Once upon a time I was a chain smoker. I started back in the late '60s and never stopped until I quit back in 2016. Sure I had starts and stops but they were never longer than 4 days at the most. I started off at below a half a pack, stayed there for quite a few years, escalated up to a pack when I hit 18 back in the '70s and finally got up to 2 packs a day in 2014 when I became serious about the thought of enough is enough.
See many years ago this thought of nicotine dependence was not thought of. Smoking was simply a habit. Treated like biting your fingernails. I remember back in the early '80s having my doctor give me the sample pack of nicotine patches to help with quitting smoking but never really explained why. It was only broached as this will help you kick the habit. To me it was only a habit. One that I thought I could break any time I wanted to. I slapped it on and couldn't understand why it wasn't magically taking away this terrible feeling, this clawing feeling.
I started researching ways to successfully quit smoking for good. I tried the e-cigarettes, welbutrin, inhalers, gums, drops. I've seen so many different fads come and go with the promise of how they will magically take the urge of smoking completely away. Quitting will be pain-free. Well, I fell for those and spends hundreds of dollars on different things. My husband is of the thought just put them down and never pick them up ever again. Plain and simple. And there are some people out there exactly like that. There are even some people on here that are of that belief. I am not.
I believe that the first 30 days are the physical symptoms. You go through the heart palpitations. Tingling of hands and feet. Mouth sensitivity. Restless leg. Countless other physical sensations for some. Others have no physical symptoms besides anxiety, irritability. Some have the illusion that poof, this will be gone in 30 days or even 2 weeks and I'll be back to normal. I just won't smoke. Easy as that. For me, that was far from the truth.
On the road to 600, I like to share with you what exactly I was going through the first year and what I'm going through now. I can tell you that it does get easier and easier as each month passes. You still have plateaus and valleys but it's not even close to the roller coaster you were riding the first 6 months. It just simply feels like going over a speed bump in a parking lot. I will promise you that you will learn a lot about yourself in the first year. You'll discover some lost personality traits that were hidden behind the smoke, some good, some bad. You'll definitely have more time and more money on your hands. Just stick with it. Make this commitment and wake up each day a winner. Blessings to you all..........
