Thanks guys, its not a bad thing thing to hear horror stories as it adds to my determination to stop for good. @trinit and @Gilgalahad well done for staying off them, I'll be there soon enough hopefully!
Day 3 not so bad due to busy day at work, think the head screw may have peaked (fingers crossed).
@rexreg I wasn't too bad, about 12ish a day - much more if on a night out. Smoked for about 10 years since early twenties (I blame girlfriend at the time!).
We'll give you all the support you need then, even if it's just through silly messages on a gaming forum. I've read that it might be handy to replace the urge for smoking withsomething else, like eating candy or better, eating fruits? You just need to get your mind off any cigaretty-related thought. Well, not like I know what it's like, I'm just trying to give some advice.
Day 4 and I feel my head is starting to clear, feels like the vice clamped on my head is loosening. Downloaded an app on my phone for stopping smoking and it shows I have saved over €20 already. Bring it on! I like freeing my head from the nicotine tyranny!
Look at that, 20 euros! That's already a lot, eh? You could buy a present for a friend of yours for that price, or a CD, or a cheap Angry Birds pillow...Btw, now that I've mentioned Angry Birds: if you feel like venting some steam in a creative manner, try out some levels. I always feel good when I succeed in beating the piggies and clearing a level.
Yeah I'm a bit OCD on angry birds and must get 3 stars in all levels, am stuck in the latest haloween seasons one at the mo. Then there is space to do and star wars to do too! Good to keep occupied though for sure. And yes screw those chemicals!
Really makes me happy about people quiting an addiction. I quit smoking, drinking and marihuana addiction some 10 years ago and am very glad I did it. Life isn't all roses without it, but at least you're not hampered by the financial, physical and mental impact of an addiction.
Buy yourself a nice gift with the 20 quid you saved, like Kitteh_On_A_Cloud suggested. You deserve credit for courage.
Everytime you feel urge growing for a cig and you don't give in, that little nicotine-monster inside you is slowly suffocating and wasting away some more. Don't give in to his whining and tricks and quit the addictive thoughts it was doing good in some way and actually wasn't and in a few weeks to a few months you'll never look back.
There might be a little shame involved, how you abused people's sense of smell though, when yours starts getting alive as well again ;-)
Nicely done @Son_of_Imoen thats a lot of things to give up at once! Although I'll probably steer clear of heavy boozing for a while anyway to avoid tempation on cigs.
Yep am planning on treating myself to something over the weekend as mini-celebration, any ideas???
Well, I'm very much into staying home in the weekends and rest from the week all by myself with a game or video, but if you're into more active things: stay away from parties, drinking and café's as an atmosphere of alcohol, noise, lots of people and some of them maybe standing outside smoking, creates temptation.
I would suggest picking a good movie to see, go to the cinema with a non-smoking friend or if you don't like movies, play a game you like, in multi-player for hours on end if you feel like company or treat yourself with a visit of the sauna. Something that doesn't have associations of partying in obscuring clouds of ashes, but still stimulating to the senses.
Best of all, once your lungs feel clearer (maybe too early yet): go for a hike or long bicycle trip or another kind of physical exercise you like and feel the experience your body can handle exerction (sp.?) better.
Listen, I first tried to quit smoking a few years ago. I lasted 4 months and it was hell. I kept thinking and dreaming about smoking, I felt frustrated and stressed.
I now know why. Not because quitting is hard - but because I had the wrong perspective. You need to set up your mentality in such a way that quitting feels like a relief. That the second day after you quit you actually think to yourself "Good riddance! I can't believe I ever did that!", that you feel happy and alive.
Now, focusing your mind and programming you subconscious in such a way is not easy, but it's not hard either. And there's help: check out Allen Carr's "Easy Way To Stop Smoking". I mean it. It's not bullshit. The book aims to help you understand how your brain dictates happiness and relaxation and then how you need to use this knowledge in order to reverse the mechanism that every smoker has embedded in them, that which makes you crave, that which is stronger than your own logic which tells you so often "Smoking is bad and there's a good chance it will kill you, quit it idiot!".
Now, that book is not the only way, obviously, but it has helped me which is why I recommend it. I haven't smoked in a long, long time. I can't say how much because I honestly feel like I never smoked in my life. And I never think about it, not once, honestly.
Good luck to you my friend and don't lose hope! Maybe this attempt to quit will not be successful but the next one just might. Keep at it, stay strong and healthy!
edit. Oh, and btw, a visit to the Pneumologist doesn't hurt. If only to convince yourself that your lungs are already affected, that your body is indeed weaker (how often do you catch a cold or cough?) and that it will all go away in a few weeks of staying clean. Plus: you'll sleep better, your clothes and other stuff you touch won't stink and you won't have to freeze to death during winters. Maan, not smoking rocks soooo much!
Hi @sebas - thanks for the good will, have gone over a week now and nearly finished day 9 - have stuck strong and away from smokes. I think the first week is a b***ch but after that my head is feeling a lot more normal. I've had that book recommended to me my others, but I think you are supposed to be smoking while reading it - anyhow thanks for the tip.
Well done for staying off them and not thinking about it, hopefully I'll be there soon enough and honestly aren't thinking about them in the physical sense, its more the mental throbbing that was the problem but it feels much better now. I've had enough of them!
Hypnosis is pretty amazing too if you find a good practitioner. Hard to believe you can quit pain-free after an hour and a half therapy but it's true. Probably wouldn't work for people who are hyper-negative towards the idea. Please don't flame about hypnotherapy being bullshit, it saved my life bullshit or not.
I've had a couple of friends who used hypnosis to stop smoking, it worked for one and not the other. Anything that helps is good in my opinion, everyone is different.
True, Allan Carr's method helps you to loath smoking while you're doing it, then feeling relieved once you finally quit. Hard to make the method work afterwards perhaps. But you can still focus on the thought: you are not denying yourself anything by not smoking. You're *giving* yourself something. Like sebas, I never think about smoking anymore but as an annoying habit that others do.
Comments
Day 3 not so bad due to busy day at work, think the head screw may have peaked (fingers crossed).
- You rock
- Congrats on quitting
- Also, you rock
Buy yourself a nice gift with the 20 quid you saved, like Kitteh_On_A_Cloud suggested. You deserve credit for courage.
Everytime you feel urge growing for a cig and you don't give in, that little nicotine-monster inside you is slowly suffocating and wasting away some more. Don't give in to his whining and tricks and quit the addictive thoughts it was doing good in some way and actually wasn't and in a few weeks to a few months you'll never look back.
There might be a little shame involved, how you abused people's sense of smell though, when yours starts getting alive as well again ;-)
Yep am planning on treating myself to something over the weekend as mini-celebration, any ideas???
I would suggest picking a good movie to see, go to the cinema with a non-smoking friend or if you don't like movies, play a game you like, in multi-player for hours on end if you feel like company or treat yourself with a visit of the sauna. Something that doesn't have associations of partying in obscuring clouds of ashes, but still stimulating to the senses.
I now know why. Not because quitting is hard - but because I had the wrong perspective. You need to set up your mentality in such a way that quitting feels like a relief. That the second day after you quit you actually think to yourself "Good riddance! I can't believe I ever did that!", that you feel happy and alive.
Now, focusing your mind and programming you subconscious in such a way is not easy, but it's not hard either. And there's help: check out Allen Carr's "Easy Way To Stop Smoking". I mean it. It's not bullshit. The book aims to help you understand how your brain dictates happiness and relaxation and then how you need to use this knowledge in order to reverse the mechanism that every smoker has embedded in them, that which makes you crave, that which is stronger than your own logic which tells you so often "Smoking is bad and there's a good chance it will kill you, quit it idiot!".
Now, that book is not the only way, obviously, but it has helped me which is why I recommend it. I haven't smoked in a long, long time. I can't say how much because I honestly feel like I never smoked in my life. And I never think about it, not once, honestly.
Good luck to you my friend and don't lose hope! Maybe this attempt to quit will not be successful but the next one just might.
edit.
Oh, and btw, a visit to the Pneumologist doesn't hurt. If only to convince yourself that your lungs are already affected, that your body is indeed weaker (how often do you catch a cold or cough?) and that it will all go away in a few weeks of staying clean.
Plus: you'll sleep better, your clothes and other stuff you touch won't stink and you won't have to freeze to death during winters.
Maan, not smoking rocks soooo much!
I've had that book recommended to me my others, but I think you are supposed to be smoking while reading it - anyhow thanks for the tip.
Well done for staying off them and not thinking about it, hopefully I'll be there soon enough and honestly aren't thinking about them in the physical sense, its more the mental throbbing that was the problem but it feels much better now. I've had enough of them!
Hypnosis is pretty amazing too if you find a good practitioner. Hard to believe you can quit pain-free after an hour and a half therapy but it's true. Probably wouldn't work for people who are hyper-negative towards the idea. Please don't flame about hypnotherapy being bullshit, it saved my life bullshit or not.