Hello.......

[nsd_user663_11118]

Hi, Just want to introduce myself. My name is Claire and I am 36. Today I am on quit day 6!!!! I started smoking when I was about 18 and tried to quit a few times but never got past a couple of days. This time my heart was really in it and so I started on the patches (21mg) The first four days were not too bad, felt very tired and sickly though, but managed the cravings with no problems. The last 2 days have been hell:mad: I am full of a cold, have the worst sore throat I have ever known, banging headache and OMG I am being a total cow!!! Mood swings don't even go near what I am like!!!! I have 3 young children and all of them copped for it this morning, I was like a mad woman. Took them to school, still screaming and shouting at them and now sat here crying my eyes out because I was so mean. It's not their fault I'm like this, then of course that nasty little voice in my head was saying "go and get some cigarettes to calm down!!" Sorry to rant on on my first thread, thought I could do this, but now not so sure so hoping that having someone to talk to will help me through the bad bits xx

[nsd_user663_7469]

Oh bless you, you sound distraught and obviously blaming yourself for shouting at the kids, no your right they didn’t deserve it but you are reacting to the lack of nicotine and it is trying to get you to smoke again, you are now wondering why we treat it as if it is a drug dealer, well the reason is simple it is.

You may as well have someone sitting at the side of you saying “go on get some you will feel better, it will solve all your problems and make you not shout at the kids any more or feel even remotely stressed” and you will win the lottery on Wednesday, I don’t think so do you.

Actually it want make you feel less angry, less stressed, or more beautiful and you know this, you have I am sure at some point shouted at the kids, hubby, next door neighbours teenage son and maybe even the man who drove out in front of you, you have to be honest on these things.

So you have quit smoking and you are going to live to see your children grow up and their children as well, we know what smoking can do to us and yes there will always be someone who9s granddad lived to be 120 and smoked 50 cigs a day and could still run up the stairs, mind you he couldn’t remember what he was running up the stairs for when he got there, oh and just so you know laughter is a great crave breaker.

Make sure you drink plenty especially sipping ice cold water is good and fruit and wait for it, exercise is a massive quit sustainer, remember if you haven’t exercised much lately or have any underlying health problems check with the doc first but start of slow and build up.

Enough for now but I promise it does get better and better, check out the threads on here and you will see, have a good day xx

[nsd_user663_1658]

Hi clare

awh xx i was exactly the same early on just like you ..i haev 2 kids ..shouting at them for no proper reason..just for not fastening shoes properly ....& i felt soooo bad after ....Your moods do get better quite soon to be honest...before you realise you will begin to feel a little calmer in the morning.....I just began to take a step back a bit more & stop myself from shouting & being a nag...Then before you know it youve cracked the morning moods...I mean im a moody cow anyway when i get up but the first couple of weeks of the quit i was quite bad & overeacted to the extreme...

Well done day 6 ...brilliant ..keep going ...your doing very well xxx

[nsd_user663_4743]

Well done!

Hi Debbie,

just want to say that I think it is amazing that you didn't cave as it seems young kids are a serious trigger. They can be exasperating , you shout at them and then have to deal with the major mother's guilt. So confusing and seems the simplest remedy is to resort to the old crutch. They can't understand what you are going through which makes it all the harder to deal with them. However, I reckon you must never lose sight of why you are quitting and I bet they are your number one reason. You would probably be so depressed that you had failed that you would take it out on them anyway. So catch 22. Young kids are resiliant and as long as you don't go completely mad, a bit of nagging etc won't do them any harm. I have a 19 year old son and when I am quitting he gave me no support at all, merely deriding my attempts as I always ended up failing. He did want me to stop but just lost faith in me, rightly so. But I did just want him to say well done or something. As he has never smoked thank God, he just didn't understand the agony of it all. This annoyed me but I can't blame him. I remember watching my mother smoke and saying to her: I just don't get what possible pleasure you get from sucking on that thing. I found it quite fascinating really. She tried to explain it and advised me never to take it up tho'. But the kids never listen do they? And soon I understood exactly what the point of smoking was. She was unhappy that i had started but it wasn't such a big deal. I have now spent most of my adult life trying to quit. Two successful periods - Once for 2 years during my pregnancy and while my son was a baby, and a few years later for 9 years. Severe stress (seemed like a life-saver at the time) caused me to start again and has resulted in innumerable quit attempts. My mother died 16 years ago and my father died last year. Neither death was smoking-related tho', glad to say. I was on my long quit and I never went back to smoking when my mother died, I was so distressed that it didn't even occur to me, if you know what i mean. I was still smoking when my father died, so don't know if this would have been a trigger, but I don't think so.

So now this quit is dedicated to them cos my dad was pleased when I gave up for 9 years. Also I am doing it for my son as I would top myself if I contracted a smoking-related illness and he had to endure all the hospital visits and all the trauma that losing your parents entails. It is my one motivating factor, and when I am feeling weak I remember the awful hospital smell that greets you at every visit and the sight of all the poor people with oxygen masks on etc. So try thinking more long term, you can do this cos you love your children. Who cares if you are ratty for a while. It is trivial and you have to shrug it off, and as Jamangie says, laugh at the absurdity of it all.

So keep strong, your children will be so proud of you once thay are old enough to understand. And you won't have to live with the constant fear of really making them suffer through your own weakness.

Keep smiling, ciggies only make things worse!

Say positive and keep going!!

xox

[nsd_user663_11016]

Hi Claire

I'm on day 7 well nearly around 10.30pm tonight! My son (who is 10 and extremely cheeky and knows everything) gets the wrath of my crabbiness every morning and i only have the one to deal with so my hat goes off to you coping with three....i wouldn't manage three on or off the smokes!!!! I am also on the patches for the first time and i am finding they do take the edge off but i am also using the inhalator which is brill for in the car or when you want a quick bust when the cravings proper kick in. My BF is still smoking which sometimes is a bit hard but thankfully its smelly roll ups so fingers crossed i'm not remotely tempted......saying that i still have a pack of 10 in the kitchen draw for the just in case moment!!

Hope your feeling ok?

Michelle

[nsd_user663_11118]

Thankyou so much everyone for taking time to reply....wow it feels so much better that I'm not doing this alone. Well wait for it...today has been a breeze!!! After such a bad start I wrote on here then just got on with my day. Wasn't looking forward to tonight as my son was playing cricket, lots of parents there smoke and we have a drink from the clubhouse. I can honestly say wasn't bothered by the others smoking, I mean they weren't sat at my table or anything but the smoke still wafted over and I felt nothing Just going to have to wait and see what the morning brings, I am getting everything totally ready tonight to try and cut a bit of stress out of the school run madness and have bribed the kids with a treat on Friday if they can get ready for school with no arguing!!!! maybe, just maybe if they are chilled in the morning I might just be too:rolleyes::rolleyes:

[nsd_user663_11118]

Ohhh just seen the time which officially has just put me into quit day 7!!!!!!! Yey

[nsd_user663_7469]

See how fast it goes once you are into the week count and how much more determined to never smoke again, well done you keep us posted we love to hear the good and the bad so dont think if you are ranting we want wont to here it we will, it lets us know we are not the only ones and well done you for sitting in a smokey atmosphere and not feeling grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr LOL xx