Somebody tell me the worst part is over

[CA-35]

At 20 minutes after quitting:
Blood pressure decreases
Pulse rate drops
Between 2 weeks and 3 months:
Circulation improves
Walking becomes easier
Lung function increases
Between 1 to 9 months smoke-free:
Starting as early as a month after you quit smoking, and continuing for the next several months, you may notice significant improvements in these areas:
coughing
sinus congestion
fatigue
shortness of breath
At One Year Smoke-Free:
Your excess risk of coronary heart disease is decreased to half that of a smoker after one year.
At 5 years smoke-free:
from 5 to 15 years after quitting tobacco, stroke risk is reduced to that of people who have never smoked.

You are already reaping the benefits!!! Stay strong!!

 

[dreadnut]

And remember: one is too many, a thousand aren't enough.

 

[Default]

Honestly, two pages?

The worst part is over.

Gotta do everything myself around here, grumble, grumble, grumble.

 

[tjmangum]

Another effective tool, to remind yourself of the many reasons you are quitting, it a software tool that keeps track of how much money you are saving and the milestones you've set since quitting.
Here's an example of a free one I just found, http://windows9download.net/other/quit- ... 50801.html
Keep up the great job Tony!
T

 

[TonyT]

Thanks everybody. So far so good.

 

[guitarjamman]

It sucks, big time......I am my 2nd month of quitting cigarettes after a very weak moment. I was 8 months strong and made the mistake of thinking just one with an old time buddy won't hurt a thing. I quit cigarettes damn it, having just one won't put me back into addiction. Oops.

The first couple months are the worst...re-learning how to drink your coffee without a cigarette. Coming to terms with the fact that the hour car ride to and from work will have to be filled with a new activity.

After a few months of battling cravings, your body begins to take on the new habits you are forging and lightens up a little....finally the end is in sight. For me, about five months without a cigarette was when the cravings were gone. I no longer thought about them anymore. I could look at someone smoking a cigarette and not have the desire to "bum" one off them - remembering all the progress I had made and feeling good about myself.

During the first few months, the one thing that got me through the cravings were to pretend I was smoking. Imagine a cigarette inbetween your fingers and pretend take a few drags to get through the 30 seconds of the craving. Once the desire for a cig. goes away, pat yourself on the back for not driving to the nearest convenience store and caving in.

Good Luck Tony...this is literally the best investment in yourself you could ever make.

 

[rampside]

Here's what worked for me. The very next day after I decided to quit, I exposed myself to the very biggest challenge I possibly could have. I went on a fishing trip with my buddies. A couple of the guys smoked and there was quite a bit of beer drinking going on too. After I made it through that?? I was convinced. Haven't touched a cigarette since and that's been 39 years.

I'm pulling for ya and I know, you'll definitely be glad you did.

Terry

 

[Brad Little]

I think it varies from person to person. I remember an old playing partner who hadn't smoked in 10 years who told me he still had a craving and knew if he tried even one cigarette he'd be back to a pack a day in no time. I quit about 30 years ago and it took me about two weeks to get over the craving. Regardless, good luck. Quitting was one of the best things I ever did.
Brad

 

[Los Angeles]

I mentioned this before, but I'm serious about this. Go see a hypnotist.

The desire and will to quit is in your logical thinking mind. The crazy cravings are coming from your subconscious mind. These two are not getting along and it's torture.

Hyponitists don't put you in a Zombie trance and tell you to kill a congressman. It's not like that. You never lose control or awareness when you are under hypnosis. You are just relaxed, and in the relaxed state, you listen 1000 times better. Information sinks in. The moment the hypnotist says something you don't agree with, you are aware of it (in my case, she said "Nieces and nephews" and I corrected her: "I only have two nephews, no nieces".)

They start out with an interview. They ask you a bunch of questions about your motivations for quitting, etc and then they put you in a relaxed state and basically repeat to you what you already told them. But now, your subconscious mind is hearing it for maybe the first time.

Once your subconscious mind and your logical mind are on the same page, it is way WAY easier to quit.

I had tried everything. The Patch. Gum. 2 weeks of camping. Ostracized my friends, stopped going out to eat. Everything.

Hyponotism worked wonders for me.

 

[gjmalcyon]

I remember an old playing partner who hadn't smoked in 10 years who told me he still had a craving and knew if he tried even one cigarette he'd be back to a pack a day in no time. Brad

That was me, too. When I finally understood that (on my fifth attempt to quit), I was finally able to make it stick. That was 23 years ago, when I realized I couldn't tell my then-little kids "don't smoke, its bad for you" as I went out the door to have a cigarette.

I'm pretty sure I could start right back up, no problem.

So it is one day at a time, even 23 years later.

 

[killdeer43]

All this talk about quitting makes me want to ask, why did you (anyone can answer) start in the first place? :?

Just curious, as usual,
Joe

 

[charliea]

Why start? I'll give you some background. My mother smoked Marlboros, including through pregnancy, of course (everybody did back then). My father always had one in his mouth. I was born addicted to tobacco. My house was always full of smoke. Everybody smoked. All adults smoked, it seemed. All of Hollywood smoked. When I was 11 I scored my first pack with some buddies. They got sick, I fell in love. I smoked all I could get away with (bought them in machines, smoked in the movies) until I went away to school at 18. From then on, I smoked continually. Guys would ask how much I smoked, I'd ask "well, how long a day will it be?" I finally quit at age 61. Hard? Unless you've been in those shoes, you can't imagine how hard it was to quit, but quit I did and believe me, if I could anybody can. Tony, you can do it but my experience is that the worst has a ways to go yet. It's been a few years but I still want one from time to time, just can't do it to myself. The thought of quitting again is too terrifying.

Charlie

 

[dreadnut]

I had almost exactly the same experience Charlie; parents smoking in the house, in the car, ashtrays everywhere but I rarely smoked any of theirs because they smoked such nasty brands - my mom smoked Salems and dad smoked Kents. Yuck. I remember going to the grocery store with mom, and the last aisle was the "cigarrette aisle." A whole aisle of cartons of cigarrettes, mom would toss in a couple of cartons before checking out.

I feel like I was born addicted as well, or shortly thereafter, just from ingesting all that second-hand smoke.

I started smoking largely to be cool and grown up. I was smoking pretty regularly by age 14, probably up to a pack of Marlboro reds a day by age 16 or so. Went in the Navy, when I first went to sea the smokes were $1.10 a carton - you couldn't afford not to smoke at those prices. :lol:

At my peak I was probably smoking 2 1/2 packs a day.

I quit when I was 42, had my last one when I tossed it out the car window on the way the hospital; thought I was having a heart attack. Of course, I drove myself there...

I wasn't having a heart attack but found I did need bypass surgery. That process cured me of wanting to smoke any more, haven't had one since, don't ever crave them, frankly cigarrette smoke makes me sick now. Fortunately, Michigan passed a "No smoking in any public facilities including restaurants and bars" law a few years ago, so we don't have to inhale secondhand smoke very much any more.

 

[taabru45]

Good job Charlie, good encouragement too....like I've said before.."what you feed grows" pay attention to where you want to be, like flowers smell better, food tastes better, you don't run our of breadth after climbing a couple flights of stairs, guy might even buy a new bike etc.... So much more too pay attention to..... And you don't have to run to the store so you have something to put in your mouth and set it on fire. :wink: Steffan

 

[TonyT]

I quit another time for 44 days. On the 45th day, I was driving home from work one night and was shocked to realize that I was smoking. I saw on the seat next to me a new pack and a receipt. I had pulled into a gas station and bought a pack, lit one up, and started for home. I had no memory of doing any of that.

When I started this thread, it had been one week and had been easy as pie. The next 2 days had me climbing the walls. Today was back to easy.

It's a bitch,girl. But it's gone too far.

PS. You guys really have helped.

 

[taabru45]

Like waking up one day realizing you don't have to think about making an F chord. :lol: Steffan

 

[southernGuild]

:wink: Well said Charlie, and Dread.
My neighborhood was full of such houses. I remember walking into many smoke filled rooms whilst visiting friends.
My Dad smoked Cigars....chaep one ( King Edward, Murial Coronas..I still have the boxes, housing my football, baseball cards, "whacky packages" and odd other collections) ..as a way to ween him off cigarettes. He easily went through a box a week.Smoking was everywhere. It was the norm.
Somehow I managed to escape it all........But, if I had taken it up, noone would have really noticed.

 

[southernGuild]

Like waking up one day realizing you don't have to think about making an F chord. :lol: Steffan

THAT was a very good day.

 

[dreadnut]

I also find strength in the fact that my money isn't going to support those b*st*rds at the tobacco companies anymore. A little righteous indignation goes a long way!

 

[tjmangum]

I also find strength in the fact that my money isn't going to support those b*st*rds at the tobacco companies anymore. A little righteous indignation goes a long way!

Tell it like it is brother! Amen
A lot of times I had to think, "Who is stronger? Me or this little piece of dried leafs and paper?"