Scared to Death
I have been smoking for 50 years. My cigarettes are my best friends. I also have COPD & Emphysema and a rare lung infection. Some best friends, huh? I quit once for 1 year and gained 50 pounds. It only took the slightest stress to get me started again. I am retired and CANNOT afford to keep buying cigs.
My quit date is 8/1 (6 days away). I am petrified but I have to do it this time. I would appreciate your encouragement and thanks to all of your for sharing your experiences.
Hi Granny J,
First of all congratulations on making the decision to quit, I like yourself have been smoking for 50 years, and they were my best friends also. I cannot believe I have finally done it with the help of Champix I don't think I could have done it on my own, I set a quit date and made a promise to myself never to have another one again and I haven't. I couldn't afford it also that was the main reason at first that I quit, but the other reasons quickly became priority as well and every morning when I log in and see how many days I haven't smoked and how much I have saved it is a great feeling that I have done it. Keep going do not give up you can do it, and we are always here whenever you need help.
Hi Granny J, I felt the same as you, they were my best friends as well. i found the "I can Quit" booklet they post to you really helpful. I listed all the reasons I should quit, and it was a very long list, I listed the reason I should smoke, and there was zero. Stress triggers me also, I am just trying to work through those episodes. I am using patches and the lozenges, every time I feel the urge I have a lozenge and the urge does pass. Good luck!
Hi Granny J...........don't wait till Aug 1 do it now. No point setting a date for something not useful or helpful. Just my thoughts. Good luck.
Hi Granny J. Had smoked for over 45 years. Stopped 26 months ago. Have not looked back. Am always vigilant. There is nothing to be scared about. When you decide to cave in to the craving, what will happen? NOTHING! You will decide if you want to light up or not. There is nothing to be scared of. Lighting up is just one comfortable flick of the lighter away from the cigarette that you may prefer not to inhale.I think you may benefit from reading some of the many amazing quit suggestions on this site till you read one that truly speaks to you.Do not rely totally on those struggling to abstain. Look at past experiences of others. PS This is the best quitting site I have found on the internet. I should know. Tried for years to find such a supportive group.
Hi Granny J.... I agree with Johnnie, in suggesting quitting now instead of August 1st. One way to look at it is the milestones will be that much closer, i.e., the 6 month marker will be 3 days sooner if you start now. The longer you continue to dread August 1st, the more power you are giving to the addiction. Waiting until August 1st will convince yourself to view it as you are giving something sacred up and you will be brainwashed for 3 more days to believe that smoking is a reward.
Once the nicotine is gone from your system you will have no nicotine receptors left and therefor will not experience the dopamine reward from inhaling nicotine. This is the hardest part of quitting. You will need to train your brain to forget the dopamine reward it has been experiencing all these years with each inhaled dose of nicotine. The actual physical withdrawals from nicotine are minor in comparison. Think about the number of times you have experienced a dopamine reward from smoking... if you smoked the average of 20 a day and took 20 drags from each cigarette, thats 400 times a day you have subconsciously been brainwashed to believe that smoking is rewarding. No wonder it takes many months to begin to forget the association. My personal experience was that it took 6 months to get to a point that I am finding it manageable and can confidently say that I believe I past the point of slipping up.
For myself, I found the number one thing I did that prevented me from having a meltdown and caving to have "just one" was (and still is!) allowing myself to put quitting smoking as TOP priority. What I mean by that is I told myself that it didn't matter if I accomplished anything at all on days I was experiencing strong cravings. I would take a nap to get away from experiencing the craving. My mind would often try to trick me by making me believe that in order to perform certain tasks that I needed to have "just one" cigarette first. Instead of battling with the thoughts, I would go to sleep. I also know that that "just one" cigarette would do not give me the reward I remember (as I no longer have nicotine receptors). Knowing that it would taste horrible and that I would get no reward (from the first one) helps prevent me from having just one.
if you want to stop you can :) not easy but its doable I have done it and many others.. I just didn't smoke that 1st day off them and we have all had our 1st day no one gets to miss out on that..
so my theory is if I can do one day I can do 2 etc.. come here read and share how you feel, no one is any different than you here we are all addicts who don't want to smoke.
good luck :)
IC
Hi GrannyJ, Scared to Death It looks like all these wonderful comments have said it all except for 1 thing that you already Know, Its Killing you for gods sake think about it, Don't wait until Tomorrow Do It Today and live the rest of your life, once you have put out all the Demons in your head you will find that the best rush you can get out of life is to do something you will be proud of like having a child and then watch your child have a child and pass on the lessons in life you have Installed in them and if you keep going all that will disappear because you will DIE. It's got to be the little things in life that mean the most if you cant do it for yourself, do it for your family before it's too late. Ron