- EX: Coming here to read and/or post helps in knowing I'm not alone. It helps with logical knowledge. It helps with an occasional touch of tough love. It helps with having created a new circle of friends that don't smoke. I recommend this site highly. It has taken me a while to figure out my way around out here, but I'm getting there. Bonus was meeting people at the meetup in Virginia Beach!
- Cold turkey: This is the only way that has worked for me in the past. I tried patches when they first came out and immediately got a rash. It also didn't stop me from smoking. I used lozenges the last time I quit, but they didn't stop me either. I tried a Juul and used it for 2 days. Again, no help for me, so when I lost it, I let it stay gone. I smoked cigarettes while I used the Juul. So cold turkey it is. My thought is I have to go through withdrawal of physical and behavioral habits, so why not do them both at once? The whole initial quit process sucks donkey knees, but it's not forever and the good people here helped me get through it.
- Water: I drank a lot of water to keep my hands busy, my mouth busy, and to help with detox. I drink more water now than ever before in my life.
- Cinnamon sticks: This is my biggie. It was my oral and hand substitute. I still have a bottle of cinnamon sticks in my car, but haven't used one in forever. If I was really jonesing for a cigarette big time, I'd grab a stick and "smoke" it. Right shape, you can draw through it, and the little bit of burn that the cinnamon causes on your lip mimics a cigarette.
- Allen Carr's Easy Way: This book saves lives. The first time I read it, I quit and didn't smoke for almost 8 years. Why I started again is another story. But I've read and re-read so much of this book since that time. It constantly reminds me that I don't NEED to smoke. That's a huge motivator there.
- Walking: Just like the water, it initially was something to do in lieu of smoking. Now it's just something I do. It makes me feel good.
- Sleeping: Lots and lots and lots of sleep, especially in the initial days when I wasn't fit for public consumption. I would take my bitchass self and just sleep. Why put everyone else through my misery?
- So much more: I obsessed about not smoking, I talked about quitting with nonsmokers or former smokers, I constructed my day around not smoking at first, and on and on. Education from EX, books, other sites, etc., is key to quit and stay that way. Continuing to come here 6 months after I quit means I'm not done and never will be done quitting. I'm a quitter all right Giving back to new quitters is huge; they need us just like we needed our elders.
That's about the size of my quit. There's probably more to it than that, but if you ask me "how'd you do it?" this is the answer you're probably going to get and I won't let you move until you hear it all. heh heh
Donna
Day 186!
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