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Give and get support around quitting

Princess_Dia
Member

I quit

Im sorry this is going to take some time 5 years ago i had a stroke and i am just starting to talk and i am starting to right i have been trying to quit a year ago but a women made me start again but it didnt help because i wasnt strong enough to quit.

i am a bit stronger but i need help just be strong and encourager me and dont let me fall the dr i have prescribed patched and there only has 14mg its not enough so i talk to this guy maine tobacco helpline and it helped.

Anybody can encourage me please 

Dia

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13 Replies
YoungAtHeart
Member

Welcome to our community! 

I am so sorry for your health problems. Quitting smoking is vital for you if you want to continue to recover.  The better prepared you are, the more likely you are to have a positive outcome.

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. Here is a link to a free PDF version of it:

http://media.wix.com/ugd/74fa87_2010cc5496521431188f905b7234a829.pdf

 You should also read the posts here and perhaps go the the pages of folks who you think might be helpful. You might visit whyquit.com, 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 in a place where you never smoked.   Keep a crossword or Sodoku puzzle book handy to get your mind off of smoking when it gets tough.. Keep a list of your reasons to quit handy to review as needed.  Make up a quit kid with this list, some sugarfree mints, perhaps a rubber band to put on your wrist to twitch when you get an urge to smoke, straws cut up in lengths to chew on, or pretend to smoke, a CD of your favorite music you can sing aloud to, a list of things you can do so you don't have to think of new ones in the midst of an uncomfortable time - you might include naming everything in your view that is blue, or thinking of a city or state or boys/girls' names for each letter of the alphabet, or even try to say the alphabet backwards!

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,  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 on which to build your own:

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

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Princess_Dia
Member

but i  already quit i just need support

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gregp136
Member

Read what you can, and come here whenever you want, or need.  I was here a TON when I first quit.  You can do this!  And you will feeel so good when you do!

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elvan
Member

Welcome to EX.  Please do the reading as suggested, that makes a HUGE difference in the success of a quit.  I quit many times before I found EX and between the education from the reading, my own commitment, and the amazing amount of support, this quit has been going for over three years.  If you can keep track of what your triggers are and come up with different things to do instead of smoking, it will help. It will also help if you can try to keep in mind that cigarettes never did or will do anything FOR you, only TO you.  They will make you sicker and sicker and stop you from a complete recovery.  They don't help with any kind of pain...physical or psychological and you need to accept the fact that no one can quit for you and no one can MAKE you smoke.  We are here to support you in any and every way that we can and if you do your part, it will get easier and easier as time goes on.

Glad you are here.

Ellen

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tjanddj
Member

Hello Dia and welcome! Sorry to hear about your stroke you had in the passed. Glad you are here and trying to care for yourself. Alan Carr's book help me understand a lot about this nicotine addiction do take the time to read it.

c2q
Member

Hi Dia! I'm glad you are here and that you are choosing to be free from smoking. You can do this. Come here and just hang out, especially if you are craving a cigarette. You can do this. 

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So much good comes from Nicotine Recovery! Join us in getting the most out of LIFE!

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Princess_Dia
Member

Thank you for everyone for your support and im going on my 5th day its hard but things are getting better i have read all of it but where do you yet the book by Alan Carr can anyone tell me please.

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