well, as the title suggests, im a new quitter. im actually on day 2, and apart from the odd electric ciggie puff, i've decided to go cold turkey.
Im 37, and have smoked 20-30 for the past 20 years.
Apart from all the health benefits that come with giving up smoking, my main reason this time was actually money. Not that I can't afford it, but working out what I spend on smoking/month, if it was a utility, i'd be looking to cancel.
You see, i can't have a fag without a drink either, not alcholic, although thats nice, Tea, orange juice, Red Bull, whatever, I just can't smoke without a drink, so imagine the extra cost when your up London working, and you have to buy a can of Red Bull, or a carton of orange just to have your fag with.
I calculated that I was probably spending £10 minimum a day on smoking (B&H Gold being my brand). Thats a lot of money. Add on my wifes 10/day habit, and were talking nearly £400/month going out the house on fags alone. Thats just crazy.
So, brought these electric ciggies a month or so ago, having tried in the past all the patches, gums, hyponsis etc, and gave it a futile attempt as always, but this Monday, after having my last Sunday night fag ever for the umpteemth time in my life, I just remembered something that I heard when I was working in the USA on a cruise ship.
About 7 years ago, im working on a cruise ship doing alcohol testing, and this guy is looking at the various shots on the table, so I say to him "would you like to try one sir?". He says to me "Son, I would love to try one, but im an alcholic, and if I tried one, i'd drink your whole table".
This got me thinking, and after reading a few web pages confirming my suspicions, I've had to admit what i've always known, that I am a addict and I have an addiction problem with ciggerettes.
I have to have a fag every hour, and although we've banned it from the car and the house, I will go outside or stop the car in whatever weather just to have my fix. If I run out of fags at 8.00am or midnight, it does not matter, I will stop whatever im doing, and head to the local BP Garage to buy my 20 B&H Gold. If were about to get in the car for a long journey, we will have our ciggie before we leave. If were about to arrive at the airport, we will cram in as many ciggies as we can before we have to go through customs. Etc Etc.
Also, in the past two years, i've noticed that my hair is getting thiner, my
skin is looking older, Im always tired, my mind is always "fuzzy", I always feel lethargic, I can't be bothered to think about anything hard, Im starting to feel weaker all the time.
So anyway, im on day 2, and day 1 was quite easy, day 2 is a bit harder, the main part is what to do instead of them little trips to the garden for a ciggie. But if I do feel weak, I just think about what that bloke said to me, and I feel strong again. Unfortunately, I will never be strong enough to just have the one fag then back to normal, same as that guy with his alcohol.
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Well done Amsie and Drewy , on 2 days not smoking , i joined this group for help and support and ive had both im now on day 9 which is a miracle for me look forward to your posts
Welcome here, and good luck for your journey ahead whatever is brings to you. We'd be kidding ourselves if we thought we could continue the habit and the sooner we come to realise it the better.
As someone said to me before i quit...'above everything else, you've got to want to', and well, i sure did want to quit, and now after much perseverence, and i won't like.. the odd really shakey day too, i'm now in my fourth week and looking at getting to saturday more than i'm hoping to get through the day today. I realised it today, but i seem to have lost track of how many days into the week i am now, where on week 1 i was probably counting the hours and each day as a separate acheivement... so i guess i'm now just looking at weekly milestones now which i like alot.
So stick with it, week 1 for many is the real challenge, but not impossible by any means, keep yourself as positive as you can and when you want to post on the forums here, go right ahead. Its great to see new faces and it will be even better wishing you well as you progress with quitting them .. uhm,.. you know whats.
below is my standard welcome and advice post which i try ans send all new members
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
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
Fantastic decision - best one you will ever make! We are all here for the same reason, so do feel free to share. I also found that typing helped keep my hands busy during those early days!
So far i've not had any real problems, expect when I finished my dinner earlier, my mind went to a cup of tea and a fag without thinking about it.
They say apparently that giving up smoking is 1/100th the pain of someone giving up Heroin, so if this is the worst that I have to go through, then I thank my lucky stars that im a nicotine addict and not heroin.
Although I feel a bit tired, I definately feel a lot more clear headed than normal, and overall feeling great!
Sounds like you've had a bit of an epiphany, same thing happened to me and that made this quit quite different from my many previous ones.
Understanding nicotine addiction and what to expect while quitting will help, the links in my signature are required reading. Woofmang is great for inspiration, whyquit is great for information (but also scary) and the other 2 are free online quit smoking programmes which are worth browsing through even if you don't follow them.
Above all the thing that helped me as regarding quitting as a positive thing regaining control and health rather than seeing it as depriving myself and having sacrificed some great pleasure.
Thanks Nic. Im reading through one of them sites already, especially the scary stuff, thats just reinforcing that i've made the right decision, especially with two young children to stay alive for.
As im reading some of this stuff, im thinking thank god I started my quit yesterday, and im not puffing on that crap.
I only hope that I don't have a relapse, and its like alcholics who can never ever have another drink, were exactly the same really, I know I can never have a single smoke again.
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Day 5- New Years Quitter
