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Use the time while you wait to do some reading, planning and preparing! You can set your date after you get the NRT's and get yourself ready. The better you prepare, the greater your chances of success
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-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
You quit when you're ready to quit. You get to choose because you're in control of it. Lots of people choose a date a couple weeks out in order to read up and plan, but you don't have to. You can use up what you've got and just don't buy any more.
You can use this time to figure out what is scaring you so badly. Might I suggest it's because you don't know how to live without them? Because that's pretty common among us, and it's a real thing. We can help with that.
When I decided to quit--well, that was my quit date so to speak. But from that date, I had my last cigarette about 2.5 weeks later--I had no specific date in mind, just knew that a carton would be enough--that I'd use the time to plot my path out. I was scared too--and addicted. The greatest influence on me to quit relatively soon, once I'd made the decision, was my home state's quit site that said a quit date should not be so far out that you lose interest (so easy for us addicts!). Quitting, no matter how you do it or how you get to it is the best treatment for nicotine addiction. One day at a time is the way to do it. Bottom line, you have it in you to accomplish your goal to quit.
Welcome to Ex! We are here for you 365.
Hello and Welcome to Ex’s jodimoorewv
We are here for you...keep close to the support for any help...For me quitting came when I prepared for my quit date...I cut down for along time...sometimes not even smoking for a couple of days...then I set a date, but quit before it...I found I was so ready...and so tired of being an addict...Welcome to Day 1....make it Day Won...keep us posted on you...~ Colleen 325 DOF ~
Welcome to the Ex. That's up to you. Some folks just say that's it and other's need time to prepare like I did. I smoked for 50 years and I'm 1.5 years smoke free--so you can do it. You can overcome the fear by realizing it's one day at a time. Don't think about this as a life long sentence. I overcame the fear when I realized it was a choice and if I wanted to smoke tomorrow I could. But tomorrow becomes the new one day at time. That's perfect. While you're waiting for your NRT, educate yourself about nicotine addiction by reading on this site and create quit plan. My EX Plan | BecomeAnEX The more knowledge that you have and the more prepared you are leads to success. Having the support of a group of new and old quitters really makes this possible. There are people here to share what they've experienced and others experiencing it with you. We're here to support you on your journey. Just reach out if you need help. We want to celebrate your success with you!
Barb
You have gotten some of the best advice I have ever seen already. I can tell you that I smoked for 47 years, I DID quit for pregnancies but the smell of smoke made me vomit when I was pregnant. I have been quit now for over 5 1/2 years thanks to this site and the amazing support I got here. I had many failed quits in the past but I did not have EX...I also really did not understand what a powerful addiction nicotine was, with support and education as well as my own commitment not to smoke, no matter what, I have gotten here. Unfortunately, I did not walk away unscathed, I have COPD and I live with the issues from that every single hour of every single day. I would not wish this on ANYONE. I am short of breath, overwhelmingly fatigued, and it just keeps progressing. I had both upper lobes of my lungs surgically removed in 2015 to help me stop trapping air, it did help for a while but the best possible outcome was a better quality of life for 3-5 years. It's been almost 4 and I am no doubt feeling it wearing off. You are so young and you have kids who care about you. I would give anything to be able to have more time with my three kids. I stole time from them to smoke and now I am going to steal time from them because I won't live as long as I could have. You can do this, it is worth every single issue you face because you grow stronger and more confident.
Welcome to EX,
Ellen
You’ve come to right place.
listen to the comments above.
stay close to this site.
read read read posts here.
This site will help you resolve and decide to quit and stay quit.
Exvape
Almost 28 days of nicotine freedom
I didn't set a quit date until I knew I was ready.
How did I know?
For 4 weeks, I simply told myself "I'm going to wait a little longer," every time I thought of smoking.
I never counted how many I was smoking a day or denied myself a smoke so a never built up any fear of quitting.
After 4 weeks, I realized I had gone from a pack a day to 5 a day. (I was only buying a pack every 4 days)
By doing this, I had proven to myself that I didn't need to smoke just because I'd thought of smoking.
I set my quit date when I put the money on the counter for my last pack.
It may take you 3 weeks or 5 weeks. It's not the weeks. It's the belief in yourself to quit you are growing.
Try it, it's guaranteed to work.
It was better for me to set a quit day. Even though it was two days later. I think it is was good for me to set a target date. Even if you set a date nothing is set in stone. It is up to you to decide. Setting a date created a mental stage in my mind that I was going to do "something". I believe if you plan and prepare to educate yourself about nicotine addiction you will be better off, in the long run, It is more important to focus on educating yourself than on an actual day. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main which is that you quit. Period. No matter what day it is. Nicotine Addiction 101.
jodimoorewv
Welcome and congrats on wanting to quit.
You choose your quit date. Get started by reading info on My EX Plan | BecomeAnEX
Did you contact 800-QUIT-NOW for patches and lozenges? We don't send them to members here unless they're sponsored by their/their spouse's employer or health plan provider.
Mark
EX Community Manager