Fear
I plan to stop smoking in 6 days. And I am terrified. Scared it will be too hard.
I have recently been diagnosed with anxiety disorder...and smoking makes it worse. But the thought of quitting scares the pants off me and I am scared it will make my anxiety worse.
Anyone have any experience with this?
Tam I also suffer with anxiety and depression and smoking does make it worse. I went cold turkey. Have been smoke free for 18 days 20 minutes, depression and anxiety was better but,slipped up this afternoon and had 3 puffs but put it out because it was allful...Just eat plenty of fruit,orange juice,and keep busy....good luck.
Hi Tam,
Completely understand your fear and I believe many people experience the fear of the unknown.
I too can suffer from anxiety and am finally free from PTSD and have been for years. I used to have terrible panic attacks but it's a rare occasion for me to have one these days.
My actual biggest regret is that I put off quitting because of that fear. Since I have given up which is two months ago now, I actually find my anxiety better. As you'd know, smoking increases your heart rate which can then increase your anxiety and it can become a vicious cycle.
Have you given some thought about how you're going to quit?
Some quit cold turkey, some use Nicotine Replacement and some by medication.
Educating yourself on what methods are available is a good start, then you'll know which one may work for you.
I was a very heavy smoker and I'm from Australia and Quitline helped me in terms of taking down my smoking history and then advised what method they thought would be best for me.
If you're not from Australia, this site has a very informative range of options and methods.
I believe any path a person chooses for themselves is better than continuing to smoke.
For me I started a patch to help me cut down and then when my quit date arrived, I used combination therapy that included a 2mg lozenge for the really tough times. This so far has worked for me without a single slip up in 2 months. I think it's been almost 2 weeks since I wore a patch and I had no problems just stopping that completely and now only have the very occasional lozenge.
Everyone however is different.
Regardless of which way you choose to go, it's your journey and it's best to do what you think is best.
Help is always at hand here.
It's a really good start that you've at least chosen a quit date.
I wish you all the best.
Thank you both for your kind comments. 5 days to go and I am kinda looking forward to it. I do intend to use patches ... and I have cut down to quit...only smoked 8 cigarettes yesterday.