imjensmom

I started smoking at age 17 and continued to smoke until I was 36. Quit for 7 years after watching my father die of lung cancer. I quit using the nic patch and about lost my mind in the process. I was nuts for the first 6 months, crying, throwing up, it was just terrible. Said I would NEVER smoke again, too hard to quit. After 7 years, I started smoking again, the old "I can just do this occasionally" mindset. STUPID!!!! I was hooked again instantly. I then proceeded to smoke for the next 9 years. It got to a point where I couldn't climb stairs (bad for a person with a 2 story house) without being totally winded, had a terrible wheez at night and was coughing every morning. But I was terrified to quit again. But, I finally went to my doctor and she gave me an rx for Chantix which for me has been amazing. I took it for 9 days and still smoked.At the end of the ninth day, I smoked my last cig asking myself "why am I doing this?". Today is day 18 and I feel great, nothing like when I quit before. My cough is gone, I don't wheez and I'm walking everyday which makes me feel great and I haven't slept this good in the last five years. It's really tough to quit but so worth it! I AM NEVER, I REPEAT NEVER, going to let "nic" get it's grip on me again.