About noon today marked the 39th day of being a non-smoker. I didn't even realize how many days I had behind me...I knew it was at least 30, since I quit when I had a heart attack which was over 30 days ago.
This has been the easiest quit I've ever experienced. The first time was cold turkey (over 40 yrs ago) but sucked on Halls almost non-stop. The second time was about 10 yrs ago and it wasn't quite as bad as the Nicotine patches were out by that time to mitigate a lot of the edge.
This time has been completely different. No patches or gum...though I did buy a bag of Halls but only had one. I find I'm not thinking all the time about cigarettes like I did the other times. My usual triggers haven't been triggers at all. For the most part I'm just plunking along through life and maybe a couple of times every day or two...it'll cross my mind. I'm not sure why it seems to much easier this time around. It's not the result of any fear from the heart attack....after my 1st one....when my partner picked me up at the hospital, the first thing I did was reach in the console and grab a cigarette.
I still have my old pack on the table here and they've been no temptation....I'll probably end up tossing them in the next day or two. Originally I kept them there to remind me that I do have some control....if I wanted one...I could smoke one....but just never wanted one bad enough to want to have to start over again.
I'll keep plugging along. I wish everyone the combination of luck, determination and power to remain nicotine free.
