Brief History of my smoking!

[bkcinc]

On Jan 3, 2011, I quit smoking.  I was close to a pack a day then and was a pack a day if I was drinking beer.  On Sept 27, 2014 my wife and I attended Oracle OpenWorld in San Fran.  The place we stayed at had a Free Happy Hour!  I talked my wife into running up the street and got us a pack of smokes.  Finished these and returned for more by the time I got back home I was smoking again.  After more than 3 years quit I didn't think I'd start again, but I did.  On April 1, 2019, I quit.  On "NO DATE" am I going to try smoking again.  Only 3 Days and going crazy (at times).   Glad I found this Community. 

[JACKIE1-25-15]

Congratulations on 3 days of freedom.  Your journey has just begun.  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. Foundation For A Successful Quit‌ this blog will give you a jump start.  Also, 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.  Quitting takes planning and preparation go to EX Plan | BecomeAnEX  to decide how you are going to go about quitting. To get help on navigating the site go to. Community He My lp‌.  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. 

[lqsi12]

Glad you joined our party !  You'll find lots of games, invitations, suggestions and advice !  Most educational seminars are learn at your own pace, and your more than welcome to join in with your 2 cent worth !  One word of advice none of the areas allow smoking !  Happy your here, come and stay for life, cause that how long the addiction lasts !

[anaussiemom]

[indingrl]

CONGRATS AND WAY TO GO!!! 

[YoungAtHeart]

Welcome to our community!

You probably were not aware of Addiction's ONLY rule:  "The law of physiological addiction states that administration of a drug to an addict will cause reestablishment of the dependence on that substance." - whyquit.com  Drinking alcohol and smoking just seem to go together - and you discovered THAT, too!  I am so glad you are back on track!  Congrats on your first two days!!!!!

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 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 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 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 .
 

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

[Mandolinrain]

We are glad you found us! Stay near the site and DO read ALL of the suggested material above.

Welcome to Ex!

[sweetplt]

Hi and Welcome to Ex’s ... so glad you found us.   I smoked after two last night quits ... at 54 years old this is my last quit.  It was tough but this site helped me so much ... I am now 121 days Free from smoking.  Hang tough and delay... 

be proud three days quit is great ... know we are in this together ... ~ Colleen

[elvan]

Congratulations on your quit and on recognizing that there will never be a reason to pick up another cigarette.  I used the mantra NOPE, Not One Puff Ever when I came here and I was here every single morning and every evening at first and many times during the day when I needed to be.  I have not smoked in over five years now and I am so grateful to have found this site and so grateful that YOU found it as well.  Welcome to EX, read everything you can about this addiction and stay close to the site.  We are here to help you in any way that we possibly can.

Ellen

[Sootie]

Hello---always happy to have a new member of the community. You have come to the BEST support site for quitting smoking. we are all a bunch of quitters here just helping each other stay free from addiction.

Welcome to EX! We are all here for each other.

Stay Strong.

[Bonnie]

Welcome to a wonderful group of people...EX is what I needed to finally quit...all the knowledge, support and acronyms helped me FINALLY "get it".  N.O.P.E. is my favorite (NOT ONE PUFF EVER) and the simple idea of never letting a cigarette come near your face...simple but not easy!  Keep coming back! 

[Giulia]

Welcome.  May I say you talked yourself into it before you talked your wife into it.  Been there, done that.  I'll just smoke one.  And one turned into the next 5 years.

Glad you've joined us  We "get" it.  Only 3 days and your going crazy  Yup.  That's what this addiction will do.  Hang tough.  And READ on here.  Education about this experience will really help get you over the hump of it.  This has to become a priority in your life.  If you make it anything less - less will be your ultimate success.  Just sayin'!  

Three days is GREAT!  Hang onto it!  Tomorrow you'll have 4.  And then a week.  And then a month.  And then...  Aim for small victories.  But keep the goals.  They're important for continued impetus and incentive on this journey.  

[Barbscloud]

Welcome to the Ex.  As you can see, there's lots of support here to help you be successful.  Reach out if you need help.

Barb