This time

[cathy95]

Hello,

my first blog:). I am 60yrs old.  No kids, good family and a few very good friends.  I live in the mountains, 100 miles from any big city.  I have smoked for to many years, I quit counting.  I stop last Feb 4th and went nine wonderful months without smoking and then..........my life seems to be falling apart  in so many ways.  But I am a strong person and want to stop smoking so bad!  I also went nine months with out a alcoholic drink.  They go hand and hand with me.  It felt so good not drinking.  My husband is a wonderful man but drinks beer every day and chews tobacco all day.  Although he sometimes gives me words of encouragement he really is no help!!  Sometimes I feel so alone up here in these mountains.  So hopefully I have found a place in this site to make smokeless friends and can start to breath again with a smile on my face.

[ljguptill]

Hey Cathy, welcome 🙂 Don't despair, you sure came to the right place. Your decision to quit is yours to make. My husband is still smoking and has promised to join me several times, but hasn't done it yet. But I HAD to decide for myself that no matter what he does, or whatever life dishes out, smoking is not an option for me. N.O.P.E. Not one puff ever. That little mantra has gotten me through a lot of tempations, but really, coming here, asking for help, and doing a lot of reading on this site is extremely helpful. Smile 🙂 You can do it.

[OldBones-Larry]

Welcome to our little community. One of the elders will be giving you some links to some articles you should read to help you. Please read them. Ask for help if you hit a rough spot. Someone will try to help.

You can do this if you put everything you have into this.

Larry

[cathy95]

Thank you Larry:)

[cathy95]

Thank you for your kind words ljguptill:)

[moody_9-18-13]

Welcome!! We know you CAN quit, because you have before, but maybe you need to identify your triggers and decide what you will do instead of smoking or drinking. I suspect your issue is boredom from the way your blog reads. You need to go through all the exercises on this site and make sure you are prepared to quit successfully.

So, educate yourself about nicotine addiction. Here's a couple of good places to start:Allen Carr's "Easy Way to Stop Smoking", Quit Smoking Online and Why Quit.

http://quitsmokingonline.com/

http://whyquit.com/whyquit/LinksAAddiction.html

http://media.wix.com/ugd/74fa87_2010cc5496521431188f905b7234a829.pdf

I love this blog Dale posted today, it explains why we can't have another puff once we quit, it wakes up all those nicotine receptors, we're nicotine addicts. We can't have any nicotine or we go right back to smoking.

https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/jonescarp.aka.dale.Jan_2007-blog/2014/02/02/why-is-it-so-ha...

[marilyn_marmac]

Hi Cathy! Welcome to the Ex family. The thing that surprised me most when I started my quit on Ex, 6 months ago, is that people I had never met and didn't plan on ever meeting would become like an extended family. You can beat this nicotine addiction! You've already proven that you have what it takes to get past the beginning stages and quit. What you need now is to educate yourself on how "stay" quit. Actually, you need to start from Step 1 of the quit process so not only can you stop again, you will have the tools to do it right. This time...before you actually stop smoking, you need to prepare and understand the steps you need to take in order to quit smoking and re-learn life without cigarettes. Education is key to that understanding! Read all the educational links that are provided. Start with the How To Quit Smoking section. You will learn about smoking triggers — those things, like alcohol that make you want to smoke — and re-learn how to handle them without cigarettes. Practice “delaying” you cigarettes, smoke in different places than you normally do, and try and break some of the associations. (smoking in your car for example). OK to cut down, but don’t go below 5 a day, as you will be in constant withdrawal.

   http://www.whyquit.com/whyquit/linksaaddiction.html - nicotine addiction 101

  
   http://www.quitsmokingonline.com/

  
   http://media.wix.com/ugd/74fa87_2010cc5496521431188f905b7234a829

   Ps..I'm also from the mountains, GA/TN, and I remember times that it seemed lonely. Now that I live in the city, I often find myself missing that quit and solitude.

[YoungAtHeart]

Everyone has already given you excellent advice and links for reading materials  I can only strongly encourage you to read every one of them!  It DOES make a difference!

Nancy

[linda258]

Welcome!  Look forward to having you on this site.  You know you can quit .. just have to fine tune keeping the quit.  I think the trick might be understanding you are an addict and you can never take a puff.. not even one  or you are right back smoking.

[JonesCarpeDiem]

if drinking is what started you back smoking, i think you know the answer.

[JonesCarpeDiem]

and i'm not being judgemental. drinking ruins more quits than anything but people starting a smoking conversation with themselves.

[joyeuxencore]

Hello Cathy and welcome to the best 24/7 support community ever! Of course I feel that way as I was a serial quitter who found myself unable to quit again and the education, support and down right friendship I found on this site turned that hopelessness into my forever quit and we will get you there too...

Do all the suggested reading, the prep on the EX homepage, blog every day if you can (and it sounds like you can! ) Stay close, trust the process, trust us, trust yourself! xo

[GreenThumb3]

Years back I quit for 9 months also then started drinking to much and started again it's been 8 years since I quit drinking so quit smoking 57 days.ago I am glad I won't have drinking as a trigger its better for your health to quit both if you can it's worth it 

[lois2]

WELCOME  we are here for you.  you can do this

[Strudel]

Welcome Cathy! You have come to the right place for support - for sure! Please do the reading that was suggested above.....please! It made such a difference in my quit! I smoked for 40 years - I came here, found a magnificent place for support and I quit! That was over 3 and a half years ago! You can do this! Read and don't go anywhere! 

Kathy