Jumping in to the quitting water!

[Missyp187]

Good Afternoon everyone,

 

I’ve just joined after being recommended to your site so thank you for having me! I’m a recent quitter (9am yesterday!) have previously quit a few years ago for 6 months but I’m determined to see it through this time and kick them for good. I’m currently vaping to fill the void, yesterday was a struggle but I’m feeling more confident and on it today! 

 

Hope you’re all having a great day and I look forward to chatting to you all  

[catlover]

Hey so glad you joined us here, you will love it, everyone is soo helpful.  Congrats on your second day quit, hope you are keeping yourself busy as thats what really helps. Stay close and post often, even if its to ramble lol...... I often ramble on here and post dancing bananas and other funny things, but if it helps me, then hey all good !

Plenty to read on here too to keep you occupied. Stay determined. YOU CAN DO IT....

[notsmokinjo]

Hi Missy and welcome.

 

Well done on being smoke free for 1 full day and making the best decision of your life. The first 3 days are the hardest so you are well on your way to getting through those. So, just from my experience with using NRT gum to fill the void in the early days of my quit do you have a plan in place to get rid of the vaping and be completely nicotine free.

 

So my biggest tips to do this are:

1. read as much as you can and watch the videos on this site, knowledge is power and the more you know about the way nicotine keeps you trapped in your addiction the more power you have to kick it to the curb for good.

2. Take it one day at a time. In the morning commit to not smoking for 24 hours, you know you can do this, you already have done it. You can not smoke for 24 hours... easy peasy cos you have done that.

3. (part of 2)... Pledge NOPE (Not One Puff Ever) each day, when I first quit I has hesitant to do this but making this public pledge to yourself each morning real does help. We have a NOPE thread each day.

4. ASK for help, if its really looking like your going to throw away your quit make sure you post an SOS first. We will have your back and help how we can.

5. Keep hydrated and your blood sugar levels up... it helps with the craves.

 

So sending you strength for the days ahead and again congratulations on making the best decision ever.

[jillar]

Welcome Missy and congrats on taking back your life I don't know a lot about vaping but since it is so new there's no real study on the long term effects it has on our bodies. From what I've seen from members here who have kicked the vaping habit, it was just as hard, if not harder, to kick than cigarettes because of the frequency of using it versus cigarettes. Hopefully that won't be the case for you  

[Missyp187]

45 minutes ago, catlover said:

Hey so glad you joined us here, you will love it, everyone is soo helpful.  Congrats on your second day quit, hope you are keeping yourself busy as thats what really helps. Stay close and post often, even if its to ramble lol...... I often ramble on here and post dancing bananas and other funny things, but if it helps me, then hey all good !

Plenty to read on here too to keep you occupied. Stay determined. YOU CAN DO IT....

Thank you! I definitely need to learn how to post a dancing banana!! 

[Missyp187]

44 minutes ago, notsmokinjo said:

Hi Missy and welcome.

 

Well done on being smoke free for 1 full day and making the best decision of your life. The first 3 days are the hardest so you are well on your way to getting through those. So, just from my experience with using NRT gum to fill the void in the early days of my quit do you have a plan in place to get rid of the vaping and be completely nicotine free.

 

So my biggest tips to do this are:

1. read as much as you can and watch the videos on this site, knowledge is power and the more you know about the way nicotine keeps you trapped in your addiction the more power you have to kick it to the curb for good.

2. Take it one day at a time. In the morning commit to not smoking for 24 hours, you know you can do this, you already have done it. You can not smoke for 24 hours... easy peasy cos you have done that.

3. (part of 2)... Pledge NOPE (Not One Puff Ever) each day, when I first quit I has hesitant to do this but making this public pledge to yourself each morning real does help. We have a NOPE thread each day.

4. ASK for help, if its really looking like your going to throw away your quit make sure you post an SOS first. We will have your back and help how we can.

5. Keep hydrated and your blood sugar levels up... it helps with the craves.

 

So sending you strength for the days ahead and again congratulations on making the best decision ever.

Thank you I will have a look for the videos once my kids have gone to bed this evening. I currently don’t have a back up plan to leave the vaping behind so I really need to consider that moving forward aswell. I saw the NOPE thread but haven’t looked at it yet. So much I need to look around on the site  

40 minutes ago, jillar said:

Welcome Missy and congrats on taking back your life I don't know a lot about vaping but since it is so new there's no real study on the long term effects it has on our bodies. From what I've seen from members here who have kicked the vaping habit, it was just as hard, if not harder, to kick than cigarettes because of the frequency of using it versus cigarettes. Hopefully that won't be the case for you  

I’m hoping not. It’s just to fill the times when I’d be smoking at the moment more so morning night time and driving!

[Whispers]

Hi Missy and welcome. Watch this video to see what youre in for early on so you can be prepared

 

 

 

 

[jillar]

27 minutes ago, Missyp187 said:

I’m hoping not. It’s just to fill the times when I’d be smoking at the moment more so morning night time and driving!

 

Some of us filled the void during those times with air cigarettes. I just pretended I was holding an actual cigarette in my hand and then went through the motions of "smoking" it. It worked great at tricking my brain into thinking I was getting the real thing. Others used cut straws, pens, etc. Maybe you could give that a try too

[Sslip]

Hi Missy, congratulations on leaving the cigarettes behind, it's a great thing you are doing for yourself. 

 

I vaped for a fair time myself so I do understand how it helps. One word of caution is that I believe vaping increased my consumption of and dependence on nicotine and it ultimately wasn't the panacea some believe it to be. But that's me, just something to keep an eye on and although not harmless, Public Health England report it is much less physically harmful than cigarettes. 

 

Settle in and hope to see you around. 

Edited June 26, 2018 by Sslip

[Rosewothorne]

Welcome, Missy! Congratulations on deciding to quit! All the best to you. I think it was at jillar's suggestion like the one above that I used air cigarettes - actually just a straw cut to the size in my first few days. When driving, it really helped and it also helped during stressful times. Keep posting.

[Doreensfree]

Hi Missy,welcome aboard.....

You will find heaps of great information here to get you going...read all you can,watch all the video,s...knowledge will be your weapon..

We will support you every step of the way...you  can do it...you just need to want it bad enough...

Looking forward to getting to know you better..

[Sazerac]

5 hours ago, Missyp187 said:

Good Afternoon everyone,

 

I’ve just joined after being recommended to your site so thank you for having me! I’m a recent quitter (9am yesterday!) have previously quit a few years ago for 6 months but I’m determined to see it through this time and kick them for good. I’m currently vaping to fill the void, yesterday was a struggle but I’m feeling more confident and on it today! 

 

Hope you’re all having a great day and I look forward to chatting to you all  

 

Welcome Missy,

Please educate yourself about nicotine addiction.  You are prolonging the period of withdrawal by vaping...

making the decision to quit smoking and dealing with nicotine addiction is your first step to freedom.

We can help you.  We have a great collection of quitters who have quit in a variety of ways.

Know that you can have a successful quit, Missy.  

Be kind to yourself and have some fun, you are on one of the best adventures of your life.

[johnny5]

Welcome to QuitTrain, Missy!  Congratulations on deciding to quit smoking.
 

3 hours ago, Sslip said:

I vaped for a fair time myself so I do understand how it helps. One word of caution is that I believe vaping increased my consumption of and dependence on nicotine and it ultimately wasn't the panacea some believe it to be. But that's me

 

Everyone's method of quitting is different but I had similar experiences to Sslip.  I tried to quit smoking a couple of times in the past (before this quit) by switching over to vaping and I think I wound up vaping a lot more than I was smoking.  I felt I was taking in more nicotine that way and actually started feeling worse than when I smoked. 

 

Ultimately the goal is to stop consuming nicotine all together and I agree with Sazerac that vaping is prolonging the withdrawal.  You might want to talk to a doctor about other types of Nicotine Replacement Therapies if you don't want to try cold turkey.

 

Whatever method you use, though, there is a lot of support and knowledge you can get here to help you quit for good.  It is good to have you here.

[Missyp187]

Thanks everyone, loads of really interesting things to think about on here and look into. I don’t aim to vape for the rest of my days so will be looking into alternative methods. I’ve tried and failed many times on prescribed methods and can’t have the gums for medical reasons so I’m testing the waters on what works for me at the moment. Haven’t felt the urge to buy tobacco once today and even sat in the garden with a smoking friend this evening for a few hours and barely touched my vape and didn’t want to snatch the cigarettes off her and have one so I’m feeling quite good about that this evening

[catlover]

Thats really good you did'nt snatch your friends cigarettes , as in the early days i's t easy to say "I'l start tomorrow" we just keep making making excuses and putting it off!!!  It shows you want this, so keep reading here, and watching the videos, I watched loads of Joel's videos when I first quit. I found relaxing sleep music on youtube helped a lot if my mind was pacing.

 

Glad your day has been a good one

 

 

 

[Missyp187]

10 minutes ago, catlover said:

Thats really good you did'nt snatch your friends cigarettes , as in the early days i's t easy to say "I'l start tomorrow" we just keep making making excuses and putting it off!!!  It shows you want this, so keep reading here, and watching the videos, I watched loads of Joel's videos when I first quit. I found relaxing sleep music on youtube helped a lot if my mind was pacing.

 

Glad your day has been a good one

 

 

 

Thank you my chest is already starting to feel clearer, just the nail biting and snacking I have to get under control now! 

[catlover]

Dont worry about the nail biting and snacking at the moment, whats important is staying quit. Smoking is far worse than snacking, so be kind to yourself, look for sugar free sweets and fruit if you can, but dont beat yourself up, lots of us including me turn to snacks instead of smoking. Popcorn is my fave at the moment lol, eating a few too many packs of those , but at least I'm not smoking 

[Missyp187]

1 minute ago, catlover said:

Dont worry about the nail biting and snacking at the moment, whats important is staying quit. Smoking is far worse than snacking, so be kind to yourself, look for sugar free sweets and fruit if you can, but dont beat yourself up, lots of us including me turn to snacks instead of smoking. Popcorn is my fave at the moment lol, eating a few too many packs of those , but at least I'm not smoking 

Definitely much better and you’re doing fantastic! Need to find myself a hobby I think to keep me distracted! Going to throw myself into the gym in the morning that’ll keep me busy for a couple of hours. Nice to hear the kids say tonight they were happy to not see me rolling cigarettes anymore.

[catlover]

3 minutes ago, Missyp187 said:

Definitely much better and you’re doing fantastic! Need to find myself a hobby I think to keep me distracted! Going to throw myself into the gym in the morning that’ll keep me busy for a couple of hours. Nice to hear the kids say tonight they were happy to not see me rolling cigarettes anymore.

Thank you, it does get easier as you go along, but I still need my popcorn crutch haha... I stick to the skinny popcorn where I can. Enjoy the gym in the morning, exercise really helps I find, and you dont feel like smoking when you come out, and it helps with the snacking too...win win  

aww I bet it made you feel nice hearing the kids say that 

[Missyp187]

3 minutes ago, catlover said:

Thank you, it does get easier as you go along, but I still need my popcorn crutch haha... I stick to the skinny popcorn where I can. Enjoy the gym in the morning, exercise really helps I find, and you dont feel like smoking when you come out, and it helps with the snacking too...win win  

aww I bet it made you feel nice hearing the kids say that 

Yes hoping getting motivated there will help me keep focused on WHAT it is I am snacking on. Haha it’s definitely better to be hooked on skinny popcorn, health wise and financially! It did, they are great little motivators (and patience testers haha) 

[Reciprocity]

Sorry I'm late to the party but, welcome Missyp!

 

There are a few things right here on the Quit Train you can do to distract yourself actually. There's a ton of older threads to read on every page and you will soon see that we're all "just like you"! That's the main benefit of being here. We get what it;s like to be in your shoes right now! There's also a lot of videos to watch about nicotine addiction and the myths it creates in your mind. Then, there's the games page where you can lose yourself for hours on end There's a bunch of games that may be of interest to you and, it's a great way to meet new wacky friends too!

 

Others have given you great advice already and I would just like to provide additional food for thought. Regardless of the quit method you choose, the 2 phase objective is the same for all of us quitters. Get nicotine out of our bodies as soon as possible and, retrain our brain so it doesn't immediately default to picking something up, sticking it our mouth, lighting it up and inhaling multiple times a day for a whole host of reasons. The order in which we do these 2 things is not all that important but both must happen before we can be comfortable as non-smokers.

 

Take your seat here in First Class Missy and enjoy the ride

 

[Sazerac]

You're doing great M.  Don't worry about the little stuff, you are in a major transformation.

Maintain your resolve and know that you are much more powerful than any crave.

you are doing great.

[Missyp187]

Thanks again everyone you’re such a lovely bunch. Yesterday I was full of confidence and today I am falling asleep and wanting to eat everything! Please tell me that’s normal lol struggling a bit more today, staying away from the spots I used to sit and stand to smoke and ending up pacing around a lot like a lost sheep!

 

Hope you’re all having a great day

[Tammy]

Hey Missy,

 

You've taken the best decision of your life by deciding to quit, and the second best by being on here.

 

This is a warm community full of people looking out for each other. Having newly quit myself, I can vouch for the level of support I've received, and the sense of belief that has been instilled in me that I've got this. So stick close by, holler if you need anything, and yes enjoy each deep breath of fresh air, your lungs are already thanking you.

 

Great job, and welcome on board.

[Sslip]

Missy, completely normal. 

 

You will experience a number of feelings, emotions and triggers and you can expect them to hit you fairly frequently in the early days of your quit. 

 

There's no need to over analyse them. Just know at the moment you should try to tune into what your body is telling you need and that you have suppressed in the past with cigarettes.

 

HALT is a common acronym. 

 

Hungry/thirsty - Start with cold water, fruit juice to keep blood sugar up or hard/boiled sweets. Have plenty of fruit on hand if you can. 

Angry - shout, scream, punch a pillow

Lonely/bored - find a distraction, reading, posting and playing games here are good 

Tired - Get a nap if you can

 

There are some good posts on the subject that I can't do justice to here, but hopefully you can follow this link

 

 

Be really kind to yourself because what you are doing is awesome.