moving into month 4 and struggling help me!

[nsd_user663_3810]

:eek:

Hi im new to forums and not very good at opening up to how i feel, which is probably one of my problems.

i am moving into month 4 and still constantly battle with, not necessarily mad cravings but its constantly on my mind. I wake up and its the first thing i think of, i eat and i think of smoking i breath and think of smoking!

Will i ever get to a stage where i will stop thinking of a fag!?

i really dont want to give in, but living like this is making me so miserable!

I am taking 4mg gum-is this extending my withdrawls? should i go cold turkey?

i spoke to the pharmasist

and hes been on gum for 16years and that makes me so scared of the future of constantly thinking and chewing!

can anyone share their experiances of month 3-4 or give me some advice?

im starting to question myself and asking shall i start again and feel mentally stable!!! or keep on going and be mentally unstable!!!

[nickywalton]

hi Shabba - welcome to the forum - we're all (well mostly all) very friendly and don't bite so feel free to rant and rave to you hearts delight!! And its anonymous...so go for it!!

as for your pharmacist, he has a serious problem and I'm not sure telling you about his addiciton was terribly professional if you went to him for advice!?!:confused: I don't know if you are doing this quit with support from NHS or doing it alone but if you are worried about becoming addicted to the gum instead of cigarettes get yourself to your GP or nurse and discuss it with them...not that mad pharmacist!!

whatever you do don't smoke...it will get better but as mojo said, you need to get reading and work on your mindset - you have not given anything up, you have regained your freedom and your health... there are loads of web sites to check out and personally I would recommend Allen Carr's books...

everyone's quit is unique and individual to them - even after 9 months I still think about cigarettes pretty much every day - tho some people say they forget about them within weeks - but those thoughts are not a problem...its just one of the many things I think about in a day...

stay strong, read, talk to your doctor and talk to us...

nicky

[nsd_user663_3633]

Your pharmacist needs to work on his problem rather than advise you on yours.

As has been mentioned already, it's the mindset that makes a quit easy or difficult - no matter how you start it (NRT, Champix or something else) the only way to finish it is on your own. You can't take alternatives forever.

Have a read here, the allen carr books, whyquit.com , woofmang.com and then google for more info on smoking/quitting.

If you can educate yourself to the point where you understand your own addiction, you will already be halfway there.

I wish you all the best, and I know there is an answer for you... unfortunately, only you can find it.

[nsd_user663_3810]

thankyou for the advice

Thankyou guys for your advice, ive been out and bought the Alan Carr book this mornining and cant put it down!!!!!

I am a lecturer and 5 of my students have stopped with me and i cant, most importantly WONT let them or myself down!!

Just having some response from people who actually understand has made me feel more positive this morning-i have bought 2 mg gum instead of four-frightened of going completely cold turkey! and used a different damm pharmacist!

:rolleyes:

[Hope48]

I agree your pharmacist needs HELP! how can he give advice when hes so obviously still addicted to nicotine:eek:

the cravings will get easier,but education is the key Allen Carr's book is excellent

Onwards and upwards

[NicFirth 10 Years Smoke Free]

I used lozenges for about 10 weeks and came off them with very little drama.

If you get the right mind set i.e. quitting is gaining rather than sacrificing and smoking/nicotine does not benefit you in any way then its not that tricky. The 1st 72 hours are a bit of an endurance then in less than 2 weeks you get to how it was when you were taking NRT or at least thats how it was for me.

There are points when you would like to smoke and they continue for some time but its easy to choose not to. The key to all of it is the right mental attitude.

Your pharmacist clearly is failing to address his own addiction and while the so called "therapeutic" nicotine is not believed to be dangerous it is still controlling his life. What would happen if he ran out somewhere he could only get cigarettes not gum? It doesn't bear thinking about!

Best wishes

Nic