Okay, my mind went blank..................What was I saying................. Oh, yes, here is the critical life saving info.
I tried to quit with the nicotine gum last year. Here is why the gum didn't work for me. First of all, it was the most disgusting thing I ever put in mouth! Nasty nasty!!! Because of the aweful taste, I didn't chew it as often as recommended. Therefor, the chemical withdrawals were worse. The reduced amount of nicotine wasn't at a constant level for me.
This time I'm using the patch and it's working out much better for me. The chemical withdrawals are much more bearable. But I still have had to deal with the physical habit of reaching for a smoke and the psychological part as well. (Just like with drinking/drugging)
(The cat just walked by, he's coming back!!!! Let me get rid of him)
Ok the little angel is gone.........for now.
To deal with the chemical withdrawals, anxiety/depression and sleepiness, I got a lot of exercise and drank a LOT of cold and I mean frigid water! These are the only things that helped. Oh...and meetings at AA/NA. I didn't have to talk about the smoking. Just as with my other addictions, just being there for someone else helped me get out of myself long enough to not notice the shit I was feeling.
As far as the physical habit of reaching for a cigarette, there were two things that were immensely helpful. Every time I wanted to light up, I grabbed for regular, plain old gum. Bubble gum and cinamon gum. My face was sore the first week from chewing a total of 20 full packs of gum! After a month, I now find myself instinctively reaching for gum when I feel stressed or whatever instead of smokes............without the thought of smokes. This kept me from eating a lot more too. I haven't gained any weight. In fact, I've actually managed to lose weight since I quit. I've been told by more than one person that I've traded my smoking addiction for a gum addiction! That sounds funny to me! Who ever heard of being addicted to gum??? But I don't give a s*&(. Who cares!!! Sugarless gum is NOT going to hurt me!!!
The other thing I did was to 'smoke' a straw. I would go through the entire motion of smoking a cigarette. It REALLY relieved the anxiety after only a couple of drags, which tells me that the majority of my addiction is PSYCHOLOGICAL!
I also really think that hanging out here an absurd amount of time getting to know the people here has been really helpful. The game room has helped a lot, having fun!! Recovery needs to fun!There have been a few times that I think I probably would have smoked had I not had to report my slip to the people here. Accountability, just like with AA/NA.
Well, the cats are ganging up on me now and I think this is about as comprehensive as it needs to be. I really hope this wasn't too damn long! I hate those long winded speakers in meetings! But atleast here, you can just skip over it!!
Hope this was helpful!!
Sherri
I have been quit for 4 Weeks, 1 Day, 16 hours, 14 minutes and 34 seconds (29 days). I have saved $356.11 by not smoking 1,780 cigarettes. I have saved 6 Days, 4 hours and 20 minutes of my life. My Quit Date: 5/7/2008 1:15 AM