Chrysalis

I'm so glad that your lungs got a clean bill of health! It would be wonderful if they could fix the sleep apnea; I bet that makes you feel tired and you don't even realize it.

Tracey, I love this photo! I bet it's a good image of you and I love the dog's paws and the way the light is falling on the drape and the colorful sock. It looks like a painting by Mary Cassatt or something. You should consider having it rendered in oils and framed. Lovely!

Wow! I remember when I started I thought I would NEVER make it to 1 month. People who made it to 6 months were like gods to me. Now here I am at 6 months, too. Incredible! Thank you one and all for all of your help and support! Here's to Quit Train (((THANKS!! :wub: )))

Great post, Marti! Thanks! And I agree. The reason my previous quits failed is that I kept thinking in terms of "forever". These cravings (during the first week) will continue FOREVER! I don't want to live this way forever so I might as well smoke now. Or I can't imagine myself NEVER, EVER smoking another cigarette. That's just not possible, so I might as well smoke now. So you are right-- one day at a time plus the knowledge, support and distraction provided by an online forum is a very, very different experience. It really works. I hope that the lurkers and thinkers out there take the plunge and join us. It's much easier than you think-- one day at a time! :)

A Hong Kong movie theater asked its patrons to leave their cell phones ON when they entered the theater. Using that, Volkswagen made an eye opening ad...More than 1.5 million views in 3 days! If you have children of any age who have a cell phone, please forward this link to them. You could possibly save their lives. https://www.youtube.com/embed/JHixeIr_6BM?rel=0&autoplay=1&iv_load_policy=3

Great to read this, Marti. You sound so frikkin' HAPPY!! It's just grand to hear. And the tar and nicotine and chemicals from 6000 cigarettes are NOT in your lungs. Hooray! Have you gotten new bathing suits and stocked up on sunscreen yet? Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Such fun!

I agree. I have never had a doctor who seemed to know the first thing about quitting smoking or how to properly use quit smoking aids. Really aggravating! But, happily, you have us! I used Chantix for 3 weeks before I quit and 3 weeks after. I had intended to stay on Chantix longer but I got tired of the side effects (vivid, sleep-disturbing dreams and mild depression) so I stopped Chantix early. I tapered down slowly over the course of a week or 10 days and then quit. Once I stopped entirely, I had some pretty bad withdrawal symptoms for 2 or 3 days and then I was done. Several months later I had something happen in my life that really upset me. I was afraid that I was going to relapse so I took 1/2 Chantix (i.e., I took 1 mg) once a day for a week. I got my emotions under control and stopped the Chantix after about a week (no taper this time) and I was fine. I hope this helps you.

Oh, good for you, Laura! I'm so happy for you that you were able to gain the upper hand over Nicodemon! You were so smart to post an SOS and then take the time to read and think about the responses. That was perfect. We all have certain situations or certain people that are strong triggers for us. Yours seems to be weekends-- perhaps you are bored or you don't want to have to do the chores that have piled up or you spend more time with people who get on your nerves-- whatever. But now you know that you CAN experience strong craves on a weekend and still keep your quit. Isn't that a great feeling to have?? You are stronger than your addiction! I suggest that you think carefully about what it is that triggers you on the weekends and take steps to change your weekend routine. Get out of the house more. Or hire someone to do the chores you hate. Or be "too busy" to spend so much time talking to someone who gets on your nerves. Whatever it is, be honest with yourself about what is bugging you and take steps to change things. Meanwhile, keep reminding yourself that you CAN keep your quit over the weekends. If you did it once, you can do it again. And each time it will get easier and easier. Again, good job today. You've got this quit!

That doesn't sound legal to me, or fair to the filmakers, actors, writers, key grips, etc. who rely on people paying to see movies. If you do choose to try this, I strongly suggest that you make double sure that you anti-virus software is up to date and don't agree to or download anything!

Well, since Sazerac stopped playing, I'll stop playing, too. Spoilsport! :angry: Now all future generations of QTers are going to be scratching their heads trying to figure out what this thread was about. Poor things.

Laura, be sure to read the new pinned thread about how other people handled their craves during the first week or two of their quit. It might give you some good ideas. http://www.quittrain.com/topic/2747-your-first-days-nicotine-free/

OK, Laura. You're an intelligent woman. You know darned well that you could expect to have some rough days when you quit smoking, especially in the beginning. But we're only talking DAYS here, not a lifetime of misery! Your rational brain knows that you can do some things to reduce your stress and get through the day. It's your junkie brain that is telling you, "This is too hard!. Waaaaa :girl_cray2: ". Don't give your junkie brain the upper hand. 1. Make sure that your blood sugar is high enough. Drink some juice or suck on hard candies. 2. Spend several minutes sitting quietly and yoga breathing (inhale 4 seconds, hold 4 seconds, exhale 4 seconds). 3. Go read your own "Pre-response" to an SOS here http://www.quittrain.com/topic/259-pre-respond-to-your-own-sos/?p=68505 It's pretty forceful! Read some of the others while you're there. 4. Read your list of the reasons you quit smoking in the first place. Read it slowly and THINK about each item on the list. If you did not write such a list, do it now. You know that you do NOT want to smoke. You love your kids and you don't want to set a bad example for them so they start smoking some day. You want to be healthy and vigorous so that you can enjoy activities with them and you don't want to absent yourself every time you turn around so you can go out and smoke. You can do this, Laura. Calm yourself. Breathe deeply. Just do NOT go buy any cigarettes for the next 5 minutes. Then the next 5 minutes. Then the next. Hang on!!

Pretty beaver tails! ( :D ) By the way, DD, I was prepared to resist the beaver tails because I thought that they were smeared with chocolate. But then you had to go and tell us that beaver tails are made with Nutella! OMG! I've been licking my computer screen ever since!

Great idea, Ava! I took your suggestion and changed my av, too. I think this one is much prettier than my old one. Thanks for the suggestion. :)

That's perfect, Ex smoker! Exactly right! I'm so impressed with you. You've got this quit!

Thank you for pinning this, MQ. I can't wait to refer newbies, or anyone who is struggling with craves, to this thread.

Jeffery, please listen to what these wise people have been telling you: 1. cigarettes NEVER quelled your anger no matter what Nicodemon wants you to think. 2. they did give you an excuse to walk away and calm yourself down for a few minutes. 3. your Nicodemon has figured out that the best way to get you to throw away your quit is to make you think that you that you will lose your job and your friends if you get angry. Your Nicodemon now has you convinced that you can't control your anger-- that's bs. It also has you convinced that if you don't control your anger there will be hell to pay--that's more bs. 4. whatever emotional swings you experience due to quitting (and yes, there are some) will be temporary; the benefits of quitting are permanent. Which do you choose? So stop telling yourself and/or believing lies about smoking and anger. You're just scaring yourself silly. Get some vigorous exercise every day to reduce your stress and help you sleep better. When you start to feel yourself getting angry, leave the room for a few minutes and practice 4/4 deep breathing while you get yourself under control. Tell your friends, family and coworkers that you are quitting and ask them to alert you if they see you losing your temper--you don't mean to get angry but sometimes it sneaks up on you. And tell yourself over and over again-- I will NOT smoke today no matter what! I will NOT! No! N.O.P.E! until your Nicodemon gets that message that this trick is not going to work on you any more. You did great last night. That is EXACTLY the right thing to do. Now you know that you can feel very, very angry and still not smoke. Just keep doing that. It will get better. I promise. Just be patient.

Very nice, Sazerac. Thank you!

"Burn the rake first so there is no turnin back." LMAO!! Love it! As for the girls, I bet my bottom dollar you fantasize about girls in pleated plaid skirts, heather sweater sets and penny loafers. If so, come to my house-- have I got a treat for you! :D

Well, whatever-it-is must be working! :) Keep up the good work.

That book does sound interesting, Natalie. I added it to my Amazon "Wish List" for Christmas time. Thanks!

That's perfect, Nancy! Thank you! That breathing exercise makes a lot of sense to me and the original article contains links to more info about breathing exercises. Very good. After doing a lot of research I decided that Yin Yoga will be the best for me. It's new and rather rare so I ordered a book from Amazon. I also ordered a DVD on the nature of chakras and how to work that into your meditation. So between the breathing, the Yin Yoga exercises and the chakra meditation I think that will be enough to get me started. Thanks again!

I think it might be good for me to start doing yoga on a regular basis. For various reasons, I do not want to take a class so I have to teach myself. What I want is to get my mind and body better connected and in better balance. I want to be more limber and physically stronger. I want my breathing to benefit every corner of my mind and my body and I want to stimulate the flow of blood and energy flow to every corner, too. And I want to dissipate stress and live more in the moment. So I think that I need to incorporate yoga philosophy and spirituality along with yogic breathing and physical exercises. Is that correct? The problem I'm having is that when I research yoga teaching (like via library books and DVDs or via online websites and YouTube videos) 95% of them are just teaching poses and exercises; no philosophy, spirituality or breathing. The other 5% teach the complete set of skills but they appear to want you to throw over your life and become a yogi (or so it seems). That's really not practicable. So those of you who have experience with yoga, have you found a way to combine spirituality, breath control and physical exercises? Do you, for example, meditate and breath for maybe 10 minutes and then do 30 minutes of exercises (asanas)? Or do you assume a pose and hold it while you focus on controlled breathing? How do you learn those aspects of yoga beyond the physical poses and exercises? Do you read books about yoga or something? I would appreciate any advice you can give me.

BAKON! Congratulations on your marvelous achievement! And thank you for all of your help and support (and goading) to the rest of us. You deserve to go celebrate with your bestest biker chick!

That was one of the best things about quitting smoking-- my sense of smell came back big time AND it happened quickly, like within 3 or 4 days. So even though I was going through the throes of withdrawal, I was encouraged to keep my quit because of that immediate physical improvement. My new and improved sense of smell also kept me busy for 2 weeks. I suddenly could smell the stale cigarette smoke in my house and went on a rampage scrubbing every single surface to get rid of the smell. The cleaning frenzy was a great distraction from the withdrawal symptoms. :) Even today, I notice and (usually) appreciate my improved sense of smell. Just this morning, my husband was eating yogurt for breakfast while we watched the morning news and I could smell it all the way across the room. Did you know that yogurt tastes better than it smells? Or maybe I was just feeling cranky this morning. :P Anyway, I'm sorry that you have developed a cold. Rats!! But hang in there. You have a lifetime of improved smell and taste to look forward to.