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[MB]

Hi,

I am looking for some support for my stop smoking quit. I quit smoking 50 days ago today. I have to say that it is going very well and that I have a blessing in being supported both by a group which meets once weekly and by an online group which posts at another site. Right now, that other site is down and I would like to stay in touch.

I quit smoking on 12/19/01 after smoking the best part of 32 years. I had quit for 5 months back in March of 2001 but then relapsed and continued to smoke another 4 months before quitting again. It is to the positive,nonjudgmental and loving support of my Nicotine Anonymous home group that I owe the courage and desire to quit this time. It is the day to day acceptance and encouragement of my online friends who have kept me going thru thick and thin this time, too. I never used online support prior to this quit, and I have to say that it is making a great difference.

Last year, I used the nicotine patch and gum together but was never able to get comfortable with the cravings that i had nearly every day. Eventually, the cravings and the addiction got to me and in a flare of anger, I started back to smoking.

This time, I got the idea that the patch was actually keeping me in a state of constant craving as it did not satisfy my need for nicotine (guess my tolerance level is high after 32 years). Instead of using it again, I decided to simply try to rely on hard candy and mints and some nicotine gum in times of urgent distress. Well, to my surprise, there was little distress. I actually had LESS cravings withOUT the patch than WITH the patch. I realize that everyone's body chemistry is different so their need for nicotine or replacement will be different. What worked for me, according to theory, should not have worked as it did. I have not had cravings enough to use nicotine gum for the last 22 days. I do have some mild discomfort that chewing gum, candy, or a meal usually will dissolve. I keep some nicotine gum handy, just in case, but there has been no real need.

I have been reading Allen Carr's book Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking. What he reports is similar to my own experience. It goes against the mainstream thought of Nicotine Replacement Therapy and Zyban use. But his clinics offer a money back guarantee and claim a 95% success rate, so I tend to want to believe what he is saying. Hey, for $8 it is worth the 144pages.

I want to encourage anyone who is thinking about quitting or who is struggling with the urge to smoke again to try something new. Read the book mentioned above. Visit the Nicotine Anonymous official website and get information. Make a stop smoking plan so you are not just blundering into something over your head...if this was easy,we would all have quit already. This is your life, and mine. I think it is worth taking a look at seriously. It is not just a $3.50 pack of 20 rolled nicotine delivery devices. It is life and death/ life and breath. Quitting is not about being strong, having willpower, or being better than average. Heck, I am proof of that. But I cannot come CLOSE to relating just how miraculous it feels to not be bound by the chains of nicotine addiction and planning my every move in life around cigarette smoking.

The choice is yours. I am only making a statement about choices. No one can make you quit or make you stay quit. My message is that quitting means freedom for life. God bless,

Michael

[Jen20502]

The choice is yours. I am only making a statement about choices. No one can make you quit or make you stay quit. My message is that quitting means freedom for life. God bless,


Very well written post Micheal! It's good to see you here.
I smoked for over 10 years, and tried to quit a few times, never with any success. When I decided to try again, I took a long, hard look at what 10 years of smoking did to me. I wasn't able to sing a lullaby to my kids because I was trying to catch my breath after going up the stairs. I was too tired to play. There's more, but what it boiled down to was I felt OLD. I'm 32 years old, and there were days when I felt like I was 60. I couldn't continue to do that to myself, or my kids.
I cut down to 3 cigarrettes per day for about a week, then I smoked my last cigarrette at 11PM, February 5th, 2002. The cravings are minimal, and I keep a steady supply of sunflower seeds on hand.
My biggest incentive to quit is my kids. I never realized how much time I stole from them, because I was too busy smoking to play. Now instead of smoking, I'm spending more quality time with my kids, and enjoying being smoke-free!
(Man, that sounded like a speech! LOL)
Jen

[Tbirdsfree]

Hi Michael and Jen... Well, I'm over from the board that is down, thanks Michael for sharing this board. I can really relate to what you were saying Jen, about being too busy to play with the kids, not only that, I was too busy smoking to even take really good care of my home or myself. I'm one month and 6 days into my second quit, last time I lasted 6 months, but let the weight gain depress me and smoked. Now, I've been so busy organizing my house. Boy have I collected a bunch of junk. LOL I also have been taking better care of me too. I used body lotions and sprays, before I couldn't care less because I knew that the smoke would cover up an pretty scent I used on myself. The same goes with perfume. It seems silly but, not smoking is making me look at myself differently. My kids see a difference, and they like it. Well, its nice to be here. be back again soon.
Trina
smoke free
1/1/02

[MB]

Hi, Jen. So glad you could join me here today. Going cold turkey is tough, but people do it all the time. YOU can too.

I think it is so great that you have recognized your children's need for your health and their health, too. I totally disregarded my kids' health and my health to smoke as long as I did.

Want to encourage you to not look beyond today. As an addict, I cannot commit to what I will do tomorrow. Today is the only thing that counts. Be respectful of the power of nicotine. It is a cunning,baffling and powerful drug.

Best wishes to you, Jen. Keep up the fight!

[Swtgemiam]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks Mike for making up this board. I had a little trouble finding my way. I get lost really easily. Jen and Tbird and Mike..wow you are all doing so great. I am really happy for ya'll. I have been stuggling the past few days but I think thats because I am bored and sick. Starting to feel better and then I will be able to keep busy again. Jen i relate to what you say about spending time with kids lost to smoking. 5 minutes here and there all day surely adds up.
Well, I miss everyone
Kara

[MB]

Hi, Trina.

Glad you could join us. I too let smoking come between me and my children, my wife, my friends, and everyone that I knew.

I withdrew from friends and family alike, rather than to stop smoking, I hid away, missed parties, dinners and such because there was not smoking allowed. So I just stayed home.

It has created quite an uncomfortable situation for me, and I am like a hermit, with no real friends and no life outside of my work. I have a lot of changes to make as a result of my decisions as a smoker. It will take some time to undo some of what has been done in 32 years.

I am not going to spend a lot of time regretting the past because I cannot change it, but I can look back and see the harm that i've done and try to repair some of the relationships that I've harmed or ignored over the years. Regrets don't help the future.

Hang tough, don't puff!

[MB]

Kara,

So glad you could join us! Have been wondering about you. I'm glad that you are starting to feel on the mend and hope that it is no time before you are back to your old perky self!

As you know, I regard you as my quit buddy since we stopped pretty close to the same time and since we seemed to be the two more outspoken people from the other board!

I just love having the board to use for support. I hope no one minds my using it so much. It just is a wonder for me in helping me to quit. If you met me in person, you would wonder why I never talk! Haha,I promise. I'm a shy person, in person. LOL

Kara, you just don't know how much YOU personally have helped me to keep going and to be enthusiastic about quitting. I am wanting to find another term to replace quitting now. Quitting sounds like I am giving up something. It is not like that anymore for me. I am frantically grabbing and reaching and digging for this nonsmoking lifestyle. I am still very energized and optimistic and just really exploding with joy over this being so successful for me.

Kara, this is your FIRST and ONLY quit. PLEASE, make sure it is the ONLY one. I can't tell you how many times I quit and how discouraging and depressing it was to me to fail. Once relapsed, no one helped me to get back up or told me that I had done good work in the time up till the relapses. I had no support at home. My wife isand was a nonsmoking nag about it. Once I quit, she never said anything about it anymore. So I was on my own to quit, to fail and to not try again.

That is why this board and my home group at NICA are so important to me. I know I have people who care about me, will accept me if I fall down, will not judge me or call me names and who want me to succeed just as much as I want to succeed.
You people are like family in a sense. There is a part of me that YOU know that my family and some of my nonsmoking friends will never know. A part that needs comfort and a place to give back the gifts that I am receiving.

It's time for my meeting. See you all later!

God bless,

[Jen20502]

Hi everyone! It's nice to see familiar faces here. I never realized how much I needed everyone's support until our board went down. [img]smile.gif[/img]
BTW, Micheal, I didn't exactly quit "cold turkey" although I'm not using the patch or gum. I smoked 3 cigs per day for a week, that was my step down.
Day 2 went pretty smooth, until I was fixing dinner. I had been snacking on sunflower seeds here and there, that controls any minor craving. But I had a MAJOR one. So, I got myself a candy cane and continued to fix dinner while sucking on that. I still have 1/3 of the candy cane, and NO craving.:-D
I understand about not looking too far ahead. I have a friend who lost her dad to cancer, she has told me what smoking did to him. I understand all this, I really do, but I was getting into the "it won't happen to me" mentality. You can tell me to quit smoking because of what MIGHT happen. I had to quit for my own reasons, reasons I could see IN MY OWN LIFE. If I continued to smoke, I COULD get cancer, but I WOULD cheat my children out of time to spend with me.
I hope that made sense, cuz I'm babbling now. LOL
Jen

[uk15004]

Hi there everyone!

I see some of my family (online ones) members here posting....Hi Jen...Mike and others! Thanks for the update...anyways iam Carol, iam 27 years old, i smoked for 12 years before finally doing the right thing for myself and my family and decided to quit. I have been smoke free for 2 months 1 week now. Im feeling good, but this wouldnt' have happened if i didn't have my online family to help me through all my hard times! Take care and take it one day at a time!

Carol