Yikes!! We quit smokin' and I'm going coo-coo!

[ronnykmarshall]

Actually the other half did the whole hypno-thang. I didn't smoke like he did.

But shit. I'd love a butt right now!

[proud patriot]

1. Keep it up

:thumbsup: I've been ciggarette free for 7 months

[Trajan]

2. awww fuck .,,,,

It is SO HARD for me ....

I keep cheating and cheating and cheating ...

Todays 'Hot Tip' ? : I went to Target to buy some nicotine gum, and LO AND BEHOLD: they had their generic 'Target' patches on sale for $7 a box ....

SEVEN !

That is 14 patches (2 weeks) @ 21 mg .....

THat is a GREAT deal ....

WHat is MORE striking ? ....

I found 3 boxes in the back of the shelf with red 'clearance' stickers on them ....

Price ? .... $1.94 .... 14 patches (2 weeks) @ 21 mg for $1.94 ? ....

Muthafuck ! ...

I put down the $7 boxes, and SWOOPED on the 3 remaining $2 boxes ....

I have 6 weeks of Nicotine patches for < $6 total ....

Amazing .... $7 per box was a great price ...

$2 is unbelievable ....

Good luck ....

[caty]

3. I quit 8 1/2 weeks ago.

Hang in there. It does get easier as time goes by. When you get the craving just think to yourself: "I don't smoke anymore". By the time you think that, the craving is gone. Good luck.:thumbsup:

[arwalden]

4. The Physical Cravings Only Last Three Days... A Week At Most.

After that, the "cravings" you have are psychological. Most of the time a craving (whether real or imagined) will only last a couple of minutes... so some deep breathing exercises help to get beyond that moment of anxiety.

The deep breating routines don't make the cravings go away, it just helps you to get through the 90-second cravings. They also don't prevent the next craving from coming... but the cravings do (over time) start to come further and further apart.

Don't forget to brag on yourself... especially to people you see every day, family, friends, co-workers, neighbors... ANYONE that can acknowledge your ongoing success and encourage you from time to time. (It sounds corny... but encouragement from my friends REALLY did helpt to motivate me. And I had made such a big deal about quitting, and they had made such a big deal about it too, that I didn't want to disappoint them by starting up again.)

For the first few months I'd spend $45.00 a week (the cost of a carton) on something JUST FOR ME! New cologne, a new shirt, DVD's, CD's. --- Stuff that I wouldn't normally budget for myself, I'd now REWARD myself with using cigarette money.

Of course that completely defeated the concept of SAVING $45.00 per week by not smoking... but it also helped to reinforce the idea of the VALUE of how much money I was wasting on cigarettes. (When all is said and done, at the end of the year, I did NOT have an extra $45.00x52 dollars in my bank account. Somehow the unspent money finds its way (unmarked) back into the general family budget. BUT the fact remains that you DO have an extra $180.00 per month per person that you can enjoy elsewhere.

Odd... my main motivation was MONEY SAVINGS and NOT my health. Logic tells me that it should have been the other way around, but it was the money.

Good luck Ronny!!!

-- Allen

[ronnykmarshall]

6. I miss the lovely morning hack!!

:silly:

Thanks everyone for you input.

[caty]

9. My motivation was health.

I had a horrible experience in the hospital fighting to breath for three days. That woke me up. Haven't smoked since. The extra money is nice though.

[TammyLittlenut]

11. Right on, arwalden

That's exactly right. I quit January 1 of this year (cold turkey) and my experience was that, after the first 3 days of getting rid of the nicotine itself, you have to start working on removing the associations.

Do you associate smoking with certain things? Of course. So do those things without smoking on purpose as much as you can. Have some coffee and no ciggy. Have a cocktail or two and no ciggy. Soon you will no longer associate these things with smoking.

Also keep healthy snacks around to munch on and drink lots and lots of water.

Good luck!

[Midlodemocrat]

13. What a great motivator!

I am going to try that on a friend of mine who we all wish would quit. My mom smoked for 50 years and I think she would still be here if she hadn't.

[arwalden]

15. It Took A Heart Attack To Make My Dad Quit...

...after 50 years of smoking! I quit after nearly 25 years of smoking.

-- Allen

PS: Sorry to hear about your mom! :hug:

[Been Fishing]

5. Hang in there!

I've been smoke free for 15 months after smoking for 40 YEARS.

Used Wellbutrin for 3 months. Usually prescribed for depression.
It is not a nicotine substitute.

Started the Wellbutrin a week before quitting. Reduced the number
of cigarettes each day.

There are times, after a big meal or while tipping a glass, that
the urge is still there.

It's now easier to tell smoker's that there is hope for them to
quit.

If I could, you can too!

[MrScorpio]

7. Ronny, you're always smokin'

Even when you're of cigs

[sniffa]

8. you can have my butt baby

:loveya:

[ronnykmarshall]

14. I'll take ya up on that!

[Wetzelbill]

10. a Butt? I'm definitely an ash man....

:: groan :: that was bad

[Blue-Jay]

12. I'll smoke one for ya, Ronny.

mmmmmm. tomacco.....