3 months without a ciggie

Hi every one. I'm quitting with the help of patches & the inhalator. It seems like I'm addicted to then now Will this ease off? I don't want to be out of the frying pan & into the fire ! On a positive note, I can believe I'm losing weight as I've got lots more energy.

[monky Administrator Cake sniffer outer]

Hiya Elmdon, a big warm welcome to our lovely quit support forum and a BIG flippin Wayyyyyy Hayyyyyyy to you 3 months quit already you are doing just fine

Elmdon, you have beat the flippin cigs and thats what counts as i have just said to Nelliefay, you are taking in all those 4.000 other toxins in cigs

Rite, your at 3 months quit normally at this stage of your quit, you would be on the step 3 patches or just about to finish them

My advice would be to, stay with your inhalator but try to cut the patches out I'm not sure what time in the morning you put your patch on, BUT, just try to leave it until you really need it, then slap it on quick and try to go longer and longer each day Some of our members have cut them in half or quarters too

This wont be easy Elmdon, but it is definitely doable

Please stay with us and let us know how you get on

[Briarwood Administrator Ducky]

Hiya Elmdon and welcome to quit support 😊

Congratulations on 3 months quit, great achievement so well done👍🏼

You've got some great advice from our lovely Admin and the whole idea of NRT is to wean yourself off them slowly. They are keeping you from smoking which is brilliant and they are there to help. Be very proud of how far you've come 👏🏼😊x

[DavidH83 3 YEAR WINNER]

Good morning,

Congratulations on getting this far! Don't be hard on yourself, realize you have made a big step. Hearing you have lost weight is wonderful news! I'm so happy that you have found a positive to the struggle.

I have just posted an update to my story...

healthunlocked.com/quitsupp...

I'm 3 and a bit years over tobacco, 4 months without Mr. Nic thanks to e-cigs.

Quitting e-cigs was easier than quitting tobacco (when I went cold turkey many years ago). You will be addicted to them, as you are replacing the addictive substance Nicotine.

However, there are two sides to the addiction to be aware of:

1: Nicotine, the one we all know about. Responsible for the infamous mood swings, sleep problems and other symptoms that people suffer for the fist month of quitting. NRT replaces this so you can quit the other stuff in cigarettes (which is also addictive and very harmful). It should (in many cases) also have a pattern for cutting down the dosage.

2: The emotional "mental pathways". This is sadly life long (depending on how you have been a smoker). We have trained our bodies with the ritual of smoking. As an ex smoker, some breathing exercises help because they mimic the way you inhale a cigarette. For those of us who rolled, the act of rolling is oddly pleasant. This is the part of the addiction that although far more subtle stays with us. This is the part for the longer term quit people to deal with as time goes by.

I have posted in the past links to information on nicotine withdrawal.

I have also had some very good conversations on here about the "mental pathways" side of things.

[Hidden in reply to DavidH83]

Many thanks David.

[Hidden]

Hi - a mega thanks to you all for your advice and encouragement. Left my patch off until 6pm today and I was surprised that the cravings were not too bad at all

Thanks again and all others..... if I can do it you certainly can!

[Briarwood Administrator Ducky in reply to Hidden]

Fantastic, well done Elmdon👍🏼😊x

[Hidden in reply to Briarwood]

Cheers !

[monky Administrator Cake sniffer outer in reply to Hidden]

Elmdon, thats flippin great news

Try to stay strong and fight those cravings think back at WHY you decided to quit in the first place write them down on a piece of paper so that when you feel you need a to put a patch on, get it out and read it out a loud so that it sinks in

You've done ever so well Elmdon and am dead proud of you

PS, if you could please let me know your actual quit date, then I can add you to the Wall of Winners and keep your Winners badge upto date thank you Pete

[Hidden]

Hiya Pete thanks for that. I quit around the end of April. I've more or less blanked it out of my mind - I don't know why !!!! I m going to share with others a recent scare I had which really got me to stop. I will post it this afternoon.