Well I am a complete forum virgin, but after reading through several posts on here I felt compelled to join!
A little bit about me...
Have attempted to quit the evil devil that is cigarettes a few times...obviously all attempts were unsuccessful, hence why I am here! Started smoking when I was 15 (remember vividly saying to myself 'I'm only 15, I won't get addicted') smoked approximately 10 a day from the age of 15 to 20, with a couple of breaks in between (down to ex boyfriends not liking it...probably the only thing they were right about!) went backpacking and started smoking too much too frequently and am now 25 years of age, and smoking 10 to 15 a day. I have always said 'I'm still young, mid twenties, I have loads of time to quit' but at 25 I have been putting poison into my body for a decade.
I started this attempt to quit 5 days ago. I have a weeks holiday from work and thought it would be the perfect time to try. Day 1 I had 2 smokes, day 2 I had 3 smokes, day 3 I had 2 smokes and days 4 and 5 (today) no smokes.
Now here is when I could do with some advice/experience.
The last couple of times I have tried to quit it has been slightly out of the blue. You know when you only have 1 smoke left and it's late at night, you think to yourself 'I'll smoke this last one tonight and go cold turkey tomorrow'. The fear of knowing that I would be in work for 10 hours without any smokes in my bag would lead me to buy a packet before work (even if I wasn't craving) just in preparation! So this time I have planned better. I also have half a pack of smokes in my draw...I've found that knowing they are there if I really need them, has diminished the initial 'fear'. Anyone else tried doing this? Going cold turkey (without any patches, gum etc) but still keeping half a pack with you...am I going to shoot myself in the foot?
The other thing that is making me anxious is going back to work next week. So far I'm coping ok, wake up wanting a smoke and have to keep myself busy at times to occupy my mind, but overall I'm feeling ok. However, my job can be quite stressful at times, and I am in such a routine of going for smokes at certain times of the day...I'm worried that I will do all the hard work this week, and throw it all away when I get back to work.
Last but not least...I feel as sick as a dog! The human body is amazing, and the way it reacts in such a short space of time really does make you realise just how bad cigarettes are for your body. Basically It started with a sore throat on day 1, then an even worse sore throat on day 2. This sore throat has now turned into a full on cold...not any normal cold...I'm talking about a man cold...it's that bad! Anyone experienced this? And if so, did it only last a few days like a typical cold would, or will it continue for a few weeks?
Thanks a mill for reading this. As I said at the start I've never used a forum before, to be honest I always thought that whatever I was dealing with I could deal with on my own...but stopping a habit that you have done repeatedly 15 times a day, every day for the last decade, is actually quite difficult!
Any tips/advice would be much appreciated!
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I'm a newbie so won't be able to give you plenty of advice, but I can say one thing.....you've done the right thing logging on to this forum.
I have managed to get to my 12th day smoke-free - utterly unimaginable previously as I had soooooo many first day quits that went wotsits-up on a regular basis. But I believe I've only got this far because of the forum.
There is so much support here, heaps of advice, loads of experience, and plenty of inspiration. You can be exactly who you are - warts, ups, downs, and all - and I believe that with this support, you can reach your goal.
And well done you on getting to your 12th day...I can't remember the last time I went 12 days without a smoke!
I've always been the type of girl who would never want to accept help from anyone, but you hit the nail on the head...I will keep posting and hopefully it will help me as much as it's helped you.
This is absolutely normal. I have worked through this quit, and although at times I have struggled with concentration etc, I have been able to almost distract myself from the temptations - that said, none of my colleagues were smokers.
I started smoking at 16, up to 20 a day and wanted to quit before my 32nd birthday this year - that was February.
I quit originally mid January and am almost embarrassed to say I found it relatively easy, that easy that after a few weeks I decided I could smoke at wknds only - which also worked and NEVER crept into mid week. But then my cough returned and I was sick most mornings so decided that I had to 'can it' once and for all. That day was April 17. The first 2 weeks were plagued with the usual, faint, dizzy spells, sickness (from both ends, multiple times a day!) restless during the night, heaviness in arms & legs and the worst side effect was the anxiety - something I have never experienced before!
Day 71 now (as of 10pm) and although most symptoms have subsided, or at least lessened, I still have the anxiety. I do have days where I question if it is worth this pain, the answer is ABSOLUTELY and the alternative is much, much worse.
I realise that I have poisoned my body for 16 years and that it will take time for my body to readjust, just sometimes I wish I could 'fastforward'.
Do not forget to celebrate the milestones - we really do have to work at this, but will reap the benefits (eventually)!
Tractor girl, thank you for taking the time to reply!
I agree with you on the whole having smokes on you just in case. My initial idea was for it to strengthen my willpower, aswell as stopping me freaking out trying to plan when I can get out of work to buy some. In theory it was a good idea, but as you quite rightly pointed out, my first three days weren't as successful as I had hoped.
I'm a huge believer in mind over matter, so I've decided to say to myself that I have quit for 2 days rather than 5 (as I haven't smoked any in the last 2 days)
Wow 71 days and you are still experiencing some sort of feeling towards smoking. I've come across that a lot on here, I guess the saying '21 days to break a habit' isn't quite as accurate as I would have hoped!
My goal is to wake up and go through the day without having any sort of feelings towards smoking. I don't want to struggle against cravings, I don't want to have to make a conscious decision to not smoke...I want to be able to say to someone 'thanks but I dont smoke' rather than 'thanks but I'm trying to quit'
Thanks a mill for your support, will keep you all posted!
I've always been the type of girl who would never want to accept help from anyone, but you hit the nail on the head...I will keep posting and hopefully it will help me as much as it's helped you.
Yeah, I'm an independent type too, Rach, but realise that we're not designed that way, as support works! I do hope you find this 'tool' helpful - it really does seem to work.
It's actually a lovely feeling to wake up and see that a complete stranger has taken time out of their lives to help!
Woke up today (day 3) first thing I thought about was going onto here, not having a smoke! Sore throat is still with me, very coughy and phlegmy (delightful) but the flu symptoms have really improved. I'm looking at every crap symptom as a sign that my body is thanking me, and giving me a smack for putting it through so much rubbish!
So far so good...tonight will be a challenge though. The past 3 days I have only been around my partner (who can annoyingly go weeks without having a smoke, without suffering from any kind of withdrawal symptoms) he would now class himself as a social smoker...he will only smoke if he goes to the pub (maybe once every 2 weeks) But tonight I am meeting friends...every single one of my friends smoke, and with weather like this we will be sitting outside in the beer garden! TEMPTATION!!!!! Anyone any tips on dealing with this situation? Elastic bands around your wrist etc? I am dying to be able to come on here tomorrow and be able to say that I have achieved, what I believe to be, a first milestone. Having a few drinks and not smoking is a huge amount of willpower for me!
I'm a newbie so won't be able to give you plenty of advice, but I can say one thing.....you've done the right thing logging on to this forum.
I have managed to get to my 12th day smoke-free - utterly unimaginable previously as I had soooooo many first day quits that went wotsits-up on a regular basis. But I believe I've only got this far because of the forum.
There is so much support here, heaps of advice, loads of experience, and plenty of inspiration. You can be exactly who you are - warts, ups, downs, and all - and I believe that with this support, you can reach your goal.
Keep posting and good luck!
Hello and welcome !!
I was intending to read through every single post in your thread before posting my own reply, and then I stumbled on this one.... and I couldn't agree more !
Come in often, post often, ramble if you wish, because I did.
If you have the crave, just come back online, read through posts, post about your crave, and hopefully it goes away. That's what I did whenever I felt shaky about this journey, I come back online, and folks here are simply wonderful.
...But tonight I am meeting friends...every single one of my friends smoke, and with weather like this we will be sitting outside in the beer garden! TEMPTATION!!!!! Anyone any tips on dealing with this situation? Elastic bands around your wrist etc?
Muchos thanks
I was there and 'got away' with it, keeping my beer intact. It was a lunch affair, with just a pint of lager. I wasn't feeling tipsy, but I gather it could become touch and go. So (a) consider skipping just this session till you're more stable. But we can't stay away from drinks forever, so what I intend to do is to pour myself a coupla of after dinner ports and see whether I get tipsy, at home, away from fags and friends or (b) go through in your mind, the entire scenario, buddies all around you, drinks and fags in hand, the smell of the fags wafting through the air, someone pushes a stick at you, have a go, what do you do ? Visualize rejecting it ? I do lots of these before I met a buddy of mine meeting me for lunch. No alcohol this time. Just him and me in the garden, after lunch. He went 5 in a row, I told him I had a sore throat, doc's orders, no fags. I kept my quit too.
As I'm only in my 6th day, can't really help you much. This weed does funny things with our head good luck on your outing and let us know how it went!
I found the only way I could hold onto my quit in the early days was to avoid alcohol altogether. As I quit in early December I didn't have the beer-garden temptations to deal with thankfully. My advice is stick to soft drinks and perhaps have some nicotine replacement to hand in case you need it (better that than risk losing your quit). I found the 1.5mg lozenges invaluable for those sorts of occasions (they got me through Christmas and Hogmanay) and there are plenty on the forum who swear by e-cigs too.
Hope it goes well- do let us know how it was- and may your day be a good one. You really are doing fantastically well you know
Sorry to temporarily hijack your thread Rach, but Edge, what you said there stood out for me, because I used to think like that....."only".
However, the 6th day, or 1st day, or 3rd day is bloomin' flippin' marvellous! Like, out of this world, really! In my early days (blimey, sound as if I've been at this for years!), the phrase Major Modern Day Miracle came to me, which is EXACTLY how it felt in those first 24, 48, etc, hours....and it felt like that because that is what it is! And it still feels like this. I hope that whether I'm on my 14th, 40th, or 400th day, it will always feel like a MMDM!
So feel free not to minimise any of your efforts (however, 'small' they may seem in your eyes) with an 'only'. [OK, preach over ]
As TG says, start your own post is my advice. You'll be more visible and get more responses. It's always lovely to welcome a new member of the quitting fraternity as we're all in the same boat regardless of what stage in the process we're at.
You can do this, I promise you can, and you'll get all the support, advice and companionship you could possibly need from all the wonderful people here.
Hopefully, by the time you read this, you'll already be on Day Two- fantastic!
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