Well I went down another 2mg. this weekend and it wasn't so bad. The smoking cessation counsellor who has been helping me along suggested I do it slow and easy too because of the amount and number of years I've been smoking. She suggested I reduce one of my 4 mg. gums to 2mg. for a week and then reduce another one the next week. Once all 8 a day I am currently using are down to 2 mg. pieces I can replace one at a time once a week with ordinary gum until I'm down to no nicotine. She planned it so that it takes about another 3 months. That seems like forever but then again it's been over a month with no cigarettes and not one puff and it's getting tolerable. I have a nasty cold right now but amazingly it doesn't feel like I'm going to cough a lung out. I've had it for 3 days and it's already taking a turn for the better. When I smoked it a cold would last at least a week and I'd be coughing for a month or two afterward. So having this cold is actually another positive in encouraging me to continue to stay smoke free. Cold or not I still did my training at the gym this morning. There is absolutely no way I would have or could have done that when I smoked. I can now run 7 km. and my muscles tire out long before my lungs feel it. What a rush!!!
The fog is still there some days but I'm just going to try to be patient and wait for it to lift once all the junk is out of my system.
Thanks everyone. It's your suuport and great tips that are the biggest help in pushing me forward on this journey. Sometimes the people you're closest to who have never smoked or dealt with any type of addiction just don't get it.
. . . and neither will I! Throw all the hard work to date out the window? No way!!! My shackles are slowly being removed and once I'm totally off the NRT I'll know what it's like to be a free person with independent choice again! No longer will I be dictated to by these lousy stinky useless things. Stay strong everyone and have a great smoke-free weekend.
Ditto on that! It's so great to read about everyone's successes, small and big. It's very motivating to stay on track. I'm not nicotine free yet but I am smoke free. Boy does food ever taste great and I'm smelling things very well, including the not so good smells . . . oh well. I'm down to 26 mg. NRT gum and I started 1 1/2 months ago at 44 mg. In another 13 weeks I'll be at zero. It's a bit of a masochistic prolonged withdrawal but I don't think I'm up to the cold turkey, as much as I'd like to get it over with. I'm going to keep plugging away, down another 2mg. this coming Saturday. So far so good, I haven't cheated with any extra gums and although I crave the nicotine, I have no desire at all to smoke. I think I'm going to have to change at least one of my rewards, frapuccinos at Starbucks, to something more calorie conscious. The mani/pedi sounds like a great alternative!
I've been continually chipping away at "not good enough". I'm a perfectionist and when I'm not on my "A" game I tend to discount all of my achievements and focus only on the shortcomings. With the quitting smoking ,my negative core belief manifests itself by telling me that I should be able to just quit cold turkey and not drag it out with the NRTs. In the past I would just say my efforts aren't "perfect" so just forget about it and smoke. Now I'm telling myself that I'll get there at my own pace and in my own time. What's important is that I'm not smoking and I am successfully following the program laid out for me by the smoking cessation counsellor. I also remind myself of my successes with other addictions I've had in the past and other successes in my personal growth over the last several years.
That is great going Litsa! Although I haven't smoked for 2 months I'm only slowly weaning off the nicotine (NRT gum) and have about 2 months to go according to my plan before I'm nicotine free. I'm really looking forward to the day I am at the point you now are. As far as redefining myself, I have taken several steps in personal emotional growth over the last 5 years. Each one I achieve motivates me to strive towards achieving the next one and makes it seem more attainable. However, I also agree with Eyja in that I don't think smoking defines who we are but rather it's one negative aspect of behaviour we can work on changing. I've lost 40 lbs. (5 years ago), quit drinking alcohol (3 years ago), am now a competitive athlete and no longer require any type of prescription medication. I find that with each goal I achieve I feel stronger and more confident but my basic values, beliefs, etc. remain the same. I just wish I had tackled Nicodemon much much earlier. Oh well, better now than never.
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