Ready for this Journey

[Kevin Jackson]

Morning to all. I've made my first week smoke free:D .
I've tried several times to quit. The patch,the pills. But their was always something that happened, I used as an excuse to start again. It took years to learn to smoke. I guess it will take as long or longer to quit:o .
I have found in my trail an error method, that placing the patch on my chest seems to prove better for me.
Head injured,diebitic, high colesteral. What a start huh. Theirs a root I learned of years ago, that was sweet to chew. Dose anyone know of it. My reason for asking is that I 'm a sweetaholic. Don't care much for pepermint. Its so bad that I use to get that brown dommino sugar in the box. Opean it up,set it in the friged to get hard. Then chip off a hunk, an suck on it till you could tast the cane suryp.
Well wish me luck.
Oh, I'll be back. I know theirs a lot of secrets out their concerning will power. So I'll be crying out loud for H E L P !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[teddiebears]

CONGRATULATIONS ON ONE WEEK SMOKE-FREE!! :D

If you don't mind my asking, how many years have you smoked and how many packs a day??

When I started smoking, I went from one pack a day to two very quickly. I smoked for 25 years and most of that time I was smoking 2-3 packs a day. The last 5-6 years that I smoked, I was smoking 4-6 packs a day. :( At the end of this year I will be 12 years smoke-free. Nearly half as long as I smoked! :rolleyes:

I never really wanted to quit and although I made some half-hearted attempts over the years, I wasn't really putting much effort into it. The day I finally quit for good, I was at home suffering with double pneumonia - barely able to breathe at all - and was still trying to light up and smoke. :rolleyes: I suddenly realized how completely foolish I was being and since I had some nicotine patches in the house, I slapped one on and as they say, the rest is history. ;)

I wish you luck on your journey.... There are lots of ideas here that can be helpful. One thing I would suggest is to drink tons of water (if your health conditions will allow you to, that is). ;)

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!! :D

[jingle]

SUPER:D :D :D
Those patches are what worked for me too :) .
It's been 23 months and 2 weeks - lol - thanks to those things. And I'm a sweet-aholic too.
In quitting I used too much candy and junk and gained too much weight but - gee whiz - my doctors were beside themselves with joy and said to not worry a whit about my weight gain right now.

You just keep plugging along and know that we will be right here to listen, cheer, "hold your Internet hand" and do all we can to help.
We're SO happy for you.

[Kevin Jackson]

Well teddiebears I started at about when I was 16. At the end I was rolling my own. About 2packs of rollemups a week.
Jingels I've heard of the weight gain. I'm hoping to keep it at a minamal.
Thanks to to guys for your support.:cool:

[Milly]

Hi Kevin

You sound very much like me in your attempts to give up! I have tried, tried and tried again, but never quite got there. This will be my 5th week of not smoking, and 99.9% of the time, i do not even think about smoking. Keep it up, you are doing really well, lets hope we can both stay off the evil baccy and enjoy our smoke free lives.

Well done!

Milly

[CanRelate]

Licorice root....

Stash tea has an herbal tea with that as the primary ingredient....yummm!

Natural food grocery stores usually have in the bulk spice eisle. Sometimes stick, usually smaller chips of it....... can chew or boil in a small amount of water to make tea.

A friend has had great quitting success recently with Chantix (if I am remembering the word right...). 5 months now and no cheating.....although almost instinctively picked one up during recent major stress....but thought before she reached, and decided not to do it.

I quit close to 20 years ago from about a pack a day....smoked less than 10 years.

Later, I'll detail the process I used. Wasn't a drug or supplement, just psychology (and cheapness..... couldn't/wouldn't pay $1.35 per pack :rolleyes: when the prices went up to that.....and yes, you are reading the number right!!)

All the best with this...

Regards,
CanRelate



Morning to all. I've made my first week smoke free:D .
I've tried several times to quit. The patch,the pills. But their was always something that happened, I used as an excuse to start again. It took years to learn to smoke. I guess it will take as long or longer to quit:o .
I have found in my trail an error method, that placing the patch on my chest seems to prove better for me.
Head injured,diebitic, high colesteral. What a start huh. Theirs a root I learned of years ago, that was sweet to chew. Dose anyone know of it. My reason for asking is that I 'm a sweetaholic. Don't care much for pepermint. Its so bad that I use to get that brown dommino sugar in the box. Opean it up,set it in the friged to get hard. Then chip off a hunk, an suck on it till you could tast the cane suryp.
Well wish me luck.
Oh, I'll be back. I know theirs a lot of secrets out their concerning will power. So I'll be crying out loud for H E L P !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[teddiebears]

This will be my 5th week of not smoking, and 99.9% of the time, i do not even think about smoking.

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR 5TH WEEK SMOKE-FREE!! :D

I've been 12 years without smoking and it's hard to remember myself as a smoker. If it weren't for my COPD and emphysema, I probably could completely forget that I had ever smoked! :rolleyes:

Hang in there and KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!

[teddiebears]

I quit close to 20 years ago from about a pack a day....smoked less than 10 years.

CONGRATULATIONS!!! :D

It's nice to see you here. Hope you'll stick around.

[CanRelate]

Thanks for the welcome!!

I almost forget I smoked and quit, it has been so long...

I'll keeping peeking in, and I WILL share my story in case it is helpful to those trying to break free, or stay free....

Regards,
CanRelate

[Kevin Jackson]

Hey, you know. It anit been so bad. Sure the thought has been their, but the will is strong so far.
Thanks for all the support from you guys.

[jingle]

:D :D :D Wow Kevin ... :D :D :D

I am SO happy for you. How very wonderful. What a grand accomplishment. You really have made the most difficult steps.

Sure, you have some l-o-n-g ones ahead of you but the hard ones are over.
Have you visited your doctor for any other reason? He/she is going to be so very impressed and so very happy. Quitting is vital for you health.

I'll bet your family is impressed and happy !!

[Kevin Jackson]

Whew, The strange thing is that. Now , the cravings seem to be a lot more worst now than in the begaining.(what the hey)
I started last night, putting the step two patch on my sholder. Remember I am putting the 1st. step ones on my chest. I know I'm not suppose to wear two at a time. I am putting a freash one on every morning. And leaving the one from the day before on till about 10:00 11. When I take the old one off. I figure theirs still stuff working in the skin. Even after the 24 hour time limit reguiered . I'm darned determained this time. Makes me think of that Simpsons episoid where Homers wearing patchs all over his body:D :D .
I have a friend that gave me 4 boxes of thoses step 2s. I've read that its an 8week limit to the patch program:confused:hmmmm . Ok you guys. Tell me I'm going to stroke out or something. I know its comming. Don't all of you, jump on me at the same time. I'm a D A V, SO MERCY, HUH.

[moose53]

Hey, You http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/moose53/MINIS/HUGS/hug3-1223.gif

You're quitting smoking!!?? http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/moose53/MINIS/CONGRATULATIONS/waytogo.gif

I quit in 1988. I went from 2 packs a day to nothing. Actually wasn't that bad. What I did for a month before I quit was smoke as much as I wanted of the lowest tar and nicotine cigarette on the market -- some days, I'd have 2 packs, some days 3 or 4. When the end of the month came, I threw them out.

That was about the 6th time that I tried. That one worked!!

Funniest thing, after I quit, I couldn't stand my cooking 'cause I had learned to season my food while I was a smoker :D

Now, I can't stand the smell of them. Plus, that's what my son's Dad died from -- smoking-related cancer in his head. Bad-bad :(

I don't know anyone who's used patches. But, I imagine it would work similar to the way that ramping-down did for me.

You can DO IT. There's tons of us who've succeeded. Plus, think of the **TON** of money who'll save. That's what convinced me -- the money -- I found out I was paying more for my life insurance.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/moose53/MINIS/HUGS/piratehugf2.gif

Barb

[teddiebears]

Whew, The strange thing is that. Now , the cravings seem to be a lot more worst now than in the begaining.(what the hey)
I started last night, putting the step two patch on my sholder. Ok you guys. Tell me I'm going to stroke out or something. I know its comming. Don't all of you, jump on me at the same time. I'm a D A V, SO MERCY, HUH.

Hi Kevin - glad to hear you're still doing well. :)

Obviously you have heard all the warnings about possible stroke or other complications from using too many patches, so I won't say too much about that. ;) I will simply suggest that you be careful. After all, it won't matter if you've quit smoking or not if you were to suffer a stroke and end up a vegetable for the rest of your life, or maybe even die. :rolleyes:

About cravings getting worse, that's sort of natural. ;) I'm not sure the science behind it, but I know a lot of folks who were quitting smoking had an increase in cravings around 3 weeks into quitting, again at 3 months and at 6 months too. :rolleyes: Go figure. Using the patches should help some with the physical cravings, but the psychological cravings are not a quite as easy. lol

About using the patches more than 8 weeks -- you certainly can do that. When I quit in 1995-96, a prescription was required to obtain the patches and my doctor had no trouble giving me prescriptions for them for about 6 months. Keep in mind that I was smoking 4-6 packs a day the last couple years that I smoked. He told me that it made more sense (caused less physical damage) for me to keep using the patches as long as they were helping me stay smoke-free. So I guess I'm trying to say don't let the arbitrary number of "8 weeks" make you nervous. Who knows - you may be ready to toss out the patches long before that anyway!!! ;)

[Kevin Jackson]

That was a high hurdell. Yeah, don't think I was putting on patches as a regement. Only, at thoses peak points. And I am always listening to what my body has to say. No seeable effects, from that effort.
So I can look forwaed to more of thoses nightmares, huh ! Oh well,I paid for the hole trip:cool:
:D :D :D :D

[Kevin Jackson]

So inlighten me ? So, the nic should be to low to read on a scale. HUH. So what I'm feeling is the psyco part of withdrawl. I tell you, Its worst than the few days in the begaining.And you know, they lied. You can change old ways or situation that put you in a smoking mode. But that doesn't change the urged. I don't care, if you hide ashtrays,or fiddle with something. It dosen't change the want.:confused: Found the root though. And its a number of natural herbs too. One I saw was gunpower:D

[Buttons2]

Kevin,good for you! I remember you from the diabetes forum so I just want to add a bit of caution about licorice! I hope you're seeing your doc regularly he/she will encourage you alot about not smoking. I'm not sure now why licorice is a no-no for diabetics,just know that I gave up consuming it (and I loved those long red whips!)

Are you getting more exercise now? Has this had any effect on your blood sugar readings?

Kudos to you for quitting! I still have the nasty habit,and expensive! Would you believe my cigs cost $55 for a carton!!!!!! I do without alot to support my bad habit!

You might consider joining one of the quit smoking sites,there are some very active ones where you'd get encouragment every hour if needed!

You can do this Kevin! Don't fall back now,the worse is over! Give yourself a pat on the back every day & treat yourself to something nice with all the money you have saved so far!

Gunpowder? Think of all the poisons in cigs!!

HUGS to smokefree Kevin!
Buttons

[jingle]

((( Kevin ))) Hang on -- hang on.
I do PROMISE that those cravings WILL get smaller and less frequent. It might take a long time for them to disappear but they will get easier to live with. Honest.

So I suggest when one hits that you just quickly do something else ... do something that doesn't remind you of smoking or "need" a cigarette. Finally those cravings will slow down and be fewer.

I fought serious cravings and even depression but I won. You can too.

[Kevin Jackson]

licorce. my goodness. Oh, hi buttons2. well i do a lot of exercise.i'm doing theripy work at the v.a. here. so i walk a lot. a lot of that is to keep my sanity. 55$ a carton. got a night job:D . i was a camel man myself. at the end i had started rolling my own smokes(yea-haa). heck i remember a 1.50 a pack, when i started. i treat myself well, for a reward. at one time i thought i was taking on to much. with the diabetes and all. but i had begun to change my eating habits about a year ago.
jingle,hi their. i do things that would not allow me to smok. so in saying that i have cleaned my house so much,it might erase away:D . but you know,the edge is still their. and when i'm done i shure as hayti need one.but thank you for the thought of it will get better. like my t.b.i., it will always be their. but i can make life bearable with out smoking.
;)

[Buttons2]

YEAH, one more smoke free day for Kevin!! You are no longer destroying your lungs! Bet ya smell better too huh?

Keep it up! HUGS Buttons

[Kevin Jackson]

Well to tell you the truth Buttons2. When I was young:) younger than I am now:D . When my folks looked for me. They could always count on calling the dogs, and I would not be far behind. So yeah, the pack lets me run with them again:D :D :D :D :D , so I must be doing something right.
Hows everyone else out their doing with their demon as I have begain to call it now. I will say this suckers got some long claws. Cause it won't let go. I think it was easyer to start this trouble, than to kick it.

[Buttons2]

Kevin, well you did say this is a journey,so gotta expect some road blocks and those pesky speed bumps! Just make sure you don't take a wrong turn!

HUGS,Buttons

[Kevin Jackson]

Well, it was a rough weekend. Almost dipped, but I was able to bob and weave. Now I wish I had never started smoking to begain with. You know Buttons2, its alright to take an exit on this jounery. Its just what I do at theses rest stops that judges carericter and dissapline, that I'm supposed to have developed for childhood to adluthood. One of our fualts as humans is that we don't like to take responsibillity. for our actions. One of the worst things I hear a lot is. Theses so called chirstins that say, Im going to pray on it, and let God handel it. I would like to be at the gate, when Peter ask ,well what happened here ? Well don't you remember I said I'll let God handel it after I prayed on it. My thought is that when God breathed the breath of life in the human vessel God gave the spirit of Gods on essance. So we can choses what direction we want to take(you know that felling when you know you've done wrong,and sonthing inside tells you. what do you think that is). But its easyer to not be so responsible and say thats the way God wanted it.
Just my thought of course.. Which is like A-holes, every bodys got one;)

[Buttons2]

Yes I truly wish I had NEVER started smoking,and I was 30 yr old when I did!! Before that I was very adament that no one even smoke around me! Go figure.Now I have smoked for nearly half my life......

Keep going forward Kevin,you can do this! You can join the non-smoker's club!

Who knows,perhaps some day you will be encouraging ME to quit! Smoking is an addiction,kudos to you for saying no! I realize this is very hard for you,but give yourself a big pat on the back for doing it!

Keep it up,you don't want to go back to where you were before!

Buttons

[4paws]

Hey Kevin hang in there I tossed them on Easter Sunday! I used Chantix,the stuff is wonderful!!! I smoked for almost 30 years and had tried several times to quit but after I went to a N.S and he informed me I have a 3mm annie and that smoking would just help it grow I knew it was time to quit no matter what!!!!So like any grown up I kicked, I screamed,I cried and I prayed that I wouldn't rip somebodys head off-now several months later I think about those things once in a wonder and I'm sooo glad I don't light up anymore!!!!!
I know everyone around me didn't think I could give them up,but you know it's that one thing you have control of to make a difference in your health and if I can do it,I believe that anyone can!!!! One thing I did do that helped me was I drank alot of flavored water it's sweet and has no sugar in it.
Hang in there and keep on going!!!
4paws

[Buttons2]

Welcome to BT 4Paws. Does your name mean you have a dog? If so please join in on the pet therapy forums. We also have a very active forum for annies!

What is Chantix?

Later,Buttons

[4paws]

Chantix is this miracle drug I took it for a month and a half=no more cigs.
Had a few wild dreams from it,but hey I lived through the 70's, so it was not a big deal- kind of fun at times! My dr. perscribe it, most insurance's do not cover it .which I for one think is a joke, because over all it would be cheaper in the long run for them. 1st month cost about $125.00. The box said manufactured in Ireland I had to laugh.( I read they outlawed smoking in all the pubs so I guess they they lost too much money and descided to come up with something that really works) And yes I have many critters,3 dogs,4 barn cats,4 chickens,3 roosters ( the roosters are a royal pain), 1 rabbit and 2 horses!My neighbors were so glad when I moved out of the city to a farm.Joking!!!

[Kevin Jackson]

Like that bunny,I'm still going strong !!!!! Theirs been a few touch an go moments. But ,maybe the thoughts of how happy my babies(dogs) must be not to have to smell something made. Has kept me true. That and I'm sure they can smell the smoke if I sneak one:D . Hanging in their so far, yaaaaaaaaaaa !

[Buttons2]

Keep up the good work Kevin!! Reward yourself!! Add up how much money you've saved so far......then buy something you want!

4Paws,you do have quite a few critters don't ya? Sounds like fun!

Buttons

[Kevin Jackson]

Wow, made it through T'day.The strange thing is the need for a smoke. Didn't bother me, till I found myself alone. I think a lot of it was because I could now spend my time in the mist of company not indangering the health of myself or others.Sure, I saw others smoking and the thought crossed my mind. Then I start telling myself how uncool it is. Remember we use to think how cool smoking was. Stained teeth. Pysic myself out so to speak:) .Better not get to happy though. Last night if I had ,had a smoke in my house I my have fell down:o . Heck with it. I"M HAPPY AS A LARK NOT TO BE SMOKING. Oh yeah, I'M BAD:D

[Kevin Jackson]

Still going strong. Not saying their hasn"nt been thoses moments I wanted to. But I'm still here.
Hey ,I bought me a camera too. I want say it was from the money I saved from buying smokes. But their was some extra change from some where:D
Hope every ons fine. Thanks for the support, I couldn't have made it with out yall.
Till later:cool:

[Buttons2]

Good for you Kevin!! Just think,you didn't even need to make a New Year's resolution to quit!!

Enjoy the camera,and look forward to your first entire year smoke free!

Big pat on the back!
Buttons

[jomama]

the entire 3rd month was really hard for me , i slept a lot and chewed sooooo much gum my jaw literally hurt! and my lungs hurt really bad too....it was really bad and made me wanna give in no kidding, and i would tell myself, 'you feel like youre dying right now BECAUSE of the smoking' i was able to reaaally feel how i had chemically messed myself up! and then i'd focus on that or go to sleep heh, well it worked anyhow oh yeah and a LOT of that propel water with niacin...i ws convinced it would help cleanse the chemicals, i dont know if it did but it gave me something else to focus on