Quit cold turkey

[mosesdman]

I was talking to my wife about the stench on my clothes anytime I went out for a cigar and exposure of contact smoke to my three month old daughter, my stance was that it didn’t really matter since I will be quitting at the end of the month since that’s my 40th birthday. Upon going upstairs to work o hot an epiphany, why not quit now, right now. Any additional cigars/cigarettes is just robbing me of life. So I quit and have been quit for 7 days, I also stopped the occasional alcoholic beverage. It actually was pretty easy for the first few days, but my mood and irritability just peaked for no apparent reason in the past 24 hours. I know I just have to power thru.

[toddsmith23]

Cold turkey is rough, but it sounds like you've got the courage to handle it. I get the logic of "why not just quit now", that's a great first step!! Power through it one day at a time and before you know it, it'll be a year, then two, then the rest of your life...

[constanceclum]

YAY! You are through hell week!!! It is a roller-coaster, and even though it will get easier, and most of the craves will be milder, there will still be some tough times for awhile. Just hang in there for that prescous (sp?) little girl. and yourself.

Connie

[JACKIE1-25-15]

Welcome to EX you have come to the right place for support.  Congratulations on 7 days of freedom and thinking about the effect smoking have on your family.  The journey continues.  In the beginning it can be a roller coaster. You have to go through to get the good part of quitting. here are somethings to do to distract. /blogs/Youngatheart.7.4.12-blog/2013/02/25/100-things-to-do-instead-of-smoke?sr=search&searchId=a1ce...‌.  Educate yourself about nicotine addiction.  Take smoking off the table as an option and do something different.  SINAO smoking is not an option.  That is NOPE concept Not one puff ever. Be have to be willing to do the work. It is not by will power but your willingness to do whatever  not to take another puff.   Quitting is the easy part.  Staying quit takes work.   Learning to protect your quit will keep on your journey forever freedom. This journey is one day at a time.  Never give up, never give in. Hang tough Stay Close.  Deep breathing can  help calm you.  STep away from what ever is causing the mood swing.https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/community/expert-advice/blog/2016/01/22/what-to-expect-when-stopp...  https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/community/expert-advice/blog/2016/02/10/four-strategies-for-copin... https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/best-of-ex/blog/2018/01/04/early-withdrawal-symptoms?sr=se...  Just a few blogs to get you started. Use the magnifying glass top right conrene to get more info. 

[MDR_BDel]

I have a 4 month old and she was part of the reason I needed to quit.  Did Cold/Smart Turkey and days 4-7 were the worst.  7-10 were not great but started getting better. day 10+ every day was getting so much better.  I did start doing some cardio exercises too which helped with not even wanting a cig.  55 days in now and I am not thinking about smoking very often at this point.  I am so happy I am not smoking and you will be too.  You 100% will not regret your decision to quit.  And we will both be around to watch our little ones grow up!

[Beck37]

I quit cold turkey also after 37 years of smoking 9 months ago. Just hang on. Consider every crazy thing you are going thru as a new badge of honor. What you are doing is amazing and so self empowering. You should just be so proud of yourself. Embrace everything. Don’t think negative thoughts just think of yourself as being one step closer to the end.  Stay out of your head. Don’t allow yourself to feel as if you are giving up something.  

I never gave myself any quit loopholes. Life is going to happen and sometimes it sucks. There are millions of people all around us that have never smoked and some how they are surviving.....  

Make yourself proud!!!!!

Beck

[mosesdman]

Thanks for all the kind words and encouragement. Weekends have been the toughest times in my previous quits, dissociating night time socializing with alcohol has not been easy and alcohol with smoking even tougher. Plan on just staying at home and working on my dissertation and taking my 3yo to the beach. We’ll see how it pans out. Funny enough my big motivator is the adage ‘a fool at 40...’.

[JACKIE1-25-15]

Sometimes we have to make the sacrifice to change people places and things.  That is part of the process where you grow and realize what is the priority. Not easy but it makes it easier.  

[mosesdman]

Yeah, i think I’m pretty strong willed, except with smoking.  Looking at the data, I should never have started smoking, but quitting at 40 the statistical average is an extra 9 years of life expectancy compared to if I continue smoking and a year less of life expectancy  than a never smoker or someone that quit prior to 35. Thanks for the support.

[mosesdman]

thanks hanging in there for all of them, funny thing is my wife is a physician specializing in stroke, so she has been a great motivator as well.

[mosesdman]

sure, I’ll check out the 101 things to do. Thanks.

[mosesdman]

Thanks, I agree. My message to my family is that I can’t guarantee that I will be around tomorrow, but I want to guarantee that if I am not, it won’t be from reckless behavior on my side.

[mosesdman]

Agreed, No loopholes allowed. Failure is not an option. I remember that the night I quit, I had an extra cigar ( I smoked black and mild cigars) in the pack and I threw it under my deck in the backyard between  deckings. An hour later I went back out to retrieve the cigar and I was literally out there for 15 minutes trying to use tongs, hangers, skewers to retrieve the cigar between the deckings unsuccessfully. The chemical dependency that was causing such irrational behavior had to go.