Newbie Roll Call!

[PeaceTrain]

Hey Newbies, stand up and be counted!  Anyone on this board with less than 1 month quit, let's hear from you now!

 

i quit smoking in May of 2017, so I remember very well what it was like to be where you are right now.  These last few weeks, I've been inspired to see so many new people here on the board fighting their way through the early days of their quits.  It will be great also to see you all in one place.  So step forward now!

[Berkshiredrifter]

I quit around 73 hours ago. 

It feels great. I can breathe easier, my blood pressure is improved, and I don't have to buy the things anymore. I am so glad nicotine is gone, I am never ever using it again. 

[Martian5]

Just noticed this post.  I moving along at 10 days in now, never thought I would get here after over 40 years of smoking.  Now I am seeing the benefits starting up -- never knew fresh air could be so good

[Octain]

 Day 8. 

I feel really good today. The cravings aren’t constant. 

I think I felt so bad that even brief moments with no cravings mean a lot.

But I don’t want to get too cocky.

Never know what the next hour or hours may bring.

 

[PeaceTrain]

7 minutes ago, Octain said:

 Day 8. 

I feel really good today. The cravings aren’t constant. 

I think I felt so bad that even brief moments with no cravings mean a lot.

But I don’t want to get too cocky.

Never know what the next hour or hours may bring.

 

 

Thats right, Octain.  Just take it day by day, hour by hour, or minute by minute if you have to. Main thing is keep that crap out of your system!

[Reciprocity]

It will be like that for a bit Octain - ups and downs but know that this is completely normal. It WILL smooth out in pretty short order providing you stick with the NOPE program. I remember some days in my early quit when the craving seemed to be just constant. Next day, not so much. It's a process. Stick with it & you will be happy you did

[Tyme2B]

I’m here too! Two weeks Quit for me. Toughing it out! Thanks to you All for the support ?

[Berkshiredrifter]

I feel mentally and emotionally better than I did as a smoker. My problems have not vanished, but life is a lot less bleak. Tobacco addiction was like an invisible prison. Not even technically at day four yet. Still I feel better. This is the best thing I could have done for myself. 

Smoking really makes mental health issues a lot worse, nicotine is a really nasty mind/mood altering substance that I am never using again. 

[Berkshiredrifter]

10 minutes ago, Tyme2B said:

I’m here too! Two weeks Quit for me. Toughing it out! Thanks to you All for the support ?

Things are about to get better, you are at two weeks! That was a big milestone for me. A lot of people say that when you quit you have to quit for two weeks. I found that to be true, right around the two week mark I remember waking up and not thinking about a cigarette until I got to work. 

[Joel Spitzer]

Just now, Berkshiredrifter said:

I feel mentally and emotionally better than I did as a smoker. My problems have not vanished, but life is a lot less bleak. Tobacco addiction was like an invisible prison. Not even technically at day four yet. Still I feel better. This is the best thing I could have done for myself. 

Smoking really makes mental health issues a lot worse, nicotine is a really nasty mind/mood altering substance that I am never using again. 

Here are a couple or resources pages that tie really well into your observations here:

 

http://whyquit.com/joels-videos/quitting-smoking-can-make-you-calmer-happier-and-healthier/

http://whyquit.com/joels-videos/i-feel-100-better-since-i-quit-smoking/

[Joel Spitzer]

1 hour ago, Octain said:

 Day 8. 

I feel really good today. The cravings aren’t constant. 

I think I felt so bad that even brief moments with no cravings mean a lot.

But I don’t want to get too cocky.

Never know what the next hour or hours may bring.

 

 

Here are a few resource pages on issues you raised here:

 

http://whyquit.com/joels-videos/smoking-triggers/

Video addressing complacency (Similar to term you used of cocky)

http://whyquit.com/joels-videos/craves-and-thoughts-that-occur-over-time/ Lots of resources to help face thoughts that may happen over time)

 

[Joel Spitzer]

3 hours ago, Martian5 said:

Just noticed this post.  I moving along at 10 days in now, never thought I would get here after over 40 years of smoking.  Now I am seeing the benefits starting up -- never knew fresh air could be so good

 

There are so many people who face a similar fear--that after years or decades of smoking there just is no way that they can quit smoking. These people are wrong.

 

Here is a resource page addressing this issue: http://whyquit.com/joels-videos/breaking-free-from-nicotines-grip-is-more-doable-than-most-people-think/

 

My most powerful page addressing the issue of people feeling that they can't quit is this one: http://whyquit.com/joels-videos/i-cant-quit-or-i-wont-quit/

 

One other page worth mentioning here is http://whyquit.com/joels-videos/unexpected-benefits-after-quitting/

 

Sharing your insights here are hopefully helping others who find they way here to realize that there is life after smoking and you can keep that life by finally making and sticking to a personal commitment to never take another puff.

[Joel Spitzer]

31 minutes ago, Tyme2B said:

I’m here too! Two weeks Quit for me. Toughing it out! Thanks to you All for the support ?

 

You will continue to stay in control but not so much by being "tougher" as in toughing it out, but by being smarter than nicotine. When it comes down to it, being smarter than nicotine is really quite simple considering nicotine has no intelligence what so ever. Check out the page http://whyquit.com/joels-videos/resources-related-to-the-importance-of-being-smarter-than-nicotine-as-opposed-to-having-to-be-stronger/. It addresses this issue.

[Martian5]

Joel, thanks for the links I will definitely follow up on them.  I had seen the first one already and that was a big help for me.  I did have that fear but now going through see that yes there is some physical withdrawals but that going thru with the quit I saw that this is doable and that most  of the fear was only in my mind.  Again thanks

[Joel Spitzer]

2 minutes ago, Martian5 said:

Joel, thanks for the links I will definitely follow up on them.  I had seen the first one already and that was a big help for me.  I did have that fear but now going through see that yes there is some physical withdrawals but that going thru with the quit I saw that this is doable and that most  of the fear was only in my mind.  Again thanks

One other resource page addressing the fear of not being able to quit is this one: http://whyquit.com/joels-videos/the-fear-of-failure/

[Octain]

 I’ve been telling myself for several years now that I’m going to quit one day soon. I got sick and didn’t/couldn’t smoke much so figured, why can’t I do this I’m not sick? 

I wanted to quit on my terms, not while lying in a hospital bed with tubes coming out of my chest.

It just seemed like the right time.

 

[PeaceTrain]

28 minutes ago, Octain said:

 I’ve been telling myself for several years now that I’m going to quit one day soon. I got sick and didn’t/couldn’t smoke much so figured, why can’t I do this I’m not sick? 

I wanted to quit on my terms, not while lying in a hospital bed with tubes coming out of my chest.

It just seemed like the right time.

 

 

You took advantage of that head start Octain and now you’re sitting on an 8-day quit!  Great decision!

[Joel Spitzer]

34 minutes ago, Octain said:

 I’ve been telling myself for several years now that I’m going to quit one day soon. I got sick and didn’t/couldn’t smoke much so figured, why can’t I do this I’m not sick? 

I wanted to quit on my terms, not while lying in a hospital bed with tubes coming out of my chest.

It just seemed like the right time.

 

 

Related resources to waiting to get sick to quit:

 

http://whyquit.com/joels-videos/i-will-quit-when/

http://whyquit.com/joels-videos/waiting-to-bottom-out/

[Reciprocity]

1 hour ago, Octain said:

 I’ve been telling myself for several years now that I’m going to quit one day soon. I got sick and didn’t/couldn’t smoke much so figured, why can’t I do this I’m not sick? 

I wanted to quit on my terms, not while lying in a hospital bed with tubes coming out of my chest.

It just seemed like the right time.

 

Kind of the same thing with me. Just a bolt of logic out of nowhere one day and ........ that was that. NOPE ever since and have been sure as I can be that I would never smoke again for the past 6 months or so. You have to be ready to make that commitment to yourself in order to quit and stay quit. Once you truly do that, you;re golden. Nothing will stop you

[Jules1977]

I am 53 days now and after years of being a heavy smoker this is the best thing i have ever done. I really will never go back. When i am around smokers it horrible and makes me feel sick, i no way does it make me miss smoking. I think everyone has a "Magic" day after quitting when that craving just goes completely and you know smoking is a thing of the past. Mine last week when i went out a few times with friends, had lots of drinks but never even once had any cravings. That was the moment i realised my relationship with smoking is completely over and forgotten

 

[Doreensfree]

High Five Newbies..

Freedom is there...waiting for you.... All you need is determination... The desire..to want it bad enough to succeed...

I smoked for  52 years...I'm here to tell you it's doable....and it's the best feeling in the world to finally be free...

I wouldn't change it for anything...I was a newbie too....remember ...we all have been were you are....

A massive pat on the back...

[Joel Spitzer]

4 hours ago, Jules1977 said:

I am 53 days now and after years of being a heavy smoker this is the best thing i have ever done. I really will never go back. When i am around smokers it horrible and makes me feel sick, i no way does it make me miss smoking. I think everyone has a "Magic" day after quitting when that craving just goes completely and you know smoking is a thing of the past. Mine last week when i went out a few times with friends, had lots of drinks but never even once had any cravings. That was the moment i realised my relationship with smoking is completely over and forgotten

 

Hello Julian:

 

Congratulations on 53 days.

 

I want to caution you though on one thing. Once a person had established an addiction to nicotine--that relationship is never over. Former smokers who were "once addicted" to nicotine are in fact still addicted to nicotine. It is just that once they get far enough into their quit that addiction becomes asymptomatic. There is basically no outwardly signs of that addiction and the former smoker may begin to think that as you say their relationship is over. Again though, their addiction is still there and if given any opportunity can take the person down in an instant.

 

Check out the video and resources on this page: http://whyquit.com/joels-videos/i-know-too-much-about-smoking-to-ever-be-able-to-relapse/

 

While it was titled "I know too much about smoking to ever be able to relapse" it could have easily have been titled, "I hate smoking so much to ever be able to relapse."

 

Another page worth looking at on this topic is http://whyquit.com/joels-videos/what-should-i-call-myself/

 

One last page that ties well into this topic is http://whyquit.com/joels-videos/can-taking-a-break-from-smoking-help-you-get-rid-of-nicotine-tolerance/

 

While your physiological dependence with nicotine is not over, your chance of ever being an active smoker again will be over as long as you make and stick to a personal commitment to never take another puff.

 

Joel

Edited January 14, 2018 by Joel Spitzer
Added resource page "Can taking a break from smoking help you get rid of nicotine tolerance"

[Jules1977]

Thanks Joel, I know I always have to remain cautious, I guess what I was trying to say is that as of today I never feel like smoking again, and i am confident i never will, which to me is an awesome feeling.

 

Someone once wrote a story on here about romancing the cigarette, which was very true, about the fantasy and the appeal of the cigarette. When I smoked I always said I loved smoking, iin fact i now now i never loved smoking. 

 

Julian

[Joel Spitzer]

You are welcome Julian:

 

Here is a resource pages addressing the fantasy and appeal of cigarettes, as well as another addressing the comment of saying you loved smoking:

 

http://whyquit.com/joels-videos/the-fallacy-of-good-cigarettes/

 

http://whyquit.com/joels-videos/i-smoke-because-i-like-smoking/

Edited January 14, 2018 by Joel Spitzer

[backtoreality]

13 days today! BTR (back to reality) chiming in to be proudly counted!