I don't know about not smoking

[Freebird]

OK....here's the thing. I've been smoke free now for 10 days. I decided to do this with no patches, gum, etc. Just cold turkey. The first day was really hard...the second day was really hard too. Then it seemed to started getting a bit easier.

 

OR SO I THOUGHT!

 

The past two days were absolutely BRUTAL. On Wednesday morning, I snuck a couple of cigarettes out of my wife's pack before leaving for work. Actually drove around for about 30 minutes with an unlit cigarette in my mouth and a lighter in my hand. I never lit it though. Ended up taking them home at the end of the day and put them back where I found them.

 

Today it seemed to get a bit easier again. I keep hoping that I'm getting over the hump but only time will tell. I try to remind myself all the time that if I start back now, that means I've tortured myself for 10 days for nothing. I also try to remember all the money that I'm saving...believe it or not..that is about $350.00 per MONTH.....that's just crazy. I also try to remind myself that the doctor told me last week that the little stroke I had two weeks ago was just a gentle warning and I had BETTER quite smoking. It's amazing though how a little nicotine addiction can almost make all those arguments seem irrelevant. That's the other thing that I keep reminding myself of...that it is a drug addiction and I don't WANT to be a drug addict.

 

So...I'm hanging in there. I know some of you are going through the same thing and just wanted to say....GOOD LUCK!!!! Let's be STRONG!!!

[Roadhand]

Hang in there Don.

All this talking about not smoking has inspired me to consider stopping again.

I have smoked for a very long time and with everything the way it is and you (along with others) are working toward kicking this thing..............don't give up.

[MidlifeVenture]

My wife and I were not successful until we did it together. Kind of easy to fall off the wagon when the temptation is right there. You go long enough and when you do end thinking you want one they taste bad. Smoked 21 yrs been 5 yrs since I quit hang in there its worth the money and the health.

[Squidley]

Stick with it brother...I want to be a pain in your arse for many years to come, you can do it

[T.J.]

It has been 28 years that I quit. I have never known an X-smoker that said "I wish I had never quit" That ought to tell you something.

 

Keep going, you will not regret it, but you will regret going back to that habit. Smack yourself every time you have a craving. Yea, I know you will become smack silly.

[cecdoo]

Hang in there Don, if it was easy anybody could do it. They say its the hardest habit to kick. Hope it gets alittle easier each day, you can do it! Now if only I could get my chocolate addiction under control?? Craig

[Mikealiasmike]

Month ago started on Chantax, 3 weeks ago quit but snuck a couple here and there, since 2 weeks ago haven't had one at all. I can relate to what your going through. But sure will be nice not having to unplug my stereo to put in lighter on bike rides. God Bless. Mike

[MasterGuns]

Freebird, The benefits quitting are endless in health issues alone. There are many other benefits as you have mentioned. Just last week the government funded provided health care on 4 mil children by increasing the tax .62 cents on one pack. They aren't through yet. So you must be successful in your quitting for all these reasons. I went from being a two packer to zero clean back in 1984; yep, cold turkey. After about two weeks you will take on the atittude "I've gone two weeks without one, I can't have one now". You'll make it. You must have faith in yourself.

[Yammer Dan]

I did it cold turkey with my wife still puffing away Don. Makes it a little harder but seems it makes you want to do it a little more. You have got the worst done. Mostly a matter of just reminding yourself now that you can beat it. You will get the urge for one 10 yrs from now but you can laugh at it. And you will be here to laugh at it!!!

[Kurt]

Hang tough it will get easier. Been there and it takes time and I don't think the craving ever disappears completely. Good luck and may the Lord help you.

[MikeM8560]

Way to go putting them back Don, I quit cold turkey 10 years ago or so I lost track. I had a cold and the tayse of a cig was awful. Id lite one and take 1 drag and oput it out.

 

I did this with a whole pack and never bought a new one.

 

 

/hang ing there,

I was a 2 pack a dayer, but if i lived with a smoker Id dont think it would have been alot harder .

Edited February 14, 2009 by MikeM8560

[ADC]

Hang in there Don,I've been smoke free for 23 yrs.I tried many times and failed until I prayed that the addiction be taken away,from that next day on I've had no desire for one.

Arthur

[Redneck]

Just go ahead and start smoking again its only $350 a month you don't have anything better to do with that money. The doctor was lying to you its not that bad for you just cause you get short of breath if you try to run a hundred yards doesn't mean anything. If you continue with this nonsense you won't even be able to cough up a decent lugy. You wont get to experience that great tight chest feeling when you take a deep breath. You will be deprived of the burning desire to light one up as soon as you wake up. Your car won't have that great stale smoke smell. Your son is going to be less likly to follow in your foot steps who are you to deprive him of all that pleasure? You will get very bored waiting that extra 10 or 20 years to die. Those grandkids are going to be a pain in the ass anyway Go ahead light one up.

[Reaney in NH]

Hang in there... its well worth the effort. I quit almost 10 years ago... had a 3 pack a day addiction.

 

Heres a tip on something that worked for me... It sounds crazy... but it worked. When I got an urge for a cig... We try to ignore it... and for me.. it made it worse. So.. What I did was acknowleg the urge... and make the choice not to smoke. I even said it out loud sometimes. " I COULD have a cig... but I'm going to CHOOSE not too" Then it was a choice.. I was in control... not the Cigs.

You did the same thing when you had the unlit cig in your mouth... you CHOSE not to lite it. YOU had the control of the addiction... the addiction doesn't control you.

 

Good luck and stick it out. Hope this helps

Reaney in NH:thumbsup:

[pakidaho]

I can honestly say any time I go with out smoking I do not regret that I went without, yet I can honestly say I regret any time I light up. I think it would be amazing to live life with out any regrets.

I just went out and had a regret.... (puffs on my cigar)

Problem is I grew my own tobacco and roll my own cigars... and I have enough to last for quite some time. I seem to have a battle going on with myself when considering the possibility of having to toss all that tobacco I worked so hard to grow, and at the same time realize it may kill me.

I bet you did not regret putting those two smokes back where you found them?

Also, isn't it sort of cool going around not having to know where your lighter is and having to make sure you have enough smokes to make it through the day?

I always heard the first three days are the most difficult but after stopping from time to time find as the days, weeks and months pass so does the rational for stopping in the first place.

Don't give up, keep counting on your support and trust your desire to live with out regret.

[eagleeye]

All I can say is, hang in there Don. Unfortunately, it won't get easier for some time, but just keep telling yourself that you are stronger and will win.

It'll will be worth it in the end.

Steve

[a1bummer]

[BuddyRich]

Smokin a cigarette is like suckin on the exhaust pipe of your bike. All the same stuff is in it except the nicotine.

You have actually beat the physical addiction. Now the tuff part is the mental.

Think of all the good things about not smoking (like breathing) compared to smoking (hack,cough,cough, spit up a little blood take another drag).

 

Non smoker

 

http://www.presmark.com/images/healthy_lung_small1.jpg SMOKER http://www.presmark.com/images/LUNG030%5B1%5D_small.jpg

[Guest Swifty]

OMG brother...a stroke! I'm cheering for ya with all my heart ....AND my lungs! Apply some of that dogged determination and never ending energy you have in dealing with the ****heads :whistling:on this website to quitting that habit. It's not going to be easy, but if you can do what you've done for all of us, its time to do something good for yourself. Thanks for letting us in on what you're going through.

Sincerely wishing you much success in this.

[az1103]

10 days is good! Congratulations! Hang in there...Any day now you will suddenly notice the smell of a tree you just passed or a fireplace...miles away. When that happens you'll start wondering why you didn't do this sooner!!! I have NEVER met anyone who regretted having quit!!!!

Welcome to the rest of your life!!:clap2:

[slick97spirit]

Don,

I quit about 5 years ago. Hang in there it gets easier. If I could give you one piece of advice that really helped me, it would be to drop everything the moment the craving starts and start doing something else. No matter what your doing, drop it and get your mind on something else. The cravings come when your doing something that is a trigger for when you're used to smoking so if you drop what your doing (the trigger) it gets you focused on something else. It really helped me. The other thing that really helped me was to not tell anyone that I was quitting. I figured that if I was talking about, I was thinking about it. Keep it off your mind and your struggles will not be as often.

I hope these help. Be strong. Think of other things. You will be glad you stuck it out.

[mraf]

Quit while your ahead. The alternative is not worth it. There is nothing worse than not being able to breath. I watch my father in law gasp for breath even on oxygen after his lifetime of smoking. He has no ambition or stamina to do anything everyday, all from smoking. His life has been whittled down to playing solitaire, watching TV and sleeping. A 50 foot walk puts him in a life threatening predicament. So quit now while you can still breath. One question though "What you going to do to calm your nerves when you are moderating a thread that implicates at being political"?:rotfl:

[BuddyRich]

"What you going to do to calm your nerves when you are moderating a thread that implicates at being political"?:rotfl:

 

Well, In his present frame of mind, I would not want to be on that end ... .

[Princess M]

Good luck, Don. Hang in there. I'm lucky that I don't know what you're going through, but I've heard it's very hard. I had a boss tell me, "Quitting is easy, I did it several times a year. Not starting again was the hard part."

 

I guess watching what smoking did to my loved ones made me not smoke. My aunt is on full time O2 and can't do much and when I was 11 years old I watch her husband die a horrible death from lung cancer.

 

So good luck, again. Prayers going out to give you strength. Here's to you and a heatlthy, nonsmoking future.

[Snarley Bill]

don. there's three things you have to overcome when quitting smoking. the first is clearing your system of the nicotine, and your system getting adapted to the lack of it. this takes a few weeks. the second is the habit of having one in your mouth and reaching for them. this takes longer. the third is the memory of how good they were. this takes a long time. you have got through the hardest part. remember this. is you take one drag ,you blew it. you might as well go back to smoking, cuz you failed to maintain that needed self control. don't even take that one drag, and don't touch one at all. stay away from the smell as much as possiple. when you even think about a cigarette change your train of thought to something else like bikes. you can do it. hang in there. your almost over the hump. bill