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The many norms of quitting

6 years ago 0 +0 / -0 175

Pappy l relate to what you wrote in another post. For the most part l dont crave smoking but occassionally (usually when lm out somewhere) a craving will hit and l think 'ohhh if only l could have just one right now'. The intensity of the craving takes me by surprise....l actually picture myself enjoying one. The difference with cravings these days is they dont last long. My mind is soon diverted to thinking about something else. l never thought cravings would be with me so long. I dont think l would ever go back to smoking but as long as this happens l feel like l still have my training wheels on and l dont feel truly safe. I'll say it again.....l cant wait until l never think about smoking again. Then l'll be truly freeeeee

Quit Meter

$18,992.00

Amount Saved
Quit Meter

Days: 138 Hours: 19

Minutes: 23 Seconds: 13

Life Gained
Quit Meter

2374

Smoke Free Days
Quit Meter

47,480

Cigarettes Not Smoked

6 years ago 0 +0 / -0 175

Breathfree - thanks so much for sharing. I can relate to much of what you said. I also experience depression and it hasnt been easy with quitting smoking. I have felt extremely low at some points and really missed smoking to soothe me. Quitting is going to benefit our mental health by giving us more strength and confidence and like you said giving us back our sense of control. We are learning to be self-sufficient by no longer relying on something external to soothe our emotions. Im really happy for you as it sounds like it has not been an easy road for you and youre sticking with it. Keep up the great work!

Pappy - thanks for sharing your quitting experience. Haha....you made me laugh when you said that some people are a trigger for you....thats so true. You describe many triggers and thats the thing for us every emotion and situation was answered with a smoke and we are relearning and readjusting to life. You say it well - 'the nasty addiction controlling every aspect of our lives'.....that describes it perfectly. Im so happy for you that you have regained control and lm pumped to be on this quit journey with you. Way to go comrade!

Quit Meter

$18,992.00

Amount Saved
Quit Meter

Days: 138 Hours: 19

Minutes: 23 Seconds: 13

Life Gained
Quit Meter

2374

Smoke Free Days
Quit Meter

47,480

Cigarettes Not Smoked

6 years ago 0 +0 / -0 93

Hi Sparrow. Great post, here is my quit journey so far.

I have to admit I really believed I enjoyed smoking until I quit. Then I realized that annoying cough was gone.

Every time I thought about quitting I would talk myself out of it thinking it was too late and just too hard.

How was I going to handle work with out having my crutch?

When I was bored what was I going to do with my time now that I can't have a smoke.

Finally realizing how this nasty addiction was controlling every aspect of my life from the moment I got out of bed to the time I went to bed every day.

No longer counting smokes to make sure that I had enough to make it through the rest of the day and then realizing I was going to run short.

No longer rushing through meals so I could run outside to have another smoke.

Looking at that quit meter and realizing how much money I have wasted over a lifetime of smoking and the only beneficiary was the corporations who kept adding things to cigarettes to keep me hooked. Plus not realizing that was how much smoking I really did. Over 920 cigarettes in 46 days. Good god, that's a lot of smokes when I look at the stats.

Learning what foods, drinks, emotions and even some people are really hardcore triggers for me and learning how to deal with those without having to use my addiction to get through.

Feeling so proud of myself knowing that I have been able to make it this far without touching a cigarette.

I know the journey has just begun and that there are still some rough roads to travel, yet knowing the things I have been able to conquer with out smoking to this point give me the courage to continue fighting through this. It just proves that I can do this, I just need to stay strong even in my weakest moments.

Quit Meter

$21,556.00

Amount Saved
Quit Meter

Days: 529 Hours: 23

Minutes: 34 Seconds: 32

Life Gained
Quit Meter

2536

Smoke Free Days
Quit Meter

50,720

Cigarettes Not Smoked

Pappy

6 years ago 0 +0 / -0 4

Hi Sparrow, well done on 40 days smoke-free! It's so positive to see others breaking this awful habit and I hope you are starting to feel the health-benefits and sense of accomplishment. I can really relate to what you have said, I too thought it was impossible for me to stop and the addiction to the nicotine had convinced me there was no point in even trying. Oh, and the feeling it was vital to my existence- so very true, I'm still struggling with that as it just feels so odd and scary to not have my crutch any more. I'm going for food when cravings hit but I was doing that anyway before I quit as I was just filling myself with whatever I could get- smoking, coffee, food, alcohol etc I've quit coffee too as I always smoked with a tea or coffee and I'm staying away from alcohol as it too went hand in hand with smoking. I would wake in the night and smoke and smoke endlessly when dealing with insomnia and it was just an endless vicious circle. I get stressed and anxious and get depressed a lot so I'm hoping quitting might also help this pattern of ill mental-health. I notice when my anxiety is real bad I'm thinking about smoking as I would 'calm my nerves' with a fag but of course smoking actually makes us more anxious after the initial craving has been sated. I'm also excited about quitting as it means I have more control than I previously thought. I know from my last attempt cold-turkey that lasted 5 weeks that one puff and I'm hooked all over again so I'm hyper-vigilant especially when I'm out and around smoking friends. When around smoking friends I use the inhaler a fair bit which I don't do at home and the patches are enough most of the time. You explain it so well, smoking was also my response to every emotion and I have a lot of mood-swings through the day due to mental-health and that is what I find the hardest so I console myself that I'm fighting a battle and finding new ways to deal with the emotions and getting stronger over time. Sure, I'm putting on some weight and may be on the patches for up to a year, hopefully less, but stopping and staying stopped is my goal. Rewiring the brain takes time and smoking has been there all through my life so it will take time to undo all those connections. Some days are definitely harder than others, I'm going to start some easy yoga and I do deep breathing when cravings are bad. Less coughing and chest-pains reminds me why I'm doing this and other smoking-related ill-health. I love the Quit Meter and other tools to remind me how I'm doing. Best of luck!

Quit Meter

$21,539.00

Amount Saved
Quit Meter

Days: 357 Hours: 6

Minutes: 20 Seconds: 39

Life Gained
Quit Meter

2534

Smoke Free Days
Quit Meter

50,680

Cigarettes Not Smoked

6 years ago 0 +0 / -0 175

Another thing l forgot was for me it got worse after it got better. I started to really miss smoking at about week 4. Looking back now the first 2 weeks l craved most intensely and most often and l thought that it would progressively lessen so it took me by surprise when l was suddenly really missing smoking but l found that toughing it out made me stronger. Those feelings were fairly recent so l know l need to be vigilant and strong.

Quit Meter

$18,992.00

Amount Saved
Quit Meter

Days: 138 Hours: 19

Minutes: 23 Seconds: 13

Life Gained
Quit Meter

2374

Smoke Free Days
Quit Meter

47,480

Cigarettes Not Smoked

6 years ago 0 +0 / -0 175

I thought it would be good to start a thread about the many and varied responses we have when we quit. Every quit is different with many similarities and theres no right or wrong way to quit. Id love you guys to add your quitting experiences to this thread.

My normal when quitting was.....

* to fail umpteenth times before it finally stuck. Im so grateful l kept trying
* to think that maybe l just wasnt cut out to quit. I thought that maybe l was biologically wired differently and l wasnt able to do it (turned out l was wrong.....every smoker is cut out to quit)
* to build it up in my mind so much that l thought it was going to be impossible (wrong again....it wasnt as hard as l anticipated)
* the demoralizing but undeniable act of fishing for cigarette butts in the bin every time l quit.
*the feeling that l had lost something vital to my existence (still wrong....what l had lost was a habit that was slowly killing me)
* going out was a big trigger for me in the early days. I felt safer at home
* crying like a baby without its pacifier (ok ok ott l know but it only happened once or twice)
* finding it hard to navigate my days without smoking. Smoking was my response to every emotion and suddenly it was gone. I had to rewire my brain and its still rewiring at week 5
*eating the house out especially of anything even remotely sugary
*getting excited as l counted days turn into weeks
* loving telling people l had quit smoking
* not becoming complacent because l know its still early days and l just want to get to a place where l dont think about smoking anymore.

Quit Meter

$18,992.00

Amount Saved
Quit Meter

Days: 138 Hours: 19

Minutes: 23 Seconds: 13

Life Gained
Quit Meter

2374

Smoke Free Days
Quit Meter

47,480

Cigarettes Not Smoked

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The many norms of quitting