24 Hour No Nicotine/No Smoking Club ~ Part 13
 

New Thread Continues From Here. :)

https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums...t-12-a-24.html

Thanks for this new chapter Opi :wavey:

My pleasure, CK. :)


https://i.pinimg.com/236x/6d/7f/16/6...day-wishes.jpg

This is day 2 without a cigarette, I've been trying to quit smoking again since January but no success, I got some nicotine gum for those first few days, I'm considering buying more if the cravings hit too hard.

so, where's everyone? :)

This is day one for me not smoking. I've been short of breath lately and know it's from smoking. :( I am determined to quit for good this time.

Wow Least, what a nice gift you're making to yourself! :c011:
Were you a big smoker?

Even your dogs will love you more! ♥
Hang on my friend! :grouphug:

Yes, I was a long time smoker, at least a pack a day. It's been 12 hours since my last cig and am feeling very positive and ready to Do This! :)

Do you use some aids (nicotine patches / gums etc) or you do it cold turkey?
Do you vape?

I was a 40 cigarettes a day smoker and I've used patches and gums to stop.
They did a miracle for me as I didn't have any physical craving at all.
The cravings were just psychological so a lot easier to deal with.
No vaping for me.

I was feeling a lot better after 6 or 7 days, coughing stopped pretty fast and I started to smell odours I didn't smell for years!

Courage Least, you're doing good :c011:

I'm on day 2! I feel like quitting cigarettes is something I can do for myself now that I couldn't while I was drinking, but the longer I wait the harder it will be. This is already my 3rd attempt so it's time to take it seriously.

Good luck everyone!!


:cheer

It's over 24 hours since my last cig. :) Yes, I'm vaping. I really want a cig but am not giving in!! I want to be free of my last addiction. :)

My app says 2 days 11 hours. I took a few puffs of my co-workers vape yesterday at work but did not at all tonight.

All my focus right now is on maintaining emotional balance despite the turbulence of the cravings. Going to hot yoga tomorrow to strengthen the mind/body connection and appreciate being able to breathe deeply without needing to fill my lungs with smoke afterwards.

Also I never quite figured out how the day thing works.. is it day 1 until you reach 24 hours? Or is that day 0? It's also confusing since I work nights so my "days" are not normal anyway. But I've made it through 3 full work shifts without a cigarette and I'm excited about that! In my other attempts I tried to do the first couple of days when I didn't have to work.. so I could just relax and it would be "easier". Which it was, but then I was totally unprepared for the impact of having to deal with normal everyday stressors at work.. So facing it head on this time seemed to be a better strategy.

Anyway enough rambling I'm going to sleep, have a great smoke free day tomorrow least and everyone else :)

Day three here. :) Still craving a lot but not giving in. :) Vaping instead. I will be glad to not be short of breath anymore. :)

Well I went to yoga and it seemed to trigger me even more honestly. All the stillness and silence and letting go.. But I stuck with it and haven't smoked at all again today.

Determined to stay the course this time at any lengths!

You are all beautiful and you now smell sooo good! :hug:

Lets do this together :grouphug:

It's getting easier but still not easy! It's like early sobriety in that I'm overly emotional.. crying more often lol. But I also have more energy in general. I've been talking about joining a gym for months now and thinking now is finally the time to do it.

And I'll still be saving money taking into consideration how much I would spend per month on cigarettes..

Congrats on reaching a new day with only pure O² in your lungs dear "No Smoking Clubbers"! :You_Rock_
I have a little Excel spreadsheet were I keep track of my progress.
How hard was the worst craving of the day on a scale of 0 to 10 and on how much money I've saved so far.

My daily cost for smoking was 5,70$ a day, not much one would say...
But now, look at my cumulative on day 546 (that's a year and a half) :scared:

https://i.imgur.com/r7NDn1m.jpg

As you can see, I have no cravings ever anymore except a little one here and there, mostly bad dreams where I relapse.

Hang on guys and keep the money for something you've always dream (for me it was a PS4) :)

This is happening! :grouphug:

Congrats on almost 550 days Canadian Koala!! That's wonderful :)

I'm past a week now and the initial mood swings are dying down. Thoughts come and go but they are just thoughts no longer intense "demands".

I'm sorry to say I relapsed so today is day one again. :(

It's definitely not easy, just keep trying least you will get it!

Today was reeeeaally difficult. The guy I'm seeing mentioned he might be moving away (something happened at his job and I guess the solution is to quit and move to a different state?) I'm not sure if it'll actually happen or not but the way he talked so casually about it speaks volumes on where things stand between us.

Maybe (probably) I'm over-reacting but I cried for like 2 hours. Really wanted a cigarette but didn't give in. Going to sleep soon and will wake up to 2 weeks tomorrow. Sorry for venting but I guess it's good to know this is still possible even when I'm upset.

You're doing great Cosima, getting slowly out of hell.
Venting was the best thing you could do, SR is the right place for this.

Remember you are fighting against one of the worst addictions on earth.
Scientists say cigarette is similar in many points to heroin and almost as hard to quit.
No wonder you find it hard at times!
You're in the gigantic process of removing the habit of smoking cigarettes from your way of life.
You're winning that incridibly difficult fight minute by minute since two weeks! Congratulations!!!

Here's a little tip:
Try to see the cravings coming before they strike to look at them from a distance when they hit.
Per exemple, I was having terrible cravings every time I was getting in my car.
So I got into the routine of seeing these cravings coming 15 feet before opening the car door and it completly stopped after less than 10 times doing this.

Keep the good work, cravings will start to be less frequent and will almost disapear in a few weeks.
Take a deep breathe and feel how your lungs are now a lot healthier!

Have a good week! :grouphug:

Thank you Canadian Koala, I appreciate your insight and encouragement! I'd been doing much better but that was kind of ridiculous, I had to go sit outside where I would usually smoke just to calm myself down. I think it was a combination of factors but it's actually embarrassing that I had that strong of a reaction..

Anyway I came across this article and wanted to share for anyone else trying to quit.. sorry it's a bit weird and out there but it basically talks about seeing cravings as the "healing" of your body/mind which has been numbed for so long. Interesting way of looking at it.

https://medium.com/concrete-shamanis...g-c3b52298192e

How's everyone else??

Hoping others will post so we can move on to a new page and my embarrassing outburst will fade into the background lol. But really though, this quit has been intense. The guy I talked about is also trying to quit and it seems to be changing the dynamics of our relationship (for better or worse remains to be seen). It's forcing me to change personally in ways I had not been previously ready for. I'm having to form new habits and fill my time with more productive things, finally.

I joined a gym. My house is clean, my kitchen is stocked with healthy food rather than the usual takeout leftovers and soda. I'm getting things accomplished.. it feels great but there were some very difficult moments and I know I'm not totally out of the woods yet.

Anyway hope everyone else is doing ok :)

Hello there Least! ;)

Wanted to give you a shoutout and to say I'm going to be quitting cigarettes myself in a couple days! ;) I have 4 packs left and then it starts! Ugh! But I'm mentally ready to tackle this evil sh!t! My husband stopped smoking almost 5 years ago!

I'm 58 and have smoked since I was 13! It's way past time I joined the nonsmoking group! My younger sister stopped smoking 42 days ago! I saw a strange car parked at our Mom's today and couldn't figure out who it belonged to? A sporty car! Come to find out? It's my sister's! Dang! I'll be saving almost $500.00 a month by stopping! Can't y'all just imagine what I can do with that kind of money? ;)

I'll be rooting for everyone here too!

TOD

Hello! :wavey:

It's great that you do all you can do to succeed Cosima!:c011:
I should join a gym too since I've gained many pounds since I've quit.
What did you do with all the ashtrays? The lighters?
I still have my smoking paraphernalia hidden somewhere in the living room closet.
It reminds me I should throw everything to the garbage !

I read the "shaman" article you posted and it's very well written.
We can tell the author really went trough the process of quitting smoking.
I really believe in his "breaking point" theory.

I don't agree with him on one point : that using quit-smoking aids (gums and patches) don’t work.
This is really what pulled me out of the smoking hell personally.
It's true that it makes the journey a bit longer before being a true non smoker but it makes the process a lot more confortable.
I didn't have any physical cravings using patches, I was always feeling like I had a cigarette a few minutes ago. That was a big plus!
Violent cold turkey may heal faster but good luck going through it!
The chances od success are lower (I think)
Eh! That's only my point of view, any way you do it is fine at the end! ;)

Hang on my friend, we're doing this :grouphug:

Thanks again Canadian Koala! I threw out my ashtray but had a million lighters floating around and they're just sitting in a closet now too. I've definitely been eating more but tried to cut down on sugar. The main issue I'm still struggling with is sleeping.. I had insomnia when I first quit drinking and now it's sort of back, not as bad as before but there are some nights I'll get less than 6 hours of sleep. So I'm hoping working out will help with that as I'll be physically tired.

I never tried the gum or patches but definitely believe they can ease the transition and probably increase the chances of success. I think I like the idea of the patch most because it's not a hand or mouth thing. With gum or vaping I was worried I'd just remain addicted to the action if that makes any sense.. Cold turkey is violent and volatile though, not something I ever want to experience again!

Good luck TOD and keep us posted! It is nice having the extra money, even if you just use it to pamper yourself you can feel totally guilt free about it :)

What a great thread, good to meet you all.

Am truly impressed you would cry, rather than smoke Cosima, that is what seems to be what smoking does (among many other things) enable us to contain feelings that need release! Crying, laughing, exercising, dancing, whatever it is, just not smoking.

My stop date was March 25 2018, no smoking since then, no vaping, or NRT, just a cold turkey quit. The only thing I focused on was not smoking, and am only just now, beginning to reign in on sweet things, and replace those sweet things with a reasonable amount of fruit each day. It's a work in progress, and have gained some weight, but nothing to scream about. And the liberating thing is that, not smoking, am slowly becoming less breathless, and so inclined to move around more.

Having smoked since I was 16 years old (am 51 this year) fairly heavily throughout that time (20+ a day, in the last 20 years, roll-up tobacco mainly, but tailor made when affordable) I got to a point autumn last year when I was both sick and tired of it, and fearful about the impact of smoking on my body, and gradually cut down, and down, to less than 10 per day, prior to stopping altogether. I set a date when life was fairly quiet (as much as we can control these things!) and so far, that was that....

It is though as they say, not the stopping, it's the staying stopped...main motivators at the moment is the much improved state of my teeth, that my time is not dictated by, or at the beck and call of a substance, and I can smell, and taste like I haven't experienced for a very long time.....

And agree about cold turkey...it's not something I'd want to go through over and over (like I endured with drinking) so that's a sobering thought when applied to whether or not I smoke today....am very grateful not to be smoking

I did cold turkey off pain meds almost 4 years ago! July 7th will be my fours years! ;)

I did cold turkey off all sodas 2 years ago!

I'm striving for the fact if I can cold turkey off those? I should be able to cold turkey off cigarettes? ;) I also have stopped drinking Baileys Irish Cream mixed in a glass of milk recently too. That was one small pint jar with mostly milk in it late at night! I'm a 100% Disabled Veteran with lots of painful areas. I've never had a problem with alcohol, but I wanted to stop it along with the cigarettes. So I'm 50% on my way! :)

TOD