letitgo

I was on about.com 7 years ago when i first was attempting to quit. I cant believe it took me that long to quit. That NOPE is helpful.

Odelle

illi, my quit started somewhat easier than I expected, so I was really surprised when the cravings started getting stronger and lasting longer after a week of smobriety. Try urge surfing where you acknowledge the craving as coming from the AV, observe it but don’t act on it. Or, come here and vent away, we completely get it!

Steely

Exactly. Me too girls I'm figuring you are both women. My thoughts are not on alcohol as much as they are on cigarettes. This has even had the effect of confusing me (as you say) as to my alcoholism. I know this is a con and definitely have no desire or inkling to drink. I know that nicotine has a very short half-life of about 20 minutes (I think) and we go into withdrawal after say 20 minutes and reach for another very convenient (thanks Pal Mal) coffin nail. We become habituated because of the rapidity of the action and the never ending ritual. The ritual of smoking is a really big part of the habit. With the grog you must reach a point where you either pass out or go to sleep, maybe get locked up, but with the fags it is a daily 20 minutes apart non stop ritual. It makes sense that we are focussing entirely (mostly) on tobacco because are brains are wired in innocent expectation for the next fully ingrained blast. Fair dinkum I'm over it. I wonder after we conquer nicotine whether alcohol will start whispering? Cross that bridge when we come to it, but worth a thought. Onwards and Upwards our new motto.

Lorax1981

Hi all, happy 24!

tufty13

Hi Lorax, hi everyone.

How are you doing Illi, are you using NRT at all, or is the turkey naked and shivering outside?

Congratulations on your clean days Odelle & Steely, I'm really chuffed for you. You're both doing fantastically.

This is my day four so I'm thinking no more wall climbing.

I still keep an eye open for my boozing AV but in all honestly I'm loving this sober life too much. Well, I still get massive depressions but even depression is better without a hangover.

Bumper AV is a beautiful maiden, a siren who strokes my ear and calls me her little-tufty-lover.

I'm saying NOPE to her thanks to Letitgo.

In other news, I'm putting weight on. Woo-hoo, Ronnie-ribs is not a good look for a man, just about to hit 140lb for the first time in a few years.

24 more please. :-)

Steely

That's great Tufty. I'm steely skin 'n bone. Hoping that I will put on weight now that I've stopped as am eating a lot more. In some ways cigarettes and alcohol (not necessarily in that order) replaced food. That's sad. Onwards and Upwards.

Steely

Hi Lorax

tufty13

Who needs to eat when you can "stay in the pink with ciggies & drink".

Meh, I've got a one way ticket to a more fulfilling life now, one slip doesn't mean I can't beat this!

There's probably an SR rule about expletives but quite frankly I've concluded that beer and wine and twice rolled fags were two lying b****es that I lay beside for too many years in the false belief I was getting something other than a chesty hack and bags under my eyes out of the relationship.

Without me they're just ticks hanging on gorse bushes waiting for the next sucker to get a free ride from.

Meh, I'm done with them. And the ess ee ex was never that great anyway.

Good riddance.

Get some sober lbs on Steely and then let's sit on these addictions until they've got no breath left.

illi1111

Yes tufty, cold turkey!

Grrrr day 3!

A quick 24 PLEASE!!!!!

Odelle

Good morning everyone.

Signing in for another 24 hours.

I entered my quit already needing to lose 20 lbs. Those drunken nights and binge eating, post menopause, packed the weight on me in the past 5 years. I am bouncing up and down on the scale now, but I am not worried about it. Once my body adjusts to the new changes, I can adjust calories and exercise to address the excess weight. This quit is on and there is no going back!

Steely

Stay in the black
Don't buy a pack
Give it a crack
You'll never look back.
Groan......and apologies to the art of poetry.

Signing in for another 24 hours with today marking my 2 week milestone. You are powering Odelle and top attitude to weight loss AFTER you have gotten a good handle on the cigarettes. Funny, I just reached for my cup of tea and my eyes and hand automatically turned to cigarettes. I know I've stopped. I know there are no cigarettes on the coffee table yet still I reacted as a smoker. The Quit Off is ON Odelle and they will be like ticks hanging off a gorse bush Tufty and will have no more of my blood. BATTLE CRY! Hang in illi Day 3 tick free. We are on Fab 4.
To the fore!

Steely

Did I actually say that? It's sending me a bit loco.

tufty13

Steely, yes you did say that and yes you are going loco.
Better to cry (as in speak passionately) madly than to fall silent in the trench of a battlefield named COPD.

I've just reread your post #303 for the fourth or fifth time. Those are some classy words Steely.

Odelle, I just love your attitude. You're amazing, you're strong and you're walking taller than you've walked for a very long time. It feels good to you, and no one and nothing is going to derail the new life you are building for yourself.

And please, please don't reply with words to the contrary - I don't want any shattered illusions!

How's things illi? Grrrrrrr is par for the course.

Another 24 please people.

My chest is as tight as an internationally recognised object of tightness that I am yet to think of, and I'm worried the damage is permanent.

Odelle

Good morning all,

Tufty, chest tightness is a normal withdrawal symptom, so don't let your AV convince you otherwise!

Steely, you're not going loco, but rather unraveling the loco threads that have been entwined for decades. Just imagine how fabulous we are going to look and feel once we are properly cleansed of all of the toxins that have accumulated over the years, and how well our brains will function!

How are you holding up, illi? Stay strong, the first week is the hardest physically, but you've already been through this with alcohol, so you know you are strong enough to beat anything!

If you haven't already downloaded a non-smoking calculator, do it! It's very motivating to see the daily accomplishments. I have a free app from Smoke Free. I'm entering day 18, and have accumulated 419 hours smoke free, saved $105, circulation should be around 20% improved, coughs & wheezing 12% improved (seems like more than that already), and risk of heart attack and lung cancer are tallied in percentages, both are still under 1% (.95% and .47% respectively). But days when the cravings are strong, I open my phone and see the improvements, it puts it all in proper perspective!

illi1111

Hi
Day 4

I'm hanging in there. My sense of smell is back. This is a double edged sword. I'm a bartender and last night I could smell EVERYTHING! Made it through sober and without a cigarette. Oh and I didn't kill anyone either

I did get the app, Odelle and love it! It's good to see progress. It would be funny if they had one for alcoholics... It could track how many arguments you avoided with your spouse and how many days till you get all your self dignity back.lol

Hope you all have a great day or night!

I'll meet you back here tomorrow for 24 more

Steely

Good morning all,

Thanks Tufty and Odelle for not calling the green cart. I was a bit
manic /speedie yesterday but much better this morning. Woke for the first time without immediately thinking of a cigarette. It didn't last long but noticed I didn't have the thought upon opening my eyes.
I think you are right Odelle it's the unravelling. A calculator that clocked emotional responses is a great idea illi you may well have found a niche in the market. I'm going to download that quit calculator Odelle Australians are paying approximately $20 for a pack, and though the money is important it's my health that is of more importance. I believe that tightness will lessen Tufty and could also be related to the stress of the whole ordeal. I notice too illi that when I walk past a pub the smell of stale alcohol and tobacco is awful. Thank you my good friends from across the water. Surf the urges.

Odelle

$20 a pack, ouch!!! I’ve been paying $6 a pack and I thought that was high. Steely, you are going to be able to afford your dream vacation in no time!

illi, day four is an awesome achievement, keep it up!

Tufty, what can I say, I love you inflated opinion of me, I just hope I can live up to your expectations!

Another day in the bag, yay! Onwards and upwards we go.

Lorax1981

Day 4 without killing anyone is impressive. I tried killing my wood stove with my fire poker on about day 4. Came downstairs a while later and saw what looked like a bullet hole in my living room window and thought a stray 22 or bb had hit it (we live in the woods and a lot of people hunt and shoot). Till I realized the inside pane of glass was where the hole was. Gears started turning, and I looked at the fire poker and realized a piece had broken off and shot past my head and broke the window behind me. I was lucky it didn't take my eye out literally. So... Don't attack your wood stove. Say it with me... Seriously though, try to keep emotional outbursts safe for you and others. Still need to fix the damn window 5 years later! But hey, 24

Steely

Well team better fess up now while the going is good. I caved. My brother has schizophrenia as does my daughter and had to pick him up from the psych unit today to take him back to the old house for day leave. Our Mum is now in a nursing home. Spent the day with my schizophrenic brother who, though harmless can be quite bizarre and the stress had me cadge a smoke, which turned into a packet. Tried to surf the urges but let myself sink. So you are not alone in the cave department Tufty and I know like you, that one slip does not a smoker make. Had no urges to drink which was good but still disappointed. If I can be of any use to any of you, the having of a cigarette did not deliver as expected it felt empty and useless. Day 1 tomorrow. Onwards and upwards. p.s. You are inspirational Odelle. And now I've got to press the send button. What's wrong with truth.

tufty13

Hey Steely,

No judgement from Tufty corner. It's definitely a tricky beast. Why else would we keep going back to something we know is robbing us of our health and our life? And we are actually paying big bucks to do this to ourselves. Oh the madness of addiction.

Keep your eye on the big prize.
Booze free is the lotto jackpot, nicotine free is the bonus ball.

I hope you're still going to keep coming back.

24 more for me.

Sorry Odelle, but you are now firmly on a pedestal.