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Replies

  • nellyett
    nellyett Posts: 436 Member
    Congratulations! You can do this!

    I quit two months ago cold turkey. Was a pack per day smoker :)

    I felt like a total zombie, and wasn't sure I'd make it, but after a while I started feeling like a normal human being again. I am 67 days smoke free, have saved $608 and not smoked 1,351 cigarettes! Unbelievable!!

    You can do this! Just tell yourself N.O.P.E. - Not One Puff Ever!! and be STUBBORN about it! If you cave, then you have to start all over again....I promise it get easier! You just have to make it through the first couple weeks.

    Good luck!
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
    You can do this! Just tell yourself N.O.P.E. - Not One Puff Ever!! and be STUBBORN about it! If you cave, then you have to start all over again....I promise it get easier! You just have to make it through the first couple weeks.

    I agree with this. I went through a few failed attempts (maybe 5?) before I quit. I smoked 1/2-1 pack a day for almost 20 years from the time I was 16 until I quit at 35 years old last June. This time, it was different. I wasn't "trying" to quit, I wasn't "attempting" to quit. I was quitting, and that was that. I was DOING it, not trying to do it. Get it in the mindset after you smoke that last cigarette that you are now a non-smoker, effective immediately. Once my head was in the game, I was able to quit cold turkey and never look back. The first 3 days were the worst, the first two weeks stunk but weren't awful, then from week 3 on I was much better with just the occasional craving that.

    Unless you plan on smoking the rest of your life, there is no time like the present to stop. You can absolutely do this, you just have to make that choice to never smoke again. You've got this!
  • neacail
    neacail Posts: 228 Member
    Thanks for the words of encouragement. :smile:

    I'm 40, and I've been smoking since I was 15. I was a pack a day smoker for 15-years, and have been a 1/2 pack a day smoker since them.

    I was looking at my youngest son the other day, and all I could think was that I hoped I lived long enough to see him graduate high school. He's four.

    It has warmed up enough here that I can go for walks when the urge hits.
  • strawberrytoast
    strawberrytoast Posts: 711 Member
    You can do it! How are you getting on so far?
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
    Checking in to see how you're doing!
  • neacail
    neacail Posts: 228 Member
    Thanks, folks. :smile:

    I'm on day three without smokes. I am using the patch, though, so that really takes the edge off. I can work at developing new habits, and then work on weaning off the nicotine. Work days are usually easier than non-work days for quitting. I was cursing myself for quitting on a weekend versus a weekday.

    I tried sleeping with the patch on Saturday night, which I know doesn't go well for me. I thought I'd try it just to see if things have changed. Nope. Insomina x crazy dreams when I did fall asleep. I took it off last night and just chewed a piece of the nicotine gum when I woke up today. That took the edge off until the patch kicked in.

    I've almost completely cut out coffee, too. I'm one of those people who drinks it from 6 am until noon, and then had a couple of cups in the evening. I'm down to two cups a day (which is "almost completely cut out" for me). I've swapped it out with tea, which I don't sweeten. I'm popping ibuprofen to deal with the caffeine withdrawal headaches.

    My chest has started to clear up a bit already. I'm not coughing as badly when I lay down at night, and I'm not waking up with constant coughing fits. I've been dealing with a nasty cough for the last year

    Working in a very fast paced office (domestic and international oil & gas . . . with Keystone XL and a couple of other high profile pipes being some our projects), the pressure is fast and furious. The only people that ever leave the office for a break are the smokers. I may have to figure out a quick little walk for when my head feels like it is going to explode (which should be between 30 and 45 minutes from now!).
  • jsj024519
    jsj024519 Posts: 400 Member
    I've been smoke free the past 7 months and it gets easier day by day. I still have my bad days though.
  • dkmuzzy
    dkmuzzy Posts: 12 Member
    I've purchased my nicotine patches. I only have enough smokes to get me though the rest of the day.

    Attempt #9.

    You got this! I quit cold turkey Jan 1st, after having smoked about a pack a day for THIRTY YEARS!!!! Still absolutely smoke free now, thankyouverymuch! :happy: What helped me was, every time I wanted a cigarette I asked myself, "If you smoke now, then what was all that misery for yesterday? Why have you put yourself through this *kitten* if you're just gonna smoke?" If you're gonna go through the pain of quitting, respect that and be proud of it. Don't let anyone, not even yourself, derail you. YOU GOT THIS!
  • Guisma
    Guisma Posts: 215
    I was smoking arround 7 cigarretes a day for the past year. This week i smoked only 2 a day until the pack was finish. Today is my first day smoke free. I am not using patches. The rest of the day it goes ok, but i feel panik to wake up and dont have a cigarrete, any advices?
  • neacail
    neacail Posts: 228 Member
    I was smoking arround 7 cigarretes a day for the past year. This week i smoked only 2 a day until the pack was finish. Today is my first day smoke free. I am not using patches. The rest of the day it goes ok, but i feel panik to wake up and dont have a cigarrete, any advices?

    I picked up the "nicorette Quick Mist" to take the wake-up edge off. I like it better then the gum, but maybe either would help you?

    I'm working on changing my morning routine, too: waking up later so I don't have time to go outside for a smoke while getting ready for work.
  • strawberrytoast
    strawberrytoast Posts: 711 Member
    To Guisma- as neacail said she pops a piece of gum in you could try this too. When you wake up, or a suagr free lolly? Get up and brush your teeth straight away and enjoy the sensation that your mouth tastes clean for once :)
  • Absonthebrain
    Absonthebrain Posts: 587 Member
    Great job! I also recently quit and it has been 3 weeks now,(my 2nd attempt) and this time I'm enjoying my quit. It was really hard the first few days but everyday it gets better and better. I quit cold turkey and joined a site http://quitsmoking.about.com/, it's a forum where everyone is working on thier quit and they are encouraging daily. One thing that helped the first couple weekends was a straw-believe it or not, lol... Someone on that site suggested that I get a straw and a piece of cotton ball dipped in cinnamon and when I get the urge to smoke, use that. The weekends are my weakness. Anyway the cinnamon taste good and it gives the effect of smoking. I really wanted to quit for my health and my kiddos. I always felt like a walking oxymoron-workingout and eating right but smoking a dog gone cancer stick-not cool! Good luck to you on your quit and if you ever just wanna chat feel free to hit me up. Sometimes when the urge hits it's better to type out your feelings to someone who understands than to reach for that pack! You can do this!!! N.O.P.E=not one puff ever for me :)
  • neacail
    neacail Posts: 228 Member
    Thanks for all of the encouragement, folks. :)

    Today is going to be a tough day. My man cub and I are at home alone, while his dad and big brother are at work. I've got to keep him entertained, get our bearded dragon's new enclosure set up, and clean up the house for our big dinner this weekend.

    I'm thinking about cigarettes already.

    On the upside, my cough appears to be almost gone. That is huge! I'm staying focused on my calorie goal too. And, I had no coffee at all yesterday. Overall, things are going well.

    I did leave the office briefly at lunch yesterday. I've avoided leaving throughout the workday as I only ever used to leave it to smoke. As I was walking out the door, I ran into one of our new engineers who is originally from eastern Europe, and then spent 12 years in Ireland. He was having a smoke. I was so tempted! It would have been so easy to ask him for one, and then spend ten minutes BSing with him. His work is absolutely fascinating, and I'm dying to learn more about what he does. It was so easy to get to know people being a smoker. I guess I'll have to stop by his office with tea, instead.
  • Absonthebrain
    Absonthebrain Posts: 587 Member
    It sounds like you are going to be very busy which is a good thing! I love your plan on talking with the new work colleague, tea is awesome over good brain picking, lol :wink:
  • Absonthebrain
    Absonthebrain Posts: 587 Member
    It sounds like you are going to be very busy which is a good thing! I love your plan on talking with the new work collegue, tea is awesome over good brain picking, lol :wink:
  • strawberrytoast
    strawberrytoast Posts: 711 Member
    Just think of the great example your setting on the "man cub" :laugh:
  • Guisma
    Guisma Posts: 215
    Tx all. Went good. My husband end up buying me an e-cig, but without nikotin. I have to say its not the same as smoking or hardly anything like it, but it takes care of the primal urge , like the straw with cinammon but maybe a bit better cos there is some vapors. I will only use it indoors and i hope that after some weeks i put that down too.
  • goofyrick24
    goofyrick24 Posts: 125 Member
    Today Marks 365 days for me without having to be a slave to the NicoDEMON!! It Took me 6 attempts in three years and my third time on Chantix but I can finally say I haven't found a reason good enough in the past year to put another tobacco gun in my mouth. It wasn't and still isnt easy to make it thru life without going for my old campanion but since The Breakup I'm finding a new way to live. (I wrote a letter a year ago to cigarrets asking them for a divorce for all the pain and suffering that they caused me. I was 35, had (and still have) High blood pressure, high colesterol (gone now), had major stomach ulcer (still have reflux but no bleeding, and I had been to the Cardiologist for irregular heartbeats. I went to doctor lasr week, I have gained 50 lbs I'm now working on but my blood work was awesome compared to a year ago, my heart is in good shape and I can now run up a flight of stairs!! To all of you just starting out on this journey of recovery from nicotine addiction.. WE NEED EACH OTHER TO MAKE IT!!
  • neacail
    neacail Posts: 228 Member
    @guisma . . . how are you doing today?

    @goofyrick24 . . . Congratulations on your first year anniversary, and all of the great changes you've seen as a result!

    Me . . . I'm doing better today. I think I've made it through the "make-it-or-break-it" point. I'm still using the patch, but I didn't feel the need to put it on today. I did, but I think I can maybe go down to the 14mg patches from the 21mg. Hubby is a smoker, so I can't let my guard down at all.

    Yesterday was tough. We had a big family dinner, and it was warm enough for everyone to congregate on the deck: where all the smoking happens. I kept myself busy doing the dishes, and with 14 guests, there were a LOT of dishes. One of the ladies sat in the kitchen with me while I worked away. I apologized to her, and explained that I would normally sit down to visit with her, but as I had just quit smoking I needed to keep busy. She was very understanding.

    I appear to have gotten through the coffee issues, as well. I didn't even have a green tea when I got up this morning (which I was doing for a little boost of caffeine). I just got up and started the day. No caffeine, no nicotine spray, no gum (I am now sucking back a diet Coke, though).

    I am feeling much more optimistic about things today. My mood is improved (though I'm still a bit irritable). My week-long headache has subsided almost to the point where I can ignore it. Things are looking up.
  • Guisma
    Guisma Posts: 215
    First week has passed without nicotine. The e.cig is working to break the psycological habit, but there is still the need of nicotine when i get angry. I hope that stops in the next week. So far, not terrible. I am a bit more hungry but not much and im eating more or less what i ate before.