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Thanks guys we will they are a riot! They alway make me laugh. I feel bad cause they have been in town a few days and I’ve been so sick I couldn’t hang out with them. They understand so they are more worried about me. So it’s nice to have good supportive friends. The beach is just what I need. It’s my happy place. Nothing like the sound of the ocean to calm your nerves! I alway feel so peaceful there.

I'm a very practical and scientific person (maybe even a little cynical). I could never convince myself that it was all about my state of mind, and it could be as easy or as hard as I wanted it to be. For me it was HARD. Is there a way I can emphasis that word even more? I felt that I had a real knot in my stomach for a long time. It was like a physical kick in the gut and a non-stop mental obsession. But despite it being really difficult, I did it. I truly think if you go all in, there is nothing in this world that will prevent you from achieving your goals. And the good news with quitting smoking is that time and distance do eventually erase the desire and make the quality of your life so much better. So, easy or hard, it can be done. It really must be done.

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Positively, NOPE !!!!!

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Thank you so much everyone. The support I get here is truly amazing. I did okay! We even went out for frozen yogurt after the meeting.... Which was great considering its 9:30pm and still in the 80s. Oy....summer in Sacramento....

Hey @beazel

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NOPE....!!!!!

Sorry to hear about your friend @Rozuki....sending prayers .... We are all different ..some take the nice quick route to Quit ...some of us take the slower route ...it's just about getting there ..in your own time ... When I first Quit ,I thought it was very hard ...but not as hard as amputation.... Not as hard as spending time on a oxygen machine 16 hours a day .... Whatever you are feeling Michelle ..is all Temporary ...and will pass ....

I have friends who have successfully quit with Chantix... Everyone I know who had success with it did the full 3 months. I have a failed quit using it because it didn't agree with me. If you do get any odd side effects please see your doctor immediately don't down play them. Adverse reactions are very rare but they do happen. If things don't feel right, then please see the doctor.

^ That!!!!! Now, only 18 months later, I can't believe how easy it was... BUT that's bull, you read my posts from a year ago and it was hard...you read my posts from 16 months ago...Hooley Dooley I was crawling may way over broken glass, it was hard but each day it got a teeny tiny bit easier...I can't tell you the last time I thought I'd like a smoke, I don't remember...but it's kind of like childbirth (and if you've been there you will get this) during labour it's horrible, and painful, and you swear never, ever again because it can be hell but you see that bub and before long your thinking you could have another... Not because it wasn't hard but because once your through it it doesn't seem as hard as it was. Honestly this was the easiest quit I have had because I didn't focus on how long it would last etc I just worried about one day...committed to not smoking for 1 day...woke up in the morning and committed again...I just cared about that one day, here and now, not a week or a month or a year just one day. And I laughed...laughed and laughed watched so much crap on you tube... comedians, people trying to understand Aussie slang..stupid stuff...but you know what laughing does, it releases endorphins....wanna know what they are...they are your bodies natural feel happy hormones...makes the hard stuff easier.

Gday NOPE starts my day

NOPE

I have not tried that. I'm curious as to how that is done. I'll goggle it. I love pineapple and (dare I say) bacon I'm hoping that would be something I could BBQ as well I worked in the printing industry for over 40 years and before the digital age, everything was processed through a chemical bath containing god knows what chemicals. I'm sure those fumes were not particularly good for the lungs and possibly dangerous. I had a CT scan a month or so ago because my Dr. wanted a better look at my lungs than what an X-ray was showing him. Haven't heard anything yet. Hope that's a good sign? Glad you didn't have any unusual crap attached to your lungs Jillar At least we have all done the best thing we can do - we quit inhaling crap into our lungs! We can't change what we have done in the past but we can certainly take an active role in preventing further damage!

Good morning everyone, im just waking up, couldn’t get to sleep last night. No surprise has I’ve been sleeping so much. And thanks for checking on me Doreen! I’m doing ok for the moment. I’m going on a little weekend get away with my girlfriends from out of town. Going over to the west coast of Florida. They don’t smoke so hopefully I will be smoke free by Monday. Both of them smoked but have since quit. So they will cheer me on this weekend. I’m sure I’ll be stopping by for support over the weekend. Happy Friday everyone

I’ve only had the sour stomach and that’s going away now. I alway take it with food. And a full glass of water. I’m hoping to be done with cigarettes my Monday. I’m starting to feel better each day. The fatigue has been bad. And I know I still have a way to go, but I’ll make it. And thanks for the support everyone.

LOL - I'd be one of the last one's on the planet to go Vegan. Speaking of Scallops, I just remembered I brought back 4 pounds of those delicious little molluscs from my trip down east in June. Time to thaw out a pound of those little fellers, wrap 'em in bacon with a piece of pineapple then on to the BBQ!

NOPE!

This lady never thought quitting was going to happen. Here I am at 11 months smoke free and the thoughts of smoking again are a thing of the past. I know it was very difficult for about two months. I was very crabby and difficult to live with. Now I feel more free and know I will never visit this part of my life again. I love to see the newbies appear and help them to find the same freedom.

NOPE!!

Two groups of people tell The Big Fat Lie: Successful Quitters: Boy that was THE HARDEST THING I ever did. I'll never do that again ... Failed Quitter: Shit, that was TOO DAMNED HARD. I'll never make it. Don't believe 'em, folks. Quitting is as easy or as hard as you choose to make it. It is, indeed, a choice. You can choose to embrace The Suck and be happy about it ... ... or you can fight it the whole way and live a life of difficult misery. The Suckage Level is gonna be high at times for all of us. It's what makes us addicts. The Big Choice is in how we react and keep drivin' on to The Goal. We can make it easy on ourselves. We can make it hard on ourselves. It's as easy or as hard as we make it. EZPZ

Confession: My boss hates the colour green so much when someone leased green cars for the business he tried to send them back and couldn't so he paid out the 3 year contract and returned them so they wouldn't be in our carpark...so for his birthday I had a bunch of green balloons delivered from someone at work who shafted me a few months ago. He's on the bosses shit list now. Confession: I like to play the long game.

Hi Michelle, I was going to say the same as @beazel: read your SOS answer to yourself. Maybe put it on your fridge and read it right away when you need it? Post an SOS whenever you need it. You are the one making or breaking your quit, but reaching out is so important (at least it was for me).

What Sazerac said Diane " reading peoples stories helped me to see the light at the end of the tunnel and celebrate little victories" You can go backward on any pages on this forum and read people's stories and comments. You will be able to relate a lot of these comments to the feelings you're having with your own quit and then not only will you feel that you are not alone but you will come to believe that when others tell you it will get better then ..... it actually will. It just takes time is all. We are all the same. We go through the same process and providing we adhere to the NOPE principal, we all remain life long nonsmokers and are very comfortable as such

Quitting is awfully hard for me. I’m on Chantix and it is helping a lot but it doesn’t take away the habits I have formed over the decade I’ve smoked.

@reciprocity is turkey okay?

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NOPE - I don't smoke anymore.

Attitude towards quitting can make it as hard or as easy as you'd like. There is some physical discomfort as your body frees itself of nicotine and the rest of the tars, yuck. This is to most the "hard" part. After that, there is a period of retraining yourself mentally. This can be hard or easy. You have to reach the point of accepting that you are never going to smoke again, you're done with it. All successful quitters get there in their own fashion and time. The NOPE pledge is a training tool in this.

Oh WOW Christa! 11 Months smoke free and just a short month away from joining us on the Lido Deck. How exciting is that? Celebrate this milestone and keep your eye on the prize. We'll all celebrate your 1 year wildly next month

Yes @Wayne045, the dreams were the best part about taking chantix, loved them!

home. went out for D batteries for my little fan because I know what a difference this makes. I did Katrina for a fortnight. On my sojourn, I met many old friends and we just had to have a shot. Now home. Shutters closed.

I read Alien Carr’s Easy Way book. It helped. What helped me the most was really adopting the philosophy/ mantra of this forum. Not one puff... I became quite the fan of an old poster on another forum & adopted his way of thinking. Just make it through the day until my head hits the pillow. Wake up and say to yourself. I did it! I’m going to do it again. Then do it. For most- myself included- it sucked. Hard. But when I fought like mad all day & made it to my pillow smoke-free another day. The joy of completing another smoke free day far outweighed the agony of fighting monster craves. Post SOS when needed. It works. So does NOPT/NOPE

What about the dreams. Are you handling the dreams OK? Are you having any intense dreams? I heard tales of nightmares before I stared Chantix, but didn’t experience any myself. The dreams were the most interesting effect of using Chantix for me

LOL - yes! Everyone's welcome but the cost of airfare might just out-weigh the value of the Scallops I know where these came from though because my cousin Richard caught them, froze them in brine so although they were frozen for transport, I know they will be ultra tasty and the price was right And yes Jo, a small chunk of pineapple between the scallop and the bacon really sends your taste buds into overdrive! Especially smoke-free taste buds

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So great Michelle!!!!! I knew you could do it... cuz....... Michelle Doesn't Smoke Anymore !!!

Don't swear at me! Me: sitting on the bus trying to decide what to get for tea at the chippy....should my flake be grilled or battered...should I get butterfish instead...do I want potato cakes or pumpkin cakes or both....chicken salt or plain...a crab stick, some prawns, some muscles, a scollop or two....calamari rings?????? Argh! Farkle darkle, who does decisions on the weekend?

My take is that there was nothing easy or enjoyable about it. So glad to be past that first year!

It's hard in the beginning but what life changing thing isn't? What are you prepared to pay for your freedom? If this was war, you might be asked to pay with your life but quitting smoking won't cost nearly that steep a price. Look to your smoke free future. It's that bright, shiny thing straight ahead of you. Don't ever look back because your smokey past is done ... over!

NOPE...

Attitude is the focus. Yes it is hard at the beginning but when the process has gone by for several months you can see how easy it has become, just put your mind to it and realize in the end it is the best thing that you can do!!!

I quit using Chantix and celebrated 6 years free last week. Always take Chantix with food...the only time I was nauseous was when I took it on an empty stomach. Keep in mind that the Chantix takes the edge off withdrawal symptoms, but you still have to make the commitment. Quitting can be uncomfortable, or sometimes even miserable, but it will not kill you and all symptoms are temporary. You can do this...as you have discovered the hard way, we are all one puff away from a pack a day.

Confession: I was a closet smoker most of my life. That fact causes a lot of guilt but now that I'm quitting I can let it go.