Anxiety

[tnjhoffman]

Does anyone else suffer from anxiety and the thought of quitting smoking is making it "peak"??

[YoungAtHeart]

Welcome to our community!

Most of us were anxious as we thought about quitting smoking.  You are entering a realm of the unknown.  We can help make it LESS scary.  The better you understand the process, the less unknown (and the less anxiety-ridden) it will become. I'm glad you're here.

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 highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” This is an easy and entertaining read. Here is a link to a free PDF version of it:

http://media.wix.com/ugd/74fa87_2010cc5496521431188f905b7234a829.pdf

 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. You should also do the tracking and separation exercises suggested in My Quit Plan http://www.becomeanex.org/my-quit-plan.php

After you have completed the recommended reading, it will be time to make an informed choice of the quit aid, if any, you will use. If you go that route, I personally recommend the aids that don't let the addict control the dose such as the available prescription drugs or the patch. If used properly, gum, lozenges and inhalers are fine, but they need to be used only as a last resort.  I have seen folks become addicted to them if they substitute them for every cigarette they used to smoke - just trading one addiction for another.  I do not recommend the e-cigarette for three reasons: 1) the vapor has been compared to the polluted air in Bejing on a bad day, 2) they just provide another nicotine delivery system while continuing the hand to mouth smoking motion, and 3) the batteries can spontaneously catch on fire. . But – any method that you think will work well for you will be best for you.

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!  Here is a link to a list of things to do instead of smoke if you need some fresh ideas:

https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/Youngatheart.7.4.12-blog/2013/02/25/100-things-to-do-instea...

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

[tnjhoffman]

I swear this is my 110th time quitting, but when I told my youngest I was quitting and he caught me smoking he called me a liar and it broke my heart!!! I am a liar AND I HATE IT!!!! 

Now my anxiety has kicked in and I feel I have cancer and my children will NEVER forgive me!  I have talked to my doctor and he doesn't feel I have cancer, but now I am soo scared I am going to get it from smoking. I am just a nutcase right now because I feel I am about to lose my best friend... cigs!!!  Uuggh!!! 

Sorry... need to vent.

Appreciate all the recommendations!

[MarilynH]

Take a few deep breaths and exhale slowly, please read the links above me because they'll help you, read everything you can about quitting smoking and Remaining Quit because there's a wealth of information here to strengthen your resolve to kick the nicotine poison to the curb and start living a life of Freedom, I've had many failed attempts at quitting smoking too until I found out that I have mild copd then I realized that I wasn't invincible that I didn't want to end up on oxygen 7/ 24 or worse so I found this site and joined and after 40 yrs of smoking I'm free and have over 3 yrs in since quitting, we're all here for you, you can succeed, believe it, be willing, determined and totally committed and stay close to this site. N. O. P. E.  - Not One Puff Ever will give you a beautiful smoke free life one precious day at a time or one hour, minute or even one second at a time, believe it! 

[tnjhoffman]

I am holding soooo tight to this sight!!!

[MarilynH]

I'm so glad because we're all here to try to help you through the rough patches, keeping your mind as well as your hands occupied might help some, deep breaths and if you are able to walking might be a good distraction to.

[mjlibbie]

I think anxiety before any major change in your life is to be expected. As the others have pointed out, reading/learning everything you possibly can is KEY to keeping anxiety in check and success. I will also add: Think of other major changes you've made in your life and how you successfully navigated your way through those changes. Perhaps a move to a completely new area or job change, or other habit you broke (nail biting, sugar addiction...whatever) Once we conquer any fear of change and it no longer causes us ogida...we forget how strong we were during the transition. Think of those times, write them down. SHOW yourself just how strong you really are. I think we all tend to underestimate ourselves and what we can accomplish. Here..you can double/triple that strength because you have an army of supporters behind you all the way.

You can do it!! 🙂

MJ

[bookee6]

OH boy do I know what you are going through.  My anxiety came in after I quit.  I cannot shake the feeling that I quit too late and I will have either heart or cancer issues.  I have been to so many doctors in the last 2 months I have ever seen in my life.  I am not a good patient,  I am also suffering from major upper back pain from working at my desk for 9 hours a day and sitting in correctly, gaining way too much weight (which is coming off) gained weight before quitting so don't let that scare you.  I have also been diagnosed with TMD/TMJ and Rienke's Edema.  nothing life threating but is difficult to deal with at times.  I know I am not going to die any time soon I just need my brain to believe it.  I did talk with by Best Friend and brother and they both experienced the same feels so you are not alone.  They did give me a little hope both said by a year they didn't feel that way any more.  I do believe my issues stems from my pain.  It is going away slowly and every other day a new pain pops up that is the process I have to go through until I am all better.  you are not going to die and you do not have cancer just like I don't and I am not having a heart attack  that is where my anxiety goes not to cancer but to my heart.  Just remember you are doing the best thing for your and your kids no matter how long you smoked.  you can and will do this!!!  you are not alone

[maryfreecig]

Anxiety? Yep. Yes. For sure. Ditto that. Totally. Absolutely. Don't hold a proverbial gun to your head to quit so that you can erase the shame you feel about your son catching you smoking. And don't quit for your son, if that is not your true motivation (ideal motivations have to be shed to get to a core and true motivation--in my opinion--so that you've got something to work with...something inside you).

You've got to quit because you are willing to do it for you, the rest will follow. And when you do quit your son will eventually come to believe that you are of your word because it will be seen by him in your actions not in your promises. Been there. I feel for you. Can't quit for another (unless that somehow is a true and core desire).

Your faith in cigarettes is misplaced and  really addiction talking.I understand! I did not want to quit but somehow I was willing. I missed the smokes alot. I quit cold turkey and mostly without support, now I see that support would have helped a lot, possible NRT (patch) had I understood it. Nonetheless I was willing so I made it through. 

You have a lot of choices as to how you want to approach this. That's a good thing. But to build your willingness? Look inside, look outside, look around, read, blog. Make every effort to understand that you are relying on nicotine from the smokes. It is a quiet addiction in many ways...no falling down drunk, no great high...just a quiet, always go to kick of nicotine. It's not love, it's addiction.

A trick of prequitting that you might find helpful is to write down every smoke (don't curb your smoking just be honest about where, when, why if there are additional reasons) and save all your spent cigarettes in a clear jar just for you to see.

Good to see you here. Keep coming back for support or just to share or both.

[tnjhoffman]

Thank you to EVERYONE for the support! I WILL be venting ALOT!