May Quitters

[ree]

just signed up and finished my profile. I have picked my quit date and it happens to be in May. so I decided to join the other May quitters. Good Luck to all you May quitters

[margiek2]

good luck Agatha and all others trying to quit in May.  My quit date is May 1st.  I have 3 packs of cigarettes left from a carton and as soon as they are gone I have to quit.  I have COPD and emphysema.  Breathing is really getting difficult.  I quit a couple of years ago and went back after 6 months. I gained 18 pounds and got so disgusted with myself.  You can't even take one drag from a cigarette or you are hooked again.  That is how  I got started again.  I have smoked for 50+ years and I enjoy smoking but it is destroying my health.  I joined this site hoping for the help that I need to quit. 

I have Wellburtin to help me and really hope that it works.   The waiting 5 minutes works but at the 4 minute mark I am counting the seconds.  Hoping to go to 10 minutes tomorrow.  I can not smoke at work so I go without a cigarette for 8 hours but staying busy at work helps.  I light up as soon as I get in the car and pull off the property.  The coughing is terrible after being without a cigarette all day.  Today I am going to try to not smoke until I get home.  I want to eliminate smoking in the car first.  I plan to clean out my car and use an air freshener so that it doesn't smell like an ashtray. My worst time is sitting at the computer.   Any helpful suggestions would be appreciated.  Good luck to all of us.

Margie

[krissy6]

Hi all!

I too want to quit but am going through a stressfull time right now.  My huband passed away 10 days ago from COPD and Emphysema.  The night he passed, I was sitting at the kitchen table smoking and all of a sudden the ashtray actually went up and then slammed down like someone picked it up and dropped it.  I knew it was him telling me to STOP!!   I know it is going to be very difficult to quit right now and I need as much support as I can get.  I picked the 3rd of May but that maybe too soon.  I would rather quit cold-turkey but I don't think that is possible right now so I will try the patch for a few days to get over the hump.  Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated.

Krissy

[giveitup1984]

Hello all. I am new to the community. My quit date is May the first. I am tired of the dependcy af addiction. Good luck to you all.

[margiek2]

Krissy first let me tell you that I am sorry for your loss.  If you read my blog you know that I have COPD and emphysema too.  I have got to quit smoking and I don't want to.  It is hard when you don't want to but I sure hope you make it.  I quit smoking for 6 months using Chantix.  It really does work.  I did really good with it.  I gained so much weight when I could no longer button my pants I went back to smoking.  I am trying Wellbutrin this time and am hoping for success.  If I can get past the smoking I can tackle the weight gain.  Putting off smoking for a few minutes works.   Try going a little longer each time before your quit date. I don't know anything about the patch as I have never used it.  I wish there was more that I could tell you but if I make it it will be a miracle.  Good luck with quitting.

[overtheriver]

Hi, have been looking for support to quit smoking.  I don't smoke in the house, or work, or in the car, but I'm still an addict.  Will be setting my quit date soon in the month of May.  I'm an emotional smoker, and I know the worst time is when I get home from work-I seem to have a hard time transitioning somehow.  So, I very looking forward to meeting you'all and giving and receiving support.  Overtheriver

[terri38]

Hi I'm Terri,  What I'm hearing you all say sounds so familar.  I have quit before. 3 yrs and 4 yrs.  It only took one and I was hooked agen.  Just now I wanted to smoke.  I stopped took a deep breath........... I'll just put it off.  Krissy don't give up.  What you are going through has to be hard.  Like you,  I just can't breath like I use to.  You hang in there don't give up.

[laurib77]

I am new to this site and have FINALLY made the decision to stop smoking. I have no idea how I am going to do this, but I am determined that I will overcome my addiction. I have already set a quit date of May 5th--that day I am going through acupuncture therapy (against the advice of my physician..who just smiled about it...lol). I think he knows I am truly addicted to nicotine. His suggestions were so on the mark though with what this program suggests. So...I followed his advice and made "a list of 10 things that bring me comfort and every time I want to smoke I do those things instead." So, far I have cut my smoking in half ---am drinking a lot more water, exercising, eating more chocolate...lol, walking and doing crafts, playing piano again...all things that bring me much joy and health. I am remaining open minded and embracing all schools of thought including alternative therapies, addiction counseling, and consulting my doctor regularly and updating him on my progress. Finally...I have to add that for me, prayer and meditation works to calm me when I fail to find the courage and determination to not light up and wait.

[suzzie-Q]

My quit day is set for May 28th, this is my Daughters Birthday. I have tried to quite 4 times now, make it to 3 weeks, and start smoking again. My other half smokes, so it does make it hard. I have tried medication, and I start to feel ill on them, am alergic to the sticky stuff on  the patches, so am going cold turkey this time. Also writing down my triggers to help me.

[spooktastic]

I have 2 cigarettes left in this pack.  So I'm going to do a trial run with the patch and the gum today.  I have tried to quit so many times that my friends and family just say "yeah yeah yeah" when I tell them that I'm ready to quit.  Nicotine addiciton is so insidious.  Sometimes I wish there was a rehab that we could go to.  I've been smoking for almost 13 years on and off.  And I'm ready for my next quit to be my last.  I currently have a gum infection caused by smoking.  I have no dental insurance and cannot afford to go to the dentist. 

I"m ready, but at the same time I'm scared.  Smoking was there for me when I was at my lowest, loneliest times of my life.  It's there for me when I'm bored.  It's there for me when I'm sad or happy or angry or tired.  I almost feel like I'm going through a grieving process.  Like my best friend died.  It's crazy.  This habit that is destroying my health and irritating the people in my life.... I'm almost sad about it.  But I'm ready.  I can't take smoking very much longer. 

[margiek2]

Hello Thomas

Thank you for the welcome.  You asked what I liked about smoking.  It is like using a nerve pill.  It relaxes me.  I have always enjoyed smoking and it is REALLY hard to quit when you don't want to, but I am coughing a lot and my breathing is getting worse so I know that I have to quit.  I know people do not understand why you like smoking when it destroys your health.  It is an addiction.  There I have said it.  I used to say I could quit smoking if I wanted to.  Now I know that I didn't quit because it is an addiction.  I promised my self that if I hit a royal flush at the casino I would quit smoking.  I hit the royal last Sunday.  I feel that God is telling me quit before my COPD gets any worse.  I know it is going to get worse but smoking certainly speeds it along.  So I am going to really try to quit.  I am using the suggestions on this site about waiting 5 min. then 10.  I was smoking about 9 cigarettes before work (because we can't smoke at work) today it was only 3.  Yesterday on the way home I waited 15 minutes to light up, when usually I lit up as soon as my tires were off the property.  Today I did not smoke driving in to work and am going to try to wait 20 minutes or not at all before getting home.  It takes me 25-30 minutes to get home from work.  I really am going to try to quit.  Thanks again for the welcome.