Newbie Smoking 30+ Years W/ Chronic Condition

[christibro2]

Hi Community, I'm Chris a 45 year old female from Orange County, CA. I was smoking about 2 1/2 packs a day, right now with this site and an electronic cigarette I'm just under a pack and set my date as June 26, 2013. 

I've been married 19 years to my loving husband Jeff who doesn't smoke. I have 1 daughter at home who smokes as does my mother. We are all taking our own paths to trying to quit.

I have Lupus a chronic and sometimes debilitating illness. It has been a nightmare and secret blessing since my youngest daughter was born in 1994 . I have almost lost my life to it a couple times. Perhaps because of that I figured the Lupus will kill me before the cigarettes so even though I know quitting would ease physical pain I just smokes more to cope. I'm always somewhat stressed. But over the last month or so, I've had an epiphany; I NEED TO QUIT! So brings me here to becomeanex.org. I was referred from my best childhood friend and the same girl who I started smoking with in 1980. She smoked as much or more than me so I figured if she could do it here, so can I!

So here I am, ready and willing to quit. I've been able to separate from my cigs a lot in a few days, but I have 24 days to quit:  that is scary.Can I do it, will I feel better? Sure I can but I need support. I need to quit. Here I am my first real attempt to q unit in o Eric. 30 years. 

Newbeies and those who have already quit contact me or I will find you. I'm ready 🙂

[Nyima_1.6.13]

Hi Chris, I hope you are doing the recommended readings here on the site and tracking cigarettes. When you're ready you will start separsting time between smoke but in the mean time read, read, read! Go to whyquit.com and listen ti some videos or read some more. ther will be lots of people with links available for you. Be sure to read the Allan Carr book. It is an eye opening education on addiction!

You have come to the right place! Plenty of EXes both elders and newbies, we can all help each other!

[Thomas3.20.2010]

Did you know that smoking makes lupus worse? 

http://www.lupus.org/webmodules/webarticlesnet/templates/new_aboutintroduction.aspx?articleid=410&zo...

It's time to decide for good to quit and give it all you have! We can show you the way but the decision is yours!

[christibro2]

Thomas, thank you. Yes I do know it makes Lupus worse, a lot worse- I have known it for 18 years. The problem has been coming to terms with the illness and excepting it for what it is. Many lightbulbs came on this year: smoking is perhaps the biggest. It took my doctors years to get me where I am at this moment as a smoker. I thank you for the information and wish to continue our budding friendship! You are very knowledgable.

[christibro2]

Nyima, thank you so much for the encouragement! I do feel a pull and even disgust with my long love affair with cigarettes. It is coming to an end and I'm so happy and pleased about my decision to come here. Thank You for your early support. I look forward to getting to know you. You seem like a strong, take no prisoners type of lady! Thanks.

[Michwoman]

Hi Christi,

Read this book:

http://media.wix.com/ugd/74fa87_2010cc5496521431188f905b7234a829.pdf

Visit whyquit.com.

Here's one of the things there:

http://whyquit.com/whyquit/joelcigfriend.HTML

You can do this! 

[christibro2]

Mich, thank you so much...I will pick that up and go to the site this week.

chris

[Strudel]

  Welcome to the site! Yes, please read the Carr book and check out the free course at-

  http://quitsmokingonline.com/

  You can do this!! Stick around! 

[joyeuxencore]

Hello and welcome! You may want to consider moving up your quit date! You have already been waiting a decade or so! I KNOW it seems scary but we are here to help! Are you doing the preparation as outlined on the EX homepage? I am going to copy and paste a post from one of our "elders' Here on EX...Listening to her is one of the reasons I am still quit! xo

http://community.becomeanex.org/pg/blog/read/5929289/a-point-to-ponder

Your DECISION to stop smoking starts with your mindset and usually goes something like this. The first few attempts usually turn out to be dismal failures because you weren't actually serious when you quit! We saved the ashtrays, packs of ciggs (just in case) and even told ourselves we would only smoke if things got really BAD, too stressful, or if we lost our job etc...

I have a friend here that still has a pack in her kitchen drawer, another that used to drive around with a carton in the trunk of her car, and another that framed 2 packs, and another that found a pack in their "first aid kit".......... WHY would we do that? Personally I believe it's because we had smoked for such a long time and we really WANTED to quit, but not FOREVER...that was way too much to realize at the time....So we left the "back doors" open in our subconscious mind to starting again......

But ONLY if something TERRIBLE happened...even though the TERRIBLE thing did or didn't happen, our mind kept drifting back to the old subconscious 'brainwashing' of "I'll never REALLY be happy without smoking", or "I love smoking, or I’ll smoke just for right now," ", or blah,blah,blah....... Then, after a while, when we become serious enough to quit, we come to the realization that we are CHOOSING to quit smoking (not just a "want to")...... we DECIDE we are choosing to quit smoking FOR GOOD, and the task becomes much easier. This time we realize that smoking will NOT BE AN OPTION, for any reason at all, no matter what . So on a conscious and a subconscious level, there is no internal arguement...we have CHOSEN to be free and will honor that decision to remain free to staying quit every day.....The quit process does take time, but the better your DECISION to quit is at the outset, the better quit you will have and all of the "back doors", where the old BRAINWASHING is located, or REASONS/EXCUSES to smoke will be closed. So if you are a newbie or a long time quitter, ask yourself about the "what if Reasons/Excuses" to start back smoking are before they can happen and CLOSE those BACK DOORS.

Let us LIFT you up!!!

[christibro2]

Joy, thank you. Quitting is not an option for me. I must and will do it. Thank you for your words. I will be delving more into the site and books, etc in a couple days. My dad is here and I'm a bit short on time. But by Thursday reading etc will be major. I'm also doing my insurances smoking cessation program. I hope to continue to hear from you. Thank You

chris