Reciprocity

Oh no you don't !!!!! -10

OK so now you have completed that most difficult 1st Month of your quit. Well Done! That first Month is really tough. It's like running a marathon as a completely different, non smoking, being :o At the end of it, you are exhausted and just want everything to be normal again. Things do start to settle down at this point or they have for a little while. You have educated yourself about this deadly addiction and have developed your own set of tools to help yourself deal with cravings when they come upon you, unannounced, and threaten to ruin your quit that you have worked so hard to achieve. You're starting to feel confident and proud of yourself and, rightly so! But, you've been noticing that something is different now. When you first decided to quit, you announced to your family, friends, coworkers and others your intentions to improve your life and your health. They were happy for you. They were all initially attentive and eager to verbalize their support any chance the had to do that. You felt special. It was likely just what you needed while you were doing battle with the addiction that was threatening your very life. You were under siege from an addiction that was strong and crafty, trying to trick you into feeding it each and every time you felt weakness whether due to some unexpected life situation or just being tired of fighting during the first month. Yes, this support from everyone close to you was just what you needed! Now as you travel into your 2nd and 3rd month, all that support seems to have faded like the smell of fresh cut grass on a summer's morning. OK - you have come through the most difficult part of your quit but, you still aren't there; not completely there anyway. You still have cravings from time to time. You still have lots of thoughts about smoking. You feel you have control over those things but ....... where has all that support gone? Now, relatives, friends and coworkers seem to have the attitude that you should just be over it by now, but, you're not. You know you're not completely there yet. You're not going to be completely there until you've gone through a whole year of potential triggers. You know, those seasonal changes that can create triggers out of nowhere that might hit you at a weak moment and make you think; I can have just one. Look how far I've come. One won't hurt :) Don't be fooled my friend. That one will turn into many. Just ask someone who has relapsed after 1 year or 2 years. It happens when you don't remain committed. So, where do you go for your support after 1 month smoke free. You come here! You come to a place where like-minded people reside eager to commend you on your accomplishments and a place where people understand exactly what you are going through and exactly how you're feeling. Be ever on guard and nurture that early quit. Stay with us and participate to not only protect your own quit but to nurture others that are coming along behind you. That too will help to solidify YOUR quit. It's easy and, it's free! Congratulations on making it through the most difficult month. Now go forward and make it stronger and rely on us for support as you have in the past. (Sorry for the long preachy post :unsure: )

-7

Belated congrats C2B - 3 months - 1/4 year is awesome!

A belated congrats Jim. Well done on your 4 months quit. As you say, it's not easy; that's for sure but, that's what makes each additional milestone that much more special!

PM sent B57 :)

Wow, Treetop!! Only 1 more month to the Lido Deck. Better get yourself packed and hunt down those water wings. Great job on that quit!!

Congratulations for reaching this most difficult of milestones Feely. Hope you drop in and say hello. Keep that young quit going!!

-7

NOPE!

Welcome Jkinhd! Glad to see you have decided to quit smoking. As I'm sure you already know, smoking isn't good for you health in any way. Take a look at the list of chemicals that are in a cigarette. It's crazy that we put all that junk into our bodies every time we light up. With anxiety disorder, quitting will be extra challenging for you I'm sure. Quitting requires your complete and total commitment. Not One Puff Ever. That's our NOPE pledge we make daily here. You should do that too. Helps to get your mind in the right place at the start of every day. As long as you want to quit more than you want to smoke - you'll be just fine. Remember, smoking doesn't help with stress or your anxiety. All smoking does it feeds your nicotine addiction what it wants - more nicotine. Yes you can expect to feel more anxious in the early part of your quit. Unfortunately, that's just part of the deal. It won't last forever. As your body and mind adjust to not smoking, things will get back to normal again. Also, be aware you will likely experience changes of some sort within your body as you quit smoking. Those too will eventually get back to normal once your body adjusts to what it's going through. Things life interrupted sleep patterns, changes to digestion, minor weight gain, even things like chest congestion while you're getting rid of all that crap in your lungs. You may not get all of these things but you will likely experience some so, don't be concerned about those. If you're concerned, go get checked out by your doctor. Once he/she gives you the all clear, carry on with your quit no matter what. \wishing you the very best and we will see you around the board.

-6

Hope you had a really great Birthday Nancy!

You're doing great Jules! Just keep it going now. You have a lot invested at this point so let's make this one permanent!

-6

^^^ Cutie :wub:

-6

Kenzie, the first while is like that. Up days and days when you want to crawl into bed and pull the covers up over your head hoping the nicodemon will just go away. It's all normal so just go with it and use the tools you have been using so far to fight off the urge to smoke. This addiction is crafty and will attach you (mentally) when you are at you weakest. Understand that and just refuse to give in, no matter what! These crafty voices in your head that give rise to almost irresistible urges to smoke are your enemy. Do NOT give in to those voices. You are too far along the path to freedom. Stay the course & you'll be just fine. I know it's not easy but nothing in life worth having is easy - right? You are 5 days in now and things will start to easy up a little soon. You can expect that roller coaster ride for a while though. For me it was about 1 month. No where near as intense as week 1 but still a lot of up and down. After that, things evened out a lot. Now, I hadrly ever have what I would call a real crave yet, in week 1, I was like you or even worse so hang in there and you will get through it - I promise you. Just don't smoke - Not One Puff Ever (NOPE)!

Welcome annie! You show a lot of wisdom about what you are up against, based on what you said in your introduction. Please read all you can in the pinned threads on this board (the one's with the green pinned icon near the top of various pages). A couple of the important ingredients to being successful with a long term quit are, your desire to quit for yourself - no one else; just yourself. Sounds like you have that one done as opposed to some of your previous attempts. Secondly, understanding that this is a very manipulative addiction. It will play games with your mind in order to get you to feed it what it needs - nicotine! Just don't do it. It will make you think that smoking will reduce stress when in reality it doesn't. It just adds the stress of having to constantly feed the addiction. It's not easy to quit for most people, as I'm sure you know. It IS very worthwhile to go through the withdrawal period though so that you can be smoke free for the rest of your life. Just imagine how proud you would be, beating this horrible addiction. There's no better feeling and that can overflow to other areas of your life. Stay with us annie. Read all you can. Watch the videos and join us in our daily nope pledge and our daily discussions as we all travel to freedom!

Nice job Jules!! That's the way you do it. You are a non smoker now so smoking is off the table completely. Proud of you :) Keep up the good work!

Nice going. You turned your dislike for this life threatening addiction into a long term love affair with a beautiful dog. Doesn't get much better than that :)

-3

Wow, look at you SmokeFree! Only 1 more month to the Lido Deck - fantastic!

Congrats Missdixie! You go through so much that first month and undoubtedly it's the hardest of all. Now you're through it and have established a nice quit. Keep working on it. It only gets easier from here on :)