Made it through 12 hours

[Kate18]

Made it 12 hours. 

7:30 am, smoked a cigarette. I want to sort out what's the trigger, nicotine withdrawal, or the psychological habit. Put on a nicotine patch.

7:45 am, car needed gas. As I walked toward the mini mart to prepay for gasoline, I tossed the remaining cigarettes I had into the trash receptacle that was just outside the entry door.

1:00 pm, lunch time. Fought the urge to go and buy cigarettes. That's habit speaking, I reminded myself, not nicotine withdrawal, because I wasn't in withdrawal.

5::30 pm. Off work. Normally would have headed to my car, lighting up on the way. Urge to light up; thought about stopping and getting cigarettes. Identified it as habit, not withdrawal.

6:00 pm. Passed the drug store I used to buy cigarettes at. Debated at the left turn lane red light: do I stop and buy cigarettes, or keep going? It was habit grating on my nerves, not withdrawal.

6:10 pm. Safely at home. Walked the dog, then fed her. Feeling at loose ends. While she eats her dinner, I used to go out on the patio and smoke a cigarette. Instead, I sat at my computer desk, doing nothing, missing smoking. 

6:30 pm. Made a humongous salad. Filling, but not satisfying. Made pancakes. Craving something sweet. Poured maple syrup on them.

6:55 pm. Wanted the smoke I used to have after dinner. 

7:00 pm. Watched three episodes of Criminal Minds, cravings creeping into my mind about every 30 minutes. Told myself that this is habit, the mind creating tension because of the change. 

9:57 pm. I made it through 12 hours. Actually 14 1/2 hours.

Tomorrow is another day. I'm taking this a few hours at a time. When I have the psychological urge to smoke replaced with stronger thoughts and healthier habits, then I'll address the nicotine  addiction.

I actually think that the psychological habit/urge may be more of a problem than the nicotine desire for me.  Not sure, yet.

Got up the courage to put up a ticker. And may I never have to replace it with a differently dated one. But trusting myself to keep the commitment....not 100%. I've been here too many times before. I'm better armed with everyone's advice, participation in a preparation to quit program with my health insurance company, and this forum.

Thanks to everyone who posted the thread where I reported my father's death. I really appreciate your advice and thoughts for strength.

One hour at a time. The next eight won't be difficult. I'll be asleep. Only time I don't have to talk myself out of acting on a craving.   

[Mona]

Congratulations!  Looks like we have the same quit date.

[Andi]

Congratulations! You have made the best decision ever.   I'll share a few things I learned during my quit as I also used the patch. That was 11 years ago. I'm not sure if this is your first quit but it doesn't really matter. What matters is where you are now. You understand that you are going through a behavior change as well as a physiological change in your body. You will need something to help you with the "oral" fix. There are many good suggestions. One that seems very successful if cutting up straws to the same size as cigarettes and putting one in your mouth. You can go through the whole reach for the smokes, put it in your mouth and suck routine that you are used to . 

Some quick tips-

 That drug store that you used to buy your smokes at. Don't avoid it, confront it. I used to go to Walmart once a week and look the large wall of cigarette cartons. I'd stare them right down and say aloud "You CAN'T have me! I win, you lose!". It worked.

 The patch- you will come to a point where you need to get rid of the patch or you will just be getting the nicotine from there. When that time comes buy some small square band aids. I used to put the band aid on the same part of my body where the patch had been. I basically "fooled" myself into thinking I was still getting nicotine. This worked amazingly well and the final withdrawal was almost painless.

Just remember- Smoking is not the answer, it never was.  Once you quit smoking, you need to deal with whatever it was that was really bothering you. You must develop different copying mechanisms but you will and you will succeed.  Just tell your self that you have no choice. I wish you the best!

 

 

[Reciprocity]

You have got some great help tip from Andi above. There really are two parts to the quitting thing, at least in my mind. The physical addiction to Nicotine and the psychological part of smoking (that's the habit part you refer to Kate). If you are using NRT products then you are cutting down o the nicotine intake gradually, which is of benefit to many quitters but, you still have to deal with the psychological part which to me was the most difficult and longest adjustment but .... it's very doable if you put some thought into distracting yourself in order to use up all the spare time you will suddenly have. In the early days, do anything to use that time up. Change up your daily routine in small ways just so you have a NEW routine.Replace morning coffee with juice. Have a morning shower or if you did that before, take it at a slightly different time. Just small changes will help. If you went out for a smoke at a certain time, go for a short walk now even if it;s just around the house once or twice - be creative.

 

Just always remember; quitting smoking won't harm you in any way. Sure, it can be challenging and uncomfortable for a bit but that is just temporary. It does get better for everyone who continues to say NOPE each day! Every person here who has been quit for awhile will tell you the same thing. They just love the new lifestyle they have now as a non-smoker. No longer the slave to their nicotine addiction. Having to service it whenever it demands. And that doesn't mean just smoking but all the preparation work. Making sure you have smokes and lighters and somewhere to go to smoke and on,. and, on and on it goes. Embrace your new freedom! It may such right now but it won;t for long  

 

By the way, congrats to both of you new quitters for getting through the early hours of your quits! Not easy in those early days but so worthwhile in the long run!

Edited December 13, 2018 by reciprocity

[jillar]

Hi Kate, congrats on a day quit already, that's great Love the clues @Andi has given. I'm a huge supporter of the air cigarette as it helped me immensely my first few months quit. The bandaid trick is a great idea too and one I hadn't heard before but if it works as good as the air cig does I will definitely be passing that clue along to others

 

[Sazerac]

Kate,

Please commit to yourself and your quit.

It is the only way.  Fake it until you make it, kiddo.

 

[Cbdave]

G’day

you really are proforming a death defying feat......

C 

[Mee]

Kate, you can do this.  Don't over think it. Everyday you go without a cigarette,  you will begin to feel so much better about yourself.  Hang tough and stay close. 

[Doreensfree]

Well done Kate ...freeing yourself from this killer addiction is the. Most rewarding thiing you can ever do.....

The rewards are endless...

One day at a a time ......

You can do it ...you just need to believe in yourself ...

[johnny5]

Great stuff, Kate.  Just take it one moment at a time and you will get there.  Focus on the positives to quitting - the perceived negatives are only temporary and go away with time.

[Kate18]

18 hours ago, reciprocity said:

... And that doesn't mean just smoking but all the preparation work. Making sure you have smokes and lighters and somewhere to go to smoke and on,. and, on and on it goes.   

 

Your comment sparked a chuckle. 

I have an out-the-door checklist. Turn out lights, check oven/stove, windows locked, water for dog, cell phone in purse, etc, about 14 items.

Have to revise my list. No longer need to put lighter and cigarettes in my purse, and be sure I have an orange in my lunch.

The orange was for the peel. After I smoked a cigarette on my lunch break, I broke up pieces of orange peel, crushed them in my palms to release the scented oils, and lightly smoothed that over my face, hands, and hair. After that, I chewed on another piece so that my breath would be citrus-y, not blech.

 

[Kate18]

20 hours ago, Andi said:

When that time comes buy some small square band aids. I used to put the band aid on the same part of my body where the patch had been. I basically "fooled" myself into thinking I was still getting nicotine. This worked amazingly well and the final withdrawal was almost painless.

Funny you mention this now, Andi, because I just heard something about medical researchers doing more research into the placebo effect and how it can be ethically used with patients.

I seem to recall that the effect occured even when the patient was told that the pill s/he was taking was just a sugar pill. 

I like the band aid idea. The body would be conditioned to experiencing the relief of nicotine when a patch was in place. Instead of doing a step down--i.e., from 21 mg to a 14 mg patch--I may go directly to band aid patches. I'll have a talk with myself first to discuss how it could work and I'll be so happy.