My reasons.. once again

[nsd_user663_2190]

I've tried to quit so many times and for the past year after yet another failed attempt I've had quite a few feeble attempts and have felt like a big loser. This time I'm determined. What makes this time special? Well I went to my local chemist today and spoke to the very nice chemist and she listened patiently while I told her about my previous attempts and suggested a course of treatment based on that. I'll try to keep my reasons brief but I'm on day 1 and just had my supper so I'm needing to keep my fingers busy

My reasons:

1. I'm 24 and I feel about 50. No energy.. no motivation, and from previous quits I learned that after a few days of quitting, energy levels increase and I am a human machineeeee.

2. After visiting a spe******t (for other things) she has said that I need to get my weight down not a nice thing to hear. Smoking supposedly decreases appetite but hell it has never worked for me. Lack of exercise, stamina and energy has got me to this point and I know the culprit.

3. Cancer is a frightening thing.

4. I started smoking at 12. I have now smoked for half of my life. What a waste of life.

So today I slapped on my first nicotine patch and so far so good. No tantrums, no serious craves and I'm feeling happy (maybe due to the 21mg of nicotine coursing through my body :S). This is my first time using patches and I also have some microtabs in case of uncontrollable craves. I've gone cold turkey many times and usually what happens is I end up crying and laughing at the same time as my hormones go crazy. So.. wish me luck and hopefully with my new pal the patch I can get free of the evil weed!

Best of luck to everyone,

Harley

[nsd_user663_4754]

good luck harley.

sounds like you got the right mind set and the right set of NRT tools to do it.

hope it goes well. I'm on my first day of no ciggies at all as well. Been cutting down drastically since sunday till last night and im nearly 1 day in!

good luck - have you chucked all your smokes out? i have found it way easier knowing they are in the landfill site by now and not taunting me from a "safe" place!

[nsd_user663_2190]

Yep they're all gone One thing that troubled me about NRT is that there are a lot of sites out there that don't approve of it. They say that to properly quit you have to just go cold turkey, and I believed that but for the past few weeks I've been thinking that although those methods have worked for millions of people it doesn't mean that it'll work for me. I tried the Alan Carr method and also the Never Take Another Puff site and all that ended up happening was me almost taking a nervous break down :S So I've decided that those folk are creating some kind of elite club and it's just snobbery. So bugger it the patch has helped me today and it'll probably help me tomorrow and that's not to say that cold-turkey doesn't work cos I know it does but it just doesn't suit me. I'm blabbering again, got so many things on my mind that my fingers can't keep up. How are you stopping?

[nsd_user663_4754]

im on champix this time but to be honest the patches helped me to get to longest quit ive done. I think they all ultimately do the same thing. Make the nictoine withdrawal symptoms more easy to handle whilst you try and break the habit. I think that for me my addiction is all psyhchological. For me its all about the habit.

The allan carr method was totally useless for me as it centers around trying to shock you into realising that you are a drug addict. That didnt really work seeing as i was about 23 when i read it and was having the time of my life doing all the drugs i could get my hands on, so were my mates and none of our lives were the least bit problematic. We weren't addicted to anything but we did think that drugs were cool so it didnt have the shock value that it may have had on my grandma or something. Anyway those days are long behind me and the bit that im realising from it now is that I am an addict, a nicotine addict and i dont want to be addicted to anything anymore.

the point is for me is that Nicotine additction and smoking doesnt have any dramatic instant effects like a crack or heroin habit but it gets you over time. Slowly degrades your health, motivation and life in general until one day you just sit there on your own thinking, why the hell don't I have the strength and confidence to sort my degraded life out? and its smoking that has to go for us to be able to do this i think. To be honest i think the biggest change to my health and my wealth is going to be the cut in alchohol that i'm going to see. when ever i give up smoking i drink way way less. which is great.

i'm blabbering as well! lol

helps to get it all out though im finding - sharing with others helps to reinforce it in my own mind. And when your feeling weak you can re-read and get the strengthened resolve you need.

[nsd_user663_3728]

Hi Harley

Welcome to the forum and well done on the decision to quit possibly one of the most important you will ever make and you will be losing nothing but you will regain control of your life and that has to be good

You will find all the help and support you need on here as we all help each other just like a family we are here for you every step of the way cheering the good days and sympathiseing with the bad but the good far outweigh the bad

Read the posts on here you will find a lot of tips and advice and in the signatures of a lot you will find links to other sites just click on them Here are 2 I find very good to start you off whyquit.com and woofmang.com Read, read and then read some more as the more you read and learn about why you smoked and about your addiction the easier your quit will be

I know you've probably read/seen this or something like it but it may help you

You have some compelling reasons there for sure

I really don't think it matters what you use as an aid to stopping, we're all different after all and what suits one doesn't suit us all OK

The only thing that matters is stopping and staying stopped

Post often to let us know how you're doing, to rant, rave have a moan whatever you like pretty much anything goes on here OK

Best Wishes

Marg xxxxxxxx

[nsd_user663_2190]

Thanks for the words of encouragement It's half past midnight now so I guess I'm technically into day 2! Am just wondering whether I should take my patch off before going to bed, after all I didn't smoke while I slept but then will craves be nasty tomorrow morning.. hmmm. Think I'll take it off and slap on a fresh one in the morning. Night night everyone, see you tomorrow!

[nsd_user663_4196]

Hi Harlequine, and first congratulations on your quit, this will prove to be the best decision you have ever made!

I did use patches at the start of my quit, i had the 21mg and although my smoking adviser told me to wear it during the night, i didnt as like you say we didnt smoke whilst asleep. I didnt have any problems with sleep or dreams and just popped the patch on when i got up in the morning, i did however change my routine and that helped to get through the morning thoughts of wanting a cig. hope this helps, and keep going you are doing fantastic, x

tracy21

[nsd_user663_2190]

Updating My Reasons

1. I'm 24 and I feel about 50. No energy.. no motivation, and from previous quits I learned that after a few days of quitting, energy levels increase and I am a human machineeeee.

2. After visiting a spe******t (for other things) she has said that I need to get my weight down not a nice thing to hear. Smoking supposedly decreases appetite but hell it has never worked for me. Lack of exercise, stamina and energy has got me to this point and I know the culprit. I can't run and any exercise is difficult because I can't breathe.

3. Smoking related diseases. My Nana has emphezema. I don't want to end up fighting for every breath. Cancer is a frightening thing.

4. I started smoking at 12. I have now smoked for half of my life. What a waste of life.

5. Smoking affects my work and homelife and makes it more stressful than it needs to be.

6. Smoking holds me back socially and at work. I have worked in the health care industry and previously did not apply for certain jobs since they have a complete ban on smoking in those work places meaning I couldn't smoke for eight hours and I just couldn't manage that.

7. Whenever I had a cigarette I could feel the nasty effect on my lungs and stomach. Previously had problems with my stomach including gastritis due to smoking.