Day 75 - Cold Turkey - Slipped up

[freesoul2]

Day 75 - I feel ashamed that i slipped up today by smoking one cigarette. 

I resisted the urge to smoke for the last 75 days and i finally couldnt take the stress and decided to smoke that 1 cigarette. I did throw that cigarette pack after i smoked one.

Does that mean i am going back to square one ? where do i go from here... please help

[Sammy.J]

Dust yourself up get back on the horse. It happens to many quitters. My first slip happened on Day 28 and now I have close to 100 days under my belt. I was more determined after the slip. Move forward and don't look back. You quit 75 days so you know you can quit forever! Let's do this together.

[debra]

Yes, after 75 days it was just a slip---don't give up and keep counting from 76. The question to ask yourself is: why did you want to have that ONE? Were you bored? Curious? Angry? Remember the cute advice--- HALT -- never get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired. And NOPE -- Not One Puff Ever! Best Wishes!

[cookie804]

Don't beat yourself up. How did that cigarette taste? I bet it was nasty. Many slip and it is nothing to be ashamed of. Just pick yourself up and move on. May God give you His strength.

God bless

Carolyn and Cookie

[smorgy8513]

I think you will hear both sides about "do I have to start from the beginning".    Above comments said "keep counting from day 76, only a slip".     I guess I disagree so I will throw out my reasons for that.     First of all, "cold turkey" would not effect you smoking after day 75...the nicotine was out of your system....now you re-entered it back into your system.    Secondly, if you slipped once and keep counting, what's to keep you from another "slip" at day 101....and again at 176........My personal opinion is that you do start counting from day 1 again.   You made a choice to smoke....even if it was only 1.         You make that decision, however....do you want to say "I'm at the TDC and only had 1 slip"?            The biggest thing is DON'T GIVE UP!   Yes, some people do relapse and then start their quit again.......DON'T GIVE UP!

Sharon 407 DOF     and not 1 puff!

[freeneasy]

You have proved to yourself you can do it. Figure out why you decided to smoke. Move forward - promise yourself you won't smoke and honor it. Come here and ask for help. Get a quit clock-mine says 619 days and I have not taken one single puff in that time.

[JonesCarpeDiem]

"I resisted the urge to smoke for the last 75 days and i finally couldn't take the stress and decided to smoke that 1 cigarette."

Does that mean you're going to be free of stress for another 74 days and then have to smoke 1 again to alleviate that next 74 days of stress?

Resisting is fighting. Fighting with yourself is what caused this "stress"

You must accept quitting.

Has your life been better in any way since you quit than it was when you were a full time smoker?  Have you noticed anything that's better at all?

Is the thought of smoking all you've thought about since you quit?

[JonesCarpeDiem]

PS Did you know about no mans land?

[susanhughes36c]

I have tried to quit at least 10 times and picked it up again, just like you. One thing that has helped a lot is that I joined yhe YMCA [you can pay by the month] and do the aerobic exercise machines every day for 20 minutes. Believe me, it was the last place that I wanted to go/ the last thing that I wanted to do but tht deep breathing that the exercise machines make you do really do leave you with the feeling that you don't want a cigarette as much as you did before. I haven't smoked for 2 months now.

Susan

[elvan]

Read Dale's page and educate yourself and dust yourself off, this is not the end.  You can go forward from here and go back to not smoking...seriously, smoking causes stress, it does not relieve it, not even one bit.  

I was a serial quitter until this quit, this is my forever quit and you can have that too...do NOT have cigarettes around the house, make it really hard to get to a smoke.  I slipped in the past because I thought I could have them around.

Better days are ahead.

Ellen

[Ms.J_11-10-2013]

I have to agree with @Sharon, that slip reversed everything  you worked so hard for the past 75 days.  YOU woke up the demon and fed him, now it is time to start from square one.  The first 72 hours to get the nicotine back out of your system, hell week than heck week.  I have this saying on my wall and I got it from someone here and I do not remember who but it inspired me enough to hang it on my wall. 

Always remember : If you have just one you are back where you started!  Where you started was wishing you were where you are now!

Thank you to whoever originally posted that!

It is not set in stone that you start over ~ It is just the understanding I have allways had and agreed with since I came here.  Good luck to you! 

Jackie

[promise_judy]

Plenty of good advice here but I am more concerned with comment that you were feeling ashamed that you slipped. Will don't be because all of us have slipped at one time or another (except maybe 1 or 2 LOL). You can not quit being a smoker and feel ashamed so let the past be nothing to you and move on. Be Happy with your quit.

Keep on adding those smoke free days!!!!

XOXO

[freesoul2]

Alright thanks everyone for the encouragement and great suggestions to stay back on track.

I do see people talking on both sides. One side, talks about accepting i made a blunder and move on from where i left and the other side argues that I woke up the nicotine demon and i have to start from Day 1. 

Personally for me, i agree yes what i did to myself was stupidity but I dont think i have woke up the nicotine demon or have to go through the withdrawals again because i am not feeling the withdrawals  when i originally quit. 

I will take all your suggestions and great advice and will resume from day 76. Thank you

[Strudel]

To me the most important thing is to make sure you understand that smoking does not help us deal with stress! Breaking that brain connection was so VERY vital to my quit - so that I didn't continue to think of smoking when faced with stress.  If you haven't already - make sure you read the free course at http://quitsmokingonline.com/ - that way you will understand this addiction. 

[marilyn_marmac]

You have no reason to feel shame. Disappointed YES, ashamed NO! Breaking a habit is hard. Breaking an addicition is even harder. Proven fact, it does take most people more than one try before they quit for good. If it was easy, there wouldn't be so many products on the market to "help" us quit. Quitting and staying quit is one of the most difficult ordeals a person can go through, and unfortunately, many people do have a relapse.

Be proud that you can say "I had a duration of 74 unbroken days without a cigarette!" Yes, you relapsed on day 75, and your "Smoke-Free" days needs to restart at 1, but be thankful for the days you did get under your belt. There are people that go 1 or more years and have a relapse and have to start over. Personally, I had very strong urges at my 1 year mark and it took a lot of effort to prevent myself from picking up a cigarette. What if on day 364 I had a cigarette..the count should calculate the unbroken duration of a quit, so I couldn't truthfully say that I went 365 days without a cigarette. I would have to start my "smoke-free" day count at 1 again. I would have been very disappointed in myself. At the same time, like you, I would have gotten rid of the rest of them, pulled on my big girl panties and got right back on the horse! The important thing is to learn from it. Figure out not only why you relapsed but how you will prevent it from happening again. Strategize and put a plan in motion so the next time you will know what to do when day 75 comes around.

[Giulia]

Good advice above - heed it.  Glad you threw out the pack immediately afterwards.  And I too agree with what many have said.  We must hold ourselves accountable, and re-setting our quit clock is a way to do that.  You didn't lose the 74 smoke-free days that your body enjoyed.  And you have picked up your quit again.  That's what's important.  My question would be:  "Did smoking that cigarette relieve the stress?  Did it give you everything you thought it would?"  My guess is that it did not.  And if that's true, then you now have the knowledge that smoking does not relieve stress.  A good lesson.  All smoking does is relieve a cravings.  It's a self-defeating mechanism.  Stand tall and keep moving forward.

[johio]

It's a matter of choice...whatever you feel good about....I went for 288 days then relapsed and started at day one again. Now I am over a year from that day one.

Did I want to start over? of course not. But I felt In had to be honest with myself and to everyone that supported me.

None of that is actually important in the scope of things. What's impiortant is that you quit immediately. after you slipped. and I am proud of you for that., and you shoud be proud of yourself.

[freesoul2]

Thank you all so much for giving me your suggestions and giving your valuable time.

Yes, I feel stupid to slip and puff on that one cigarette but i am also proud of myself that I did not use that as an excuse to relapse and go on smoking. I immediately throwed that cigarette pack.

Everyones perception is different, some feel that I have to go through all the withdrawals again and have to start  from square one again and go through the long process of withdrawal. Yes, that does not mean I am advocating people to go and take a puff . For those who quit, its always important to stay away from that one cigarette because it causes a chain reaction to relapse.

For me , the truth is though i was stupid and curious to take the puff from that one cigarette I am not having the withdrawals again or feel that I have to start all over again. I learned my lesson and want to continue from where i left and tick the clock from Day 76.