letting go
i learned to smoke, aged 14. I quit for 6 months when i was 25 but relapsed after drinks with smoking friends one Christmas time. Over the next 25 years i have quit frequently, annually, for up to 3 months at a time before slipping up and eventually relapsing. I quit last March on the 15th, it's still registered with my quit buddy! i slipped up in June and had one rollie and some shared ones at night around the campfire with drinks. i slipped up again in July on holidays, i shared a few with drinks. i slipped up again in late August/September and now habitually have a couple each night, by day i manage the illusion that i have slipped up by continuing to wear a small amount of a patch. I have now got a script for Champix, but am not too keen to use it. My big excuse for not quitting is fear of irritability, i smoke to smoothe the jaggedy edges of irritability and am abit stuck! My plan is to let go again on March 1st, this website is helping me to focus on the reality of it. i find all the posts humble and helpful. i know the slip up trap and hopefully won't be tempted again, all i can do right now is talk myself into letting go again and breathe free... most of my friends smoke, my partner smokes, my housemates smoke, my cat doesn't smoke... l'm aligning my quit plan with autumn deliberately as i think i can "let it go".
hi pranamya,
reading your past i remember mine. difference is my surroungding was not smocking. i also tried a lot and failed but not his time. i quit every time cold turkey. before you start quitting you read lot about the function of nicotine, cause of pleasure,and note it down. by understanding this you can understand the crave. then you can find the techunique to over come the craving. in my experience drink a lot of water, take food regularly, take lot of fruits,vegitable,carrot. first week concentrate on deep breath,maintain calm and dont go for any hard task. sleep well avoid drinks.treat always your self as Ex smocker. you will be succeed this time very much. best of luck.
Thank you Pravi your wise advice is very much appreciated. I have set my date now and am brainwashing myself to prepare to let go. I am glad i have stumbled upon this website, it helps to take the journey with others, as most of the people i know are addicts too. thanks again for providing your support. i will use these methods, i am afraid of the drug Champix.
Hi Bibi thank you so much for your response to my story, it helps to know i'm not alone as i sometimes feel alone in the quit process here, especially in my share house of smokers... i've lived with these people for 14/15 years and the cat too is part of the household, i have thought of leaving in order to cope on my own, but it's too expensive on my own and i can't leave the cat here.... so now i need to focus mainly on the mood thing. i am also menopausal which brings it's own irritability and i went to a female doctor recently to talk about the quitting and the irritability issue, she suggested an anti depressant to help me, i suggested the champix as i thought it had a mild anti depressant content and may curb the mood issue a bit. Now i'm not so sure about that as people here are reporting that Champix actually increases the mood swing thing. i am attending a meditation session tomorrow, i know this helps settle the mind and i have given myself a few days to prepare for the big quit. I found the patches very helpful in the past, hardly experiencing any cravings. They don't work for everyone as they can irritate the skin for some, but i find if you can ignore the initial itch they are ok. In the end i let them go too, but this time i've kind of messed it up by removing them to smoke to unwind. I will read the Allan Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking again as this helps, I will do Yoga and treat myself to a rewarding massage and maybe accupuncture these methods work well for me. i look forward to reading your triumphs as you shake off the habit.
All the best
Pranayama