The Giving Up Smoking Thread - Part 3

mazza111

2 weeks 5 days - Patches/Oral - £233 Saved :eek:



Cravings were bad yesterday/last night. One of those days! Made it through tho :j:j:j:j


Sue: Love swimming. It's just the time n pain you have to go thru to get changed that's the biggest pain in the 4r$3. By time I get changed everyone else is in and done 20 lengths lol


Just about to go for some retail therapy to cheer me up now so will check in later to see how everyone else is doing

dundeedoll_2

rizla01 wrote: »

Never realised that after 40 years, it really IS like losing a friend. Fags were there through so much of my life including and along with drugs for my depression (15yrs ago), moments of loneliness (Marriage split - Kids gone) and through the many stressful times that followed.
R.I.P. Roll-ups!

I felt just the same and even the other day when my youngest was saying about leaving home next summer, my immediate thought was: 'I'll be able to smoke' (I was a secret smoker) and : 'It'll be company'

That thought lasted 1 second, but it shows you how the brain is programmed. That's basically how Champix/Zyban work - affecting neurotransmitters (chemical signals) in the brain which are responsible for nicotine addiction.


QUOTE from whyquit


How do you feel about a friend who has to go everywhere with you? Not only does he tag along all the time, but since he is so offensive and vulgar, you become unwelcome when with him. He has a peculiar odor that sticks to you wherever you go. Others think both of you stink.

He controls you totally. When he says jump, you jump. Sometimes in the middle of a blizzard or storm, he wants you to come to the store and pick him up. You would give your spouse hell if he or she did that to you all the time, but you can't argue with your friend. Sometimes, when you are out at a movie or play he says he wants you to go stand in the lobby with him and miss important scenes. Since he calls all the shots in your life, you go. Your friend doesn't like your choice of clothing either. Instead of politely telling you that you have lousy taste, he burns little holes in these items so you will want to throw them out. Sometimes, he tires of the furniture and gets rid of it too. Occasionally, he gets really nasty and decides the whole house must go.

He gets pretty expensive to support. Not only is his knack of property destruction costly, but you must pay to keep him with you. In fact, he will cost you thousands of dollars over your lifetime. And you can count on one thing, he will never pay you a penny in return.
Often at picnics you watch others playing vigorous activities and having lots of fun doing them. But your friend won't let you. He doesn't believe in physical activity. In his opinion, you are too old to have that kind of fun. So he kind of sits on your chest and makes it difficult for you to breathe. Now you don't want to go off and play with other people when you can't breathe, do you?

Your friend does not believe in being healthy. He is really repulsed by the thought of you living a long and productive life. So every chance he gets he makes you sick. He helps you catch colds and flu. Not just by running out in the middle of the lousy weather to pick him up at the store. He is more creative than that. He carries thousands of poisons with him which he constantly blows in your face. When you inhale some of them, they wipe out cilia in your lungs which would have helped you prevent these diseases.
But colds and flu are just his form of child's play. He especially likes diseases that slowly cripple you—like emphysema. He considers this disease great. Once he gets you to have this, you will give up all your other friends, family, career goals, activities—everything. You will just sit home and caress him, telling him what a great friend he is while you desperately gasp for air.

But eventually your friend tires of you. He decides he no longer wishes to have your company. Instead of letting you go your separate ways, he decides to kill you. He has a wonderful arsenal of weapons behind him. In fact, he has been plotting your death since the day you met him. He picked all the top killers in society and did everything in his power to ensure you would get one of them. He overworked your heart and lungs. He clogged up the arteries to your heart, brain, and every other part of your body. In case you were too strong to succumb to this, he constantly exposed you to cancer causing agents. He knew he would get you sooner or later.
Well, this is the story of your "friend", your cigarette. No real friend would do all this to you. Cigarettes are the worst possible enemies you ever had. They are expensive, addictive, socially unacceptable, and deadly. Consider all this and NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF!

rizla01

Funny how we can feel for a stranger, easier than for ourselves, isn't it.

Lovely story here.

Read it and see if you agree.

Sue-UU

mazza111 wrote: »

2 weeks 5 days - Patches/Oral - £233 Saved :eek:

Cravings were bad yesterday/last night. One of those days! Made it through tho :j:j:j:j

Ecellent stats above, Maz!!! :T:T Well done for pushing through the rougher times and being so pleased at coming through, exciting eh!!! Don't worry about keeping folk waiting, you change in your own time and enjoy the swim! OR - put your cozzy on in your own time before you go so you only need strip off the outerwear.

Do get some walking in though and build it up gradually, you'll find it a great benefit weight loss wise and certainly for making you feel good.

I reckon you've deserved that retail therapy, I hope you had a really lovely time.

Sue xx

That explains it perfectly, DD!

I read it all through, thanks Terry, what a heart-breaker!!! That poor lass had bearly begun to live. All for the sake of those blasted evil fags - ohh, I detest the things! :mad: We've had some sad stories on this thread and the previous 2, many with COPD, emphysema, lung cancer and other vile lung problems and several deaths of member's relatives. If only we could get everyone FREE of fags, folk would be far better off.....so too would their families!!!!!

Thanks a lot for putting the link on, do read it through folks - especially if you need incentive.

All the very best with stopping the fags folks, they're never worth it...and you're ALL far too good to risk your lives on them!

Hugs, Sue xxx

dundeedoll_2

Mazza - did you smoke 40 a day???

I worked mine out and it's £972 for 60 weeks - I am having my hallway and my bedroom decorated

ani*fan

Hi again everyone

So I completely blew it. I didn't even last a day. Which is pathetic. And the irony is that when you're having a bad day, smoking then ADDS to your problems when you think its going to take them away. It doesn't. I pretended to myself I'd just have one and as usual, it built up and within 2 days I was back to my usual amount.

I was at my wits end yesterday as I was on a long drive with a non-smoker, desperate to smoke but so grateful for the lift I couldn't ask her to stop the car. This is a stupid situation. I'm an intelligent woman. Why can I not beat this drug???????

Thanks so much for the warm welcome. I would love to stick around and learn from you guys. You all seem to be doing so well.

I loved the quotes from whyquit. That site helped me to quit for 4 months earlier in the year. I was so proud of myself and know without a doubt I can do it again and maintain it this time.

To all you people who have quit, I'm so jealous you wouldn't believe it. You're all amazing and i will be joining you very soon.

ani*fan

Dundeedoll...I love your idea of using the extra money to decorate your home. That will really spur you on and your house will be nice and fresh. Great plan.

rizla01

Hi Ani.

Over the desk for you, my dear!!



Ha. Bad luck this time. You'll get there.

I haven't read thru this whole thread but I discovered that my local Boots store offers free assistance as does my local GP practice.

That included free anti-smoking stuff (EG Niquetine patches or whatever you fancy) but insist on your return every week till you no longer need their help. They also test your lungs Etc.

I went for a couple of weeks and blagged myself a couple of packs of patches as a standby but was fortunate enough to not need them, so I will pass those on to someone else, but I wondered if you were aware of this service.

mazza111

2 Weeks 6 days £245 not spent on cigs :T Patches/oral NRT


Yes Dundeedoll. If I'm honest, I was probably opening my 3rd pack some days :eek:

Using Silkquit meter and a wee app on my fone that keeps a tally of days, money and life saved. Am too lazy to work it out for myself :rotfl:

Yesterday I noticed that I used the last patch from the box. As my prescription is due on a Wednesday, it means there's more than one day I've forgotten to put a patch on. Only noticed it the once tho :rotfl: Gonna keep going with them tho, even tho there's days i'm going without

Sue-UU

ani*fan wrote: »

I'm an intelligent woman. Why can I not beat this drug????

Oh, I'm sure you can ani*fan, after all you've proved that it really IS possible by having lasted a whole 4 months before, that alone was an amazing achievement.

You just need to help yourself get passed such times by identifying the problem that made you go back; do that and you can and will be just like others of us who got there.

It's not always easy though and most of us have had times where we almost caved in, but thought of all the reasons why we were battling on - and continued doing so. You then reach a point when it's far easier to keep off them than it is to turn back. After all...if we start puffing again...we know full well that in a short amount of time.......we'll be wanting to quit all over again! Thoughts of repeating the whole process always helped me not to gve in.

Have a read through this, ani*fan and try to remember the sensible thoughts at the right times in future. You'll make it because I think you want to badly enough, be patient and never think you're weak!

'Every Little Helps'

Smoky Thinking I just need one cigarette to take the edge off these cravings

Clear Thinking Cravings become weaker and less frequent with every day that I don’t smoke. Even just one puff will feed the cravings and make them stronger.

Smoky Thinking It’s been a long day. I deserve a cigarette.

Clear Thinking I deserve a reward after a long day, but there are better rewards than a cigarette. A favourite meal, a funny movie, or a hot shower will help me relax without ruining my quit attempt.

Smoky Thinking The urge to smoke is just too strong. I can’t stand it.

Clear Thinking Even the strongest cravings last less than 3 minutes. The urge will go away whether I smoke or not, and smoking now will just make it even harder for me to quit later. I can find something else to do—anything—until the craving goes away.

Smoky Thinking I blew it. I smoked a cigarette. I might as well go ahead and finish the pack.

Clear Thinking I am still learning how to be a non-smoker. It’s normal to make some mistakes. But I don’t have to smoke that next cigarette. I can learn from this mistake and keep going.

Smoky Thinking I can’t deal with never being able to have another cigarette for the rest of my life.

Clear Thinking I only have to deal with today. Quitting happens one day at a time, sometimes one hour at a time! The future will take care of itself.



Don't be too hard on yourself ani*fan, your turn will come, have patience.

Hugs, Sue xxx