Get the Support You Need

Learn from thousands of users who have made their way through our courses. Need help getting started? Watch this short video.

today's top discussions:

logo

Challenging Worry

Ashley -> Health Educator

2024-04-20 11:42 PM

Depression Community

logo

Hello

Linda Q

2024-04-11 5:06 AM

Anxiety Community

logo

Addiction

Ashley -> Health Educator

2024-04-08 3:54 PM

Managing Drinking Community

This Month’s Leaders:

Most Supportive

Browse through 411.749 posts in 47.054 threads.

160,534 Members

Please welcome our newest members: BXAMUELLE CHRISTIEN, Heinz57, eggmegrolf, PearlCat19, mima

Hi I?m new here!


11 years ago 0 63 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Welcome Best choice you have made to quit! This site has some great people to support you thro quitting , If  I can be any help please let me know! Good luck you can do this! Cheers jmk
11 years ago 0 187 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hi, welcome aboard!  I felt the exact same way as you're describing.  I didn't want to quit, but NEEDED to quit for health reasons.  Most of my mother's side of the family smoke, and I get to see first hand what I'll be like if I don't cut it out now!
 
Starting an exercise program is a great idea!  I go to the gym every lunch hour when I can so hopefully I won't put too many pounds on.    Not only that, but it will make you feel better and help to take your mind off of smoking.  And you'll be amazed at how much easier working out gets when you can breath!
 
Best of luck to you.
11 years ago 0 1140 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hi and welcome aboard. I wish you success and a good experience on this journey you are beginning.
 
Your post raises so many thoughts for me. Hopefully, I don't get too long-winded. (I've always been that way, but I suspect I've got even more wind these days, since I've quit smoking. )  
 
First, an answer to your question ("did any of you feel the same way?"). Yes, I absolutely felt the same way. I had a very deep behavioral/ psychological attachment to cigarettes that I feel was much more complicated than the physical addiction. I had a great deal of fear, anxiety and even sadness/ grief over letting go of that "last cigarette". Even now, I would say that the psychological attachment took me much longer to break; it took me 4 months to work towards that last cigarette, whereas it only took me 3 days to physically detox from nicotine at the end. (The physical detox will not take any more than 3 days with you, either. Once I learned that fact, I was much less upset about going through it.) Honestly, I would also say that I'd still be smoking if I thought I could do it without consequences. However, as you progress in your quit, you will find many positive consequences to quitting. You will very quickly notice improvements in your senses of taste and smell, skin condition, your own odors/ smells, breathing quality, etc. And the long term consequences in terms of life and quality of life add up quickly, too. 
 
I used nicotine replacement therapy (nicotine lozenges) while I was working on the mental and behavioral changes. In fact, I worked at it one "trigger" at a time, replacing certain cigarettes with lozenges for a few weeks before moving on to the next set. This method is very much NOT recommended in anything I have read, including the inserts on the boxes of lozenges; you are not supposed to smoke while also using the nicotine replacement products. However, I had so much fear about losing all my smokes at once that I did it that way. In retrospect, it would have been physically easier to quit all at once. But I don't know if I would have been able to handle that big of a behavioral transition at once. Either way, I'm quit now, so it really doesn't matter how I got here. (Someday, you will also congratulate yourself for getting there, regardless of how you go about it.  )
 
So, here are some suggestions to help you get ready for your quit:
1) Read about different approaches and methods. We all do this a little bit differently. You need to find an approach that will work for you.  
2) Check out the other tools on this site. There are areas to to read and learn.
   a) There are "milestones" to complete. These are to be done as you progress through your quit. Right now, you could read through the first one, which I think is about getting ready to    quit.
   b) There is also an area where you can blog (either publicly or privately) about your feelings about the quit.
   c) The cravings diary is also a tool I have found to be very useful. I wish I had started it earlier than I did, so I could judge my progress better. I do know that it really helps with my    perspective to see how much and how rapidly the desire to smoke has gone down. 
   d) Look at other peoples' quit meters. Notice how much life they are gaining and how much money they are saving. Start looking forward to that day when you set your own quit    meter and get to watch those numbers add up.
 
There are some very good and supportive people on here right now. I'm sure they will also jump in with more insights and ideas. Good luck to you. I look forward to seeing you around.  
 
  • Quit Meter

    $22,562.15

    Amount Saved

  • Quit Meter

    Days: 603 Hours: 3

    Minutes: 56 Seconds: 35

    Life Gained

  • Quit Meter

    4381

    Smoke Free Days

  • Quit Meter

    87,620

    Cigarettes Not Smoked

11 years ago 0 76 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Welcome, Alexa!!! I have been smoke free for almost two months now and the people on this site have been soooo helpful!!! Go through all of the forums and read as many posts as you can--there is so much info posted through the years and so much of it will help.  Also, go through the program and use the crave diary---they really help me!  I didn't want to quit either---but I did feel like I absolutly had too whether I liked it or not and then used this site and other stop smoking support books to really plan and prepare. And it hasn't been half as bad as I thought it would be! We are here to help!!
11 years ago 0 22 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hi, I just found this site last night and am so glad to have others to support and be supported by. I'm Alexa and I've been a smoker since age 16, probably hard core from 18 on so...35 or 36 years now. I've tried to quit a few times without success, I just gave up when the cravings became too difficult. Now with health insurance skyrocketing and with a new grandchild, I know I have to quit. I've heard people say over and over, "you have to want to quit," but...I feel guilty because I DON'T "want to quit," I know I NEED to quit. My question is: did any of you feel the same? I enjoy smoking, really, really enjoy it. And I'm scared to quit-isn't that crazy? I guess it's fear of failure, fear of gaining weight (I've just started an exercise program and have dropped 15 pounds), etc. But I think I'm more scared to continue...I'm picking a quit date: July 3. Meantime, I'm preparing myself for that day. Thanks for any advice any of you can offer! 

Reading this thread: