Wasnt feeling well ,feel ready to quit today.
Wasnt feeling well ,feel ready to quit today.
Go for it! And welcome back!
There are a lot of us here who quit during a sickness. It does seem to be a great motivator to begin a quit. And I think it makes the first few days a wee bit easier to get through.
Quitting today too traceylyn. Hope you are feeling better. There's no doubt that you (and me) will feel better after quitting smoking.
-Michelle
Why wait?
Welcome back...do all of the reading, stay close to the site and know that we all want you to succeed. Every ONE of us...we have all been where you are and we all understand.
Best,
Ellen
Hello! Good for you♥ Take that as your body telling you that it's time to quit. We're here for y
ou.
How are you doing today? Are you feeling any better? Hope so, although I will admit that I would get sick and then better and it was when I got better that my quit was more challenging. No problem anymore, once you have COPD, you don't GET better...but you sure do get reminded of why you are short of breath. I know lots of people with COPD who still smoke...hey I had it before I quit, it just took a giant leap forward and that was that.
Stay close to the site, it really helps. I was here every morning and every evening when I first quit and then I would check in during the day if I needed to. EX became my new addiction but it was and it IS a good one.
Ellen
Welcome back to our community!
I see you have joined us here in the past. Glad to see you back! Today is as good a day as any to quit smoking! GO for it! THIS time, I hope you will do some reading so you understand your addiction and can make better choices in your life going forward. It seems from reading your past blogs that you haven't made the best ones as far as your quit is concerned. It needs to be your #1 priority - and anything that might interfere with that must be avoided! Educating yourself now is a good first step. These make great crave busters!
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. You can search for it online or at your local library.
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.
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 in a place different from when you smoked. Maybe switch to tea for a bit. 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. Keep a cold bottle of water with you from which to sip. 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-instead-of-smoke
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