I don't know how this will help but I'm sure it may help someone. I am listing all my posts on this one thread so you can see the stages I went through.
I know this is alot of reading but it may let you see some of the ups and downs I went through at the beginning.
My first thread.
Hi, I'm Jack and I don't know where to introduce myself so I thought I'll just jump in here as I have not smoked now for over three weeks.
I am 63 and I have smoked since I was 11. I had my last cig at 10pm on 2nd Dec. I never thought I could go 3 hours never mind 3 weeks and 5 days, yep day 26. Just briefly I want to tell you what happened.
I'm a Driving instructor of 30 years and when my pupils were away on test I found myself smoking one after the other just to pass time or must grab a fag between lessons. On 2nd dec I had 5 driving test one after the other which meant I was standing doing nothing for ages. I decided I would try not to smoke and went from 9.30am through to 3.30pm without smoking 6 hours. I went to have another one at 4.10pm and put it out after a couple of puffs then thought I wonder if I can go another 6 hours which I did 10pm that night. That's when I had my last one because the next day I kept setting myself another target time getting to it and then going to the next one until 10pm. I had gone 24 hours and I decided to take one day at a time from there.
Now? well yes I am going through some days where I could scream and kill for a fag. But I still have the cigs in my pocket from the day I stopped and I feel great with myself this will be the biggest thing I have ever done for myself in my life. And perhaps, I'll have a longer life.
I hope this story is not too long but what I have found has helped me is telling people, even people I don't know. When they say well done it makes me feel so proud I want to tell the world.proud
Written by
nsd_user663_7235
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
getting up in the morning and not being able to breath properly, I can breath in the morning now.
Having breakfast, couldn't tast it. Can taste it now.
Go out side to have a cigarette, start coughing bringing up all sorts of cr*p from my lungs don't do that now.
At 63 I am what you may call a mature parent, I have a 17 year old son and a 15 year old daughter. I want to live long enough to see them get older and maybe who knows a grandchild or two.
My son is in a band and as I am writing this they are here for a band practise. Some of them have just went out side to have a gigarette it is about -7 degrees out there I don't have to do that anymore.
I don't have to work my day around smoking, I'm a driving instructor and allow 15 minutes for travelling between pupils. Now I can drive between pupils and eat something in the car and don't have to stop get out and have a fag, freeze and starve till I can find the time to eat.
I want to save money and buy myself a 42" HD ready TV.
There are probably many more reasons but most of all I want to stop smoking for , me, me, me and be around for my family
Today is one month for me and I'm normally feeling positive but right now I'm not. I had a very bad day yesterday and I am feeling the same today. I have this anxious feeling across my stomach and a horrible taste in my mouth. I can't concentrate on what I'm doing or what has to be done today.
I am not making excuses I am uder a lot of pressure just now. As some of you may know I'm a driving Instructor and because of the weather I have not worked now for 2 and a half weeks. Next week is not looking very good more snow today and no sign of things letting up. During this time I have lost about £1,500 and I'm slowly running out of money, bills still have to be paid business and personal.
I'm finding I don't want to do anything just lie down on the couch. I have no pupils booked in for next week and I should be doing that and can't get the where with all to make me do it.
I feel like I said once before that I'm being tortured by someone or something and the only way to stop them is to smoke. Can anyone tell me how long this torture is likely to last, a week, month, a year, I just want it to go away so I can get on with life.
I must add that over the last couple of weeks I have had no normal routine because I'm not working. If I don't get back to work soon I'll be forced to keep on quitting anyway because I won't have money for cigarettes.
Anyone reading this who is just starting to quit don't let this put you off. Remember I have went 1 month cold turkey. I'm normally very positive but not today I'm trying to be and I should be. If you read some of my other posts you'll see what I mean.
I never ever thought that I would get this far when I stopped. I'm feeling quite good, okay some bad days but got help here. Now I do feel unless some catastophy happened I wont smoke again, and even at that I might not.
Thanks for all the help guys I think the main thing was coming on here and realising I'm an addict. Also getting to know some wonderful other addicts who understand what it's all about. Unlike these bl**dy none smokers huh! Oh wait a miniute I'm a bl**dy none smoker now.
Hi guys you may not hear from me today untill later on in the evening.
It's 5 weeks for me today and I'm feeling good with myself, never ever thought I would get this far.
I am all being well with the weather going to attempt to do some driving lessons today. As I haven't worked for nearly 3 weeks of my quit it is going to be a little bit hard going back to the routine I was used to when I was a smoker. So I'll see how it goes I'm fairly sure I'll be alright.
I want you all to know that yes I come on here for support, have fun, as well as try in my own way to help others. Before I found this forum I was getting to the point where I had nothing to do being off work so much. But the fact I can come on here and have fun, others to chat to that have the same aim in common as I have has given me a lot to do and I love every minute of it.
If anyone out there would like a reason for not smoking take a look at this
Obviously this is probably not exactly acurate but wont be far off.
I recon since I was 11 untill now 63 I have smoked around 600,000 gigarettes which has cost me around £90,000 it may be more.
So for all you guys who are still young trying hard to quit besides you health think what it is going to cost you.
I'm not proud of this and never will be, I said in my other reasons thread I want to buy myself a 42" HDTV. How many could I have bought with that money.
Just to let you all know I got back to work today after 3 and a half weeks off earning no money. Good to get back in the car with pupils but so weird not smoking.
Yes all the triggers were there but I was ready for them. I knew the times when I would normally smoke at work. I bought some strawberry and cream sweets and had one when I would normally have a cigarette.
All in all great day feeling really good and positive, work again tomorrow weather permitting. Once I get a few days back at work and get into rountine again but without smoking it should be cool.
Six weeks today and it was kind of like the day I quit.
The day I quit was a day when I had a few pupils on their driving tests so I had a lot of hanging around the test center doing nothing. On that day I went 6 hours without smoking had a fag then went 6 hours again which took me up to 10pm that night. That's when I had my last cigarette I have not smoked since.
Today I had 3 pupils taking their driving tests so I was doing alot of hanging around, remembered about smoking then thought not interested. This was even after standing near my pupils who were smoking before and after their test.
So you could say it was a big test for me, I don't want to smoke I get a little thought of smoking and then tell myself "Don't be ridiculous you don't smoke"
I feel really great I don't know if it is physilodgical because I really wanted to stop smoking.
I suppose there will still be hills to climb along the way but I now feel strong enough to deal with anything, I also have friends to help me if needed.
I must add there has been so much help here when it's been hard.
It's not that long since I joined this forum but during that time I have often looked at day one and saw newbies who seem so determind to stop smoking.
They tell us who they are and what they plan to do. We all try to give them advice and unfortunately some of them we never hear from again.
I feel it's such a shame and are we doing enough.
I can only assume they don't make it and go and have a cigarette and I suppose they think well that's it I've failed.
If they only knew they have not failed they have had a blip and they can try again.
Can I draw your attention to this post by bman as some of you may not have noticed it;
I just wonder if there was a sticky thread on here "day one" and information like this was on this sticky thread would they maybe come back and keep trying and try again.
Mods please could you look into this, I have stopped for neary six weeks and all I want to do along with the others is help the newbies to do the same.
After all is this not what this forum is about? Helping others to stop.
Hi all, it's not often you get a negitive effect from me but just now I'm feeling very negitive. I didn't say anything but I have had three very bad days, today has been the worst.
I have this feeling of being in a different life and to get back to my real life I need to go back to smoking again. I am wishing my life away I want it to be 6 months, a year from now so I don't have this feeling any more.
I go and l lie on the couch and go to sleep just to get away from it, I don't want to be sleeping.
I'm now on 45 days and I feel like I want to give in just to get myself at peace. I did not think after all this time I would feel like this, it's like being at the start again.
I was doing fine I was coming on here and trying to give advice to others until Friday when I started to feel this. Even feeling like this I have been trying to give positive advice to others.
Who else has felt like this at this stage and what did you do.
Here I am bragging again but I have reached another milestone 7 weeks today. I have had bad times and good times I even stood with someone who was smoking today and I could smell it. It did effect me for a few minutes but then I was okay.
I will confess for the ones who are behind me it has not been easy. I did not expect it to be easy and I still have a long way to go. But to get to where I am now is worth going through everything I have went through so keep going and get here. I'm telling you now the scenery is beautiful and the air is so clean.
I never thought I would ever say seven weeks, so now it's head for week 8.
I would also like to add the support help and love on here has been a big item in my quit
I went to the doctor this morning it was just an appointment she had asked me to make when I saw her 4 weeks ago regarding me stopping smoking.
I don't know if anyone else has had this but I get very breathless very easy. I told the doc about this and she got me to blow this thing which registered 430 first time and 450 second time. She said I should be registering 470 and thinks I may have cronic bronchitis from smoking. I have to go back in a few weeks and be tested by the nurse, this means having wires all over me. So we will wait and see what happens.
Okay another milestone 8 weeks yesterday and to be honest I am not feeling too bad.
Some times I still think want to smoke but don't know if I really do. After what I have just gone through the last few days and didn't smoke? well that was a big test. I can't get much more of a test than that which I have already had.
Coming back on here tonight is helping me forget my other problem.
It's so great to say I don't smoke, thanks to all who have helped me get this far. I hope I have helped and can help many others to do the same.
Ha! ha! that got your attention. I have to confess I have had a sh**y day. I have been wanting all day and it wont go away. Could be the fact the snow is back and I have been stuck at home all day. I have been very snappy and grumpy so you see we can all get like this even little ol' me.
So if you get a bad day, look up to the sky and say to god "Thanks, thanks a bunch, don't you know I'm trying to stop smoking".
And god will answer "If I intended you to smoke I would have stuck a chimney on you head".
Hope you all had a better day than I did. Come on tell us about you day good or bad.
This week I had a really good Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Then Thursday, Friday and today has been yuk.
I have a theory Thursday, friday and today my lungs seem to be going through a clearing process again without going into detail. Is it possible that deep down inside our lungs from years of smoking nicotine has been stored? And as our lungs are clearing this old nicotine is being released and this is what is causing us to feel we want to smoke weeks into stopping.
Just a thought because I don't think I should be wanting to smoke when I have been free from smoke for 10 weeks.
Jack, it is quite late, (ok have had quite a bit of wine) so this confused me a bit lol.
I hope now that ur are further on in ur quit that things are better. I hope, very much, that your lungs are better, more able to cope now you have quit. I know how much difference it has made to my lungs when I have quit but have not had the good sense, as you have, yet to carry it on.
Sorry if this has confused you it's really a kind of diary as to what it was like for me in the beginning. These are posts or threads I put on here when I first started my quit.
I thought it may help others see what I went through to deal with what they are going through now.
I hope now that ur are further on in ur quit that things are better. I hope, very much, that your lungs are better, more able to cope now you have quit. I know how much difference it has made to my lungs when I have quit but have not had the good sense, as you have, yet to carry it on.
Go Jack, Go
I have now been quit 16 and a half months but I am still having trouble with my lungs. I think I'm stuck with that my punishment for smoking.
One day you will that's why you have the name "Neverstoptrying"
I don't think it was good sence I think I was just lucky.
I have now been quit 16 and a half months but I am still having trouble with my lungs. I think I'm stuck with that my punishment for smoking.
One day you will that's why you have the name "Neverstoptrying"
I don't think it was good sence I think I was just lucky.
Jack
I do understand that. When I have quit my breathing & cough have become far better. It is only when I have started smoking again I have apprecaited that my lungs are not as healed as I thought they where. Things become far easier without a doubt but the damage is already done and cannot be healed, just haulted.
thank u jack this post has been very helpfull to me
even though most of the time i feel very confident with my quit i still have wobbles and down days
alot of your posts i could completely relate to
i feel i can not be a serial quitter this is a once in a lifetime event for me i can not face those early days ever again , i feel this is similar for u i think
alot of your post u say u sleep wen it is getting to u i do that to not so much now but still do sometimes and sleeping my life away annoys me especially on a down day
but all is getting better and better as time goes by
you know the snow thing seemed to really throw you i also went through a phase that if my day didnt go exactly how i had planned it in my head wen i woke up then it drove me almost to insanity and i found it hard to cope then someone on here suggested i make a plan for the day then make a second plan incase the first one didnt happen this worked and now it has faded and i make no plans just take each day as it comes
sorry for wobbling on its just alot of your post struck a chord with me
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.