How to stay on the no-smoking wagon?

[Suszn]

I have stopped smoking many times. Last time lasted 6 month then the holidays happen & so did my smoking.

Hope the EX community will help. I going 2 give it my very best try. My lungs r in bad shape...thank goodness I don't need O2. The 50 years of smoking have caused asthma not COPD according to my pulmonary function test. I am tethered to an nebulizer machine twice a day & have been for about five year's now. I only have to see my pulmonologist every 6 months instead of every 3 or 4 months. That's not a lot of fun but boy I sure did enjoy smoking. 

[maryfreecig]

     Sure did enjoy smoking.  As you stay smober, this kind of thinking fades away. I cannot fault you for thinking this way---the addiction/dependency fogs up the view to reality. Did for me. But it has to go. So long as you allow yourself to think this way without challenging it at all, you'll be in a state of romancing smoking. By romancing smoking, especially new to quitting, it's like the brain flips on the feel good switch which makes one very susceptible to picking up a cigarette. 

    Ex is here 365. Here for prequit, quitting and smobering up stages. Yes you can find your smobriety one day at a time.

[JACKIE1-25-15]

Welcome to EX. Suszn,  TThanks for taking the time to blog about yourself.  You have come to the right place to get support to quit smoking.  It is very important to have a plan.  Are you going cold turkey, use NRT's, medication those types of concerns and questions you need to address. Basically, you can start here at My EX Plan | BecomeAnEX  to learn about your triggers, track your smokes to learn when and why you may smoke.  I truly believe that education is the way to a successful quit.  So take the trying out and be willing to do what is necessary to stay quit.  Quitting is the easy part.  Learning to protect it is the work.   Educate yourself about nicotine addiction, (the law of addiction) Research nicotine, the drug. and other toxins that you are putting in your body by smoking.  If you don't already know here is a link to get you started. https://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/smoking-facts/whats-in-a-ci .  As I stated education will get you a very long way on the journey to freedom.  Another really good quick read. www.whyquit.com.  Read on Nicotine 101.  Many will suggest reading "Easyway to Quitting Smoking by Allen Carr.  It can be found in pdf format on the web.  I say it should be titled Easier Way.  Quitting smoking is hard work.  It takes a commitment not to take a puff.  NOPE. not one puff ever by any means necessary.  It takes changing the way you think about smoking.  You will learn that you do not have to have a cigarette.  We were brainwashed to believe that we do.  There is so much to offer on this site if you just come here read study blog ask questions bookend your days here.  We will support you. Believe that you can and you will. 

[YoungAtHeart]

Welcome to our community!

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 also highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” It informs us that all we thought smoking did for us is a LIE!  You will find that why you THOUGHT you enjoyed smoking was because of a quick hit of dopamine that quickly dissipated requiring you to light up AGAIN to get it back (and there are far healthier ways to get that!) This is an easy and entertaining read. You can search for it online or at your local library. Here's a link to a video here on the site which describes nicotine addiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpWMgPHn0Lo&feature=youtu.be.
 
 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. You should also do the tracking and separation exercises recommended here on the site.  Think about what caused you to lose your last quit and make a plan NOW what you can do in a like circumstance this time instead of smoking
 
 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 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

[anaussiemom]

Suszn

Hugs Kim

[elvan]

Welcome to EX, I really hope you understand that this has to be a commitment, 55 years is a very long time to have smoked.  There are different kinds of COPD, people with asthma are 12 times more likely to be diagnosed with COPD.  I have COPD, I only need to use a nebulizer when I have an upper respiratory infection or my COPD is flaring, it is not often that I use it.  I am on oxygen at night only, I smoked for 47 years and after not smoking for close to two years, I had lung surgery to remove the upper lobes of both of my lungs because they were the most damaged from emphysema.  I was told that it was not a cure and that the best I could hope for was 3-5 years of improved quality of life.  It has been 3 years and two months.  I noticed a pretty dramatic improvement the first few months but COPD marches on, it is progressive and all I could possibly hope to do is to slow it down.  I exercise regularly and I eat a healthy diet, I am on two inhalers every morning and I have a rescue inhaler in case I need it.  I get short of breath with very little exertion. I had asthma for years, I knew it was progressing to COPD.  Had I quit years ago, I would perhaps have been spared this damage.

PLEASE accept that romancing smoking is not going to do you any favors.  Smoking does not help anything at all, it does not fix anything, it just stuffs our emotions down.

You CAN do this if you pay attention to the advice you have been given.

Again, welcome.

Ellen

[Jennifer-Quit]

Keep them away from your face!

Seriously - you have been given lots of good advise above - listen, learn, and commit to it!  Quitting will be one of the most rewarding things that you can ever do for yourself - so just do it!

[MarilynH]

Welcome to the community please read the links suggested above me and keep reading everything you can about quitting smoking and remaining quit because there's a wealth of information right here on this site to strengthen your resolve to kick the nicotine poison to the curb permanently it's not easy by any stretch of the imagination BUT it's absolutely Doable and totally worth it, once you've been quit for awhile you'll never ever want to go back to smoking because you'll realize just how much better life is as an EXer then you'll smile at each and every Day WON......Suszn

[Strudel]

Welcome to the site! Many of us smoked for lots of years....you can do this! The key for me was doing the reading mentioned above - and hanging out here for the support. Stay close - read - and keep blogging! 

[Barbscloud]

Welcome to the Ex.  The key to success is education and preparation.  Read the information on this site and set a quit date.  Stay close to the site and reach out if you need support.  We're here for you.

Barb

[Suszn]

 Thank you everyone for your support. I’m in my third week of quit and the rest of my life. You are all right Educating oneself on a subject is tremendous.   I Feel more empowered having more knowledge. I have to go now but  I’ll blog later 

[Suszn]

Thank you so much 4 sharing it means a lot. 

[Suszn]

Yes, I've learn the hard way when planning this quit 2019.  I look back at the many quits over the years and found I fell in many pitfalls of not being completely committed to quit. The best quit was in 2014 and that's where I did a care plan. I educated myself on the science of smoking, NRT's and picked up a wonderful new hobby called yoga practice. But I relapse due to the my usual reason...stress. I have started my quit 2019 with a new care plan, NRT's and started my yoga practice with renewed resolve. Accidentally, I found BecomeAnEx.org. The best accident that ever occurred in my life. 

Thank you

[elvan]

PLEASE accept that smoking does not help with stress, it actually CAUSES it.  Your nicotine addiction is telling you that it will help and you do not have to listen.  There are people on this site who have been through unthinkable life changes and tragedies but once they accepted that smoking does nothing FOR you, only TO you...they were able to keep their quits.

Glad you found the site...glad I found the site too.

Ellen

[Suszn]

 Thanks for the words of encouragement!  

[elvan]

You can do this and you will be surprised at how much better you will feel, not only physically but also psychologically, you will feel better about yourself.  You can do this.

Ellen