Kmarie82 Welcome to EX...WOW, a pharmaceutical rep for asthma and COPD meds...hey, I was an RN for 25 years and took care of many patients who were suffering from the consequences of smoking and yet I kept smoking. I didn't even HIDE it...I just smoked wherever and whenever I could...NOW, I am paying for it, paying BIG TIME. I have COPD, I am always short of breath and I am always tired. I am on oxygen at night only...I had both upper lobes of my lungs surgically removed a year and ten months after I quit. I had to have been quit for at least a year to be eligible for the surgery. They stressed repeatedly that it is not a cure and that the best possible outcome would be a better quality of life for 3-5 years. It has been almost three. I definitely felt better earlier on than I do now, the disease progresses...much more slowly than if I still smoked and did not go to great extents to take care of myself by exercising regularly and eating a healthier diet. I shudder to think where I would be or IF I would be had I continued to smoke. You need to learn everything you can about this addiction, it IS an addiction...remember that. YoungAtHeart does a beautiful welcome and I am sure she will welcome you here...I know she will tell you to get all of the education you can, she will tell you to make a plan..have alternative things PLANNED to do instead of smoking when triggers occur...triggers are always going to occur. They will get weaker and less frequent when you stop responding to them by fighting them or feeling like you are about to lose your mind. The trigger after a conference call is a reward cigarette and it is a hard one to get over but we do it, one day at a time, sometimes one crave at a time. You can reward yourself with a wonderful Latte' or a piece of candy, a tall glass of very cold water. Only you know what you would consider to be a real reward. I ate a lot of Sour Patch Kids because they were so sour that they reset my mind for at least a while..some days I apparently had more craves than others and my poor tongue and the roof of my mouth would be really sore...then I would remember why. I kept frozen cherries and blueberries around in a little dish with a spoon available so I could snack on something a bit healthier. I took LOTS AND LOTS of deep breaths...I still do. Deep breath IN, hold it and then exhale very slowly through your mouth through pursed lips almost like when you smoked. I practice that breathing by blowing bubbles...recommended by my respiratory therapist to teach me to control my breathing and not exhale too quickly. You can't make bubbles if you blow out too fast or too hard. You already know about the reward cigarette and the beer...it is strongly recommended that you avoid alcohol at the beginning of a quit...alcohol is a known quit killer. I have lost quits to alcohol and so have many people here. You CAN do this...stay close to the site, read as many blogs as you can, read comments, comment yourself like you just did on this blog, see what is working for others. Education, support, and commitment are your best friends and you can get the first two here...you need to bring the commitment.
Welcome and do reach out if you need help...my mantra when I started was NOPE, Not One Puff Ever. It was simple and I could just say it to myself or softly or out loud and I was reminded of the journey I was on and WHY. I did not want to keep feeding this addiction and making my COPD worse. I wanted to take control of my life, you can too.
Ellen
