The beginning for me - preparing to quit

[Chuck-2-20-2011]

 Hello all,

 I just decided to quit three days ago. I joined the Colorado quit line as a start and on their web site I found a link to this one and I am really glad I did. For me, this type of support works. I know this because I used similar support to get through treatments for the hepatitis C virus. Not actually a problem with addiction but a really hard treatment to complete.

 Anyway, I'm currently in the process of learning my addiction. There are a lot of good tools out there for this but so far the best one I've used is the pack tracker. In three days I've learned more about my addiction then I ever thought I could. Using the pack tracker, I realized first of all that I smoked cigarettes when there wasn't even a craving.

 I never thought about that when I lit up before. I'd just grab a smoke and light up, never giving it another thought. After using this tracker for just one day I was able to identify the times when I smoked for no real reason. There was no actual craving or pressure. I was just smoking to smoke.

 So on the second day I worked on reducing the times that I smoke for no real reason and reduced my cigarette consumption from an average of thirty a day to nineteen. This amazed me because it wasn't even hard to do. Kind of like clearing unnecessary overhead. All it took was a realization that I was "fooling" myself into believing that I needed all those extra cigarettes to get through the day.

 I've managed to identify several trigger points throughout the day and have begun working on them. The hardest one for me is the morning triggers. I was generally almost a chain smoker in the mornings until yesterday when I started working on it. I still smoke a ton in the morning.

 That's one of the reasons I'm sitting here writing this blog. To get me through this weak moment in the day and so far it seems to be working. My hands are busy but I'm still thinking of that darn cigarette. Still, I'm not smoking. And so the process will continue for me. I'll try to keep reducing my tobacco intake with every day that I have before my quit date.

 Now I think I'll go take a shower. I'm trying to go two hours without another one. With a little determination and preperation I think I might make it this time. I only have another hour to go for this days first goal. I've also managed to quit lighting up at night when I wake up but this may be part of why the mornings are rough. Baby steps are OK for me as long as I continue to move forward.

Chuck

[kenny3000]

Chuck,

Yeah, more Coloradoans!  Take advantage of the resources available on this site.  I'm on day 8 and it seems like the people who participate on the blogs, read the materials, and discuss their experiences (even the bad ones) are the ones who stay quit. Stick to it!

[Patty70]

Hi Chuck. Congratulations on your decision to stop smoking. I am so glad you are here and also that you are educating yourself on nicotine addiction. For those who already know me here, this is going to sound like a broken record, but the best help I found in keeping my commitment to never, ever put another cigarette in my mouth was the free online course at quitsmokingonline.com. Please check it out.   

[anacondahead]

Congrats' Chuck on your excellent desision to quit! I agree it's amazing to realize just how much we smoke when we stop to think about it.  Since it's a mindless habit that does us harm, it's time to stop. You sound comitted to quitting and I predict you will be successful. The ones who see quitting as a challenge and work up a plan, however simple seem to have the most success. The ones who freak out and cry and scream and put very little effort into educating themselves make it much harder on themselves to succeed.

Best wishes to you!   Let us know how you are doing.  😃 

[laurel9]

Chuck,

I'm doing the cut down and identifying triggers.  We need to remember that we're not the only ones trying to quit.  We're not alone.  We're not the only one in the world "having" to do this! 

Participate in the site and you will gain so much support and encouragement.   You will succeed, just remember there are others doing the same thing... your not going it alone!  🙂

[pj58]

Morning Chuck, from a fellow Coloradan.    I am at day 5, 13 hours and 15 min.   I wanted to pass along something that has helped me, to  people who have not quit yet.  You might consider having your last cig. at about 8 or 9 the night before your quit.  The advantage of this is, when you wake up you will be 1/2 way thru the 1st day, and every day after that, you will wake up to being 1/2 way thru the day, smoke free.  The advantage is that it is harder to throw away half a day on a quit than it is one or 2 hours.  Any way, I find that helpful for me.   Come here often, it will help.      PJ

[Chuck-2-20-2011]

 Thank you all for your replies!

 I do intend to keep coming here. It's the power of many like minded people trying to do the same thing that is wonderful. As I've read other blogs it has occurred to me that I'm not alone in this journey. That others feel the same fears that I do. I can see both the hardships and successes that we go through on this site. And every bit of it is important, from feeling more normal about the fears that seem to come along with this and knowing that I'm really not being as silly about it as I thought.

 Or at least that others feel the same things. That it's all just another part of the quit process. I got myself into this mess. It's no one's fault but my own and so I know I have to get myself out of this as well. Though I know the determination that I need to win this thing can only really come from inside myself it's nice to know that there are others here willing to spend a moment to strengthen the resolve of others. I hope to do the same as time progresses.

 PJ, I like your idea about smoking that last monster the night before the quit day. It makes sense and I will most likely add this to my quit plan as I continue to learn and develop it. Any other pointers or idea's will be greatly appriciated!

Now I'm going to check out the website that Patty listed. There's nothing wrong with a combination of support when one is dealing with one's own life. But rest assured, whatever steps I feel I need to take in order to succeed, I will.

 On another note I just finished the final payment on a move I've got to get done. Originally, I thought I should wait to quit until after the stress of the move is over but then I realized this was probably just another excuse to wait, coming from an addicted mind so I'm going to push on and I also figure if I can get through a rather stressful time tobacco free, then I have a better chance of staying quit!

Wishing you all success and thanks again!

Chuck

[angellad]

im right there with you chuck! buut today was a baad day for me...still pushin on tho...more time in today sooo i will do better this second round..buut congrats...keep up the good work

[jawidge]

This is the place

[Strudel]

Welcome Chuck! You are in the right place! You are exactly right about not putting off your quit - there will always be somthing that will come up that could be used as an excuse.....that was my problem. I waited 40 stupid years! I came here - read lots of blogs, read at the site Patty mentioned - http://quitsmokingonline.com (great - free - course) - and Allen Carr's book - The Easy Way to Stop Smoking. All of that - plus the continued support here has led to my being quit for 208 days! Plus - I feel great!! You can do this!!

[Chuck-2-20-2011]

 I thought I'de continue posting to this blog unless I need some specific help from you folks just to sort of keep all of my thoughts in one place.

 Day three was pretty exciting to me as I dropped from 19 sigarettes on day two to 15. I was really only trying to drop one cigarette a day so I was pretty happy when I looked at my pack tracker at the end of the day.  That means in three days I cut my daily consumption in half.

Thought I'd do even better today but have already had five. My morning triggers are the biggest problem I have right now and I realize that these triggers are the ones I really need to concentrate on. And since I already smoked five cigarettes today, I've decided to start learning to cope with cravings today by trying to extend the time between cigarettes to 2 or three hours. I feel this will be good training for me as I get ever closer to my quit date.

 So the learning of my addiction continues. If anyone happens to read this and has any idea how to cope with the strong triggers I have in the mornings, I would greatly appriciate it. So far I've managed to wait for ten minutes after I wake up to have my first smoke. Still part of the morning problem could be that I always smoked a couple of cigarettes at night when I woke up and haven't done that in three days. If that's the case then I think my morning triggers might become easier to handle down the road a little.

 Also my first months worth of patches arrived yesterday. It kind of brought home to me what I'm doing right now in order to be successful on my quit and made me realize that I am going to do this!

Have a wonderful day,

Chuck