Hard time quitting

[mhbaker]

I've been trying to quit for a while. I just can't seem to stop. Everyone I get upset or aggravated, I light up!! I can't breathe,  you think that would make me stop,  but no. I have emphysema and C.O.P.D.  and I still smoke.. any help or ideas..

Please !!!

[Roller831]

Smoking doesn't help when you are upset or aggravated.  You probably do it because that is what you have done in the past.  Usually, one of the Elders will post a bunch of great reading material.  I will take a very small snipped of reading material I found truly helpful in my quit.

So here's the thing.....and you may not like what I am about to say....and that's ok.  I get it.  You need to accept that this is an addiction.  Before you do that, you won't quit.  Please read Alan Carr.  Then read it again.  Then read it again.  If reading isn't your thing, you can order the book on CD from Amazon.  I did that and listened to it everyday over and over again for the first two weeks.  I still have it in my car to listen to when I need it.

Read read read.  Do the steps to PREPARE yourself to quit.  Do the steps so you are PREPARED and set your quit day.  Be preapred for the days AFTER quit day.  Keep this site close and keep posting and asking for help.  You will get it.  You will get things you like and things you don't like, but don't give up!!!

/blogs/Youngatheart.7.4.12-blog/2013/02/25/100-things-to-do-instead-of-smoke 

/blogs/jonescarp.aka.dale.Jan_2007-blog/2011/06/26/what-to-expect-in-the-first-four-months 

Visit Best of EX 

Start first, by educating yourself about nicotine addiction.  

Education is the key to a successful quit.

Read: Freedom from Nicotine My Journey Home and Nicotine Addiction 101         

Here are the links: http://whyquit.com/whyquit/LinksAAddiction.html   and http://whyquit.com/ffn/

I also encourage you to read. Allen Carr’s book, “Easy Easier Way to Quit Smoking”.       

The link is here:  http://media.wix.com/ugd/74fa87_2010cc5496521431188f905b7234a829.pdf

Go to http://www.becomeanex.org/how-to-quit-smoking.php#thl and get started. 

We will support you. You are on your journey to freedom.

[maryfreecig]

At this point I would recommend daily involvement with Ex. Sounds like you know the quitting ropes, but don't have a vision of yourself as smoke free. If cigs had no nicotine in them you would not chase them down for it is the nicotine drug that makes a smoker. Have you tried NRT? The patch? Of course that can't make you quit, but these things may help you to overcome frustration without lighting up. Social support from quitters is a good thing. Talk it out here as you smober up and stay smober. Just my two cents worth of suggestions.

Nicotine is nothing to get on your knees and pray for...it's an addiction and recovery is yours if you seek it. 

[YoungAtHeart]

Welcome to our community!

This addiction isn't an easy one to break - but it IS doable.  Read, prepare, plan, and commit.  We can help with all but the commitment - but if you stay close to us, we can offer support and encouragement and answer your questions as you have them.

The most important thing you can do right now is to educate yourself on what nicotine does to your body and mind. To that end, I also  highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” This is an easy and entertaining 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  quitsmokingonline.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. You should also do the tracking and separation exercises suggested in My Quit Plan http://www.becomeanex.org/my-quit-plan.php

After you have completed the recommended reading, it will be time to make an informed choice of the quit aid, if any, you will use. If you go that route, I personally recommend the aids that don't let the addict 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.  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.  I do not recommend the e-cigarette for three 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, and 3) the batteries can spontaneously catch on fire. . But – any method that you think will work well for you will be best for you.

The idea is to change up your routines so the smoking associations are reduced.  Drink your coffee with your OTHER hand. 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.  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-instea...

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.

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

[Thomas3.20.2010]

mhbaker‌ We have a group here for Folks like you and me who have a serious need to quit and stay quit due to COPD! Please go there and look up some articles. https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/copd?sr=search&searchId=b8aaa89e-48cb-431b-ae54-3ffbf7c7a5...‌

https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/copd/blog/2013/02/13/6-quit-smoking-tips-for-copd?sr=searc...‌

https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/message/74570-quit-smoking-and-live?sr=search&searchId=88cc0623-f...‌

https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/copd/blog/2017/01/05/copd-llap?sr=search&searchId=e41bc918...‌

https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/copd/blog/2014/09/22/coming-to-terms-with-copd?sr=search&s...‌

There's much more! So please join and share how you feel!! We're right here for you!

Do you want to smoke to express your anger or do you want to breathe? It's this simple....not easy! But doable!

[elvan]

mhbaker‌ PLEASE do the reading, particularly what Thomas3.20.2010‌ has recommended about COPD.  It progresses, my friend.  If I had quit earlier, it would be a whole lot easier for me to breathe...but, like you, I had one excuse after another.  The fact is that cigarettes never did anything FOR me but they sure did a lot TO me.  I HATE it, I HATE that I let this happen and that there is nothing I can do to turn it around.  I CAN and I DO eat better, exercise regularly and stay close to this site because I learn from the people here every day.

DO STAY CLOSE, it's not easy but is it POSSIBLE and getting upset or aggravated are not reasons to continue to kill yourself.

Welcome to EX,

Ellen

[Daniela2016]

mhbaker‌, so far just in this blog, you received all the information you need to start. 

You need to learn what the addiction to nicotine is doing to us, you need to set your mind straight in the direction of your goal, quitting.  But you will not be able to do it, or you could do it, but it would be too painful to last, not before you understand, and accept the addiction. 

We've all been where you are; I can't tell you how many times, without even saying anything to my family or friends, I had gone to bed and thought "I am done, tomorrow is the first day of my new life"; and without even being upset with anyone, I'd get up in the morning, make a cup of coffee and go find my cigarettes.  I was never really prepared, nor did I accept my addiction; to me it was because "I liked smoking, and life is short, and why deny myself, and what if it's becoming so expensive, and my grand ma died of un-related causes and she smoked her whole life....and...and".  Guess what?  All of these were lies, lies brought upon me by the addiction, it was my changed mind who was ordering me around to give it that addictive cigarette!

Welcome to the right place for support, and congratulations on deciding you want to quit.  Please accept the guidance given here, follow the recommended steps, and you have a whole network of former smokers who have quit, and can share with you their experiences, and will help you when you need it the most!

[bonniebee]

   Hi I want to say you came to a great place for  support,  good advice and so much more  ! I smoked for 52 years and  I had chronic bronchitis and the early signs of COPD which have cleared up since I quit 968 days ago !!!

    You have lots to think about from the above elders so just want to give you a warm .......

                                               

Bonnie 

[Giulia]

You know, you first posted last year in May saying you had COPD and emphysema and wanted to quit. And you were given great advice at that time.  What did you do with that advice?  You never came back to tell us.   It's now been over a year and you're saying the same thing.  

If every time you get aggravated or upset you light up, then you need to either find a different non-harmful binky as a physical  pacifier, OR you need to find the psychological tools that will enable you to calm down.  In other words we either learn to calm our emotional selves down through psychological techniques - releasing stress, etc., OR we find a cigarette substitute - chewing on a straw, NRT's.... whatever.  Actually BOTH are good tools to have in your quit kit.  

I have a question for you: you say you've been trying to quit for a while.  Can you list the things you done to quit?  Can you give us 1 through 5 things  you've done, for example?

I totally understand the fact that though you may not be able to breathe because of COPD and emphysema you STILL smoke.  That's the potency of this addiction.  But that's why it's takes ALL of ourselves to conquer it.  Quitting has to become a priority, a way of life.  It takes devoted time.  It takes study.  But it also takes a willingness to be uncomfortable.  And that discomfort may last a while.  Can you agree with yourself to go through whatever it might take? If we can guarantee you that you won't crave forever, that the discomfort you feel will eventually disappear - would you be willing to go through whatever it might take to get there?  

What do YOU think you need to get there?  That's the most important question you need to answer for yourself.  I think you know what that answer is.  I just think you haven't yet agreed to it.  (And I could be TOTALLY wrong here, so please take what works for you and just disregard what doesn't.  "to be helpful is my only aim.")  

[Fee33]

Your so awesome!!! Loved this!!!