Help required (Newbie)

[nsd_user663_5247]

Hi there,

I quit Smoking on 17th june 2009, used the patches which really helped. Got to the point where I have stopped using the patches, only one problem, on saturday night I went out to a friend's wedding reception, had alot to drink and decided to have one cigarette. It tasted foul and I wish I hadn't picked it up, i felt sick and a bit dizzy, since then I haven't touched another one nor have I put on a patch.

Tomorrow I go back to the pharmacist and I have got to explain this to him, I feel like I have really failed myself. the question I ask to you is can i start my quest of stopping smoking from 17th june or do I start from the weekend?

thanks

Oli

[nsd_user663_4990]

Oli,

This is such a difficult one for me to advise on, i am on my last 2 weeks of patches myself, i've been quit smoking using patches since the 11th of July.. the 11th of July was when i last smoked a cigarette.

Now you on the other hand have finished your patches, and were quit since 17th June.. and fair play to you.. excellent quit and through the course of patches successfully.

I'm neither going to say you should count from last weekend or the 17th of June.. its a difficult call that, you already feel crappy enough for having chosen to smoke that cigarette at the wedding reception, but what 'has' happened.. is the receptors in your brain that have been silently craving nicotine which you did have well under control have now been fed .. and a single cigarette is enough to wake up your old addiction and quite strongly too.

I would just be honest with the pharmacist, but your biggest conflict right now is..

do you say i've been quit smoking since i had my last cigarette on 17th of June, or...

do you say ive been quit smokign since i had my last cigarette at my friends wedding reception on the 5th of September.

that one is for you to decide sadly, the problem with any addiction is the risk of relapse, but you MUST NOT BUY any cigarettes.. nor accept them from anyone, nor hang around folk while they are smoking for the next week or two.

I'm tellin you this as starkly as i can because where you are now, i was at last year.. i thought 1 cigar would be OK.. and 8 months later @ 20 a day i was quitting again. Yeah i was stupid enough to have 1.. threw the other 9 away thinking.. thats that.. but something in my brain was nagging me so damn hard.. i fished the 9 out of the bin that i threw them in .. and smoked the lot then bought so many more after that.

Be careful.. do not give in if you start to feel 'coerced' into buying more. Do not buy them.. simple as.

save yourself the same nightmare i had. please.

[nsd_user663_5031]

Oli,

That was a silly thing to do as we are addicts.

Anyway, I would forget about that one and count your date from the 17th June.

If you have another ciggie, then your "off the wagon" and i'd go back to day one.

Some would be more stricter and say day one starts again.

[nsd_user663_5243]

I would say start all over again... kind of a shitty feeling to start from day one but you should have piece of mind in knowing that you have already gone without cigarettes for about 2 months so doing it for another 2 months is a piece of cake... keep pushing on. You're doing this for yourself and no one else, remember that.

[nsd_user663_5247]

been back to the pharmacist today and was expecting the worst but he was alright with me, he knew I had made a mistake. I haven't touched one since and I haven't had any cravings (yet) which is good news.

I am going to go from this sunday onwards which means I am on day 3 now, plus since I have got to the point of not needing NRT now, it will day 3 without nicotine

Good luck to everyone else on here

Oli

[nsd_user663_1658]

Hi oli, good news that you come so far, i would just look at it as one slip up for yourself coz you seem in a positive frame of mind - for me personally it would be the road back, maybe not straight away bit certainly in a couple of weeks of thinking another wont hurt i am on control type of thing....

So just be proud of how far youve come & only time will tell x

[nsd_user663_3728]

Hi Oli

I'm so sorry you slipped after so long but well done restarting on day 1 again so quickly

Below is my standard welcome and advice post which I try and give 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

Love

Marg

[nsd_user663_4990]

Oli,

The key thing is to be extra extra vigilant now, as i mentioned in my previous post.. you will be feeling 'gutted' enough at this blip, but you need to take every step to ensure it remains a single and very isolated incident.

How are you at the moment ? has the light-headed feeling returned?

J