my 5th day without a cigarette

[catgirl]

Hi, Today is my 5th full day without a cigarette. It feels really great but yesterday was a day from hell. It seems everything I looked at reminded me of a cigarette or smoking. Even dreamed my husband was smoking to taunt me. LOL He has never been a smoker so the dream was humorous.

I have been a smoker for 47 years at a pack and a half a day. Have tried multiple times to quit. I have decided this is my forever quit time. Using Chantix and it seems to be doing well. I used e cigs earlier this year and that worked great until my spring allergies kicked in, then I was choking on the juice so went back to smoking. I know several people that have quit smoking using e cigs, one is my son and another a friend that smoked 4 to 5 packs a day!! I had never seen a true chain smoker before. She is down to 0 nicotine in her juices.

I am enjoying the ex community and reading all the encouraging blogs. It has really helped me a lot.

Looking forward to getting to know the community better.

[Deena-A-Yenni]

Welcome and thanks for your blog and congratulations on your quit.  I always ask newcomers to go to "jonescarp aka dale"s page and read his blog.  It will mentally prepare you for your journey without cigarettes.  I usually read it once a week to keep me in line.  In fact, I'm late on my readings.  Tee hee.

[Storm.3.1.14]

You smoked 30 cigarettes a day for more than 47 years. Of course you're going to have flashbacks and memories and dreams of smoking! These are all normal...and challenging, yes. But, you are past 3 days now, so the nicotine is out of your bloodstream. You are purged of it, and you're HEALING. It will take more time, but it will get easier as you go. Just remember to be patient, and remind yourself that you're going to feel whatever it is you need to feel in order to recover. Just never smoke over it.

Keep going!

[annb]

Five days is fantastic. Way to go! Yes you are healing and your body is going through a big change. Getting lots more oxygen and no poison!! Gee imagine that!!! But it can make you really off kilter so take extra special care of yourself! I smoked 43 years myself so it's all about relearning! So glad you are here at EX. It is THE place to quit!!! 🙂

[Ms.J_11-10-2013]

Aw, so much good advice above.  5 days are a wonderful feat, every minute, hour, day without a cigeratte is huge and you should be proud!  Keep up the good work and rock on with this quit!

Jackie

[rosemarymom]

Well, I've got you all beat.  I have smoked for 50 years.  My gosh- how can I still be alive!!

Congratulations on 5 wonderful days.  I am at 3 1/4 so far.  Hang in there.  The help, advice, and concern on this site are tremendous.  You can do this!!

[YoungAtHeart]

Welcome to our community!

I am sorry we weren't around before your quit and in the early days so we could help you. Better late than never; we are glad you are here!

The most important thing you can do right now is to educate yourself on what nicotine does to your body and mind. To that end, I highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” This is an easy and entertaining read. Here is a link to a free PDF version of it:

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

As well, read the sections on this site, and read the blogs, responses and pages of folks you think might be helpful. You might visit whyquit.com and quitsmokingonline.com for the good information contained there.

The idea is to distract yourself through any craves.  You can take slow, deep breaths, go for a walk, play a computer game, do a crossword, bite into a lemon (yup, rind and all).   Here is a link to a list of 100 things to do instead of smoke if you need 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 CANNOT be:  "I want a cigarette.  No!  But - I WANT a cigarette!”

Instead, it needs to be "I want a cigarette.  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!

Stay close to us here; ask questions as you have them and for support when you need it. We will be with you every step of the way.

Nancy

[Thomas3.20.2010]

Hi,Cat Girl!

WELCOME!

You've made the BEST DECISION of your LIFE!

READ READ READ! The more you understand about Nicotine Addiction and your Quit Journey the better your chances of SUCCESS! We have a lot of that here! Listen, learn, and participate! Blog 10 times a day if you want! The more  we hear from you the more we can be there for you! 

CONGRATULATIONS again on 5 Days!

[catgirl]

Thank you for all the encouraging messages. They are so appreciated and helpful.

[catgirl]

Hi Nancy,

I have Allan Carr's book and have ready it several times. The last few chapters are very helpful at this point but a lot of humor in his book really helps. Nice to be able to laugh at yourself. I recommend this book also even if you aren't really thinking about quitting right now.

Thanks for all the encouragement.