Daily Check-in Part VIII...

[Impurrfect]

((Misty)) - hang in there! I didn't feel better right away. In fact, I can't even tell you when I "felt" a difference. It was more of a gradual thing. Just one day realized "oh, I'm breathing better" or not coughing as much, etc.

I used the patches, but I do remember being more tired at first, too.

Hugs and prayers!

Amy

[facing2day]

Originally Posted by mistycshore

This has been hard day, not craving wise so much - but feeling mostly dead. But it will get better, I know. I'll breathe better tonight. I'll feel better tomorrow. but today has sucked rocks.

I am told each day it will get easier...hang in there!


I had breathing test yesterday, I will be 39 in Aug....my 'print out' said my lungs were age 59....yup...gotta quit...reading to see best things to do.

Thanks for all everyone's ideas & support.

Praying for those that are struggling today.

[historyteach]

Chippa!!!

"... how many times are you going to quit?"
I told him as many as it takes"

Good for YOU!!!
What an excellent role model you are being for your son!
Remember, you are showing him what it is to be human, and how we need to keep on trying, even when the easy thing is to give up.
But, we don't take the easy way, do we?
No, we do what's RIGHT for us and for our families.
CARRY ON, FRIEND!
I'm so freakin' PROUD of you!

Mistycshore,
Each day will indeed get better,
But, we do go through a lil bit of bad in the beginning.
It's a GOOD sign, though.
It means our bodies are HEALING!! YEA!!!
Keep it up, and come here for encouragement and feedback.

And lets all of us take a lesson from Chippa.
Never quit quitting!

I am now One month, two weeks, six days, 4 hours, 51 minutes and 21 seconds. 1024 cigarettes not smoked, saving $307.21. Life saved: 3 days, 13 hours, 20 minutes.
Nais gadol haya po!

Shalom!

[chippa]

Yeah it's been rough going, but I'll get there

work has been rather slow lately, which is not a good thing, but the sun came out yesterday which was a good thing- I did brats and corn on the cob on my new grill so that was a nice distraction

Thanks teach, good to see you again...

Good to see this community is still going on strong-

quitting smoking is SO tough, it's all about vigilance

I feel vigilant today

Stay strong everyone!

[historyteach]

Vigilance, yes,
And BEHAVIORAL CHANGE, Chippa.

Changing those smoking behaviors into positive behaviors.
Got and urge? Go for a walk.
Got a craving? Belt out a tune. (yes, it really works -- it's a distraction!)
Finished your meal? Go brush your teeth right away instead of lighting up.

Change your routines.
Loose the "automatic responses."
Make the cracks in the iceburg -- the part that is underneath the water. That's the behaviors.

This is the best advice my smoke cessation counselor gave me. And I'm following it once more. It helps; it works.

Shalom!

[cece1960]

Well...I'm back trying to quit. I quit for five months a little over a year ago, then like an idiot started back up. Its the nice weather that gets in my way since I don't smoke in my home or car.
But two weeks ago they stumbled across a brain aneurysm putting pressure on my optic nerve (funny what can transpire out of an eye doc appt). Next thing I know I was having endovascular surgery with a ticket home stamped NO SMOKING!

Seems its the highest risk with aneurysm and I have another small one hanging around in there.

I'm HATING this. I feel depressed. I think because this wasn't my idea? I didn't use the patch because I had already gone days with no nicotine, and even when I smoked it was less than 1/2 pack.

My anxiety is through the roof (another risk) so I feel like a walking time bomb. Ya think that may have something to do with not wanting to get out of bed?

I may hang here with you folk for a spell

[Impurrfect]

((Cece))

oh wow, that's a darned good reason to quit, but I totally understand - when it's not MY idea, I rebel, no matter how good an idea it is. On the other hand, when I got clean from crack, that wasn't my idea, either, but I did "grow into it" and managed to accept it, so I'm thinking the same can be done for smoking.

I, honestly, forget about checking in here, some days, because I forget I smoked? Amazing, but true.

My coworkers are convinced my irritable mood, lately, has been because of not smoking, and have threatened to tie me down and force me to smoke. I keep telling them that this is not the case. Tomorrow will be 3 months and I am way past any nicotine withdrawal period. I'm just irritable at work because they're idiots, sometimes

Hang in there. You did it once, and you can do it again. Those aneurysms are nasty little suckers and we don't want to pi$$ THEM off! I had to do the patches - way too grumpy cold turkey, but I've seen quite a few people, here, to c/t just fine.

Hugs and prayers!

Amy

[Firehazard]

one hundred and 45 days without it and not looking back. Only danger is if my mom or brother dies but hey there is a time in a place for everything. One neccessity of this new life is cardio. excercise at least every other day. I just have so much more energy and if I don't use it it turns into tension.

[Dime]

Hi Folks!

I am now 106 days since I quit, 3,206 cigs not smoked, $769.55 saved and 11 days added to my expectant lifetime.

For me it has gotten easier and easier with time. I did recently get into a uncomfortable social situation where I had nothing to do and I remembered that I used to smoke at times like that. Since it is not a physical craving after the first few days it was just a memory that I used to smoke at times like that. I waited 3-5 minutes and the thought passed. I was very glad that I didn't smoke.

[Impurrfect]

I have 3 months today, although I had the little 3-puff non-inhaled slip I had a major family issue happen yesterday and came really close to smoking, but instead went to the store for everyone ELSE'S cigarettes and decided I didn't want any. I'm really, really glad I didn't start back. It wasn't even a physical craving, I just wanted "something" to ease the stress....good old addict behavior, huh?

Hugs and prayers!

Amy

[Dime]

Wow, Fantastic Amy Congrats!!!!
You are doing great here and have been so helpful to others. Glad you are here!!

[historyteach]

Cece,
You remain in my thoughts and prayers.
Be cool. Remember the Serenity Prayer.
And focus on what you *can* do.

You *can* change your behaviors, yes?
One at a time.
You *can* switch up routines a bit, yes?
Drive a different route to work?
Sit in a different chair for meals?
Have tea instead of coffee?
Cyou *can* rearrange your furniture at home, yes?
Get in a good cleaning and a fresh look at the same time.

All these things will help you stop those automatic reactions that lead us to light up without thinking, (or to those strong cravings that send us running to the store for a pack), which we later regret. Everthing is now in the moment; it's in our consciousness. We need to think about what we are doing. And that's how these changes help us to quit smoking.

Today, I am One month, three weeks, three days, 3 hours, 55 minutes and 20 seconds nicotine free. That's 1103 cigarettes not smoked, saving $330.98. Life saved: 3 days, 19 hours, 55 minutes.
Nais gadol haya po!

Now, if I'd never relapsed, this would have been my stats:

Your Quit Date is: Tuesday, November 29, 2005 at 6:00:00 AM
Test Time Smoke-Free: 1308 days, 47 minutes and 34 seconds
Cigarettes NOT smoked: 52321 Is this still your
Lifetime Saved: 13 months, 9 days, 16 hours
Money Saved: $13,080.00

That's what a one year relapse cost me.

Why am I saving this information?
Because it's a great motivator for me. It reminds me of what could have been!

Shalom!

[Saxony]

Hi all, I have just realised it is 3 months today since I last smoked a cigarette so I thought I would log in and see how everyone is doing?

I should check in more often since the thread is titled "daily check in" but I just forget. I hardly think about smoking these days, maybe 2 or 3 times a day I "remember" I quit. I haven't wanted to actually smoke in I dunno how long.

I hope everyone is doing well.

Sax.



Chippa, nice to see you about again how is little Sydney doing?

[Dime]

Wow, Fantastic Sax Congrats!!!!

This is great to see folks rolling in with 3 months here. I have had a very similar experience in that I just don't think about smoking anymore.

[Aysha]

Still smoking. I went from smoking one here and there. To bummin them. Now I am back to buying them.
I am so disappointed in myself.
I have a Dr appt Fri and I am going to have my Dr get me some patches.
I cant et any from the Ny quitline again until Jan.
I did it once. I can do it again.

[SeekSobriety]

.......Bottom line. Post before you RELAPSE. Read and read until someone gets back to you. The odds are if you refocus your thoughts, a reply to your message will not even be necessary, just a nice reminder that someone cares. But you will have already passed the crisis state. It doesn't take long.

There may still be an ongoing trauma in your life at the moment, but those problems were going to be happening whether you were an active smoker, an ex-smoker, even if you had never smoked in your life. But if you think about the real situation you will realize that your relapsing to a deadly addiction will not in any way, shape or form help resolve the ongoing problem. It will just give you another life threatening problem that you will need to contend with.

If your relapse eventually results in your premature death, everyone you know and leave behind will have to live with the same kind of grief and frustrations too. Do you want all of your children, parents, siblings, friends, co-workers, and just plain acquaintances to feel the need or acceptance to relapse to a deadly drug addiction in your memory? If not, don't you need to teach them that lesson now while you are still alive? It is the same lesson that you can teach yourself every day. The lesson--that you can quit smoking and you can stay off smoking under any circumstances as long as you always remember to NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF! Relapse Prevention, by Joel Spitzer

This really helped me. I now have over 10 months of freedom from nicotine, I was a 16 year smoker.

What I have done: Attended Nicotine Anonymous meetings, Online meetings, read literature, read the stories from dying smokers on whyquit.com, started a daily 15 minute a day exercise (walk, jog or whatever, as long as I do something for at least 15 minutes) Volunteer and help others when I am feeling down. Stayed away from situations as much as possible that may trigger me to smoke. Reduced caffeine intake (switched to decaf)
But bottom line, the way I have stayed sober from nicotine has been to
Not take any puffs or chews for any reason whatsoever. Regardless if there is a tragic death or terrible family circumstance, relapsing and putting my own live in grave danger is not going to make anything better, it will actually make things much worse for a lot more people then just myself. I constantly remind myself that.

Thanks for letting me share. These things have worked for me and others that have long term freedom from nicotine.

As long as we are here on this board today we either have stopped smoking/chewing or at least have a desire to. Let us make this moment now, the moment that we decide or continue to not take another puff or chew for any reason. If we are anxious let us make a concious effort to ride out the 3 minute "Nic-fits/Craves" with a 3 minute walk up a stair way instead of the elevator, or a 3 minute walk around the block or a 3 minute shower. This is our life at stake! For our own sake for our family and children's sake we have to do whatever it takes to take back control of our lives from this powerful mind altering drug nicotine and Tobacco.
The time is now, this may be our only chance. God/the universe/our higher power/great spirit/the sun/whichever word we choose to label the power greater then ourselves gave us this forum and today, it has kept me free from nicotine for 10 months. For that I am grateful, I only hope that we can all continue to be here together and stay free from tobacco and nicotine before it is too late. It saddens me beyond belief to see so many people who have changed there lives around from Alcohol addiction only to be killed by there smoking. The list is very very long, including the founding members of AA. I digress.
Thanks for letting me speak. It is helping me stay free from tobacco and nicotine.

[outonalimb]

This is day 4 of my quit. I'm doing it cold turkey this time. I think the nicotine must be out of my system by now.

I feel pretty good.

This must be my 50th attempt in the last 4 years. I'm sick of 'quitting'. I'm sick of going thru the agony of withdraw only to start thinking like an addict...thoughts like I'll just smoke one...creep into my head and before I know it, I'm buying a pack of those damn things.

I quit once before...cold turkey...and didn't smoke for 7 years. I know that thoughts and cravings for cigarettes will fade from view if I can just stick to it...one day at a time.

I really do want to quit. Despite what my addict brain tells me...about how I 'enjoy' smoking...I really don't. I hate being a social outcast. I hate spending so much money on them. I hate being a slave to this habit. I hate that my 10 yr old son watched me smoke and would often plead with me to quit. I hate the guilt I felt that I was putting my health in jeopardy when I'm all this kid has in this world. Cigarettes...just like any addiction...requires some very selfish behavior and thought patterns.

I feel pretty good because this time, unlike the others, I really DO want to quit. I just need to take it one day at a time and stomp out that addict thinking when it creeps into my brain.

Sending lots of strength and good vibes out to all of my fellow 'quitters' and soon-to-be 'quitters'.

Mary

[Dime]

Welcome Mary!
Congrats on your decision to quit cigarettes and making it through the toughest days of the quit. Be proud of your 7 years without smokes and the fact that you keep working on the quit. Your body certainly has benefited from the time you have not smoked in the past.

I am 113 days into my quit and thanks to the good people here and the help they have provided I really don’t think about cigs anymore and the cravings are just not popping up. One of the things I learned is that after the first few days cravings are just memory reminders that we used to smoke in certain situations. There is no physical pain and cravings pass in just a few minutes. So early on when I had a craving I used to tell myself that was only a memory reminder and that it would pass quickly. I keep myself busy with what I was doing and the next moment I would notice that the craving was gone.

If we tell ourselves that quitting is going to be tough and miserable we are likely to experience that during the quit. If we tell ourselves it’s not going to be that tough and we can do it the quit will be easier.

For me and many others here quitting turned out to much easier than I expected.

[historyteach]

Today, I am Two months, 5 hours, 3 minutes and 9 seconds nicotine free. That's 1224 cigarettes not smoked, saving $367.26. Life saved: 4 days, 6 hours, 0 minutes.

Shalom!

[outonalimb]

[QUOTE=Dime;2292750]Welcome Mary!Congrats on your decision to quit cigarettes and making it through the toughest days of the quit.[QUOTE]

Thanks Dime!!

When I get those cravings...and the addict starts pulling at me...I think to myself...is THIS as bad as it gets? Because I can certainly handle this if it will get me back to a smoke-free life.

One craving at a time. Thats all I gotta worry about...

I went and bought myself a MP3 player today as a reward. I'm going to download all my favorite music and get moving...I'm gonna dance around the house like a maniac...take my dog on a walk...go to the gym and walk on the tread mill...

Almost every time I've failed at this its because I get discouraged about the weight gain...so maybe staying active and heading the weight gain off at the pass will help.

I'm determined...I CAN DO THIS !!!!!!!!!!

[Dime]

I did gain some weight initially but I have found that my appetite now has returned to the way it was when I was smoking. Over half of what I gained is already gone and my weight is continuing to go downward.

The one thing I think is a real good idea is to have lots of low cal snacks around early on. I ate a lot of carrots, celery, apples, oranges and lots of fresh vegetables. I did succumb to chocolate a few times too! LOL

Great idea on rewarding yourself with a MP3 player you deserve it. Music and exercise is very powerful tool that can do amazing things for us. I used loud energetic music when I was lifting weights and it did enable me to lift much more. Exercise is so relaxing.

Posting here daily early on helped me a lot to stay focused.

I love your plan and Heck Yeah You Can Do This!!

[Impurrfect]

((Mary)) - good to see you here!! BTW, I LOVE my mp3 player I really wanted to quit this time, too, and it was a lot easier than the last time I tried, when my heart just wasn't into it. I used the patches, but I think as long as you really want it, any method will work. Just a few days of being a bit uncomfortable, because change and figuring out what to do with yourself instead of smoking is a little uncomfortable, and then you're okay!

((Trish)) - darn, I just threw away 2 weeks of the step1 patches that I never used...sorry! I know you can do it.

Hugs and prayers!

Amy

[greeteachday]

Almost every time I've failed at this its because I get discouraged about the weight gain...so maybe staying active and heading the weight gain off at the pass will help.

Mary, I definitely relate to your story. I quit for quite a few years too but was very discouraged by how much weight I gained. Looking back, and understanding addiction now as I did not then, I think I just substituted one addiction for another. I also started back smoking thinking I could just do it for the day...Ha! Nine years later, I finally quit again and for good this February...It was the Valentine's gift I gave to myself.

I had a pretty good excercise and eating routine going prior to my quit so I just doubled up my exercising and kept a food journal for a few weeks. The healthy snacks Dime mentioned are great and I found that within a week my taste buds were much more sensitive and things like broccoli and pink grapefruit tasted amazing (LOL, I'm not sure why but I just went crazy over grapefruit...my mouth is watering for some now just thinking about it...I may raid the fridge on a grapefruit hunt )

Every time I felt bothersome cravings I would get moving...Just like you are doing. Eventually i started running more and more and really found that to be an excellent outlet - physically and mentally. I now have been nicotene free for 5 months, run at least 25 miles a week, and over the past month have run 3 5K races placing first in two and third in another for my age group (it's kinda fun to have a medal put around your neck, lol) and am training for a 10K. Instead of gaining weight, I have dropped a clothing size or two and feel younger than I have in a dozen years...maybe more. Who would have thought I would start the second half of my life this way?

I know you can do this Mary! You have overcome many obstacles in your life with strength and grace and beating this nasty addiction is one more challenge you are more than ready for. I know your wonderful son is a source of strength and support too and the folks on this thread are just amazing.

I'm thrilled for you Mary - You can do it. An Cece...so can you!!

[outonalimb]

AnnMarie...

Congratulations on your quit !! What an awesome Valentines day gift to give yourself !!

Its very inspiring to hear about your running. How awesome !!

Ya know...I used to chain smoke about 3 cigs on my way to the gym...and then smoke a few more on my way home...and I felt like such a fraud. And I looked at people who were REALLY doing it...who weren't addicted to nicotine and who were working out and I admired the heck out of them and wanted to be like them (like you...and what you're doing). I really admire your commitment.

I'm not much of a runner...back and knee problems...but I LOVE long walks, gardening, and working up a sweat at the gym.

Yesterday (day 4) was really tough...probably the hardest day yet...probably because I was at home instead of work...lots of triggers...but I made it...and I'm going to make it today too.

Thanks for the encouragement and inspiration.

To all my fellow quitters...

YOU ROCK

KEEP GOING!!!

WE CAN DO THIS !!!

[greeteachday]

Mary - Congrats on getting through yesterday and I love your attitude about today! Hell week is almost over and you CAN do this.
You really do sound just like me...even the interests and the smoking going back and forth to the gym, lol. I have right knee and lower back "issues" too (fortunately though, nothing worse than recurring pulled muscles and muscle spasms) but I was amazed...The strength training made all the difference in the world (squats helped build muscle that support the knee and developing the "core" muscles and abs virtually eliminated the lower back and sciatic nerve recurring problems) and a really good pair of running shoes, a realistic training program of gradually adding speed and distance and especially avoiding running on sidewalks made all the difference. I was the kid no one picked on the team because I hated to run, lol...that this actually worked amazes me

I love long walks and gardening and the gym too...I wish we weren't a half country apart; I'd love to be your fitness buddy during our quit