No beating coming from me! Do your preparation and planning. Read all you can - then jump right back in! Please spend a few moments thinking about what caused you to make that decision to smoke and make a plan for what you will do differently this time.
I'll leave a light burning so you can find your way back. Hurry!
Despite what Allen Carr said, most of us would not describe quitting smoking as "easy". But most of us would describe it as the best thing we ever did for ourselves. Continue reading, that helped me a lot. I don't know if you checked out the information on whyquit.com (look for Freedom from Nicotine, The Journey Home, and I think Nicotine Addiction 101). Then, continue to come here and read blogs. If you are thinking of giving in to a crave, if you come here and use Help as the title for your blog, lots of folks will come around quickly to give you all sorts of advice on how to keep your quit. You can do this. The beginning is not easy, but it does get better as you go along. Then, one day you realize you have reached the point where you know it would be sheer madness to go back to smoking.
Here's some advice I gave another member: In my case, I just finished a pack of cigarettes one day, last pack of the carton and declared that was the day, slapped a patch on and said, that's it, I'm doing this. The first month, I stayed away from the store, the gas station, anywhere that sold cigarettes I avoided. If I had to go to the store, I picked one that didn't sell cigarettes. I can't tell you how many times I drove past a gas station and just said out loud to myself, you can do this, just keep driving, you don't need those anymore. I'll tell ya, I WANTED one in the worst way. I'd chew my arm off for one, but I kept driving. I made a conscious effort to remember that feeling of a crave because I didn't like it and I knew I wasn't going to put myself back into that situation again.
After 102 days, I couldn't imagine myself going back to day one. Do I think about having a cigarette? Oh, heck ya. And you know what, I will always think about having one. And I accept that, but I'm not going to. You know, there are what I call recreational smokers. Those that only smoke when they drink or only smoke once a year, whatever. We are addicts. We know that one cigarette with lead to 20, will lead to a carton, will get us right back to where we were in no time. Did you ever notice when you didn't have a cigarette in like 2 or 3 hours and you go and have one and you get dizzy? Ever notice that when you light that second one up, that dizziness isn't there anymore. you know why, you fed that addiction, you activated that addiction.
That first week of absolutely no smoking, you will reach for the phathom pack. it's not there but you just reach for it. You want to rip your hair out. You want to scream. But trust me, wait, give it 3 to 5 minutes. relax, breathe, it passes. I couldn't do cold turkey. I had so many craves that came constantly seemed like. I finally went and bought some cheap walmart brand nicotine patches, the first step ones, slapped it on and the cravings were much easier to deal with. they were there, but they weren't as bad. Then I got to work on my hand to mouth habit. switched up my routine. I'll tell ya, that first month I was cleaning everything and anything. First thing was the windows, gross. Then the ceiling fans. Washed all the curtains.
Everybody has their own way of quitting and preparing to quit. Once you understand that you are an addict, there's no going back, it's not the cigarettes that you are addicted to, it's the nicotine. And it's going to want to pull you in, trick you into thinking I'll make it all better, all you need is a few puffs and you'll be fine........ don't listen, keep telling yourself, nope, nope, nope. I'm not going back there again. You're going to have depression days, angry days, frustration days, but embrace them, laugh at them, accept that it's part of the process. Go back on the Elder's pages, people who have been quit for 2 or more years. go to their blogs, go back to when they first started to quit, they went through the exact same thing.
Your fear is normal. Your anxiety is normal. Your I want to do this, but I can't is normal. My god, you're breaking up with your best friend. Someone who has been with you in lonely times, happy times, sad times. Made you feel calm, satisfied your need. But it's the nicotine, not the cigarette. I like to call it my stalker. It rumbles in the back of your brain, it waits and watches, moves in the background of your life. When it thinks you've got this whole quitting thing down, it will suddenly appear. Find other ways to give yourself pleasure instead of a smoke. Try a new hobby, color, paint, read a book, try a new game, make a quilt. After the first week of no smoking, buy yourself something with the money you saved. If you have to put the money in a jar, do so. Doesn't have to be anything fancy, but something just for you. Every week do that for the entire month. Before you know it, you're at 30, then 60, then 80. Come here and talk about it, whine about it, yell about it, but come here.
You really don't have to smoke anymore. You're just choosing to smoke. But my dear, I smoked for 43 years at 2 packs a day. I am now 102 days free and you can be too. have faith!!!!!!
