- I've FINALLY gotten over feeling fat, bloated and constipated. Those feelings made me want to quit quitting so badly, but I knew that _eventually_ I would have to quit and go through all of this again, so I decided to stick with it. It does go away.
- I removed ALL cigarettes. Actually, a friend did this for me (I didn't have the strength to throw them out myself). You are lying to yourself if you think carrying cigs or having them in your house is ok (or that you want to 'test' yourself'.) It isn't worth it. Non smokers don't keep cigs in their bag or in a drawer at home.
- I am taking Zyban (half the reco dose, actually) - this helps my mood. It really does. I stopped taking Zyban a few days into my quit because I thought I didn't need it. Then suddenly I became irrationally super crazy angry these last few weeks and felt so out of control. Zyban has helped immensely in dealing with these strange emotional ups and downs.
- I am not using ANY nicotine replacement therapies. This is critical. Nicotine patches/gum/inhalers prolong withdrawal. We are addicted to nicotine (and as I experience the emotional/mental/physical changes post quitting I'm more and more convinced of the serious damage being a junky did to me) - why not deal with the nicotine withdrawal pain once (in only three days), then cope with the psychological and physiological stuff without worrying about nicotine. Nicotine replacement makes you crave a cigarette more than smoking does, in my opinion. You're just making it harder on yourself! Try reading up on WhyQuit.com. Hugely helpful to me.
- I am committed to NOPE - Not One Puff Ever. Again, I strongly recommend this approach.
- To all of you who feel deprived or that life isn't fair because you just want to smoke and you wish you could do so without hurting yourself or your kids or whatever... changing this mindset is critical. Quitting really is life affirming. Quitting creates hope for the future (and anxieties about the future too - get ready to deal with this weird side effect too)! Smoking is a method of suicide... when you quit you have to face the fact that you might live past 60-- what different decisions would you make? What kindsof regular exercise would you do, or which people would you hang out with?... you get the idea. This is SO huge. You are in control and you can be so much happier. You have to believe that it's worth it.
Let me know if I can help you in your quit. I'm no expert, but I've definitely quit a million times before and this quit is very different. I'm done, and it feels great.
Sincerely,
Ingrid
