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Give and get support around quitting

Cat863
Member

Day 1

Day one isn't so bad, how ever I can't seem to get passed day 4   i plan to sleep most of today and tomorrow away. After that I have to pull it together and do somthing with my life as a none smoker. Im just going to take it one hr at a time and hope for the best while i eat my mintz which are very helpful by the way lol. 

Good luck everyone

0 Kudos
4 Replies
Sandy-9-17-17
Member

Welcome to EX!  Day one, is day WON for you!  Congrats!  You may find you don't have a ton of energy as the days go by, but it won't last forever!  You will mourn the loss of cigarettes, and this is normal!  Let it happen!   

Let us know if you need any support as we will be here for you!  You have made a great decision to better your health by letting go of this addiction!   You will need to find all the necessary tools that will work for your quit to be successful!  You can do this!   I'm gonna say you look so young, and there is no better time to quit than now vs. later!   I was plagued with this addiction for 43 years, and when they told me spots on lungs, I did a quick turn around, and have nipped it in the bud!

I am free, and you can be to.  Hope to see you around Cat863‌ lots and lots!   

YoungAtHeart
Member

Welcome to our community!

Congratulations on your decision to quit smoking and what I assume is now Day WON in the books!  Instead of sleeping, might I suggest some reading materials to inform your quit.  As you will learn, luck has nothing to do with quitting smoking.  Education, and commitment are KEY.  We can help with all but the commitment!

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. Here's a link to a video here on the site which describes nicotine addiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpWMgPHn0Lo&feature=youtu.be.

 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-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

elvan
Member

Welcome to EX, you have gotten great advice from YoungAtHeart‌.  Quitting is not an event, it is a journey and it is one day at a time, sometimes one event at a time.  You CAN do this,  education and commitment are keys and you will have all the support you can imagine here.  Stay close and let us know if there is anything we can do to help.  You will get past day four...and beyond.  Keep saying NOPE, Not One Puff Ever and MEAN it.  Smoking does nothing FOR us, only TO us.

Ellen

diamond01
Member

you can do this, it is one hour at a time just keep your mind busy it will play tricks on you, I am on day 4, every morning mine says go buy a pack, lol we got this.Helen.