Wheezer.... it's completely normal to be scared about the quit. And you've made up a plan with your MD and you seem satisfied with the way it plays out for you... the members here who have all the experience with the horrors of stopping smoking have nothing but your lung-body welfare in mind when they offer you advice. When you've had time to browse in here on SSC and read the posts in and out of the threads you'll see that it is all about compassion and support and mentoring - especially of Newbies like you and I. None of these long-term-quitters comes in here to rattle people's cages just for fun... this is their gift to give back to the SSC for having helped them to quit and for all the attention and handholding that they have received which has got them so far into a clean-air life. I know I'm saying all this badly but I want you to know that we are all thinking about your suffering and the sometime-panic you feel and we want to harden your resolve to get into your Quit now while your emotions are boiling around the matter... hugs, Patrick [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]1/17/2008 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 14 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 350 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $157.50 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 2 [B]Hrs:[/B] 17 [B]Mins:[/B] 9 [B]Seconds:[/B] 49

Nice one, Misty!! If I get squirrely further down the line I'll re-read that post until I get over myself!! You almost made me want to go out to buy one of those $50 printers I so badly need... that and the "Smoker's Body" by WHO -poster !! I need these things for my kitchen wall. This addict, me, Patrick, needs all the tough love (Truth) I can get when I get scared and dithery!! It hurts at first but when I sit and think about the truth/reality in what is said to me I learn to grow in my mind and that is the only way to beat the addiction - make the will-section of the mind stronger than that part of the brain where the nicotine receptors are waiting and waving their greedy little hands trying to coax nicotine down over them like buckets of water over the Flashdance lady!!! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]1/17/2008 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 14 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 350 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $157.50 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 2 [B]Hrs:[/B] 17 [B]Mins:[/B] 8 [B]Seconds:[/B] 5

Guilty as charged. I am glad you have talked to your doctor. I do know, as well as all of us, where you are coming from. I wish you all the best on your journey to a smoke free life. My quit has taken several years to get where I am at today. Chantix worked. The best advice ever given to me was don't give up trying, you will never know when it will work. I would say I am sorry if I hurt your feelings but I won't. I came from a place of concern and caring and tried to help. We will be here for you. Keep the Quit Sparky [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]4/30/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 276 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,760 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $828.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 39 [B]Hrs:[/B] 2 [B]Mins:[/B] 53 [B]Seconds:[/B] 16

wheezer, We're here to support you, whatever it is that keeps you quit is the main thing. Don't let others oppinions get you down. Stay strong and fight through it! Best of luck, Sylvie, Bilingual Health Educator

awesome awesome awesome post Misty. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]5/3/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 273 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,730 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $477.75 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 26 [B]Hrs:[/B] 15 [B]Mins:[/B] 33 [B]Seconds:[/B] 3

Strobz You are so very correct, this is your quit and you need to do it your way. We apologize if we said anything that made you feel uneasy. We are all here to try and help each other and sometimes our feelings get hurt by what others say. We all truely mean well and we all want what is best for you. So please keep coming back and we wish you the best! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]3/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 336 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 8,400 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $1,680.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 36 [B]Hrs:[/B] 16 [B]Mins:[/B] 54 [B]Seconds:[/B] 42

I have "tried" to loose weight on Weight Watchers several times since I quit. The local leader and I don't really "fit" together so when another gal started another local meeting, I was really happy and have been going to that one. Bear with me here - this really is relevant. Every time I quit Weight Watchers prior to this, it was because of that one leader! "She has never been fat - she doesn't understand." "She's been anorexic, and doesn't think you're doing it right unless your starving and working out constantly." "I don't want to develop an eating disorder by going to these horrible meetings with that horrible woman." "She doesn't even know the health bennefits of Tai Chi because it's not pounding your body into the ground, so it mustn't be any good!" "She's full of REALLY BAD advise that goes against what my doctor and nutritionist have both told me to do!" So - i'd quit, and I got fatter and fatter and fatter. Now that I have commited myself to really sticking to it and really loosing weight, I have visited those meeting with that leader I loathed so much, and guess what? She's not really that bad. In fact, some of that horrible advise she gave before actually makes a bit of sense for me now. Still - with the Tai Chi - c'mon! Oi Vay! It's good for you! Now that I look back on it - the real TRUTH of my situation is that I didn't want to do it. It's a lot of long term work to loose weight and you go on a journey of self discovery where i'd learn things about myself that I simply did not want to know! And - what if I fail? What about that? So - I had a leader that gave some advise that didn't jive with what I had already known, and it was perfect excuse not to do it. Now wheezer - you are an adict. As hard of a truth as that is to face, you honestly are an adict. You are also about to go into battle with that inner adict, and doing so will be a long journey of self discovery, and it will be hard - there's no two ways about it. That anxiety you feel inside is well deserved - this will be the hardest thing you've ever done in your life. It will also be the most rewarding. In the years to come - after you become nicotine free... you will have to learn coping mechanisms that don't involve leaving for a smoke. You will have to learn how to actually "fix" your problems, instead of covering them with smoke, and you will have to learn to be asertive. To speek your mind in a respectful way. Which is what we're all doing. We're all in the same boat. If someone here has been too pushy, instead of using it as an excuse to be stressed about quitting smoking, a better choice might have been a simple "Oh - yeah, but my doctor said..." Because the other choice is only feeding the inner junky and is going to make your journey even harder. We all just want the best for you. We want you to be free of your addiction. There's several folks here that have quit with champix - some of us did it cold turkey, some used a patch or gum, and i'm sure some used some other technique that I can't think of right now. We also all love this place and credit our activity here with our successful quits. You see what i'm sayin'? [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]7/17/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 563 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 42,225 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $10,556.25 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 50 [B]Hrs:[/B] 6 [B]Mins:[/B] 6 [B]Seconds:[/B] 18

I think you're right. Only you know what should work and when. You say you'd like to hear about other people's experience, well here's a summary of mine: My first step was to start by cutting down my daily dosage by half. And that was a year and a half ago, so that first step lasted quite a while. I didn't have any quit date in mind, but I had a deadline. A friend of mine is also quitting at this time but he does it gradually by smoking a cigarette less per day. For me, I know that going slowly gradually would not work, I would cheat and allowing myself to smoke even one cigarette a day would keep me smoking forever, so the only thing left was to completely cut the remaining half. Like I said, I had no specific quit date in mind, and one day, I had one cigarette left and while I smoked it, I suddenly felt ready, I felt that this was the right time, that this was to be my last, and it was. I barely have a week of not smoking behind me but this is a first for me. Also, I don't use any patches, they don't work for me, I prefer the gums. When the urge to smoke arise, I need to know that I'm actually taking something to ease it. Patches are too "placid" for me if I can say that. The gum keeps my mouth busy and while I chew it, I know it's currently acting. It's probably psychological, I don't care, as long as it works! And maybe I can do it without patches cause I wasn't smoking that much (10-12 cigs a day)? I don't know... This being said, I agree with you, everyone's plan is different. Good luck! :) [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]1/23/2008 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 8 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 88 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $35.20 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 0 [B]Hrs:[/B] 14 [B]Mins:[/B] 8 [B]Seconds:[/B] 46

Wheezer, There is a saying here and you may have seen it posted if you did some reading, "Take what you need, and leave the rest." There are quitters from all over the world on here, people come online and post and then leave and sometimes they don't have the time to read a quitters whole history, so they may not know all about you and are just replying to a particular post! We are are 'trying' to be supportive, but we aren't mind readers, we are trying to help you, as best we can, from our own experiences! :) [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]3/5/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 332 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 8,300 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $3,502.60 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 43 [B]Hrs:[/B] 13 [B]Mins:[/B] 54 [B]Seconds:[/B] 26

Wheezer to be honest I think you came here a bit stressed. your posts so far are entitled "Freaking OUT", Finally facing my demons, and buddies needed. and now this one. So I could tell right away you were very anxious. I think my friends here were trying to reduce the anxiety we could see in your posts and hence the recommendations you got. when you come here, this is the very best support site on the net, but we don't necessarily sugar coat things, this is a very real battle we are all in. Take what you need and leave the rest Wheezer, and when you are ready to quit we will be here to support you. All the best, Sue [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]5/3/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 273 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,730 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $477.75 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 26 [B]Hrs:[/B] 14 [B]Mins:[/B] 48 [B]Seconds:[/B] 1