Hi! I'm new to boards, my quit was June 24 @ 10pm! I have had very high anxiety & poor sleep since beginning. Yesterday, last night & today is extremely hard & cravings are high! I'm using patches & lozenges.
Do y'all have sponsors? How can I make this quit last? I've never quit in over 47 years & I don't want to start again.
I'm also having difficult learning this forum. Would someone help me please...
Thanks!
Welcome to EX...I, too, smoked for 47 years and I would never have been successful at quitting without this site. It does take some getting used to but your first post is PERFECT, asking for help. I am going to pull from some other people's posts to offer you the best help I can. Congratulations on being quit for over a month. Not sure what you have been doing to stay quit but clearly, it has been working. Read jonescarp.aka.dale.Jan_2007's page and What To Expect In The First Four Months I would suggest reading everything on his page. According to my calculations, you are in No Man's Land which starts at about day 30 and continues until about day 130, it is a really dangerous time in a quit and many are lost during that time. HANG ON. Do this one moment at a time quitting is not an event, it is a journey...one step at a time, sometimes baby steps. Read Youngatheart.7.4.12's 101 Things to Do Instead of Smoke and this next part is taken directly from JACKIE1-25-15's response to someone just starting their quit:
Start first, by educating yourself about nicotine addiction.
Education is the key to a successful quit.
Read: Freedom from Nicotine My Journey Home and Nicotine Addiction 101
Here are the links: http://whyquit.com/whyquit/LinksAAddiction.html and http://whyquit.com/ffn/
I also encourage you to read. Allen Carr’s book, “Easy Easier Way to Quit Smoking”.
The link is here: http://media.wix.com/ugd/74fa87_2010cc5496521431188f905b7234a829.pdf
Go to http://www.becomeanex.org/how-to-quit-smoking.php#thl and get started.
We will support you. You are on your journey to freedom
Jackie
I have borrowed from some of the best, we are here for you, we will support you in any way that we can. My mantra at first was NOPE.Not One Puff Ever. I learned many more sayings from this site that helped me immensely. Please stick around and don't smoke. "Keep them away from your face." Remember that they will do nothing FOR you but lots TO you and no crave ever killed anyone. No one is going to say that about smoking.
Ellen
Welcome to our community!
Your decision to quit smoking is one you will never regret. Just stick with it. The freedom from addiction you will gain is amazing!
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 also highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” This is an easy and entertaining read.
You should also read the posts here and perhaps go to the pages of folks who you think might be helpful. You might visit whyquit.com, quitsmokingonline.com and livewell.com for the good information contained there. @https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/best-of-ex has lots of blogs written by members of this site with their experiences and guidance.
The idea is to change up your routines so the smoking associations are reduced. Drink your coffee with your OTHER hand. If you always had that first smoke with your coffee, try putting your tennies on right out of bed, going for a quick walk, then taking your shower and THEN your coffee! Rearrange the furniture in the areas you used to smoke so the view is different. Buy your gas at a different station. Take a different route to work. Take a quick walk at break time where the smokers AREN'T.
You need to distract yourself through any craves. You can take a bite out of a lemon (yup - rind and all), put your head in the freezer and take a deep breath of cold air, do a few jumping jacks, go for a brisk walk or march in place, play a computer game. Don't let that smoking thought rattle around in your brain unchallenged. Sometimes you need to quit a minute or an hour at a time. You will need to be disciplined in the early days to distract yourself when a crave hits. Get busy! Ellen linked a list of things to do instead of smoke if you need some fresh ideas.
The conversation in your head in response to the "I want a cigarette" thought needs to be, "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. You will need to put some effort into this in the early days, but it gets easier and easier to do.
Stay close to us here and ask questions when you have them and for support when you need it. We will be with you every step of the way!
Nancy
Welcome to Ex. Glad you are here. Support is important for many of us--it's a good thing to be around quitters sharing the experience of quitting, so please stick around. Reading and participating just as you did in introducing yourself is a primary way that folks talk, share, discuss at Ex. There are plenty of info pages on ex (the world wide web too)...a lot to learn and soak up.
Ditto on Ellen's suggestions and links.
You are not alone in quitting, nor alone in the length of time smoking. So take heart, keep coming back.
Takes a few days to get comfortable with the site...give it time and a good looking through.
Welcome to the site and congrats on your quit! You are in the right place. I really like the Carr book mentioned above. I smoked for 40 years and the book really helped to turn my thinking about cigarettes around! It appears that you know how to blog, so that is a good place to start! Keep on blogging and reading the blogs of others. Again, welcome!
Hi Jewel21
My name is Lillian and I smoked fro 63 yrs. quit a lot of times. This time so far I have 405 days of freedom from cigarettes. This sight is awesome. Check in a lot for more messages. I also used the lozenges and it helps.
I drink a lot of ice water using a straw. I still do a lot of deep breathing Remember we inhaled a LOT. So you probably are not getting enough oxygen to your brain.
I don't have the website for a PERFECT READ for Alan Carr book - Easy Way to Quit. Please google it and read and reread it a lot.
Also - I always try to be grateful. Grateful for What????? Like still being healthy and not sneaking smokes and not smelling like an ash tray.
Please keep in touch.
Vanlil (Lillian)