None-removed
Guest
How's it coming gang?
Quitting smoking
- Thread starter HarleyBeau
- Start date
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buddy'smom
Boxer Pal
Ummmmm
It is coming, a bit slowly but coming. I have broke the rules a few times (honest, just a few times) but I now have Health Canada working with me to beat this, which is an extreme support. I have to do this cold turkey, I did speak with my doctor and due to blood pressure issues, and a heart condition I am not a good candidate for the patch or the Zyban. They feel the risks of using them is too high for me :( I am sticking to 2 smokes a day at this point, but according to Health Canada by June 10th I should be to zero, and my withdrawal should be minimal at that time. I am presently with their advice prepping my system and mind for zero intake of nicotine. In some ways I feel like a failure but I also see that I am WAY better than I was prior to the 16th quit attempt, as I was at 15 a day :eek: I am not experiencing the palpatations now which is a good thing
so, with the support here and Health Canada, I am pretty sure I will soon be able to say I beat this. BTW smokes here are now $8.12 CAD per 25 pack which is one HECK of an incentive!! Oh what I can do with that extra $$$$ :D
Jean
It is coming, a bit slowly but coming. I have broke the rules a few times (honest, just a few times) but I now have Health Canada working with me to beat this, which is an extreme support. I have to do this cold turkey, I did speak with my doctor and due to blood pressure issues, and a heart condition I am not a good candidate for the patch or the Zyban. They feel the risks of using them is too high for me :( I am sticking to 2 smokes a day at this point, but according to Health Canada by June 10th I should be to zero, and my withdrawal should be minimal at that time. I am presently with their advice prepping my system and mind for zero intake of nicotine. In some ways I feel like a failure but I also see that I am WAY better than I was prior to the 16th quit attempt, as I was at 15 a day :eek: I am not experiencing the palpatations now which is a good thing
so, with the support here and Health Canada, I am pretty sure I will soon be able to say I beat this. BTW smokes here are now $8.12 CAD per 25 pack which is one HECK of an incentive!! Oh what I can do with that extra $$$$ :D Jean
ljnash
Boxer Insane
When I quit, I knew I couldn't do it cold turkey, and i cut down on the numbers of cigs I smoked per day as well as the nicotine content. By the time I got down to 10 Carltons (which was like sucking on a dry straw to get any nicotine out of it), I knew I could quit. I didn't have any cravings or any problems after that, and I was so afraid I would. It took a month of cutting down, etc. before I thought I could quit.
debbie knowles
Boxer Insane
Hey Gang....I'm here! It's me, Debbie and I am a NON-smoker!! It has now been 18 days and 32 minutes since my LAST smoke and I am doing pretty darned good. I am getting very resouceful at avoiding the nicotine demon. I freeze bottled water and then eat the ice chips in the evening and remember those mornings, I almost gave in and bought smokes on the way to work?? Well, I drive 63 miles one way to work and back and that morning cigarette with my coffee on the road was a real toughie to resist...Sooooo, I am now car-pooling with a non-smoker...so I am not smoking and saving even more money in gas and wear and tear on my car. This lady has asked me to carpool many times but I would not do it because I knew I could not smoke....aha..now it is to my advantage and we are both pleased with this new arrangement. I think I am really really gonna be OK! :D djk
buddy'smom
Boxer Pal
Congrats Deb!!! 
The process I am into right now is breaking the associations to smoking. Getting the new vehicle made it easy, as I have dubbed it non-smoking and therefore driving to and from work is easy smokefree. Our home has been smoke free for a long time, outdoors only, so cutting back here at home isn't too bad either. I just avoid my long leisurly coffees on the balcony now At work, I no longer go out to the smoke area, I take my breaks out in the resident gardens, no smoking allowed there. I do however still indulge in my one smoke at my meal break after I eat, prior to going back to work. This has allowed me to maintain my nice friendly disposition at work, and I have one when I get home from work, but not on the balcony, I have it prior to coming up to the apt. So, those are the only two I have to disassociate, and I am working on waiting longer and longer to have the after dinner one at work. I think hubby is getting worried with the disassociation as to the smoke/environment but that is all I am saying about that 
2 a day is good for me, I am not freaking out nor getting the edgy feelings I was having last week. I daily receive memos from Health Canada that is walking me through this diassociation and giving me a daily non smoking task to complete. I will beat it, and my freedom day is June 10th!
Jean
The process I am into right now is breaking the associations to smoking. Getting the new vehicle made it easy, as I have dubbed it non-smoking and therefore driving to and from work is easy smokefree. Our home has been smoke free for a long time, outdoors only, so cutting back here at home isn't too bad either. I just avoid my long leisurly coffees on the balcony now
At work, I no longer go out to the smoke area, I take my breaks out in the resident gardens, no smoking allowed there. I do however still indulge in my one smoke at my meal break after I eat, prior to going back to work. This has allowed me to maintain my nice friendly disposition at work, and I have one when I get home from work, but not on the balcony, I have it prior to coming up to the apt. So, those are the only two I have to disassociate, and I am working on waiting longer and longer to have the after dinner one at work. I think hubby is getting worried with the disassociation as to the smoke/environment but that is all I am saying about that 2 a day is good for me, I am not freaking out nor getting the edgy feelings I was having last week. I daily receive memos from Health Canada that is walking me through this diassociation and giving me a daily non smoking task to complete. I will beat it, and my freedom day is June 10th!
Jean
cashisking
Boxer Insane
Here I am
I am good, I bought a pack of smokes that faitful saturday, didn't smoke after the day, and soaked them in water and threw them away.. I haven't looked at my quit meter lately cause I feel a bit like a cheat I think I am going to start it over and just know before I cheated, I had NOT smoked 200+ sickarettes!
The temp here has been over 100deg. all week, good and bad.. NO way will I sneak outside to smoke in that heat, BUT my main coping mechanisism has been taking Cash to the park after work, we have to wait until about 7:30pm now and I have to sit with myself for 2 hours arguing with myself.. One day at a time, one day at a time.. I want this quit to be sucessful, I NEED it to be sucessful..
Deb, wow you are my hero!! great work, such an accomplishment. Now I have someone to look to for sucess!
Jean, what ever it takes hun! Glad you went to a Dr. and they are helping you through this! Cold turkey is the way I am going to, not due to health probs, but I thought it would be effective for me..
Aimee, you jumped on the band wagon yet??
Jenn
I am good, I bought a pack of smokes that faitful saturday, didn't smoke after the day, and soaked them in water and threw them away.. I haven't looked at my quit meter lately cause I feel a bit like a cheat I think I am going to start it over and just know before I cheated, I had NOT smoked 200+ sickarettes!
The temp here has been over 100deg. all week, good and bad.. NO way will I sneak outside to smoke in that heat, BUT my main coping mechanisism has been taking Cash to the park after work, we have to wait until about 7:30pm now and I have to sit with myself for 2 hours arguing with myself.. One day at a time, one day at a time.. I want this quit to be sucessful, I NEED it to be sucessful..
Deb, wow you are my hero!! great work, such an accomplishment. Now I have someone to look to for sucess!
Jean, what ever it takes hun! Glad you went to a Dr. and they are helping you through this! Cold turkey is the way I am going to, not due to health probs, but I thought it would be effective for me..
Aimee, you jumped on the band wagon yet??
Jenn
buddy'smom
Boxer Pal
Jenn
You are doing sooo well :D One slip up isn't bad at all, in fact from what I have read it is part of the process. Here is one of my most favorite quotes I got when I was first put in touch with Health Canada.
Jean
You are doing sooo well :D One slip up isn't bad at all, in fact from what I have read it is part of the process. Here is one of my most favorite quotes I got when I was first put in touch with Health Canada.
Jean
None-removed
Guest
I was asking how you guys were doing because I had dinner with my brother, SIL and nephew last night - and talk about an urge to cheat. For the first time in 3 months I had a real "I wanna a butt" moment, but not really a craving, more because my brother and I have always smoked when we have been together. I didn't have one, but it is the first time since I quit that I wasn't *sure* that I would be able to stay quit. Of course, my brother repeatedly telling me that I wouldn't be able to stay a non-smoker didn't help either. :rolleyes: I guess these are the times that I have to remind myself that I am a non-smoker, forever, to make myself believe it.
buddy'smom
Boxer Pal
appicon appicon appicon
That is great that you fought the urge and stuck to your new status of being a non smoker :D Proud of you C! it is just as hard at times to remain a non-smoker as it is to become one. This is the whole association thing I have to work on between now and June 10th. Not that I can stop seeing my smoking friends and relatives, but I have to recognize what it is about the times with them that signals my need to join them having a smoke. If it is of any consulation to everyone here, my dad has been a non smoker now for 12 years, and he is one of those born again nonsmokers, but he does admit there are times when it just feels right to lite up a smoke, although he doesn't. I have noted though, he does reach into his now empty shirt pocket, subconciously looking for the cigs.
Believe it or not, I am an extremly high strung person, and being high strung causes me to become very hyper in situations, thus the mental need for the smoke to calm me down happens. This is going to be my hardest obstacle to overcome, and who knows it may cause me to become even moreso but time will tell :D
Congrats everyone on your accomplishments. I hope to be able to post stories like yours in the very near future, but I am not going to kid myself and think my journey to becoming a non smoker is going to be an easy one for me. I am determined though, and it is determination that has got me where I am today, that is how I know I can beat this demon too.
Jean
That is great that you fought the urge and stuck to your new status of being a non smoker :D Proud of you C! it is just as hard at times to remain a non-smoker as it is to become one. This is the whole association thing I have to work on between now and June 10th. Not that I can stop seeing my smoking friends and relatives, but I have to recognize what it is about the times with them that signals my need to join them having a smoke. If it is of any consulation to everyone here, my dad has been a non smoker now for 12 years, and he is one of those born again nonsmokers, but he does admit there are times when it just feels right to lite up a smoke, although he doesn't. I have noted though, he does reach into his now empty shirt pocket, subconciously looking for the cigs.
Believe it or not, I am an extremly high strung person, and being high strung causes me to become very hyper in situations, thus the mental need for the smoke to calm me down happens. This is going to be my hardest obstacle to overcome, and who knows it may cause me to become even moreso but time will tell :D
Congrats everyone on your accomplishments. I hope to be able to post stories like yours in the very near future, but I am not going to kid myself and think my journey to becoming a non smoker is going to be an easy one for me. I am determined though, and it is determination that has got me where I am today, that is how I know I can beat this demon too.
Jean
Don't ya just hate it when relatives and friends say things like that? When I first quit smoking (long time ago), I had to avoid certain situations and people for awhile until I was convinced that I was a non smoker. Then nothing they said or did would faze me. I'm sending ~~calming~~happy~~vibes~~ to all who are trying to quit. You are doing great!
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