Trying yet again- tomorrow

Take it hour by hour and think positive. Good luck

Hi Trianne, what method of quitting are you using?

Hi Trianne,

I attempted to quit many times, so many I've lost count, and each time I felt such a failure and I thought I'd be a smoker for life. But the ads on TV made me think the smart thing to do was use what I'd learned about myself during these attempts to plan my strategy for MY WIN.

One of the things I found was after about the third failure I tended to keep my quit attempts to myself (in hindsight I think that was so if I failed I wouldn't have to tell everyone I'd failed...again). I also either went 'cold turkey' or used just patches (believing what I'd been told by other failed quitters that nicotine gum tasted like licking an ashtray - euuwwwww).

SO, this time I was heavily armed for the fight. I told my children (who all smoke BTW) and my work mates (who dont) and asked for their support. I decided to cut down first (I used to smoke apx 15/day) and bought a small pack of gum to do this (not exactly PK but it tastes nowhere near as bad as smoking a ciggie does!!). I also gave lozenges a try - not bad. And I think, most importantly, in my mind I didn't call it my quit smoking ATTEMPT - I called it my non-smoking SUCCESS. I kept repeating this to myself in those hard times - it became my personal mantra.

I saw my doctor, told him my plan & got a script for the patches (so much cheaper!!), stocked up on a large pack of gum and some lozenges (for work as sucking a lozenge is more discrete than chewing gum and I found my jaw ached if I chewed too much), gave all my nice ashtrays away & threw the manky ones in the bin & WENT FOR IT.

I chose 14th February as my quit day as I was giving a love present to my body (and its a date I wont forget). I found the first week a bit tough but my strategies worked and now I've been smoke-free for 4 months, totally nicotine free for 2 months. I wont say its been a walk in the park but it hasn't been as hard as I thought either.

I suppose what I'm saying is, with an open mind, try all the aids available & find ones that work for you, tell at least one person who you know will be a good support (this site helped me heaps too), see your doctor, and draw on previous quit attempts (or your own self-knowledge about how you tick if this is your first attempt) to plan for those hard times that you know will come along (in my experience, they don't come along as often as you think they will due to smart strategic thinking).

I won't wish you luck as this isn't about luck - I will however wish you much joy I know you'll feel when you are a NON-SMOKER.

Keep smilin'

Sunny

You write a great story Sunnygirl and it certainly makes heaps of sense. Do your best Trianne and keep reading these stories

Thanks for your comments and encouragement Sunny and moremoney. I tried patches and lozenges but I don't feel they work for me- going cold turkey. They say it only takes 72 hours to get nicotine completely out of your system, and then it's more psychological things you need to deal with- which is the hardest part.

Eric- I had a look at their website- but can you get this stuff in the shops?

patches medication ect is out for me I have to go cold turkey due to the medication I am on unable to afford hypnotherapy until I quit which is a bit back to front I know so I am going to keep on trying your comments are very helpful thankyou someone out there will understand where I am coming from

Hi Trianne, Sunny Girl has said it all (she should be on TV doing the commercials) And you're right about the money, Ned Kelly was a gentleman compared to our taxation office.