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Give and get support around quitting

Rachy2283
Member

Help: I need help with....

My name is Rachael and I have been smoking for 25 years.  I did quit when I was pregnant but it wasn't hard because I got sick everytime I smoked.  I worked in sales my whole life and always went back asap.  I made it successfully for 4 days last week no cigs using nicotine gum. . Then an argument happened and here I am full blown smoking for the last 3 days . Any advice or anything at all would be great as I am just overwhelmed right now and feel I will forever be a slave to cigarettes.

Thank you in advance

18 Replies
YoungAtHeart
Member

Welcome to the community!

You CAN do this, but it's important to educate yourself, plan, prepare, garner support and commit to never smoking another cigarette NO MATTER WHAT.  We can help with all but the last@

 

The 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 easy and entertaining read provided a world of good information about nicotine addiction, most of which I was not aware.  I credit it in large part with my success at quitting.   You can search for it online or at your local library.


 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.

 

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 lozenge, you need to start subbing a mint in between to begin, increasing the number of them over time.

It will be informative if you do the tracking and separation exercises recommended here on the site. As you track each cigarette smoked, note its importance, and what you might do instead. Put each one off just a little to prove that you don't NEED a cigarette just because you think you do.
 

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.   You might visit “Games”: https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/games. The active ones are at the top of the list going down the left side of the homepage.   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

Rachy2283
Member

Thank you!. That is A lot of helpful stuff. I appreciate this so much. 

Rachy2283
Member

PrincessJasmine‌... This advice right here is where my journey began... And what a great start it gave me 

Rachel thank you for sharing this with me I’m reading through the comments. You were on a roll and then that argument happens and then you found yourself full-blown smoking again. That happens to me often.

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sylvieberger
Member

So helpful! Thank you!

elvan
Member

Welcome to EX, PLEASE pay attention to all that YoungAtHeart‌ has suggested. Know that it is okay to feel angry, you don’t have to stuff it down with nicotine. I’ll bet the anger was still there after you smoked. I know mine always was! 
Ellen

Rachy2283
Member

. I get what you are saying.  It was more my heart rate was up and I just wanted a smoke u know? 

elvan
Member

Oh yes, l DO know. I would envision the object of my anger incinerating as l puffed away furiously.  Never happened, the anger remained & often times it GREW because after smoking l was angrier about losing my quit & giving power to the object (usually a person) of my anger.

You can do this, you need to know that it is okay to FEEL. It will get easier & you will get stronger. Stay close to this site, it is a quit saver.

Ellen

tyndallgw
Member

Rachy2283, don't give up hope.  We've all been there, i.e., feeling like a slave to nicotine....but it IS possible to break the chains of addition.  4 days is a great start, just need to jump back in the fight.  Its not easy, but YOU CAN DO IT.