The Giving Up Smoking Thread!! Part 2

MumOf2

Update for today:

Cigarette free for: 1w 5d 23h 7m 20s (nearly 13 days!!)
Amount saved: £77.78
Cigarettes not smoked: 259

Really good day - invigilated university exams and for the first time didn't need to be anxious about not being able to go outside for a smoke for 6 hours. Am going to go for an hour's walk and then come back to a tank full of hot water and have a long soak with bubble bath in the water. Indulgent I know, but my daughter's working this evening and I had a late lunch at work so no need to do proper cooking. Also am at home tomorrow so no rush to get chores done this evening.

Paradoxically, the biggest benefit I've noticed is feeling so very much calmer - the relief of not having to worry about smoking is indescribable. And that's from a die hard, never going to give up, love smoking smoker. I just didn't realise how worried I was subconsciously until I stopped doing it - a psychologist would have a field day!

Thinking of everyone out there, wherever you are. Stay strong and focussed.

MumOf2
x

larmy16

MumOf2 wrote: »

Update for today:



Paradoxically, the biggest benefit I've noticed is feeling so very much calmer - the relief of not having to worry about smoking is indescribable. And that's from a die hard, never going to give up, love smoking smoker. I just didn't realise how worried I was subconsciously until I stopped doing it - a psychologist would have a field day!

This for me was the greatest benefit of stopping and amazing how quickly the sense of relief kicks in. Any new quitters, this is what it is all about, throwing off that albatross hanging round your neck. Simply wonderful.

Thanks for posting Mumof2, you reminded me yet again how wonderful it is to not be worrying about smoking - after all we have enough things to deal with without that too!

sar050680

Nice to see all the new faces on here attempting to give up, been a few months for me now and have to give credit to this thread, I was reading it when I finally decided enough was enough and it was time to stop, the support of a few wonderful people who post on here really is second to none.

The first week was the hardest for me but I took it one day at a time, sometimes, just go through work without smoking, it worked for me and it can work for you.

All the very best to all the quitters, stay strong, Paul.

larmy16

I remember you Paul! So good to hear of your continuing success. Well done you.

Beaney192

Well i never thought the internet would give me so much hope with regards to giving up smoking! When ever i feel down about it i come on here to read everyones positive stories and it helps me so much, so i know i keep saying it but a big thank you to all for your help

Well its been 1 week and 3 days and it seems to be getting harder i thought the first week was going to be the hardest but its seems like a doddle compared to this week I had a minor setback on Tuesday after a very stressful afternoon at work (i know thats no excuse !) I had one cig and felt so bad after i had it i dont know why i did it in the first place it was playing on my mind all day but didnt feel any better for it afterwards.

So went to my second session at the pharmacy and they gave me my second week of patches as well as an inhalter, It does seem to be doing the trick although im still getting horrible stomach cravings but i am certain i am not going to have another set back!

frugalpam

Well done everyone! :beer::j:beer:
This week's been a pain with car problems and even more problems trying to get to work without 4 wheels and getting stressed out. And guess what? I didn't once - NOT EVEN ONCE - think about lighting up, like I would have done at one time :j I'm now into month 11 off the fags and I LOVE IT!
Stick with it, the new quitters, it really CAN be done!

Pam

little_lily

A LITTLE DITTY:

Happy Birthday to Me,

I'm One Year smoke-free!

If I can then you can,

Love Little Lily!!!!

I can really hardly believe that it's been one whole year today since I quit!!! And I know it's true because my Silk Quit meter went for "1Y 1s"! I've been wondering for WEEKS how it would mark the event!

What a ride!!! No problems for a few weeks, then a brick wall, good days, bad days, massive highs, terrible lows, tears, tantrums - even the odd swear word!!!

Thanks to all the tremendous support I received from this board and the wisdom of the mighty late great Allan Carr, I am smoke free one year on. I still think about smoking but I can promise all newbies that, every day that goes by, it gets a little easier! Put it this way - when I first quit, I swear I obsessed about smoking and giving up for most (if not all!) of my waking hours. Now, it passes my mind maybe once a day and then for just a very few seconds. It pops into my mind in a "Oh, I could do with a fag. Nah, I've quit" sort of way and then it's gone. So instead of thinking about smoking for 59 minutes of every hour, now I think about it for 30 seconds of every day!


The last few weeks have been a joy - during the awful winds and rains, the pure, unadulterated pleasure of knowing that I don't have to stand in the cold and the wet feeding my habit has been indescribable! A few weeks ago, I went to a friend's house for dinner with four other couples. Six smokers spent the evening between courses dashing outside into the torrential rain, to huddle under a balcony and smoke a cigarrette. All the ladies had arrived looking immaculate - they didn't look great with their hair blown into a birdsnest, their eyes watering from the cold and the rain and - despite all the wind - they still stank SO STRONGLY of smoke! I just kept thinking (from the warmth of my chair) "Thank God I don't have to do that anymore!"

I think that sense of freedom is the greatest benefit I have enjoyed. My health is undeniably imporved, I don't have to wonder if the next fag is going to be the one that triggers a cancer, my skin has improved, I don't stink, I'm richer, my family adore me for quitting but the freedom of knowing that I don't have to have 20 fixes a day (in today's world where being a smoker is about as popular as being an MP or a banker!) is my personal biggest gain.

Enough ramblings - all new quitters KEEP GOING! I am proof - as a 20 a day girl for 25 years - that you can quit and that you can enjoy life after you quit. It may seem hard to believe if you are just starting on the journey, but I really do go out with friends and out for meals and enjoy myself without a cigarette - honest!!!!!

Sue-U - a huge hug for all the help you gave to me and hats off to you for keeping up the good work xxxx

tiger-eyes_2

Quick update: still going strong not smoking (almost!) :T
more of the fact I'm getting used to finding other things to do with my time..

but I AM SO GLAD I have stopped..especially with this weather!! just a shame the ban didn't make me realise this 2 years ago..

Sue-UU

Wonderful to see you Paul, Pam and Lily!! Three very determined quitters who have done their level best to ensure they never went back to that evil habit. Many congratulations to you ALL, to Sarah also please Paul, she'll get there, she has you to support her too!!! :T :T:T:T Lily, I must admit that you worried me a little at times, but throughout it all you held on to that determination and have stayed so strong on your year's journey!!! :j The way you've written about it is exactly the way I felt all that time ago; whenever the thought comes to your mind..it's then gone again just as quickly! Obviously a slight lingering of the remainder of an established habit that barely ever affects me now at all. Keep coming back to us all of you please, it's such great incentive to others.

Another terribly positive post MumOf2!! :T You are someone who is doing their utmost to do everything in your power to make quitting smoking as easy as possible, keep up in that way and you're onto a definate winner!

Hi Beaney, you are so right about the internet, where we'd be without it for so very many things I don't know. All together you sound very, very positive and I'm thrilled for you. I'm quite surprised at how you're feeling with the "stomach cravings"? It's not to be confused with fluttery feelings of excitement at thoughts of actually having given up is it?? How exactly would you describe the feelings? Keep drinking plenty of water as it just might be something to do with the nicotine being ingested from the patches. Plenty of baths/showers too, and plenty of exercise are great. The latter helps get your system going and your head feeling so very much better. Though the patches and inhalators are helping ease things while you're in the early days, it's my guess that you still having nicotine might be theproblem causing the 'feelings'. Still, as you get lesser doses in the patches and then finish with them completely I'm sure you'll soon feel a whole lot better.

One thing NOT to do is to feel at all guilty about the one ciggy, that's past and you hated it, but some people seem to just need to try the one to convince themselves they've done the right thing and don't still need them. Let it go now and treat it as a blip and just carry on as though you never had it.! Try to find something to take up your time at home up with, a hobby of some sort, anything to keep your mind and hands occupied. The one thing I'm really pleased about is that you're still coming on the thread and letting us know your feelings. Also getting help from the posts of others is a great sign and shows you so want to make it; you will too so long as you try all the above and - stay very, very strong! You're still doing well though as you've still not smoked for a long time!!! All in all, I still think you're doing just fine!

Well done tiger-eyes! :T Another very positive attitude, and I love your sentence "I'm getting used to finding other things to do with my time." You hit the nail on the head perfectly - also with the ciggy ban, the best thing that ever happened!! That has done so many a power of good.

Wishing you all well while you travel the non-smokers highway and longing for you all to reach it's end!:D

Sue x

Different_Corner

MumOf2 wrote: »

Update for today:


Paradoxically, the biggest benefit I've noticed is feeling so very much calmer - the relief of not having to worry about smoking is indescribable. And that's from a die hard, never going to give up, love smoking smoker. I just didn't realise how worried I was subconsciously until I stopped doing it - a psychologist would have a field day!

Thinking of everyone out there, wherever you are. Stay strong and focussed.

MumOf2
x

Ooooh I remember that feeling, when I stopped, I want it back !
TY MO2 !