bjean

NOPE

Thanks for all the support. i just printed the Junkie Thinking. I have been through every single one of them today. I needed to see those responses. Smoking is NOT a need, it's a desire. I don't NEED a cigarette. I need to be able to breathe.....and I am breathing better than I was Tuesday. I really am. That's what got me started. I felt a kind of itching in my chest like I needed to cough, but when I tried to cough, nothing really happened.....nothing "broke loose". That scared me. I've had that feeling before......sort of, but this seemed different and I had visions of COPD that would NOT go away. I had visions of lung cancer that would NOT go away. I have to remember THAT fear. It's much stronger than the fear I won't be able to stand it if I don't get a cigarette! I read the statistics and I refuse to be one.

Not a pro fan. GO VOLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am Tennessee born and bred and cannot WAIT to get back when I retire!

I seem to be very emotional today........and ANGRY! I actually threw something. I just feel out of control. Good thing I live alone and am dog-less at the moment. Jeez! If I can't even get through a WEEK without coming apart at the seams, how am I supposed to last a month or a year?

I had a feeling Saturday afternoons were going to trip me up. The trouble is that I do a lot of cooking on Saturday afternoon/evening in preparation for the next week. As I put things on the stove or in the oven, I would always smoke a cigarette (or 2) while waiting for the water to boil or the carrots to roast......you get the picture.....waiting for the timer to go off. Right now I feel the pull toward those bad boys stronger than I have since the last one. They are just calling out to me. Every other thought that crosses my mind is.....Go light up. I DON'T KNOW HOW TO GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD. It feels like I'm possessed! Am I going to start erupting pea soup while my head spins around? (sorry.....showing my age) I honestly don't know what to do or how to handle this.

NOPE

OK, guys. Thanks for all the good wishes, good feels and support. I'm still having some cravings, but a lot of this is psychological. It's just TIME to smoke. I hit the expressway for my drive home, reach for the pack. Finished dinner...reach for the pack. I read Allen Carr's book a while ago and need to get it out again and go through it. I recently read another book by a woman, but can't recall the name. She's all about facing this head-on, so I'm taking some of her advice....some of Allen Carr's. Most of the websites tell you to get rid of all cigarette packs, lighters and ashtrays. She says NO. She says you have to face those things and get past the triggers that they cause. OK, whatever. Doing that. Kept the open pack, but put a rubber band around it so that I can't mindlessly pull one out and light it. I haven't had to do an SOS yet. BUT, it has only been 72 hours since my last cigarette. I know that Allen Carr says to think of yourself as a non-smoker....even while you're still winding down the process. By the way, I didn't really wind down. I was FULL BLOWN on Sunday....probably less than a pack, but still puffing big time. Monday I only had 8. Tuesday 1. Wednesday.....ZERO. I think that pretty much qualifies as cold turkey. But I'm still at a point where I'm a little afraid to envision a life without ever having a cigarette again.......although I know......one puff and I'll be back to it again and it will be harder than ever to stop. I feel the pull right now because it's time for bed (past time, actually), but I wouldn't call it a "craving". Thankfully one of my co-workers is a former smoker and she is really pumped that I'm quitting and has provided some real encouragement. I was a little scared when I signed up for this forum because a lot of the dates looked really, really old. I'm glad you guys are here!!!!!

This will be my third day! N.O.P.E.

Hurray! It worked!

BKP...having a little trouble here. I went to the tab to create a ticker, but it won't let me change the number of cigarettes that I smoked per day or the price per pack. Any hints....or should I just wait and see if it will let me do it later? Thank you for the encouragement. I'm going to need it!!!!

Congratulations. I hope that will be me in 7 months!

OK, I've just jumped on the bandwagon. I have thought about quitting for YEARS....and started actually planning the event weeks ago, but just couldn't seem to get started. For some reason, on my drive home from work Monday, I thought....this is it. I did smoke 2 cigarettes that night before bed. On Tuesday, I had nothing until time for bed and smoked one. That was the last one. So....do I establish my quit date as August 29 (when I had my last one) or August 30, which was my first day without any cigarettes. I'm really kind of scared.......afraid of failing. I feel a tightness in my chest that just lets me know that I have no choice but to succeed, but it's really hard after I get home from work and there's nothing to do with my hands while I'm at the computer. Add to that, there's a 3-day weekend coming up and abstaining at home may be much more difficult than work. The thing about the chest congestion, though, is that it actually seems worse rather than better. Is that normal? Does it get worse before it gets better? I'm not using any NRT because I don't want to swap one addiction for another. I just want to be DONE WITH IT!