Quitting smoking- need help

[Bridget399]

Just keep telling yourself that you're lowering your risk of getting cancer, that your breath and hair won't smell like smoke, that your teeth won't be yellow, that you'll have extra money to spend, you won't have that constant ball of tar in the back of your throat, you won't have to worry if you have enough cigs to get you through your shift at work...
I had to constantly tell myself this stuff and I ate grapes... many, many grapes!!
Keep it up, it DOES get easier!

 

[GracieNut]

OMG, I'm in the same boat you are. I quit yesterday. I'm in a fog. I literally sit on the couch and stare out the window. I'm finding it so difficult to do ANYTHING, because it seems like everything I did involved a cigarette somehow. I've tried candy, gum, deep breathing. Nothing seems to help, although carrying around a bottle of water and chewing on the top of it seems to take the edge off (but not much). I wonder how I'm going to get through it!!
Good luck to you! You just have to remember how good it is for you, and the money you'll save!

 

[oldchickenlady]

Congratulations! I am so freaking proud of you! I am a medical technologist (lab tech) and I see people in the emergency room EVERY DAY who are there due to complications of smoking. People start smoking when they are young and they think they will always be able to do the things they want...it is not true! If you cant breathe, you cant jog, golf, play tennis, etc etc...you fill in the blank. I see people who come in with complaints of chest pain, short of breath, cant feel their feet or fingers (poor circulation) cant stop coughing, the list of smoking related symptoms goes on an on. I am not talking about 80 year olds, either, I mean 40's, 50's. Every time you light a cigarette it is like you picked up a tablespoon of poison and ate it! It is slow poison that kills you slowly. Some people are stronger than others and are not affected as soon as others, but IT WILL HAPPEN! You have just taken the single most important step you can take to improve you health! DONT GIVE UP! I mean it! It is so pitiful to see a 55 year old man or woman who can't take a breath without coughing their guts out, or cant do the things they love because of chest pains or shortness of breath. It is also real sad to see someone with cancer that smoked. There are so many poisons in cigarette smoke (google it...it will terrify you!) and your lungs delivers that poison to your bloodstream, which carries it to every organ in your body!!!!! Smoking doesn't just cause lung cancer, it can cause cancer just about anywhere in your body! I don't mean to stand on a soapbox here, but seriously, quitting smoking is the single most important thing you can do to lengthen the time you live and to improve the QUALITY of your life! I am pulling for you! It wont be easy, but every time you want a cigarette, think about your children, your grandchildren, your family, anyone and every one who mean something to you, how devastated they would be to have to watch you die slowly and in agony! If you are really having a hard time, visit a cancer/oncology ward or clinic...it will open your eyes and scare the sh**t out of you! Good luck, it wont be easy, but it is possible! I quit, twice, first in my teens, then again in my 20's. I know if I hadn't I would be dead or severely debilitated by now. Please don't give up! My FIL quit after smoking 50 years! It can be done, you just have to be very hard headed and committed to your own health.

 

[BC_Farms]

Just make sure you don't replace one unhealthy addiction with another.


Good luck. I would recommend starting a weight lifting program (as I do for most things) or some other exercise program to help keep you focused on something else plus it releases endorphines

A lot of people have problems quitting smoking because it is so ingrained in their routines so another thing you can try to do is completely changing what you do or the order that you do it in.

Take the money you would spend on cigs and put it in a jar for you to pamper yourself.

 

[chicknduck]

Two days is a big step, even thou it may seem small now. Stick with it. I think it is great that you have decided to quit. I smoked for about 5 years and the day I found out I was pregnant I quit. I was so sick anyway. I ws very proud of myself I did not smoke for 4 years and then I had a relaps. I could blame it on stress but i wont. I would only smoke sometimes and now I am getting rid of the nasy habbit again. Having a smoke occasionall y is just as bad as all of the time. Good luck o you. I hope it goes well. Hang in there.

 

[duck walk]

I quit several years ago...it was breathe or die...in the late 60's, when I was in the Army, I was smoking three packs of unfiltered Pall Malls a day...it was the time, Viet Nam, the job, everyone around me...mega stress...but I quit...I did it and if I can, anyone can...it was a decision and a choice...I am glad I made it...I still want a smoke every so often...when I am cold or very tired it seems the craving surfaces but I walk away from it...breathe or die...and I still have a lot of people to annoy so I want to live a little longer...and the money factor now is very significant...think of all the other things you can spend that money on...like more chickens!!!!!

Hang tough, you can do it!

 

[nonseq]

I quit almost nine years ago. You can do it. The first three days sucked. The next two weeks were an adjustment, but the freedom of not having to worry about whether or not I had cigarettes when I needed them was worth it.

 

[grammypam]

As with Duck Walk it's BREATHE OR DIE. My last cigarette was July 14th,2010 about an hr. before we called the ambulance. I couldn't breathe. Found out in hosp. that I had had a heart attack a few days before. Had an angio done and they had to put in "6" !! stents. I was also told I have some COPD and emphasema. Still not smoking. It's hard but I just keep remembering how I couldn't breathe. I am only 57. Best of luck to you.

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

Have you tried e-cigarretes? You can turn up/down the nicotine content, then eventually wen yourself off them totally.

My uncle used a patch or a pill, I can't remember, but he had it perscribed and it really worked! (Except for the wacko dreams... If you have suicidal thoughts, don't use this! he said.)

 

[Break an Egg]

Thank you everyone that responded to my post last night. After I posted this, I laid down and went to bed, crying. I feel 100% better this morning. BYC has never let me down, I love you guys.



@bakerjw, I used to have those dreams too after I quit. I hated them.

@EastTexasChick, I usually will have a very short fuse right before I go out to have a smoke, because I feel like a cig will help everything and things will be better when I come back inside. I don't want to yell at my husband anymore just because I "need" a cig. Congrats on quitting. I want to be where you are.

@BC_Farms, I joined a gym a week and a half ago, I guess my timing is good. I've also cut out sugar, white flour, and sodas as of 2 weeks ago.

Just a little background info, I quit smoking cold turkey when I found out I was pregnant with my now 4 yr old daughter. I didn't smoke until 9 months ago, as for the 5 kids in my signature line, 4 are my stepkids. I feel really bad about this, but when my stepkids came to live with my husband and I 2 years ago, I went through a hard time, they came in the summer, and my husband didn't take any time off and he works 6 days a week. My stepkids are much different now, but when I first got them, they were very difficult kids, plus going from one 2 yr old to a 10,9,8, and 7 year old was something. I think I resented my husband for a while and I started doing things he specfically didn't like. I think smoking was one of those things, along with swearing.