The Giving Up Smoking Thread!! Part 2

Neenie_o

Hi Mazza, I know - and I'm scared! Just got to stay focused. I've been ok round the OH and around the work smokers but I guess I've got to cross that bridge some time so I may as well do it now!

I doubt your CO level will go up from one cig - my cessation nurse told me it's cumulative and CO leaves your body after 48 hours anyway so you'll be fine I'm sure! :j

Think we both need to get plans of action ready to tackle the next week don't we?! I'll make a list, I like making lists

xx

mazza111

just got back from cessation clinic neenie_o , Carbon monoxide level still at 4, but as i work on a loading bay where trucks are unloading, or walking through traffic all day it's to be expected, so they tell me, must admit i was disappointed it hadn't came down any, but if they say it's fine then who am i to argue.

Have arranged with one of the other girls who go there to go to local large park for a good walk, nurses overheard us and going to refer us for 6 weeks free gym membership too so that will give us something to do, although their is a waiting list for that.

Should be able to swim towards the end of next week, so shouldn't be too bad. I will keep my fingers crossed for you, just try and remember all the good work u will be undoing if you have one.

Neenie_o

Still, well done though - 4 is a non-smoker's level and if you work in that kind of environment I think it's a pretty good level as well. I work in a big, air-conditioned office and only venture down to the village at lunch time for a stretch of the legs so I'm not really exposed to much traffic and fumes. Surprisingly mine was always quite low, even when I was a twenty a day smoker, but to see the CO levels in our blood go down is not the only reason we want to stop is it? It's a nice bonus (and the nurses get to check on us every week so we don't want to mess up), but I think you and I both know the other benefits you'll be getting from not smoking will probably be the ones that make the most difference to your overall health.

Well done anyway! I think you're doing brilliantly :T

xx

SandC

I have never had my carbon monoxide levels tested. When a chap from the NHS came into work I went into denial and didn't have mine done.

Should be irrelevant now though. As I am 4 weeks smoke free! :j

Troublesome chesty cough that doesn't hurt but is niggly especially at night does not seem to want to go completely. I keep getting phlegmy at the back of my throat too and a weird taste in my mouth. I thought all this stuff would be gone by now. Still, it gives me even more determination - imagine going back to cigs and having to detox all over again? No ta!

Glad everyone is doing well.....

shimmershelly

My DH is sneaking fags! He gave up at the beginning of Jan but I know he has had a couple of lapses in that time, I caught him having one of mine before I gave up, when he thought I was in bed for example. The last week or so I have wondered if I was being paranoid that I thought I could smell smoke when he went to have a shower. Last night I got all the kids sniffing for me too (my sense of smell is still not 100%) and they confirmed it was definately smoke I could smell. So me and my son went snooping and found 2 left of a packet of 20 in his work jacket!!
I'm thinking of buying some nicarette gum to replace any more I find and throwing his cigs away. The thing is we stand to lose a lot of money if he fails (he did it as a bet and a big bet too, which would be called in if he starts again). Also, the reason I have never managed to give up for good before is having him smoking around me all the time, the temptation has always been too great in the end, and I don't want him to be the excuse for me to start again this time. I want us both to be non smokers once and for all. I'm just shocked that after more than 3 months he is on that slippery slope.
I'm going to look for fags again tonight (he is not very good at being sneaky so they will not be hidden, so I don't feel bad about snooping!) and if I find any I will confront him and tell him I will support him in giving up again. He probably thinks the odd one won't hurt but that's how it always starts and the next you know, you are back on 20 a day again.
I might even sneak my champix into his tea lol!!

SandC

shimmershelly wrote: »

My DH is sneaking fags! He gave up at the beginning of Jan but I know he has had a couple of lapses in that time, I caught him having one of mine before I gave up, when he thought I was in bed for example. The last week or so I have wondered if I was being paranoid that I thought I could smell smoke when he went to have a shower. Last night I got all the kids sniffing for me too (my sense of smell is still not 100%) and they confirmed it was definately smoke I could smell. So me and my son went snooping and found 2 left of a packet of 20 in his work jacket!!
I'm thinking of buying some nicarette gum to replace any more I find and throwing his cigs away. The thing is we stand to lose a lot of money if he fails (he did it as a bet and a big bet too, which would be called in if he starts again). Also, the reason I have never managed to give up for good before is having him smoking around me all the time, the temptation has always been too great in the end, and I don't want him to be the excuse for me to start again this time. I want us both to be non smokers once and for all. I'm just shocked that after more than 3 months he is on that slippery slope.
I'm going to look for fags again tonight (he is not very good at being sneaky so they will not be hidden, so I don't feel bad about snooping!) and if I find any I will confront him and tell him I will support him in giving up again. He probably thinks the odd one won't hurt but that's how it always starts and the next you know, you are back on 20 a day again.
I might even sneak my champix into his tea lol!!

Oh heck shimmer. That did make me chuckle at first - the secret smoker, haven't we all been there? But it is serious stuff. I think you do need to sit him down and have it out with him, but ultimately you won't make someone give up if it's not the right time for them.

Good luck with it.

shimmershelly

It's just typical though isn't it, just when I am doing so as well.
We were well on the way to being a smoke free couple and the kids are so much happier. Silly, silly man! (and that's this years holiday down the drain if the people he bet with find out, which they will do as he slips up more and starts to smell like a smoker again).

mazza111

Just don't you slip up shimmershelly, u have done so well. My OH is still smoking away like a chimney, and at times i could steal it from his hands and stub it out on his forehead, other times i could just smoke it :rotfl:However, it's my choice to stop smoking, he hasn't come to that decision for himself yet, and as sandc said, if the time isn't right for him then u won't force the issue. Would be nice to encourage him for that bet though

Richard_S

Good evening all,

I quit smoking with the support of this Thread about May of last year. For one reason or another it only lasted about six weeks and by the end of July I was back to a pack of 20 (and more) a day.

With a renewed conviction I again smoked my "final" cigarette on 30th December last year and I've not had one since; not even a crafty drag. I didn't use any NRT so the first few days were a bit "difficult" but after that it became progressively easier and I thought I'd got the damn curse beaten.

Unfortunately, during the last 2/3 weeks the desire to buy a pack and light up is almost becoming insurmountable.

Has anybody else experienced this after 15/16 weeks smoke free?:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Regards

Richard

Sue-UU

Hiya Jo!!! Really good to see you again, though I really do hope you can get the other demons sorted, after all you quit the cigs, so .....! Don't forget, it's always lovely to see you. Take good care!

Neenie, you're doing SO very well, so whatever you do DON'T fall back into any old habits with your Gran. She may even urge you on and be pleased you've given up. You have the inhalator though, so fiddle with that, and anything else that helsp your through. Spend time with her, but also try to go out for some of the time "I'm just going to pop and see

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while I'm here" something like that, take her for a walk if she's able to get out. IF you're tempted at all, then just get some visions of us ALL glaring :mad: at you, ready to pounce on you should you even think of you know what!!!

Congratulations on 4 weeks smoke free SandC! :T You're doing marvellously! The chesty cough and phlegm means there's still rubbish in your lungs that needs clearing out, quite natural. Always make sure you get rid of the phlegm, never swollow it back!!! Keep some tissues with you to discreetly spit into if you're working or out.

Oh dear Shelly, that's such a rotten shame about your OH, but maybe he just thinks he can have the occasional one without it sending him back. Maybe the best way is to let him know you're aware of it, remind him of the bet and then calmly, but very despondently tell him "but I guess it's up to you." Let him see you're sad about it all, but don't say any more, just keep firm with your quitting and hope he sees what he's chucking away.

Mazza, please don't concern yourself with the carbon monoxide level still being at 4 as it is true that working on a loading bay where trucks are unloading IS to be expected. So please don't get too disappointed, short of changing your job, there's little you can do about it - BUT - at least it isn't caused by the wicked weed!!! Well done on the 6 weeks free gym membership!!! When you're on holiday from work next week, keep active with walking etc, anything that your arm allows you to do. Just keep focused on other things.

Hi again Richard, it's so good to see you keep trying - BUT - this time please don't succumb to the blessed things again. Yes, it is normal to get to that stage where you think "this is harder now, why don't I just not bother!" It happens so often, and it's all to easy to start again. However, the far better thing to do is to recognise it for what it is, a time where our minds are being challenged from all that time we smoked,but if you really do fight it, you can get past this stage and move on to the far more contended YOU! Please Richard, go for some long, brisk walks or runs and keep your mind occupied at all times, don't risk hating yourself once again and then needing to go right back to square one. Stick with it and in a day or so, maybe a week, you'll be thrilled to bits you've stuck it out. If you have family, think of them, but mostly think of YOU as it's your life you just need to get control of it again!

All the VERY best!!!

Have a lovely weekend everyone, get out in the fresh air and breathe it deeply into your lungs. You're all non-smokers now so get yourselves some exercise and take even more clean air in and toss out any left over muck!

Sue