Now I can do my ABC

I am smokefree for 20 days and feeling good. I have had a lot of help from the contributors to this website so now its time to give something back. 

I was a smoker for 40 years. A packet of unfiltered camels a day. 2 packets if partying. There were some "good" cigarettes which I enjoyed namely  [a] the first one of the day and [b] the ones after lunch and dinner especially if drinking a decent red and [c] when I got to the top of the mountain (I am a bushwalker) and [d] around the campfire with my buddies. But the rest were no longer any fun and I have wanted to quit for a few years.

I tried the patches and the lozenges. They didn't work for me. I believe this is because they keep the addiction going. One day, I had a patch on AND was sucking a lozenge  AND found myself dragging on a gasper! I peeled off the patch; spat out the lozenge, and lit up another smoke. So I knew that wasn't working for me and I had to try something else. 

A friend put me onto Allen Carr's book The Easy Way to Stop Smoking. This was the beginning of my successful Quit. He is an engaging and entertaining writer. He was a chain smoker. He explains the nature of the addiction. Understanding that it IS an addiction and how it works has been the key for me. I read the book twice to see what he was on about, then on the third time followed his advice to the letter. It has worked for me. I feel strong and believe I am going to make it.

The first week cold turkey was definitely NOT easy; on the contrary it was VERY HARD. The cravings were intense. That's when I understood it is an addiction. I was climbing the walls. I could not concentrate at work and hardly slept a wink. But I stuck it out. And sure enough, after 4 or 5 days, the cravings diminished. 

The benefits were noticeable quickly. First my sense of smell came back. Amazing. Red wine never smelt so good. And smokers were vile - especially in confined spaces like lifts. Did I ever smell like that? 

After 1 week, the cilia in my lungs started working again. I coughed up brown sticky gunk and gunge and it felt GREAT. Mind you, my wife quite reasonably demanded that I sleep on the couch. This process seemed to clear up after a week...and my wife welcomed me back!

Then, in week 3, my breathing started to improve noticeably. I was breathing deeper and clearer than for decades. The mild wheezing I had developed has all but disappeared. I actually felt like wanting to get up and go for walks.  I joined a gym (thanks Laragifted) for a cost per week of 2 packets of fags.

My only problem was overnfidence. After the first tough week, it had all been so relatively easy that I started to think "I can just have one". This is where this website has helped me, including a contributor (thanks Buzz) who referred me to the website of Joel Spitzer called WhyQuit.com. He is a cold turkey Nazi, not as subtle as Allen Carr, but great reinforcement for quitting. 

Now, it is just a matter of willpower. The strong cravings have gone. Sure I miss those "good" cigarettes but I now understand that the price of them is full blown addiction and I am not going back there (thanks Kathyrose). So for me I have resolved never to have another cigarette - not even one - not even a puff. I will do it one day at a time.

To help fight the mild wistful wishings (no longer strong cravings) I have devised my own little ABC. I don't rush through it. I do it slowly, and linger on each letter, and visualize each concept. I take deep breaths as I go. I find that now, I do not need to go further than E before I come to my senses and defeat the urge.

I hope my story helps someone else. If I can quit then so can you.  I needed help, and so may you. Seek it out! Check out Allen Carr and Joel Spitzer. And QUIT -  JUST QUIT. Its worth it! Especially the restoration of self esteem and respect.

So here is my ABC...

A for Addiction, for that's what it is.

B for Bad Breath; Bad smell; Bad teeth and Bad look.

C for the Cancer, that can kill me stone

DEAD.

E for Emphysema, an incurable whEEzing disease; a

Fate reserved For Faggers only.

G for the Gunk and Gunge in my lungs.

H for a Horrible Hateful Habit.

I for I QUIT!

J for the Joy of being smokefree.

K to Kill that Nicotine Monster.

L for my Longer Lovelier Livelier Life.

M for this my Mantra:

NO MORE CIGARETTES NOT EVEN ONE