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Give and get support around quitting

Briggs
Member

Slipped up

Yesterday was my scheduled quit day.  Was doing good until got word of a family emergency and today I slipped up!!!  Mentally I’m not here right now!!  

12 Replies
JACKIE1-25-15
Member

Welcome to EX Briggs as you have learned life still continues even when we quit smoking.  Of course, we have used smoking for a crutch from happy to sad. The idea is to remain smoke-free no matter what is happening in your life.  It is very easy for you to start over with day one right now  It takes the changing of the mind that you do not need to smoke.  It takes time to plan your way.  I would suggest that you have a plan. Quitting takes planning and preparation go to EX Plan | BecomeAnEX  to decide how you are going to go about quitting and what to do if life happens. 

You have come to the right place to get support to quit smoking. Education is the key to a successful quit.  Start first by educating yourself on addiction to nicotine.   It is advisable to read Allen Carr's Easyway to Quit Smoking which can be found on pdf on the web.  Another good site to get info is www.whyquit.com.  There are several articles to read.  Nicotine 101 and Freedom From Nicotine My Journey Home.  To get help on navigating the site go to. Community Help‌.  Again Welcome, there is more to come.  If you have any questions you can do a search with the magnifying to respond glass type any keywords and research.  If you have any questions just ask and give us the opportunity to respond.  We are here for you. 

YoungAtHeart
Member

Welcome to our community!

Life is always going to happen - whether you smoke or not.  I hope you will pick yourself up, dust yourself off and pick a NEW date.  In the meantime, educate, plan, prepare and get ready to commit to not smoking another cigarette NO MATTER WHAT.  After you quit, have a plan of what you can do when life throws a curve at you...be prepared; not surprised by it!

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 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 do the tracking and separation exercises recommended here on the site.
 
 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 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 .
 

 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.


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-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

Life will continue to happen with or without smoking.  You need to CHOOSE not to smoke to get through "things" if you want to Be Quit.  It's not always easy but it really is simple.  Know that it does get easier eventually the longer you are quit (otherwise there wouldn't be too many of us long termers still smoke free!).  Every time you don't smoke through an "event" you gain a step upward towards total peace in Freedom from nicotine.  It's doable.    

Beck37
Member

Your quit is all about your willpower and attitude. If you wait till everything in your life is rainbows and butterflies chances are you will never quit. Life is hard and there is always going to be something that comes up that will test you. There are billions of people all around us that deal with life’s challenges on a daily basis who have never even touched a cigarette. The act of smoking has never resolved any situation I have come up against. It has however compromised my health, finances, availability, pride and did I mention the stench....

With all that said, when you are truly ready to quit you won’t let an “excuse” get in your way. You can so totally do it. This site is filled with success stories and we are here for you....

Beck

Giulia
Member

Are you listening to the people above me who have posted?  Can you hear them saying the same thing?   Pay attention to their wisdom.  It will help you.  When lots of people say the same thing you can kind of bet that it sings the truth.

Ok, you slipped up.  You say "mentally I'm not here right now." So - then figure out what you need to do to be here right now.  Crises are always going to happen in our lives.  Ever day in mine seems to present SOMETHING that irritates, stresses, makes me sad, angry (not leaving out joyful!) confused or at a loss.  I still maintain my quit.

When you make this commitment - you agree to no slips no matter what.  So keep working on that "no matter what"  commitment.  Your homework is to study how to mentally get out of giving yourself permission to smoke.   Closing the mental door on the option to smoke. THE POSSIBILITY DOOR   How many slips are you going to allow yourself before you turn into a petticoat?   https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/best-of-ex/blog/2013/08/12/understanding-excuses?sr=search...

You posted this blog to fess up, right?  You obviously want to hold yourself accountable.  Ok.  You've fessed up.  Kudos for that.   We're not holding it against you.  Begin again.  And I'm sorry for your family emergency.  Hope it turns out well.  Sending positive thoughts in your direction.

Jennifer-Quit
Member

You had what I call a false start.  Reset you date - make a plan of what to do next time temptation comes knocking - get rid of everything smoke related - and do it!  Education about this addiction and support from people at this site made all the difference for me.  Stick around - read - and participate here!  Best wishes to you!

IrishRose
Member

Briggs ...  You let EXCUSES get the best of you mentally.  You allowed excuses to control your thoughts.  No can do when you quit.  Life sucks a lot of the time, but you have to suck it up and not let your mind make excuses to go back to smoking cancer sticks.  

(((((hug))))),

Irish Rose 

Barbscloud
Member

Good morning Briggs.  Did you spend sometime preparing for your quit date?  It's really important to understand the process and be prepared.  Pick a new quit date soon, but spend that time educating yourself about this addiction and preparing by identifying your triggers and how you'll cope with them without smoking.  We associate just about everything we do and every emotion we feel with smoking.  It's about learning new associations that you've prepared for in advance.  Spend lots of time reading/posting on this site leading up to the date.  There's so much valuable information here and great support.  With a plan in place, success is doable.   If you need support, just reach out.

Barb

sweetplt
Member

You have great advice above me...smoking will change nothing...~ Colleen 113 DOF