Quitting Smoking

[burntbrat]

Keep it up livin4. I think they say that the 4th and 5th days are the hardest. As soon as you don't associate cigarettes with your daily routine, it will get easier. Maybe one thing you can do (if possible) is stash away the money you would've spent on a pack of smokes. Then after a month of no smoking you go out and buy something that you really, really want. Something totally fun or something that you've always wanted to try. Like a microderm abrasion kit or a musical instrument or something. That way you have something to look forward to and to work towards.

[Lil Bit]

Hang in there livin4reality. The first couple of weeks are the worst but I swear it gets better. And the benefits are so worth it. Just keep telling yourself that you can do it and take it one day, one hour, even one minute at a time. You can do it. Good luck.

Good luck to you too, myrosiedog. Keep telling yourself that you CAN do this. I didn't think I'd ever be able to quit either but my last cigarette was on Dec. 7, 1998 and I haven't had one since. Unless you count my husbands second hand smoke. Yeah, he's still smoking. I've about given up hope that he'll ever quit.

I think the most important thing to remember is that you have to convince yourself that you can never have another cigarette. Once you accept that, you've got a great chance of staying quit.

Congrats to you both.

[MRD]

Thanks lil bit. I am determined this time and I am going to make sure my head is right about this and not ever smoke again.

[livin4reality]

Thanks for the good wishes all. Day 6 here and haven't cheated yet! Tomorrow is going to be a real test. I'll be around smokers and outside, bored and unable to leave (due to work). Keeping the fingers crossed.

[canuckinchile]

Good for you! You can do it. Bring carrot sticks or whatever else you think might help ( gum??) Good luck.

[combatcutie]

Good luck everyone. My hubby quit a year ago with the help of Chantix. I'm so proud of him b/c he has no desire to go back to it. He ate a lot of carrots, pretzels, and tootsie rolls.

[MRD]

Well so far so good. I have had a few urges, but nothing bad. Yesterday was kind of bad. I knew it was my last day and I was getting a bit depressed about the whole thing. I stayed up as late as I could so I could keep smoking because I knew that this morning, was no more cigs. I woke up at 1. a.m. and said: well it's not "really" cheating if I smoke one now. I lit it and it tasted so incredibly nasty, I put it out after 2 puffs, and broke up the remaining cigs and threw them away.

Like I said this morning the urge hit as soon as I opened my eyes and it's hit about once an hour, but I just tell myself no and it has gone away. I am surprised at how easy this has been so far. But it's only been about 5 hours.
But starting on Thur. , the cigs did not taste all that good, so I had cut down on them too.

Livin, hope things are going well. I'm so proud of you. You've made it a week now!!!!

[just1paul]

MRD - You WILL do JUST FINE!

[MRD]

NOT. A. GOOD. DAY. Everyone in my house is headless as I've bitten off all their heads.
I tried to sleep as much as possible as the day got harder the longer it got.

I took up ironing. I have a bunch of shirts I don't wear because they are linen and need to be ironed. I love linen, I hate ironing. I kept getting urges to go outside and smoke and so I thought, I could iron and watch the Olympics. It's bad when I iron voluntarily.

I also made my daugther's boyfriend take my car to work and leave me his truck. He's having a lot of problems with his truck and I figured that if I didn't have a way to get to the store, I might not be tempted to go get cigarettes.

I think the Chantix has been a big help, because the urges go away, but I've been a horrible witch today to everyone and they haven't done anything. Well except that constant breathing thing. You know, inhale, exhale, gets on my nerves big time!!!!!!

[just1paul]

READ a book, do something distracting, just think in another day it will better. this might help:
What Happens to Your body if you stop smoking Right now?

I think one of the main reasons it’s so hard to quit smoking is because all the benefits of quitting and all the dangers of continuing seem very far away. Well, here’s a little timeline about some of the more immediate effects of quitting smoking and how that will affect your body RIGHT NOW.

In 20 minutes your blood pressure will drop back down to normal.
In 8 hours the carbon monoxide (a toxic gas) levels in your blood stream will drop by half, and oxygen levels will return to normal.
In 48 hours your chance of having a heart attack will have decreased. All nicotine will have left your body. Your sense of taste and smell will return to a normal level.
In 72 hours your bronchial tubes will relax, and your energy levels will increase.
In 2 weeks your circulation will increase, and it will continue to improve for the next 10 weeks.
In three to nine months coughs, wheezing and breathing problems will dissipate as your lung capacity improves by 10%.
In 1 year your risk of having a heart attack will have dropped by half.
In 5 years your risk of having a stroke returns to that of a non-smoker.
In 10 years your risk of lung cancer will have returned to that of a non-smoker.
In 15 years your risk of heart attack will have returned to that of a non-smoker.
So, you have more immediate things to look forward to if you quit now besides just freaking out about not being able to smoke.