Hi there. I just wanted to write for some advice and support. I am 35 and have smoked for the past 15 years and have never tried to quit before. I have set my quit date for 11/12 and plan to use the nicotine lozenges. I joined a plan through my health insurance that provides coaching, etc. I guess more than anything I am scared that I will fail. This is actually a very emotional process for me because my boyfriend died of brain cancer at age 30last year, and that fueled my decision not only because he wanted me to quit, but I also realized that I have always used cigarettes to cope with negative feelings. Truthfully, I haven't even enjoyed it in awhile but still felt the need to smoke, and it's a scary feeling to feel compelled to do something you don't even want to do. I also don't know anyone who smokes except my father, so I don't really have anyone to talk to who understands how hard this is, even thinking about never having them again makes me feel sick even though I really don't enjoy them anymore. Any thoughts?
well i can tell you that i've tried all the things like patches, inhaler, gum, and none of it worked for me.
like you i found smoking was a VERY strong 'coping' mechanism. it helped me deal with some pretty negative emotions.
as a result every time i quit, anywhere between 3-10 hours in to it I would be losing my mind. i always caved.
what has worked for me this time has been chantix. it lets you quit gradually and really takes away a lot of the withdrawal. its still not easy, but it is doable. i've been smoke free for 4 days now (which is a miracle for me).
im on day 4 of my quit and for some reason today a TON of negative emotions just sprang up. and i mean a ton. i was sooo angry, and sad at the same time - and im usually neither. i was so tempted to get a smoke but didn't. the chantix has removed the cravings, but i realize theres nothing it can do about underlying emotions - i've got to just deal with them.
i smoked for 14 years, so i've got 14 years of blunted emotions over various life events that i now have to deal with. and i will - without cigarettes!
I just want to let you know that even though this is your first time quitting, you can succeed. We always hear that it can take about 6 or 7 times before a quit sticks. This is bunk. The only reason that it takes more than one time, is that people don't understand the law of addiction.
You cannot relapse if you never take another puff and the best way to do that, it to remove the desire to smoke. The best way is to understand how smoking created lies that gave us the illusion that we smoked because we wanted to.
The reason why you're having conflicted feelings about quitting smoking is because you still believe in the cigarette. This is really the biggest obstacle that a person must overcome.
When you used cigarettes to deal with you negative emotions, understand that smoking didn't help you. Cigarettes created a compounded problem when you experienced negative emotions. That problem is it caused a physioligical reaction that put you into the first stages of nicotine withdrawal. By smoking a cigarette, you "feel better", but the reason you felt worse was BECAUSE of the cigarette.
The problem is, we have performed this stress releiving ritual for so long. The line gets blurred between relieving stress and negative emotions and relieving withdrawal.
Smoking does not relieve stress. It creates stress. It puts the same strain on your heart as if you weighed an additional 75 to 100 pounds.
The whole business of smoking is relieving the anxiety that the previous cigarette created.
This is why you feel compelled to do something that you don't really want to.
I can tell you, that quitting smoking is the best thing I ever did. Don't believe in the cigarette. I put up a post with the same title that shows some of the lies that cigarettes created. Take away the undue credit that you have given cigarettes and it can help make quitting much easier.
first I'd like to say how sorry I am about your boyfirend but what a touching way to honor his memory. With that being said you'll find an amazing amount of support here. The hardest part of it all is the mind/emotional withdrawal once you have that licked it's a breeze. You'll be wondering why you waited so long to do it.You will find that you do go through a sort of mourning the loss of the smokes but that passes as well. I smoked since I was 13 I'm 39 now and I quit cold turkey almost 17 months ago. My best advice is to do it cold turkey, the withdrawals are a bear but it also reminds you why you don't want to have a slip up and go through that again. I found that the candy called root beer barrels really helped me, lots of water, lots of cleaning.
That's all I can think of for now but I'll definately check back and give what ever advice I can. Before you start you MUST want it more than anything but you also you MUST KNOW you CAN DO IT.
Hi Heather. I am going to use the commit lozenges. I joined a program through my health insurance program that pays for just about everything, and I have a quit coach as well. When going through all of the options and reading this board, it seemed like the lozenge had the least amount of side effects. My supply just came in the mail, and this coming week I am supposed to practice diversions to see which ones work best for me until my actual quit date. Fortunately, if they don't work for me, I can still get something else covered by my insurance. I'm very optimistic though, I've been finding over the last week that I am able to tell myself that I just don't want cigarettes and have been able to cut down some. Still scared i'll blow it once quit date comes though...
When I was toying with the idea of trying to quit again I started smoking cigs that were supposedly light, ultra light etc. I didn't plan a day I woke shortly after one morning and said to myself let's see how far I can go with this not smoking thing. That was almost 17 mnths ago. Cold Turkey was hell on earth but I didn't have to also withdrawal from any nicotine replacement products. The withdrawal cold turkey for me lasted about a week and it was awful I felt like I was hit by truck and it backed up a few times to get it just right but it also serves me as a MAJOR reminder of why I don't EVER want to go through that again. I know I succeeded in accomplishing an amazing thing I kicked it with sheer will power and I rock. DO any thing and everything to quit it's worth it.
