Reciprocity

Now I'm Sad :(

Hey Jewel :) How's it going?

Everything you're feeling at the moment is completely normal and in line with early quit symptoms so trust us that you are completely normal in that regard. That brain fog makes things difficult but it will eventually clear. I had it bad too :) For the really anxious moments (and there's lots of them early on) try some deep breathing. 8 or 10 long, slow deep breaths. This will slow your breathing down and relax you even if just slightly. Also, makes you focus on the breathing rather than the urge to smoke. Give that a try and see if it works for you. You're doing great. Just keep pushing forward through these tough early days and soon, things will be come more manageable. It seems very intimidating in the beginning but you are stronger that the addiction is - or at least, smarter :)

Yup - not a pretty picture and if it isn't motivation to quit, I don't know what is although, there's always that; "Oh, that stuff just happens to other people" attitude which a lot of people fall in line with. I'm sure Doreen will chime in on this subject, for which she has years of direct experience with.

Congrats on reaching the 4 month quit mark beazel!! You're really stacking up the months now. Time to get excited :)

I'm not that close a friend to anyone to be sucking poison out of them :o

Great Job JP!! You're just 2 months away from that sought after Lido Deck. Keep moving toward your goal :)

Great stuff Dee! Glad your Mom was able to be there to share the day with you.

Just a side note but, I have never heard of a chigger before. I was imagining something like this ...........

Congrats B!! What a fabulous achievement; 5 years smoke free :) You not only did it for yourself but are still here helping others do the same thing and setting a great example of how it can be done. Make sure you do something special for yourself today to mark the occasion!

Calamine Lotion may help as well. For temporary relief, a cool compress (cloth soaked in cold water) applied to the skin or even immersing the affected area in cool water may help.

Nope!

Good job Jewel!!! Do what you have to to keep quit in these early days. It will be so worth it down the road :)

^^^ We didn't know or understand then. It was just normal day to day life back in those days. I remember smoking in my office in the good old days. What about all the people who didn't smoke but worked near by me and others that smoked? All exposed to my selfish addiction :(

Get it done Jewel - we are routing for ya and will be here to support you and comment on any questions you might have along the way. We get as excited about someone else quitting as we do with our own quits - quitting rocks!!

Not just recent newbies. I found this to be so spot on my own experiences while smoking. So many missed moments with loved ones just because our addiction demanded to be fed. Makes me angry that I fell for it all those years :(

Canadian Rye/Whiskey - I recommend Crown Royal! Made exclusively in Gimley Manitoba. Can't go wrong with the Crown!!!

Yeah, who wants to be inhaling toxic s**t into your lungs when they are working too hard to begin with! Have fun!!

Happy Birthday Jimmy! Have a couple of brown-pops :)

Challenging at the early stage of your quit Jewel but so worth hanging in there to get to the point where you will only wonder why you did not quit earlier. There are a number of people here who smoked for 50 years +. If they can quit, so can you! Don't deceive yourself by thinking you are different from the rest of us. You are just the same. We have quit and so can YOU!

NOPE!

Love the new name - very positive and attitude is really important when quitting :) Keep pushing forward and let's get you quit for good!

At least it's a dry heat :P I remember being in Turkey and parts of Greece a couple of years ago in mid July and yeah, it was pretty hot and completely sunny every day for the entire two weeks I was in that region.

The difficulty focusing is completely normal (just so you know). I was basically a walking zombie for the first few weeks of my quit but, that too eventually goes away. Maybe try to drink more water or, some say fruit juice helps too. Sometimes the "foggy head" issue is related to a change in your blood-sugar levels. I understand you are still feeding nicotine into your body via the patch & lozenges but all those other toxic chemicals your body has been ingesting over the years are no longer there so your body is making huge (and for the better) adjustments. It takes a while for it to get through that stage - it's all a process. If you were not taking ANY nicotine supplements, it would take approx. 3 days for your body to be completely rid of all nicotine. (Called a Cold Turkey Quit). Getting rid of the nicotine is just a small part of the quitting process. The much larger part and the part that takes so long is reprogramming your brain to learn to live without smoking. Smoking invades virtually every facet of our life. When you stop suddenly your brain still focuses immediately on having a cigarette based on triggers for smoking in your life: waking up in the morning, having a coffee, a stressful event, a sad event, a happy event. You feel lost and anxious for the first while until you start living life without turning to smokes every 30 minutes or so. And once you start to get comfortable with that - you will feel so proud and so great that you can function happily without those deadly cancer sticks. You'll see. Just keep pushing ahead. Also, maybe get a ticker thing for yourself so you can follow your progress. It will show you how many cigs you have NOT smoked and how long your quit is and how much $$ you've saved. If you need help doing that - let me know and I will Private Message you instructions on how to set one up :)