Just smoke my last cigarette

Blog Post created by Pattyann1962 on Aug 10, 2019

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It 11:40pm and in 20 minutes it’s my quit date. I just smoke the last one in the pack. I will be so proud of myself if I don’t break this commitment to myself. There is a part of me that enjoys smoking but it makes my life unmanageable. I’m so sick and tired of THINKING about quitting. I quit for 3 years and started smoking again 10 months ago. I miss my freedom. It seems so much harder to quit this time. I’ve been trying to quit for months and cave in day 2. I’m gonna use the gum for a while. Looking forward to the support on this site.

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5 Comments

Barbscloud Aug 11, 2019 8:22 AM
Welcome to the ex. Congrats on your decision to quit. It's important to have a quit plan in place. That would help you to not cave in 2 days. Read everything you can on this site to educate yourself about this addiction. It will make it possible for you get past those early days. If you need help, reach out, we're here for you.
Barb
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YoungAtHeart Aug 11, 2019 9:35 AM
Welcome to our community!

How is it going so far this morning? The idea is to change up your routines so the smoking associations are reduced. Drink your coffee with your OTHER hand in a place different from when you smoked. Maybe switch to tea for a bit. If you always had that first smoke with your coffee, try putting your tennies on right out of bed, going for a quick walk, then taking your shower and THEN your coffee! Rearrange the furniture in the areas you used to smoke so the view is different. Buy your gas at a different station. Take a different route to work. Take a quick walk at break time where the smokers AREN'T.

You need to distract yourself through any craves. You can take a bite out of a lemon (yup - rind and all), put your head in the freezer and take a deep breath of cold air, do a few jumping jacks, go for a brisk walk or march in place, play a computer game. Keep a cold bottle of water with you from which to sip. Don't let that smoking thought rattle around in your brain unchallenged. Sometimes you need to quit a minute or an hour at a time. You will need to be disciplined in the early days to distract yourself when a crave hits. Get busy! Here is a link to a list of things to do instead of smoke if you need some fresh ideas:
https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/Youngatheart.7.4.12-blog/2013/02/25/100-things-to-do-instead-of-smoke
The conversation in your head in response to the "I want a cigarette" thought needs to be, "Well, since I have decided not to do that anymore, what shall I do instead for the three minutes this crave will last?" Then DO it. You will need to put some effort into this in the early days, but it gets easier and easier to do.

An important thing you can do right now is to educate yourself on what nicotine does to your body and mind. To that end, I highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” This is an easy and entertaining read. You can search for it online or at your local library. If you do nothing else to get ready for your quit, please do give this a read.

You should also read the posts here and perhaps go to the pages of folks who you think might be helpful. You might visit whyquit.com, quitsmoking.com and livewell.com for the good information contained there. @https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/best-of-ex has lots of blogs written by members of this site with their experiences and guidance. Here is a video to inform you further about nicotine addiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpWMgPHn0Lo&feature=youtu.be.

If you have chosen to use a quit aid, I hope it is one that doesn't let you control the dose such as the available prescription drugs or the patch. If used properly, gum, lozenges and inhalers are fine, but they need to be used only as a last resort after you have tried to delay and distract. I have seen folks become addicted to them if they substitute them for every cigarette they used to smoke - just trading one addiction for another. You need to start out with a plan to reduce use of them over time - which the patch does by decreasing the dose contained in them.. For the gum, you can start by cutting each piece in half, then in quarters, then sub regular gum of the same flavor in between, adding more and more regular gum. For the lozenge, you need to start subbing a mint in between to begin, increasing the number of them over time. I do not recommend the e-cigarette for four reasons: 1) the vapor has been compared to the polluted air in Bejing on a bad day, 2) they just provide another nicotine delivery system while continuing the hand to mouth smoking motion, 3) the batteries can spontaneously catch on fire and 4) you can become addicted to that and it has not yet been proven safe .

Stay close to us here and ask questions when you have them and for support when you need it. We will be with you every step of the way!

Nancy
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sweetplt Aug 11, 2019 2:30 PM
Hi and Welcome to Ex’s Pattyann1962
I so agree, it does seem to get harder each time we attempt to quit smoking...I think because we don’t want to go back to Day 1... I lost a quit and it took 4 years to get back to Day 1... I did it by preparing at My EX Plan | BecomeAnEX , there I made my quit date and prepared for it and the beginning like no other day...then I made myself more knowledgeable in this journey, by reading blogs...lastly I had to realize this was my last and final quit NOPE NMW ... make sure all smoking paraphernalia is gone...and keep busy...come here and offer support and ask for help. We are in this journey together...Congratulations on already quitting, but do the work and readings too ~ Colleen 251 DOF

100 Things to do instead of smoking!
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indingrl Aug 11, 2019 7:42 PM
Cool!
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Strudel Aug 11, 2019 7:52 PM
Welcome and congrats on your quit! Think of your commitment as a very valuable gift you are giving yourself! So valuable! You know what that freedom feels like - you can do this. Be sure to stay close!
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Just smoke my last cigarette

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