Getting myself ready to quit.
Hey guys I've just joined up :) Iv been smoking for about 17 years and now smoke a pack of 40's a day. Smokes and cocacola is my poison. They just got together for me. I have tried to quit many times but seem to cave at about day 5. It sounds so stupid but when I'm not smoking I wake up and think what's the point i have nothing to look forward too. Work seems to drag on as I cant look forward to my smoke break and I really miss it when I'm not smoking as I seriously LOVE to smoke. Monday never seems to come when I'm trying to quit. I stay up late on the sunday night smoking all my smokes and set my quit app and tell myself you can do this and i feel really good about it. But then when the morning comes around all that goes away and I give in. Then I feel ashamed of myself especially when they tell me the price at the smoke counter. My husband and I both smoke and the money we spend on smokes a week is discusting, but yet I'm still doing it. We both work full time and have our own house and all that but we work so hard and could have so much more. I really don't want our kids to smoke either and we are not setting a good example for them. On the days I'm not smoking when someone walks into work after their smoke break the smell just fills the room and I think that's what my kids put up with. Im so glad I found this sight. I have read a few stories and everybody seems really supportive and so good to reason success stories and just people feeling the way I do. I'm planning on quitting after we get back from our holiday in January, my work place will also be smoke free as well which will make things easier. Cheers :)
Hi Lolly,
Reading your story reminded me why (I think) I loved smoking cigs and why I quit 8 months ago. And let me tell you - I "believed" that I LOVED SMOKING. The deliciousness of the bitter taste, especially after a lengthy break from smoking, was so very much satisfactory. The most satisfaction I ever got from a cig was right after intercontinental landing. Also, you reminded me that my smoke breaks made my day orderly and I looked forward to the next smoke break. However, after a while one starts realizing that smoking is really a "fool's gold". And you have laid out an excellent case for quitting which by the way coincided with my reasoning for quitting too.
1) Bad example for kids
2) Stink
3) Health reasons
4) Wasted money
5) Addiction and dependency
6) Wasted time
7) Many more reasons to quit
I am 57 and out of that I smoked for 41 years on the average 10-15 cigs a day except during drinking days 20-25. When I was 37 I quit for about 2 years but one day after having a few drinks I decided to have just one puff and I did, and right after that I had a whole cig and in no time I was back to smoking like I never quit. Roll forward 10 more years and I quit again for about a year and the same thing happens again. This is my 3rd and final time and there will not be another puff ever again. I suffered too much without my "best friends" until addiction subsided and I realized that it's much better to be a non-smoker.
Also, I have 3 grown kids and all 3 of them picked up smoking. 2 out of 3 quit but the 3rd one is still struggling. I blame myself because I was their example. Saying don't smoke and being an example to your kids are two different things and kids do by example and not by what we say to them. Therefore if you and your husband both smoke there is a very good chance your kids will smoke too in the future. On a positive note, quitting this time around wasn't too bad.
I wish you all the best in your endeavor to quit and wish you success. I am cheering for you to succeed.
Cheers
P.S. You should read "Never Take Another Puff" by Joel Spitzer. It addresses all of your concerns above. A very good read before, during and after quitting.
Hi I've smoked since 1995 when i started i was using a pack of 25 a day which i did for approximately ten years i quit for three years then resumed smoking again I've quit for months a fair duration many times since i used to enjoy the habit a lot its been a panacea for me i suffer bi polar disorder and depression over my life I've had many admissions in treatment facilities and taken up the habit again since hospital policy no smoking on the ward i began chewing nicotine gum i were using it heavily and not as directed and became a heavy smoker using at my worst fifty rollies a day I've not smoked continually for many years only on and off once couple of years ago i couldn't breath one night i quit vowing never to smoke again that was before i began using rolling tobacco smoking heavily in my youth i smoked marijuana not heavily only small amounts for approximately two years i was a heavy user using a water pipe as i mostly did so after my last stint in hospital i smoked for several months quit resumed smoking again i think my depression issues are the motivation so this last stint i smoked for four months until i found my lungs felt rather dry very uncomfortable and exceedingly worrying they picked upI've ceased little under two weeks ago and my lungs began to improve they no longer feel smoked i felt a restriction when breathing which has cleared up since i still get pains in my chest in various places different feelings I'm a worrywort and am afraid i may get lung cancer later in life i guess what I'm after is some reassurance to the contrary does that seem likely
Hi Moondance. Some people never get lung cancer but instead die of many other tobacco related diseases. A few die of old age but for most of us it all depends on an individual's DNA. However, you are saying that you are already starting to feel burning in your lungs and common sense would be to presume that continuing smoking will only make it worse.