Here i am again, this is Day 21~ Week 3. Today i am now at the end of week 3, the start of week 4 and then i will be getting closer to the 1st Month which for me will be on the 24th Nov, 10 days away yet
I have finally read the Allen Carr EASYWAY book, i started that yesterday afternoon and have just finished it. I cant believe i never thought of those things before but it was so weird in that my reasons this time are just so in your face in that book. I would seriously recomend to people buying a copy and reading it because it does make a lot of sense.
I have known for a long long time that i did not want to smoke, the fact it did nothing for me when i did light up and when i would want to inhale i would look at it and think WTF am i doing, i dont need this stuff. :confused:
I know that this time its for keeps because i dont want to be a slave to the Nico Monster anymore. He gives me nothing but grief, its not like when im angry he helps becasue he does nothing, he doe not help when im stressed infact he makes it worse. He does not numb the pain as that is all a gimick you know, i never wanted to get hooked on those ciggies and they have ruled my life for 20 years and now im biting back and telling MR NICO to BOG OFF.
I am not giving up anything as i was not getting anything from it anyhow. As the book says its like it makes you into its slave which is so so true. Why do we panic when we know we want to stop smoking, as the book says its FEAR.
Fear of not knowing, fear of what will i do or how will i cope without my little buddy again its all rubbish. If you know you want to stop then you can. You stop because you want to and not because others make it there mission to belittle you and make you feel awkward.
I am going out this Saturday (20th) and i am looking forward to it now, mainly because the friends i am going out with are both still smokers and so it will be our first get together since i stopped last month. It will be interesting to see how i cope and yet i know that i should take pity on these guys because the chances are they dont want to smoke but the nicomonster has them lured in and they dont know how to tell him to leave them alone. I will be like a Chesire Cat and smirk if you like when they have to leave the table to get there fix and myself & my OH can stay in the warm. Lovelly
I feel elated to think that finally i am FREE from the restraints that smoking gives to a person. I never really thought of myself as a DRUG ADDICT when i smoked, maybe because its so easy to buy cigs, they have not been banned as such and they are just such common place out there in society. I also never really thought of them as bad which i suppose i should have, i also cant honestly say that I ENJOYED LIGHTING UP AND TAKING A PUFF, again its the DRUGs ADDICTIVE MODE WORKING to make you buy more and then you have to smoke them. If you think about it we are all made to feel silly and like an outcast now and if you ask yourself why are you smoking then in all honesty it should be because you cant stop.................WRONG................You can. Allen Carrs book just clarified for me why i have chosen to not smoke anymore. I hated doing it, i hated the smell, the taste, the rejection from others, the outcasting at every avenue because there will soon be no place that a smoker can go to and light up, the spiralling cost that from 1995 a pack of 20 cost about £2 and now your looking at almost 3x that for a pack of 20 yet we all have to have them, we feel we cant cope without them. What on earth will we do if we dont have our smokes, i will tell ya what we all will live again and not be slaves to the NICOMONSTER and the Tabacco Industry, thats what!
I will try and save some of the money after Christmas that i have not spent on cigs and then treat my OH & I to something in the New Year. He gave up in Jan 2006, thats was my last attempt and after 3-4 weeks i ended up going back on to the nasty things. I was not ready then, well i felt like i was giving up my best mate and i did not know how to cope so that was my biggest mistake, i thought i was punishing myself when clearly if you get nothing out of the cig then your not giving up anything. I know now that its the NICOTINE that does it to us. We are all so hooked on the damn stuff that we keep going back for more, thats why i am glad that the Champix worked for me but i am even more glad that i decided to stop the Champix and go CT, that was I HAVE NO NICOTINE WHAT SO EVER IN MY BODY NOW and so can move on and away from the DRUG ADDICTION.
As for the habit again thats the Nicotine lurring you in. I also dont substitute sweets or anything for the loss of a ciggy, i think as the book says that by doing that your prolonging the feeling that your giving up something when in all honesty your not because we dont need it, the only thing i have done is take up knitting as i feel that for the first few days we need to keep occupied and that for me worked.
Heres my stats for Week 3- Day 21
I have been quit for 3 Weeks, 4 hours, 38 minutes and 19 seconds (21 days).
I have saved £90.96 by not smoking 360 cigarettes.
I have saved 1 Day and 6 hours of my life.
Anyhow, enjoy your life as a Non Smoker as i intend to do. Keep up the good work. If you get a thought just remember it does nothing for you and you will get nothing from it.
LOL
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And thank you for your post. I find I'm struggling at the moment now that the initial novelty and enthusiasm of a new quit has worn off but reading your post has helped to focus my thoughts a little.
And thank you for your post. I find I'm struggling at the moment now that the initial novelty and enthusiasm of a new quit has worn off but reading your post has helped to focus my thoughts a little.
Hey Ed
I am so glad that you have found my post useful because it does sort of go to the back of your mind once you have been down that road for a few weeks.
Keep coming back to this if you like because i think it will help everyone, i am even going to post that into my reasons bit and update that too.
Stay smoke free my friend, you dont need cigs to live you never have
I love reading your posts because you are so focussed and remain ever positive. A resounding success story. I agree that Allan carr's book is an eye-opener as it changes our perception of smoking - It does not enhance a situation but actually detracts from it. There is nothing to be gained from sparking up except lighting a fag. Life does not change , we addicts have merely behaved in a habitual fashion so we can then continue to exist. Silly, really. But such an easy trap to fall into as we are all fallible beings who seek comfort from our woes on a daily basis. So cigs seemed like a good option. We just have to find something else that is les harmful and expensive. Your knitting is an excellent idea and I intend to start myself although my efforts will be laughable as I was rubbish at school. Dr Who scarves are the only option!
I am unklike you in that I am a glass is half empty sort of person (I think you are born either way) and I have to force myself to be positive and upbeat. I always fear that the minute I rest on my laurels, my world will collapse around me. Or something bad will happen. So there is no way I will ever be complacent re my quit. I am happy about it and proud of myself and feel stronger at the end of every day. (I remain a bit down and nervous on waking tho) I am just trying to relax into the idea of not smoking and do not consider the long term. I am already dreading xmas (yep, glass is half empty!) because I tend to smoke even more at the festive period. However, the Allen Carr philosophy will hopefully prevent any blip (and also not drink much alcohol). On a positive note, I was out on Friday and I was in a loud place where you have to speak close up or you wouldn't be heard. I remember thinking, God, I bet my breath smells really nice instead of the usual fag breath. So I am embracing the good aspects of quitting and appreciating the benefits. I almost never cough or clear my throat now and , although I feel weird on the patches, I am sticking with the programme strictly as I stopped using them after 2 weeks last time and got nabbed almost immediately by the demon who had been lying in wait.
So well done to you on getting so far and thanks for being such an inspiration to others.
Thank you for your kind words hun. I do get what you mean about how you feel in yourself. Its only as hard or as easy as each person perceives it to be. I have tried before but never really been ready in my mind and tried half heartedly to stop when in a couple of weeks i was back again it was just trying to find an excuse to why i wanted to go back because i dont think i wanted to stop back then when really had i been better prepared like i have been now then i think i may have been succesful. This time round i had already decided that i do not want or need those sticks and thats before i bought the book. I only got the book at the end of this week so have read it after i have stopped but i am glad that i have bought it as it has helped me understand my reasons too.
We all have our own way of dealing with things and whether it be with NRT, CT, a Book, Hynotherapy etc etc if your going to do it you will. I have also found that giving up was the wrong choice of words for me as i knew i had to stop smoking not give up smoking thats makes a difference too. You have to do it for you and you only not because others say or do things. We already know we dont like what we are doing but its become part of our lives for such a long time we cant just switch of the switch and say thats it i am now a non smoker, nah it does not work like that.
Positive thoughts are whats needed and a true desire to do this for you is a plus too. I know that i smelt, that i spent a fortune on the ciggys over the years, that i must have made people feel sick with my smelly breath and other aromas, that by sneaking them in when they thought i had quit that in my head i thought no one would notice i was kidding myself. Its all down to you at the end of the day.
For me this time i have decided i dont want to be a slave anymore, i want to be fresher and cleaner, i want to be able to enjoy my meals, i want to be able to have a lyin in bed and not have to get up early because the Nicodemon tells me i need him to be fed.
This time for me its different and this time for me its for
I absolutely admire your resolve and I think that this will be your final quit! I agree that it has to be for you that you stop smoking and for no one else. I used to sneak onto my bedroom like a criminal and it stank the house out! I felt so like a drug addict because that it exactly what I was. Just as well it wasn't crack cocaine which is so addicitive! Some things you just don't go there, but nicotine is just as bad though not as harmful (well not immediately anyway). That is the thing about smoking, you don't get a big high (sometimes a wee buzz tho' if it is a fag after a few hours, outside the airport, for example). So it doesn't seem as dangerous as other drugs that get you high, but , long term, it may be lethal and it is a daily game of Russian roulette.
I stopped smoking 3 weeks ago come this tuesday (cant remember the date) and have given up at least 30 times in the last 4 years (no joke). My longest quit was arund 4 weeks and then I cracked when I was drinking wine with my sister (smokes like a lum). She tried to stop me but the monster was having a serious tantrum and I let him win!! Ripped off the patch and sparked up, didn't even enjoy it, but couldn't stop myself. every time I fail, I amoke normally until my next attempt. That is why I am dreading xmas cos I will be around my sister and know my failing pattern. But this time, having failed so often (my son refuses to even acknowledge my attempts now, can't blame him!) I know every pitfall in the book and am so sick of failing that i am better prepared this time. I have the back up of lozenges and this has saved me time and again in the social situations where I am surrounded by smokers. Pop the lozenge in and my brain thinks I am smoking (even tho' i don't actually want to smoke if you know what i mean). Prevous attempts I had used patches and the gum, but the gum made me literally sick. Absolutely disgusting!! The feeling at the back of my throat was horrendous and, strangely, no one else seems to have had this reaction. The lozenges seem milder in comparison and , tho' they taste pretty foul, I instantly fell more relaxed. I realise I am still a nicotine addict, but for the moment, I will continue in this way and then reduce the patch size and lessen the lozenge intake. I am just getting used to not lighting a fag every hour and am happy enough with that. I actually gave up for 10 years (ct) and could not believe I went back to smoking but stress made me turn to something, so I chose my old buddy, not realising that he was going to take me captive for the next 4 years!!! It was meant to be a temporary measure and I just can't shake him off. I blame getting older, can't think of any other reason as it seemed so easy the first time. I also gave up for 3 years when I was pregnant with my son (he is now 19) but only gave up in the 8th month. Still feel guilty for that and hope I didn't do any damage to him. I must have, I reckon. Although my mother puffed away during 5 pregnancies and we all seem fine.Although 3 of us are smokers, my sister being so die- hard that I do worry for her and gently try to peruade her to quit. She did try once with champix and was forced to stop as smoking made her sick. so she stopped taking the champix!!! Maybe we got addicted in the womb!!
On one of my quits I tried hypnotherapy, very expensive and completely useless. The room was lovely , all sitting room and log fire etc. I sat in the chair and sort of got hypnotised but my head fell forward in the most uncomfortable position so I felt in pain instead of being relaxed and wanted to burst out laughing as the woman put on this mad ghostly echoing voice: "you will have no deeeesiiiireee to smoke" Actually she had me running for the fags afterwards. I think it is a lot of rubbish and, I was once hypnotised on stage and performed a strip tease (not a real one!), so I am susceptible to hypnosis. I was ready to give up as well, so it wasn't my attitude. Or maybe I wasn't ready.
Anyway, thanks Nutteenurse, you are always a tonic and I intend to keep going, taking every day as it comes and , come what may, not smoking. It won't change a damn thing. As the wonderful Mr Carr so rightly said, it just doubles your problems.
Thanks for sharing hun. You should be in the October quit group as if its 3 weeks ago then thats about the time that i stopped smoking hun.
Dont ever give up trying because when its right in your mind you will do it, as for the hypnotherapy i downloaded a freebie version and i listen to it when i go to bed, it stays in your mind then. Dont go worrying about christmas just take each day as it comes, no good looking to far ahead as we never know what is going to happen.
Anyhow, if you wanna pm me please do, im here for you. TTFN
Good to see the book has worked its magic for you. I was going to try to read it this wekend but didnt get around to it yet.
When I read it before I went to the toy shop and bought a bag of plastic monsters, I had one in the car one on my desk, one in my bag etc. They were a great visual aid : )
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Day 21 Smoke Free On Champix
Feeling heaps better and 21 weeks tonight :D
