nervousnellie

check in when you wake up with us, please! i am excited to hear about how well you're doing! KTQ! xoxo

ignore anything less than supportive and uplifting here and otherwise. so proud of you for sticking with your quit and getting through three days - gives me hope! xoxo

congrats!

thank you - i am, too.

how are you feeling today, helpneeded?

last week, i went 55 hours without a cigarette. one of the biggest side effects i had was diarrhea. i know that everyone's quit is different, but it looks like that was something we have/had in common. another side effect i have had/did have is light headedness. feeling super dizzy almost and my eyes being seemingly blurry. blood sugar dropping [drink lots of cranberry juice and orange juice and stay hydrated with water] i am so proud of you <3

Thank you all for the kind words. It's a good thing I went to the doctor. I also have been set up with a health coach for smoking cessation with cold turkey along with a local counselor here in my area for the anxiety and panic disorder. I get my blood results back on Monday, but they did notice my blood sugar being extremely low [59] and made me drink some orange juice while I was there. They said this is a side effect, but shouldn't be this low so early on in my quit. Looking forward to Monday's results and keeping up my quit since earlier yesterday, albeit extremely hard. Mind over matter!

^^ thank you, boo. i needed to read that. to the original poster: how are you doing now?

side note: it took two weeks to detox from the percocet and vicodin i had taken daily for nine years. never went a day without the pills for that long of a time. i was feeling 75-90% better by day four. the withdrawals were bad but nothing like what i have experienced with quitting cigarettes, if that helps. after about five days, i had zero cravings and have since then not even taken any medication - not even over the counter things like tylenol or cold medication.

when i got clean from opiates and did that detox at home for two weeks - i was so carefree back then. not a care in the world. :( i started having panic attacks when my husband and i got stuck in an underwater tunnel five years ago in the hampton roads area due to an accident that was ahead of us. we were stuck in the tunnel for about three hours. i had never experienced a panic attack prior to that. after that happened, every time i would get in the car and get stopped at a red light with cars around me - i would "freak out" so i went to the doctor and they diagnosed me with panic disorder and being on the spectrum of agoraphobic. i was housebound for two years after that. i can only travel about three miles past my house now, hence why i started to panic in traffic. although this is not an excuse for what i did today, hopefully that can explain a little bit about why i reacted the way i did? about the pain pill addiction i had - it was for about nine years. the detox was done at home without the assistance of a medical professional or any medications. it was horrible, mostly digestive issues - legs being extremely restless [hence why i cling to bananas now, lol, they helped] and a few sleepless nights........and, everyone's favorite? cigarettes. i don't want to lie and tell you it was stressful because it wasn't for me, at the time. this was several years prior to being diagnosed with panic disorder and agoraphobia. when i went through that i had zero cares in the world. i wish i was the old me, without any cares and didn't have to mentally prepare myself for everything. i hope that helps. sorry if i rambled at all - feeling cravings already from several hours ago when i smoked. i should have never set myself back. trying not to beat myself up over it too much, but i ramble when i am flustered, haha.

i didn't give/spew any excuses as to why they were in my car. they should not have been there, but were, and that is my doing - nobody elses. thank you for your words.

sorry, hit send too soon. i appreciate all of the comments and insight. although i wish i was making it up, i was diagnosed with severe panic disorder about six years ago by a doctor. it isn't in my head, unfortunately, although it has gotten much better. [with the exception of today] i feel like anything i say will be viewed as me being defensive, because even i would sense it being defensive if anyone else were to type certain things out, but i at least wanted to say thank you for the kind words and encouragement.

thanks

thank you :)

sorry sorry sorry - i also wanted to say what i have/had been doing: i have been drinking water all day - i do not drink caffeine or anything else because of my panic disorder. i have not had anything else to drink other than OJ and cranberry juice since i gave caffeine up six years ago when it was suggested by my old doctor because of my panic disorder. drinking OJ several times a day [small travel bottles, i will drink one and a half throughout the day with water] cranberry juice in the morning and at night - i heard that helps get toxins out faster. lots of fresh fruits, yogurt - and i am eating the same as always - good, balanced meals. bananas are my go to - not sure why, but i love bananas and i know it helps your digestion, too. chewing regular gum [not nicotine gum, yuck for me] i do have some werther's hard candies that i will have every so often during the day when i do not feel like gum. i feel like i am doing what i am supposed to, but then i start feeling like i am going to die and then bam, cigarette.

it's like i can't make it to 72 hours without relapsing. i went to the post office like any other day, and while i was standing in line - my heart started racing. it got so bad that i started to shake and wound up getting out of line, turning around, and speed walked to my car. i sat there, rummaging through my middle console to get my phone charger out to put my phone on it [i get weird OCD moments when i start having a panic attack - the first thing i do is make sure my phone is charged in case of an emergency - weird, i know] plugged my phone in and noticed: cigarettes in the middle console. i closed the middle console up and put my SUV in reverse and drove, shaking terribly, until i got stuck at a red light about four miles from my house. i am sitting there in the car and i start to shake even worse. i felt like my blood pressure dropped, blood sugar [i had OJ with me, so i slugged that down FAST] and i felt like my ears were going to fly off the sides of my head. i got super angsty sitting there because there was traffic ahead as well, so when i finally got to the red light line.....i took a left and decided i would try and avoid the traffic [traffic is a huge trigger for my panic disorder, by the way] and went another route. my heart started to race even more. i called my husband from the car while sitting at another red light with traffic and i could barely talk i was panicking so hard. because he is military he could not leave work but he sounded concerned - this was the first time in a VERY long time that i have had anything like this happen...panic attack wise. i got so shook up from the physical feelings going on that i hung up and just kept driving and praying i would make it home sooner than later. i opened the middle console up and did something that i have NEVER done before....i lit up a cigarette right then in there IN my car. as weird as this sounds because i am a smoker - i have never once smoked in my vehicle. not in my house. always always always outside. never even in a bar or place to eat when that was allowed, as weird as that sounds. as soon as i took about 2-4 puffs, my heart started to slow down, the shaking started to subside, the ears flying off the side of my head feeling stopped - it died down after a few minutes after i smoked. [yes, i threw the pack out - there was only one left in it anyway] what the heck can i do? i feel like i am losing a battle. people tell me and others on message boards all of the time that you have to WANT to quit before you quit. if only people knew how badly i want to quit. if my husband was here right this second, he would tell each and every one that i have come in contact that he is almost sick of seeing how long i am on the laptop and computers in the house doing research. i watch scary commercials about why people should stop smoking - i have two journals almost filled with notes about how to go through withdrawal and how to stay strong - what i should do, plan of actions, etc. i see all of these success stories and i am just THRILLED for people when i read them; but i immediately get depressed because i want to be them. i want to be able to throw cigarettes out the window and never look back. but the physical aspect of this is hard. i am not saying i cannot do them - i am saying i have not been able to do them and want to know the magic cure for this nonsense. i HATE CIGARETTES AND WHAT THEY ARE DOING TO ME AND MY LIFE! I WANT TO LIVE UNTIL I AM 120 GOSH DARN IT! something i would like to ask, point out, whatever you want to call it...... i am reading on forums and facebook sites that people's cravings are almost in their abdomen. mine are in my chest - i don't know how to describe it, but it feels like a dog is sitting on my chest [doesn't hurt] and it's like how i remember feeling when i was a kid and found out we were going to disney world. it's an excited sort of feeling, but with this it's excited/anxious that turns into: OH MY GOODNESS, am i dying feeling.... sorry, i needed to vent - looking for help here. i am disappointed in myself, before anyone else tells me how disappointed they are in me. i truly need help. and no, i am not using this as an excuse but with my panic disorder - i really do need to be seen by the doctor tomorrow at the appointment i made. i truly believe there is something else wrong. but maybe some of you all felt that way as well when you first started your quit?

hope you are doing well today and pray you had some sleep last night. i know for me the lack of sleep has been the worst aspect of it all. i suffer with panic disorder and lack of sleep sort of throws every thing off that i feel i have been working hard toward. do you also mind if i ask what dry skin brushing? i guess i could just google it, haha! if it helps with detox, maybe i should jump on that train and try it out as well.

how are you feeling today?

stay strong, the support here is amazing. we can be quit buddies if you want!

i am over 24 hours quit and have kept my quit since making this post; still going to the doctors just to make sure i am doing this the right way and am healthy. not just because of quitting, but to live a long life and knowing i have a good clean bill of health :) thanks for your wise words - i appreciate them :)

fruit juice for sure for blood sugar issues, or so i have been told. i just want to make it to the finish line as a non-smoker.

will do :)

congrats!!!! xoxo

nope

i know this post is old, but wanted to weigh in on this since this morning was my first morning without a cigarette since i quit this go around. showering first before eating and every thing else has really helped me a lot! i used to do my morning routine, smoke, eat, then smoke, then shower.