Hey! Day 9 is upon me, and nearly over.
Today I did a lot of tidying and washing, as I wasnt doing a huge deal of it whilst i was ill! It was odd actually, I used to have routine breaks of smoking when i did the laundry, but today, I had no smoking breaks, nor did it bother me too much. I am feeling a little more craving towards one now, since I am better, but i think the worst of it was over, conveniently whilst i was ill and didnt notice it.
Tomorrow is test day, I will be back at work tomorrow first thing in the morning, If i can last this week at work without having one, I will be able to last forever, Im sure of it.
Thanks for Reading, Im sure tomorrow will be far more eventful, and I will have plenty to bitch and moan about after returning to work, so look out for an exciting post tomorrow!
Andy
What an excellent blog (FYI I found this on wiki today so the evil women has lost, i'm guessing she has investment in a tobacco company, that's the only reason i could think someone could be so psyco about removing this??? twat!) i'm currently on day 3 of my quit attempt (background 20 a day for about 15yrs once gave up for 2 months...horrific) and things seem to be going really well and i'm pleased to have found this little gem as a heads up as to what may be around the corner...so for gods sake pls don't start again as your gonna really screw it up for me...no pressure! ;)
ReplyDeleteHey, thanks for such an inspirational comment! Makes it all worthwhile! Glad you found the link via wiki, It will be down again in a few hours once they begin to wake up in america and she checks! Il just continue to rogue post until they come and arrest me, then Il get international attention to my blog, so who would really of won out of all of it :)!!
ReplyDeleteKeep going is all i can say, its tough, I got ill on day 4, so didnt have the normality to worry about. Hope you pull through! stay safe, feel greatt, and see you on day 9 :)
Work will be cake... Not sure what you do or the stress level your position offers, but mine is pretty much high functioning chaos (IT) and I was worried about the triggers that would trip me and how I would react to them so I apologized ahead of time to all of my colleague and coworker for any unusual moods that I might display. Surprisingly the mood (royal bitch) I feared most never surfaced. Work kept me busy and strangely knowing everyone was "watching" created a personal challenge thus I was never even tempted to smoke all week.
ReplyDeleteJust found this link on Wiki, and I'm in a pretty similiar situation. I gave up smoking as a New Year's Resolution, although I haven't done quite as well as you - I had my first relapse 3 days in at the pub when I was unable to turn down a friend rolling me one, and then a second one a couple of days later after watching Schindler's List (a great but really heavy movie, I wouldn't recommend enduring it in your current predicament). Nonetheless I'm continuing on, as I believe most smoking attempts fail because people simply give up and convince themselves it's over as soon as they fall off the wagon. I'm determined to get through this, and even if I do succumb to temptation again (or if it likewise happens to you) the important thing is just to get right back on that horse. Keep up the good work you're doing well.
ReplyDelete-D
On my first attempt, I made it 13 days. It was actually pretty easy at first but then I started experiencing pretty severe withdrawal symptoms. I became highly agitated and pretty miserable overall. On day 13, I decided I'd had enough and bought a pack. I smoked that pack and decided to quit cold turkey again. This time, I only made it 6 days. This pattern continued for a few weeks where I would stop for several days, give in, smoke a pack over several days, stop for several days, give in, etc.
ReplyDeleteWhat I noticed was that every time I would drink alcohol, the craving would get 10 times worse and I could not fight it. The last time that I gave in, I got so upset with myself that I threw the remaining cigarettes in the pack in the trash and vowed to quit for good, even if I had to stop drinking alcohol. Tomorrow will be the 35th day in a row that I've gone without smoking but I didn't have to give up alcohol.
I don't want to say that I won't ever smoke again but I hope I never do. I feel like this time I have really quit because I've made it this long and have no more cravings. I feel much better, I can breathe much better, my sinuses don't bother me nearly as bad as before, I don't stink like smoke, I'm not throwing that money away and the list of benefits just goes on and on.
I would like to make a couple of points that I feel like are very important to those who may be considering quitting: First of all, if you try quitting cold turkey and give in to the craving and smoke, don't consider it a total failure and DON'T beat yourself up too bad. Just get your "fix" and then go on to attempt #2. It took me several weeks of quitting and starting back and stopping again before it finally "clicked" for me.
The other thing is, if you like to drink beer on a semi-regular basis like I do- you may find that you can do really well in your attempt to stop smoking UNTIL you have a beer or two or ten. You may find that your alcohol of choice- liquor or wine- has the same affect but the tip I'm about to give is for beer drinkers and specifically U.S. domestic beer drinkers. I'm convinced that all of these beers have some weird connection to make you want to smoke more. I don't know how or why but I believe it's true.
Well, let me tell you a little secret that helped me out and got me over the hump so that I didn't have to give up beer drinking as well as cigarettes: I switched to pale ale and india pale ale style beers. These are very "hoppy" and have a somewhat bitter taste but they didn't make me crave a cigarette like my domestic brand did. I enjoy the taste (amazing how your taste buds improve) and so I'd recommend trying this route if you're having the same trouble.
Good luck to all of you who are trying to quit and be encouraged because after smoking at least a pack a day for the last 14 years of my life, I did it. If I can do it, you can too.
Hey, Thanks for sharing how you stopped smoking for good. I could see your resolve in stop smoking and helping others as well. If it could be of any help, let me share my experience as well. I have not crossed the sea of temptations completely, but have swam successfully for a couple weeks.
ReplyDeleteI have been actively and heavily smoking for nearly 12 years.Over these years, I have cultivated a habit of resorting to smoking whenever I end up with problem. As time passed by, everything in my life,including day to day activities,started with a smoke. The dependency became so severe that I used to create problems so that I could smoke;however, I never observed my new behaviour patterns till recently, and after that I wanted to stop it somehow.
I resorted to the most successful method ever - cold turkey. I picked a date which I believed I will celebrate as my last shmoky day.On the day before, I bought a pack of cigs, and started smoking heavily. This was a personal deduction of mine that if I excessively smoke the prior day, I might end up with a repulsion , and will smoke less the next day.
The day, Dec 25th, arrived, I was quite okay in the morning. I decided that I will not take part in any intensive activities on the day. Most of the helps will advise you to take up some activities so that your mind will be off the urge, but my suggestion is dont do that. My reasoning is that when the activities finish, you will naturally have a tendency to reward yourself with a smoke, and this tendency is a bit hard to fight with. So, I lied low on that day with occassional pangs.
The second day was awesome. I swear, I was ready to kill to get a smoke. I even went half way to the shop to get one. But, something inside me said dont do it , and I obeyed. This,in my experience, was the worst day of all since the pangs reached epic proportions. Luckily, I read from a book that the temptations will last only for 3 minutes , and so, I started counting backwards! I took lot of naps, drank truck load of water, and tried not to think of what I was doing.
As days passed, the temptations became feebler and very occassional.Unfortunately, I caught a fever on my 7th day. It lasted for nearly a week, and was accompanied with cough and cold. I dint think much about it then, but when I read your blog, imagine my surprise!
Now I am on my 16th day, and I can say that the worst of it is over. I do get the temptations at times, but very very occassional. But think about the bright side, the benefits of quitting far outweighs the pleasures of keeping it. I have lots of time everyday doing things that i always wanted to do. I dont get tired easily now, or snaps at anyone when i cant get a smoke in time. I dont stink, and food tastes awesome these days. In fact, you wont get to know the benefits untils you get them.
My first office day after quitting was a bit difficult. At the end of every hour, an invisible alarm inside me rings, and I automatically stand up and start to the smoke room. If I resist , I feel really bad and tempted. So what I do is, I will stand up and walk out of office for a 10 mins stroll.
The most important things you should have before you embark upon a journey to correct yourself are your will power and faith(in yourself). I am sure we all will be blessed with those to see a tommorrow without a burning roll in our mouth and a cloud in our mind.
Good Luck,
hi again
ReplyDeleteglad to hear you are feeling better and best wishes for the work
and of course it's fantastic that you are still holding along with all others here
i'm holding my grounds on my 9th day
got fever on my 6th day along with my throat in flames but slowly getting better (hope so)
after few days i could sleep normally again
the dizziness and headaches are still bothering me but it's not that much to pay for all those years being as stupid as i was
since i confronted the most tempting situations right from the beginning i am now more battle hardened but the first few were real nightmares
i mean coffee breaks, going to smoker bars etc. and all the smoking habits i made throughout the years
i just didn't want to hide from those
i wish all of us here strong will and good luck and again a big thank you for this blog, it's a jewel