Today

[Gabby]

Why is it when you stop smoking you have to suddenly face things that maybe your life wasn't as good as you thought.  I have lost my sense of humour?  I have no patients with friends and family, instead of leaving the conversation half way thru to go and smoke, I have to stand listen to all the dribble they are talking.

People annoy me more than they use too.  And people don't understand how hard it is to stop smoking and stay stopped.  Where has all my energy gone.  I have a mountain of things to do and I am sitting here feeling sorry for myself.  I just want to be around people who use to smoke and now how I feel and what I mean.  The last thing is now I am fat........never been fat before......could always eat what ever I wanted, never had to worry about exercise.  And everybody keeps telling me how much weight I have put on.   Like I don't know that.  (nothing fits anymore).  Just had to put this out in space.

[Gabby]

How come you have so many guests on the site that don't join in?

[action]

Sorry you are having a bad day Gabby.

 

But I can promise you this - all of these emotions and feelings you are having now are temporary - I felt like this in the beginning too! But eventually you will find the 'new you'.. And she will be awesome!

 

I know it's hard to believe tis right now, but I've never felt this good and this in control of my life. You will get there, by not smoking :)

[joe]

Why is it when you stop smoking you have to suddenly face things that maybe your life wasn't as good as you thought.  I have lost my sense of humour?  I have no patients with friends and family, instead of leaving the conversation half way thru to go and smoke, I have to stand listen to all the dribble they are talking.

People annoy me more than they use too.  And people don't understand how hard it is to stop smoking and stay stopped.  Where has all my energy gone.  I have a mountain of things to do and I am sitting here feeling sorry for myself.  I just want to be around people who use to smoke and now how I feel and what I mean.  The last thing is now I am fat........never been fat before......could always eat what ever I wanted, never had to worry about exercise.  And everybody keeps telling me how much weight I have put on.   Like I don't know that.  (nothing fits anymore).  Just had to put this out in space.

Lots of questions Gabby..ill see what I can answer...lol..

 

The not thinking things were as good as you thought, and the having no patients ...well...that's the withdraws from nicotine..i remember in the first few days of my quit, it seemed as though it took very little for my wife to "set me off"...just about anything she said had some sort of a negative effect on me......BUT...i never once let it get the better of me..I kept reminding myself that it was the withdraws talking to me...in fact, I had quit smoking a week before my wife noticed..she was surprised I wasn't more "moody"...I told her I COULD have been..and wanted to be,.. but just bit my tongue and got through it!

 

And..are you REALLY fat?/...I gained about 20 lbs, but..I only weighted about 170 lbs before I quit smoking...and am now back down to about 180...yes, I am heavier, but I feel SOOOO much better ..even with the extra weight..i needed to gain weight anyhow, so for me it was kind of a bonus  :)   besides..you will be hard pressed to find a guy who will admit that he doesn't like his lady with a few curves  ;) ..most ladies are NOT over weight...they just have a few more pounds than they think is ideal...

 

and..I agree...why doesn't the "guest" join the site...I know I am guilty of just coming to this page and scanning the topics and not taking the time to sign in...its a pain on the phone, ..but, with the numbers of guest I see on a regular basis, I think they need to sign up and experience the full effect of the Quit Train  ;)

[Nicole Diver]

When I first quit Gabby, I kept hearing people say, oh it gets easier.

I was like srsly? When?

i thought there was no way, and it was just lip service. But it really and truly does. It won't happen overnight for most of us, bc we smoked for so long, but it will happen.

For my entire life I identified myself - who I was - as a smoker. There are no words to express how great is is to leave that behind. I really, really, don't ever miss it anymore. It will cross my mind from time to time, but not anything uncomfortable, more like, 'hmmm I used to smoke in situations like this.'

Give it time, and be forgiving of yourself, change doesn't usually happen overnight. But you should be so HAPPY with yourself you are making positive changes. It's likely the most important thing you will ever do for your health.

I think you are doing great! It doesn't have to be all peaches and cream!

[Tink]

Oh gabby I can so sympathize you start to notice some real idiots lol but fear nit the brain starts to function normally again and the weight gain you sort out later it's annoying when no clothes fit you and you feel a trump but believe me it will all come good gun for now just go with the flow and don't think too much into things 

 

Everything will be ok sweetie just give it time xxx

[El Bandito]

Hey Gabby!

 

So right! You quit, and everyone else just changes!

 

LOL

 

Think of your addiction as a bad guy in a movie. You are holding the bad guys's head under the water. He is thrashing and kicking. These are the signs that you are killing the addiction.

 

Will it get better?

 

Hell Yes!

 

Trust us.

 

Guests? Well, I smoked for 30 years. I would say that for 30 years I knew it was bad for me...yet despite apparent intelligence, I carried on wilfully killing myself. I would say the guests are folk a little more honest than me, and are at least looking at the idea of quitting.

[MarylandQuitter]

Why is it when you stop smoking you have to suddenly face things that maybe your life wasn't as good as you thought.  I have lost my sense of humour?  I have no patients with friends and family, instead of leaving the conversation half way thru to go and smoke, I have to stand listen to all the dribble they are talking.

People annoy me more than they use too.  And people don't understand how hard it is to stop smoking and stay stopped.  Where has all my energy gone.  I have a mountain of things to do and I am sitting here feeling sorry for myself.  I just want to be around people who use to smoke and now how I feel and what I mean.  The last thing is now I am fat........never been fat before......could always eat what ever I wanted, never had to worry about exercise.  And everybody keeps telling me how much weight I have put on.   Like I don't know that.  (nothing fits anymore).  Just had to put this out in space.

 

I never had much patience and once I quit smoking, still didn't have much to give.  lol  You're just hitting a tough spot right now so keep going.  Don't stop and feel sorry for yourself and instead, start tackling that mountain of things to do. 

 

You want to be around people who used to smoke and understand how you feel?  Say what?  :)  This is why this forum exists.  We have no magic pill, no elixir to make everything better.  What we do have is a bunch of people who understand what you're going through.  This is the single most important reason for joining an online quit smoking support group.  Sure, people can quit all by themselves and do it everyday.  I did it for 6 years but that's as long as it lasted.  Just being around people in the same boat helps more than most people might think. 

 

For right now, forget about the weight gain as it's completely normal.  Nobody likes it, but then again nobody I ever met was excited about toting around an oxygen tank either.  Eat fresh foods, drink lots of water and focus on your quit.  Taking that walk the other night helped you quite a bit if I remember correctly so keep going for walks, short runs (or long ones if you can), bike rides etc., as it reduces stress and also gives you more energy.  It's odd to think about exercising that way but it's true.  The better shape you're in the more energy you have and the reality is that we don't really have time to not exercise if we want to get everything done that we want to.

 

When you see a lot of guests on the site, some will be from search engines like Google (who can account for many), Bing etc., some will be members who just haven't logged in while others are just guests, lurking about, reading our posts and hopefully in some way, helping them make the decision to quit or helping them stay quit.  Some just aren't ready to take that big step and commit to quitting.  Once they are, they'll join us and find that freedom that eluded them for so long.

 

Hang in there as there are better days ahead.  :)

[Doreensfree]

Hi gabby,

My body went into every emotion possible when I first quit...I smoked for 52 years,so I kind guessed this wasn't going to be easy...

But I swore to myself....what ever I was feeling.....no matter how bad....I would never smoke.....

The good folks here told me it would get better.....at the time it's hard to believe......but it really does......

Your body just has to catch up with your brain.....

Now I feel the beniefts......I feel great......more energy than I had 10years ago......I'm lovin it.....

Be patient it will come......I promise....

Hugs

Doreen

[bakon]

All normal. But people really are basically needy puppies full of irritating qualities. Moving bags a germs and smells which are meant to force others to be attracted or repelled. They are just repulsive most of the time and annoying anytime they open their mouth.

 

Have a nice day.

[ChRiSpY]

All temporary... hold on and keep pushing forward.

 

YOu are doing great.

[babs609]

It's all part of the 'process" Gabby.  That's why it's good to safely vent here.......and keep in mind all things associated with quitting are temporary...but the benefits last forever!!

You are doing fantastic!

[rww]

It's all temporary. :)

[Still winning]

Hey Gabby, You are doing fabulous.  Sorry I haven't been around so much.  Maybe some different perspective for the questions.

 

Moody - Well yes. It transpires most people are actually REALLY annoying, more so now then as a smoker who could walk away.  This part doesn't last like this though hun, you end up more mediocre in the acceptance realm :)  It's ok though, we are allowed to change who we are a bit. That other person was a nicotine addict, we don't want to be that person anymore!

 

 Early days (I'd say for another week or so for you) it kinda feels like everyone is stepping on your nerve endings. You feel very raw, emotional, under prepared and in a nutshell - it really, really sucks!!  This part of the quit is a process. Try to remember that.  You are facing down the initial stages of a whole BETTER life plan. Similar I think to starting a work role you're not quite qualified enough for and blagged your way in lol.  You do it, you become better at being a non smoker and periodically you still like people.

 

I'm so pleased you're posting though Gabby,  THIS is the difference as El Bandito says, with so many quits I felt alone, now I never do. There absolutely is power in having people who understand. More than that they all want to help us and encourage us forward.  That's pretty amazing. 

 

You are doing great. Every step, no matter how small, every stand, teaches our craves we will not let them win and makes our quit stronger!! xx

[Gabby]

Thanx guys I am feeling way better tonight (Thursday night 7.30pm) .  All the advice was great.  Yes MQ I must start to exercise it will help lots of things.  Just was feeling sorry for myself when I posted.   I just have to accept I can't do stupid people any more.   And remember to take one day at a time, some times I rush ahead and it makes it seem to much.  

[Pippa]

Hey Gabby - glad you are feeling better - now that you are smoke free you will have to come up with a new stupity escape route - but given how strong you have shown us you are - I am sure you will master that real soon :-)

[JackiMac]

Hi Gabby all those emotions and thoughts processes that you mentioned above are all completely normal, yes you will feel "out of it" for a while your body is adjusting to the amazing changes that being a non smoker brings and it takes time, I think all us new quitters simply believed all we had to say is "I no longer smoke wish it was that simple, it takes dedication in the beginning but just believe in yourself Gabby we all believe in you and you can do this and you are doing great and it lessens after time, don't stress over any weight gain Ive put on weight too but I am now exercising more and I know the weight gain will re-adjust through time, being a non smoker is far more important xx

[SueBeDoo]

Hi Gabby nice to meet you and welcome, just wondering how long are you quit, it says you quit in 2012 under your picture or were you quit for 2 years and relapsed or something, sorry if you have already mentioned this, I'm a tad confused lol

Congrats on quitting either way.

Sue x