Just here trying to quit September 1st

[tuggie83]

Hoping for a new beginning and hopefully learn my way around this app for support to quit smoking

[Barbscloud]

@tuggie83 Welcome to the Ex and congrats on your decision to quit. 

Educate yourself about nicotine addiction and create a quit plan.  Many have found success with knowledge and preparation.   It took me 50 years and many attempts to finally get it. I went into my quits blindly and was never successful.  In addition to some aids, I found the Ex a week prior to my quit.  For the first time I learned how to quit and had the support that was always lacking.

This link is a great place to start.

https://www.becomeanex.org/guides/?cid=footer_community_linktobex

Make the commitment and you can do this too.  We're here to support you on your journey.  So reach out anytime you need help, want to share your experience or to support fellow quitters. We're all in this together.

Join many  of us on the Daily Pledge.  It's a great way to stay on track on day at a time.

There is a monthly Zoom meeting that's called  the EX Café that you might find helpful. It features one of the coaches or a doctor from Mayo Clinic and is an open meeting where any member of the community can ask questions related to their quit, or even just come to socialize and hang out. Join Us at the EX Café: A Safe Haven in Your Quit ... - EX Community

Look forward to celebrating in the 1st.  If you have any questions, we'll try and help.

Stay busy and stay close.

Barb

[maryfreecig]

Welcome to Ex! One step at a time, one day at a time you can make your quit real.

[Maki]

Welcome @tuggie83 to Ex and yup a new and wonderful ( I might add ) beginning . ha I know the struggle well with technology lol . Lots of computer savvy techies here tho , just ask if you need help .
Glad you are here . 

[McMoney]

September 1 is a GREAT Day to start being a non-smoker! I'll be rooting for you! 

[Nina_R]

Hey, I just wanted to suggest that you look into local "quit smoking" programs.  I first checked with my primary care physician about a program at her medical clinic.  Unfortunately, that was on hold because the nurse practitioner who ran it resigned and hadn't yet been replaced.  However, the clinic referred me to a program offered by the community services arm of our local hospital, and WOW!

Shortly after my doc's office contacted them, I got a call from a tobacco cessation counselor, who scheduled an evaluation interview by phone for a few days hence.  The questions included how long & how much I smoked, why I wanted to quit, had I ever tried before, how committed I was to quitting, and how confident I was in succeeding.  After about a 45 minute discussion, I learned that they would provide nicotine patches and my choice of "rescue" nicotine (gum or lozenges - I chose lozenges) absolutely free of charge to me.  In fact the whole program is free, so I won't be paying for refills on either.  Since the interview was on Friday, 9/1, and I said my scheduled quit day was 9/4 (Labor Day), rather than make me wait for my "care package" of NRT, etc. to arrive by mail, he offered to have it ready for me to pick up that afternoon.  
The rest of the conversation was about how best to use the NRT.  (For example, apply the patch first thing in the AM, place it above the waist, and move the location daily, i.e. alternating left &  right sides, etc.  to avoid skin irritation.)  He also gave me tips for the lozenges.

Bottom line, I started using the NRT Saturday AM, had a single cigarette that day, and none since.  I've spoken to my counselor twice since then (I called once, he called once), and will do so again Monday or Tuesday, when I expect to be able to pick up a resupply of lozenges, and a box of patches at the next level of nicotine down.

I started smoking at about age 24, and I'm now 72, so we're talking virtually my entire adult lifetime.  I should add here that I was a relatively light smoker at a half pack a day tops except for the occasional golf trip.   (Waiting for the fairway or green to clear is totally boring, and my late husband and regular gal partner were also smokers, so I'd generally do a pack a day while playing  27 or 36 holes a day.)   Also that I had been cutting down, and got to 3 to 5 a day by mid-August.   

I just really needed help to get to zero, and fortunately, I got it - for free!