The Giving Up Smoking Thread - Part 3

dundeedoll_2

Triciaxx wrote: »

Another milestone reached :j:j


Well done, Tricia, you have done so well! (I always remember your post about the post you read and printed off! )

Time for a little reflection, methinks.

I'm not denying the addictive power of nicotine but I do feel that more than 50% of the problem is psychological..........

I stopped one Sunday morning when I had more than enough 'excuses' to smoke more than ever.
I hadn't even (conciously) thought about giving up.............I'd run out of cigs about 11 am and just never bought another packet.


I think this is backed up by the quirks of thought that have popped into my head at odd times. I've been tempted to have 'just one' on occasion, despite knowing that it would lead to all the others :eek:

Been there, done that this week for some reason. I really really don't want to smoke again, but the thought has popped up in my head.
I was a 'secret smoker' and as it's 1/2 term next week my ex husband rang me to see if DS2 wanted to go and stay for a few days.
As he was asking, I had a vision of me sitting outside having a ciggie. I still keep having that association of me being on my own means I'll be able to smoke. (But I really really really have no desire to whatsoever!)

I am toying with the idea of going for some hypnotherapy to alter my thinking about that.


Several people have mentioned 'quit rage' as I'm calling it. According to whyquit, nicotine affects the way we digest and use food. Could the anger come from low blood sugar? Just a thought. That might explain the suggestion that honey helps?

I mentioned that in a PM to someone last night. The whyquit.com site does explain what happens in your body with/without nicotine very well............it helped me enormously.

It's lovely to see more people coming along and doing so well. I agree with Sue that people who are not quite ready are bound to disappear and (cross fingers) will be back when the time is right.

Even more helpful to those of us along the way is hearing from people who are ahead of us - :T:T to those who keep in touch. I, for one, find it very encouraging. For myself, I find that as the quit becomes normality, I don't think about it much at all and days slip by without keeping up with the thread - which is a shame as it has been my main support and I owe Sue and all the other contributors a big hearty thanks.


Keep going, everyone. If I can do it after 40 years of smoking, you can, too!

My sentiments exactly!

Sue-UU

Oh dear Jenny, it really brings it home to us when a loved one or friend is hit by the evil cancer, even more so though when we know it's all due to smoking! That's why it maddens me so very much when you see youngsters and school children taking the habit up - yet they all KNOW full well what the risks are!!!! Like you, I feel so terribly sorry for your friend and all others ill or dying due to having smoked, not to mention the loved ones they leave behind! We too have smoked, but we've come to realise all the damage it can do IF we don't stop! We can only stop and hope that it hasn't been too late, but even if, further on down the line, we do contract it we will know it would have got to us sooner had we NOT quit!! Be happy you've left it all behind, Jenny and look forward to the future!


Hi again Angela, and a very sensible way of weaning yourself of the nicotine as fast as possible without too much risk. It seems as though you've got stopping pretty well sussed out, but if you need help or want to talk, or in time be of help to others, then please join in!:D

Hi again CompBunny, good to see you both still as determined as you were a little while ago. What a fat lot of good the woman was to you! I think they should have ex-smokers at these places as it's only they who are capable of knowing what it's like to stop, what a quitter will go through and all the CORRECT advice to be able to give them at the onset! You did all the right things when you were feeling a little...what shall we say...savage?? :mad: Throwing things around, beating hell out of a pillow, breaking down in tears et are brilliant ways of getting our emotions sorted and (as you put it) feeling more human! :jSo, give way to what you feel like doing. That's why exercise is a great way to de-stress, unwind and look around at nature etc; bringing other thoughts into our minds rather than fags, fags and bally fags! Don't forget the water and fruit as they'll help too - something the old faggot didn't tell you, I'm guessing?? Regards your health, you're obviously very wise in stopping, and depression and anxiety are both, to my mind, made a lot better with fags taken out of our lives! All the best to you both....your future too!

Hey Caz, add to that list - hardening of the arteries which can even render some folk having to have legs removed!!!! Mucking up the digestive system too! You've done darn well this time and I just know you'll be sticking to it for your sake and the sake of your hairy friend...when you get him/her! Have a great time away Caz!! :wave:

Flippin eck, Kiwisaver, am I glad I wasn't anywhere near you at your worst!!! :idea: BTW coughing up muck and rubbish doesn't always happen, I'm sure it must be how our chest/bronchials deal with it all while we're smoking that accounts for what we do or don't need to get rid of.on stopping; all possibly coming down to genetics or our make-up. Very wise to stick with what your gut feeling tells you re the patches, Kiwi. BTW have you got your times right?? Surely not:eek:

Naughty, naughty DNM!!! Not to worry, 2 doesn't sound too bad at all, so as we always say, consider it a blip and don't look back. If nothing else came from it, you do at least know that you can't go back unless you stay back and I dearly hope that'll never, ever happen - it's just not worth it! How swift it was to get depressed again too. Look ahead DNM to when it won't affect you in the slightest and that WILL happen! Congratulations on over 6 weeks FREE now!!!! :T:T:TBy eck that went quick!!

Anyone seen our Ads?! He must be 6 weeks free now too.

GREAT news, **Kat**!!!! :eek: Although I know you're not quite yet where you want to be, it's an amazing start and the fact that YOU are so thrilled with how you've done shows the rest of us just how really well you're doing - and how you are intent on finally quitting.:T Stay strong Kat, and if you want another way to finally stop for good use the pledge "I won't have any cigarettes today, but I might have 1 tomorrow" then renew it the next day and so on, it might just be what you need to play old nick at his head games! I honestly think you've done wonderfully well! You CAN do it, Kat!!:D

Very many congratulations, Tricia!!!!! :T:T:T 2 months of freedom from fags is fantastic and I couldn't be more happy for you!! I quite agree with all your reasoning, it makes perfect sense to me and smoking does play a huge part on our digestive system - it mucked mine up and I now need to take a daily pill before eating anything! There's also proof of it messing up the Thyroid Gland (for anyone unsure, it's the largest gland in our bodies and all other glands/parst of the body are reliant on it working properly) and therefore giving us an under active thyroid which accounts for lack of metabolism, weight gain, hair loss, depression (there's that bally word again!) etc. I've suffered from UAT for almost 15 years!!

Come on everyone..yes you onlookers too,;) you know you long to quit...and if Tricia can do it after 0 years of smoking - SO CAN YOU!!! We're here to help you ALL. Stay strong and determined everyone, you'll thank your lucky stars you did - soon too!

Sue x

determined_new_ms

Thanks for the encouragement Sue - yep I was naughty but I knew what was right for me and didn't go over to the dark side well at least only momentarily! My oh really is a gem and really kept me on the straight and narrow for those couple of days when the urges were in the fore front of my mind :happylove

only just over a week and I'll have made it to the 2 month point too tricia :j (am thinking of those 2 as a blip not a relapse!) Good for u you've done fantastically! Since my blip I've been very reflective about smoking as well - there is so much propaganda about how difficult it is to stop smoking and while I agree it is hard its not as hard as we're led to believe! I am sooooooo glad I made the decision to stop and really wish I could convey to everyone out there its not as hard and as difficut as we're told.

Sue-UU

determined_new_ms wrote:

I am sooooooo glad I made the decision to stop and really wish I could convey to everyone out there its not as hard and as difficut as we're told.

Hi DNM, true for many of us, we're the proof after all - but - it's still an individual thing and whilst for most of us it's relatively easy, there are others who find it desperately difficult. No matter what though, it's so very worth trying!!! In the end we could all do it even if it did take some longer than others! The greater the task, the greater the reward! :j:j:j

Sue x

CompBunny

Thankyou!!!

The QuitRage (love the term, it needs a TM! makes it seem funny instead of scary!) is much better today My brother and his partner came to visit and we went out for a meal which took our minds off the sticks for a bit. We took the dogs for a nice walk this morning, watched a DVD and have kept busy all day! I'm going geocaching this evening (its a great excuse to get out, cheap and fun!) and we have been keeping the blood sugar thing at the front of our minds. Its helping!

Has everyone else had rain on and off all day? How lucky we all are not to be standing outside in it getting soaked, miserably puffing away

So far we have saved £17.56 between us and have earned ourselves 4hr55mins of life saved.

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekends! :j

Just wanted to say thankyou again to everyone who posts here, your support is so valuable xxx

determined_new_ms

Sue-UU wrote: »

Hi DNM, true for many of us, we're the proof after all - but - it's still an individual thing and whilst for most of us it's relatively easy, there are others who find it desperately difficult. No matter what though, it's so very worth trying!!! In the end we could all do it even if it did take some longer than others! The greater the task, the greater the reward! :j:j:j

Sue x

its so hard for me to succinctly say what I mean on this in some ways it really is as easy as just not lighting another cig. However I do not under estimate the challenges that come with it - the moods - crying, swearing, shouting, feeling really insecure (as everyone who has read my journey knows this has been a difficulty for me ), retraining myself to know how to cope with stress in a different way - in fact cope with every situation differently. Again I can't find the words to express it well, but I really think everyone out there can be free of the addiction and I wish I cold express it to everyone that they can do it too :A

jennyo

determined_new_ms wrote: »

its so hard for me to succinctly say what I mean on this in some ways it really is as easy as just not lighting another cig. However I do not under estimate the challenges that come with it - the moods - crying, swearing, shouting, feeling really insecure (as everyone who has read my journey knows this has been a difficulty for me ), retraining myself to know how to cope with stress in a different way - in fact cope with every situation differently. Again I can't find the words to express it well, but I really think everyone out there can be free of the addiction and I wish I cold express it to everyone that they can do it too :A

I know what you mean about dealing with situations differently, for the last 30 odd years smoking has been with me every day in every situation, at first it felt like I had to face everything alone. I will never smoke again and I am so happy to be free.

Kiwisaver_2

Sue-UU wrote: »

BTW have you got your times right?? Surely not:eek:

1 Week and 3 Days indeed, I have corrected it.

Kiwisaver_2

Quit rage busters

Things you can do or add to your diet to combat stress or help with cravings.

Lettuce - contains a natural sedative
Oats - oats are said to help calm the body and moderate the effects of nicotine withdrawal - try to get as many oats as you can into your diet, as they're incredibly good for you on many levels. Porridge for breakfast with a portion or two of fruit. Snack on some flapjacks or oatcakes topped with mashed banana or other fruit.
Red Onions - contain an antioxidant called quercetin which is calming
Milk and dairy products - contain natural opiates
Eat some Starchy carbohydrates with your lunch - brown rice, pasta, jacket potatoes (with skins on) all create seratonin

The perfect calming meal is apparently chicken fajitas (yum my favourite) with rice (preferably Brown). Make then with wholewheat tortillas, red onion, red and yellow peppers, lettuce, some grated cheese and sour cream - to get the full benefit.

Suck half a teaspoon of honey - stimulates seratonin in the brain within five minutes
Warm your hands - when we are stress apparently our hands go cold, so sit on them for a wee while
Stimulate the acupressure point between your first and second toe - press ten times

Curled Tongue Breathing is a technique from yoga that is said to help with cravings, possibly because the action is bit like smoking. Stick out your tongue and curl the sides to create a tube and inhale slowly and deeply through the 'tube', put your tonge in and exhale through your nose. Breath normally for a fe seconds and continue repetitions for as long as the craving lasts.

Alternate nostril breathing is another calming yogic breath. Either sitting or lying down, close off your left nostril with your left thumb and inhale slowly and evenly through your right nostril. Then close off the right using the index or any other finger, open your left nostril by removing the thumb, and exhale, slowly and fully through that side. Inhale through the left nostril, then close it and exhale via the right side. Continue several times until you feel calm

Frankincense oil if you get cravings associated with a certain activity or being in a certain place, sniff some frankincence oil, as this is said to aide in break ties with the past, as well as deepen the breath and quieten the mind. Honeysuckle Bach Flower remedy has a similar effect.

hardworkingmum40

Pauline-1976 wrote: »

Hi
I'm new to the forum. I quit smoking on 1/1/11 and have been using Champix. They are great I don't even really think about cigerettes any more!!

i stopped smoking on 28th January using Champix. I can't praise them enough. Apart from a few fleeting cravings, i can honestly say that I have never wanted a cigarette. I smoked 20 a day for 20 years and tried numerous times to give up without success. So if you have struggled with patches or the like give Champix a try.

Saying all that - i have felt a little moody and grouchy, i know that is common, and so far have managed not to murder any of my family or work colleagues :cool:

My frame of mind has changed now - i am no longer 'trying to give up' I am a non-smoker :j:j:j:beer:
My husband still smokes, but is just going into his second week on a course of champix, so any day now he will stop. Watch this space for the fireworks.

Well done to everyone that has managed to stop, and for those that fall off the wagon, don't give up, you can do it. x