Hi everyone

Congratualtions to everyone who's quit, to those who are trying and to the people just thinking about it. Well, here I am at last preparing to quit for good. This is my 4th attempt to quit since I was told my lungs had enlarged 8 years ago, but my first time with an actual plan. Sure hope some of you successful quitters can teach me a few things, cause this is not going to be easy. I'm really dreading the battle ahead and hoping it's not too late to save what's left of my health. This summer would be my 35th anniversary with smoking and this is one I refuse to celebrate. My 1-2 pack a day habit is ending. Yesterday I finalized my quit date...it's an important date for me as my Dad would have celebrated his 95th birthday and I thought it would start me off on a positive note. I wrote a letter to my immediate family asking for their support. Got a really positive response from my daughter and a promise from my smoking husband (he's been through this before) to do his best to honour my requests not to smoke around me (he's actually agreed to smoke outside only) and to help in any way he can. I wrote an eviction letter to cigarretts yesterday as well. Today I'm making my lists of reasons to quit, pros and cons, plans for coping with initial withdrawl, seeking info on quitting aids and still cutting back (have been since the new year) on smoking to ease the pain on my quit date. Found this support group while surfing for info and thought I'd sign up because I need all the help I can get. I would really appreciate suggestions, ideas and opinions. I have 15 days to prepare and brace myself. Zyban failed in 2 previous attempts and the gum was not at all effecitve. What do you think of the patch (last time the doctor wouldn't give it to me because of conflicting medications, but I'm off those now) or any new medications or methods that helped eased your withdrawl during the initial phases? Wishing everyone well with quitting!

Hi everyone

Hi Reg, thanks for sharing and way to go on just quitting like that. I'm glad you found being sick a good time to quit. Keep up the good work! Last time I got sick with a lung infection I secretly wanted to get better so I could smoke...can you believe how deep in denial I was??? You are right, it is my time to kick the habit and I can do it but I'm not going to try cold turkey just yet. I'll look into laser treatments as I haven't heard of them before. Thanks again, I really appreciate the info on patches and how you did it.

Hi everyone

Hi Monica, Thanks for the kind words of encouragement. I'm reading like crazy and trying to figure out winzip so I can open the road to success. Don't worry about your slip and quitting's not a piece of cake or no one in their right mind would still be smoking lol. I've been in those shoes before, but I'm going to just keep stepping out of them until I succeed and sounds like you're determined too. Thanks for the huggs and being here to help!

Hi everyone

Hi Loulou, Way to go on going cold turkey! My Dad quit that way after 45 years so if he could do it you can too. He said he just decided to give up one cigarrette at a time on an hour by hour basis. Hope it goes well for you....hang in there and it will be the one!

I blew my quit

Hi jeanigirl, I look at it this way. If you're going somewhere on a horse and you fall off do you walk the next hundred miles on foot or do you just jump back on and ride it out to your destination? Iv'e fallen off many times but my horse is still with me, so I'm jumping back on mine. You can it this time...I hear it gets easier with each try!

Hola I'm new and on my second day and need help please

Hola DeeDee, I'm hoping you can hang in there. I'm no expert, but I know a glass of water and distracting your mind might help. Make a list of reasons you're quitting for instance or write a letter about your feelings. Go for a walk, have a nice warm bath or do something you love. You can do this!

Question for those who've read the "book"

Just got back from the bookstore and started reading the book. I'm at the part where he asks you to light up. :gasp: I've been working really hard to cut down for the last couple weeks and don't want to blow the progress I've made!!! I've managed to cut my smoking in half or a tiny bit more just by willpower alone. It's been difficult to get this far and I don't want to lose the ground I've made. So I'd appreciate advice. It's so, so, so tempting (any excuse to cave in and smoke more before my quit day in 2 weeks sounds wishy-washy for me at this point) to just give in, smoke like a chimney, read the book and hope it helps me. I'm not a believer in the book yet lol, so I put it down for a while and will go for a walk to give some of you time to respond before I start reading it again. For those of you who've read the book, please give me some advice. Would it be beneficial like he says it is to stop trying to cut down, or should I ignore his instructions to smoke and just keep reading? Thanks in advance, Lady [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/28/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] -14 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 0 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $0 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 0 [B]Hrs:[/B] 0 [B]Mins:[/B] 0 [B]Seconds:[/B] 0

Question for those who've read the "book"

Thanks for the quick reply Penguin, Went for a walk around the block to clear my head. I can see that my willpower alone will not make the quit easier by itself. Since I haven't skipped ahead in the book, thought I'd try to get opinions from someone who's read it before I made up my mind. Hee hee, I never was very good at following instructions that didn't make sense to me :eg:. You can be sure I will get to the end of this book, as I'm determined to make this quit my last one! Take care, Lady [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/28/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] -14 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 0 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $0 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 0 [B]Hrs:[/B] 0 [B]Mins:[/B] 0 [B]Seconds:[/B] 0

Question for those who've read the "book"

My apologies to the moderators for putting a product in the title of my thread...it was not intended as an endorsement! Thankyou N2k, windy, Sparky, Danielle, ter724 and mercy74 for your insights. Thankfully I read for 3.5 hours and only lit up twice, a little more than I wanted to but under the circumstances I felt ok about those 2 occasions as they were valuable excercises. I find his style is a bit unusual but so far I love how he's proving his points of view and completely understand where he's coming from. I'm so glad I asked for advice as I've managed to stay within my own self-imposed limit for today. Like you N2k, I'm already going through withdrawl even though I have 2 weeks before my quit date. It's still managable for me, but I would like some NTR before I cut back much more. Maybe weaning myself isn't optimal, but I think taking babysteps is better than taking no steps right now. If nothing else, it's giving me a refresher of what I can expect and since I have a plan this time I know it will be easier to control those cravings. I'm so determined to quit that I will bump my date up if the doctor will give me an NTR on Monday and it starts to help the physical (the little demon lol) discomfort. Thanks for your time everyone and I'm proud of all of you for doing so well with your quits! Lady [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/28/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] -14 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 0 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $0 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 0 [B]Hrs:[/B] 0 [B]Mins:[/B] 0 [B]Seconds:[/B] 0

Hi everyone

Good Morning, Wow I didn't expect so many responses and want to thank each and every one of you for your input, good wishes and advice. I've been doing my homework so to speak and continuing to plan for my quit. Ok here's an update on what's happening. My quit date (not sure it's registered yet) is Jan 28 so my last ciggy will be Jan 27th, unless I feel ready before then and decide to give it a go early. I have been cutting back on my smoking by approx 1/2 and only allowing myself to smoke in one unusual spot in the house. Next week I'll continue to disrupt my old habits to try to make my quit as easy as possible. Today and the next 2 days I'm doing the smoker's diary so I can see my patterns. Should I smoke like I normaly would have or just record my cravings? I want to get an acurate picture but don't want to lose the progress I've made so far. I've been reading like a mad woman, because I need all the amunition I can get. I can't believe just how seriously addicted I am, at least that's what the dependence test said (99%). Took that test 2 times using the old amount I smoke and again at 1/2 and I'm still more dependent than 95% of the population!!! Intimidating stats, BUT THIS WILL NOT STOP ME!!! It's hard to decide on what medications to consider, but I'm leaning toward Chantix. Still have to learn some more about side effects as I had a really bad experience with Zyban the last time (severe debilitating nausea, could not eat or sleep for 3 days). Will go to my Doctor early this coming week and get what's most likely to help kill those cravings! Just cutting back has brought them on so I feel I need something strong to help the physical to allow me to really concentrate on the mental and habitual parts of my quit. I'm going to find a copy of the easy way to quit as well. Anyways, thanks again everyone and I'll be off to do more reading. I'll be checking in once in a while so please give me any ideas for anything I've overlooked I'll be back with an update close to or just after my quit date. Best of luck to everyone! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/28/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] -14 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 0 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $0 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 0 [B]Hrs:[/B] 0 [B]Mins:[/B] 0 [B]Seco