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Give and get support around quitting

swinns
Member

Need to quit

Need to quit. Help!!

21 Replies
TriGirl
Member

You have come to the right place! I'm new but have 20 days smoke free under my belt thanks to the support of the elders in this community. You're going to get a lot of information from them soon. Read everything they tell you to. In this particular battle, knowledge is power. The first thing they are going to tell you to read is The Easyway to Quit Smoking by Allen Carr. That book changed my thinking and this group keeps me in that mindset. 20 days and I like my life so much better already! 

swinns
Member

Thank you so much! Look forward to reading the material. My stop date was today but I did not succeed. I don’t smoke during working hours 8a-4p. It’s after I get home from work. It’s the routine of getting off work and hitting my back porch right away. So, my question is, is it an addiction or habit? Is there a difference. I leave my cigarettes at home on purpose during work ours and I’m very busy during work. It’s when I get home.

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TriGirl
Member

Holy crow! You're just like me! I didn't smoke all day when I was around people. 4ish I would head home and straight out to the backyard. I also wore a jacket no matter the weather, a hat and a glove on my hand so I wouldn't smell or get yellow. Ridiculous. The whole thing. I would never do it in front of anyone! I'm a teacher AND a fitness instructor! What if it got out!?! I thought if people knew, I would lose all credibility. I felt like a phony and a flake. I'm so happy I'm a proud non-smoker now and deserve the respect of the people who look up to me every day.

It's definitely an addiction as you will learn but it's also become a habit. So... the trick is understanding the addiction, then breaking the habit. Do the homework and set a quit date in the near future. If you're reading the book, you're really not supposed to quit till you get to the end!!

Barbscloud
Member

Welcome to the Ex.   Have you picked a quit date yet?  The important thing is to educate yourself about this addiction and prepare for your quit.   It's the key to success.   I'm sure YoungAtHeart‌ will be sending your information for new quitters.  But there's plenty of information on this site for you to be successful.   We're here to assist you.  Just reach out if you need help.

Barb

swinns
Member

Thank you!

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YoungAtHeart
Member

Welcome to our community!

(Thanks for the heads up, Barbscloud )

The 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. If you do nothing else to get ready for your quit, please do give this a 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, quitsmoking.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. Here is a video to inform you further about nicotine addiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpWMgPHn0Lo&feature=youtu.be.

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 after you have tried to delay and distract.   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.  You need to start out with a plan to reduce use of them over time - which the patch does by decreasing the dose contained in them..  For the gum, you can start by cutting each piece in half, then in quarters, then sub regular gum of the same flavor in between, adding more and more regular gum.  For the lozenge, you need to start subbing a mint in between to begin, increasing the number of them over time.  I do not recommend the e-cigarette for four 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,  3) the batteries can spontaneously catch on fire and 4) you can become addicted to that and it has not yet been proven safe .
 

It will be informative if you do the tracking and separation exercises recommended here on the site. As you track each cigarette smoked, note its importance, and what you might do instead. Put each one off just a little to prove that you don't NEED a cigarette just because you think you do.
 

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

Barbscloud
Member

Thank you.   Some of these new folks get lost in the games!

Barb

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swinns
Member

Thank you!

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swinns
Member

Thank you so much for the great tips. Will start right away using them.

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