It's been 30-Days since I Quit Smoking...

JeffreyWilliamson

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Thu Feb-19-09 07:40 PM
Original message

It's been 30-Days since I Quit Smoking...

Edited on Thu Feb-19-09 07:46 PM by JeffreyWilliamson

(Here are the links to Part One, Part Two, Part Three, and Part Four.)

I wanted to post one final follow-up thread to celebrate ending the first month, and to encourage others who may be considering quitting. There are many ways to quit smoking, here's how I did it:

Step One: Use stop-smoking aids to break the psychological habit of holding the cigarette, while maintaining nicotine intake.
Step Two: Lower nicotine intake by half.
Step Three: Cease usage of all nicotine aids.
Step Four: Recover from withdrawal.

In detail, I did these things:

1. I purchased one package of generic label 4mg nicotine lozenges for $28.00, enough to last about 1 week. I chose to start with the lozenges and switch to patches so that I could ease the initial transition from cigarettes--the lozenges would allow me to deliver nicotine to my system when I wanted to.

2. After the first week, and after I ran out of nicotine lozenges, I purchased one generic package of 14mg nicotine patches for $15.00, (which over 24 hours would deliver half the nicotine I was consuming from the lozenges). It was critical to break the remainder of the psychological habit of lighting up a cigarette or popping a lozenge before continuing.

3. After 5 days of patches, (and keeping 2 spare in case I needed them), I ceased usage of all aids. For 3 - 4 days I suffered through a case of what could best be described as the flu, my sleep schedule was crazy, at times I could eat--at other times I was dizzy and nauseous. For the few hours a day I was awake, I pushed the fluids and was a real monster to the partner whenever we saw one another, (which wasn't often as I set myself up in the spare bedroom to lessen his exposure).

4. The withdrawal symptoms began to drop off, and each day I felt significantly better, was more energetic, and gradually sleeping normally.

The end result, at 30-days, is this:

a.) I feel perfectly healthy, no coughing, and all the withdrawal symptoms have passed.

b.) I've used the last month to clean the house, my car, and my clothes--no more cigarette stink.

c.) I can verify point "b" by way of my vastly improved sense of taste and smell.

d.) I have discovered that I have more energy and drive. I also need less sleep.

e.) I'm no longer hemorrhaging money for cigarettes.

And on that final point, the total cost of quitting during the last 30-days was $43.00. During that same 30-day period I would have spent $330.00 on cigarettes at 2 packs of Marlboro Lights per day at $5.50 a pack. In other words I've saved $287.00. During the next 30-day period I will have saved the entire $330.00, and after 365 days I will have saved $4015.00.

Tips for anyone interested in following this method:

The first couple of steps will be easy, as you will discover. Going cold-turkey will not be easy, but you will have helped yourself greatly by breaking the psychological habit of smoking cigarettes during the first steps of this method. During the cold-turkey phase, break your routine and keep yourself busy. Chew gum or use mints. Drink plenty of liquids--keeping yourself hydrated will help greatly, (as will taking daily vitamins). Consider timing the beginning of the cold-turkey stage when you will have at least 3 days off work. Sleep as often as you can, do not worry about messing up your schedule--you will recover. As you feel each withdrawal symptom, think through them in your mind and identify what they are, and remind yourself that in a few short hours they will pass. Read websites like this to help yourself mentally understand what you are going through. Most importantly--stick it out. After a rough couple of days you will start to feel increasingly better every single hour of every day. It's been a week-and-a-half since I went cold-turkey, and I feel fine. I have a couple of short cravings a day, but they're gone in about a minute. Other than that, I don't even think about it. And I'm having fun with it!

Tips for anyone interested in quitting, but unsure of this method:

It doesn't really matter how you quit--it only matters that you quit. Your family, friends, co-workers, and even pets will thank you. You are only making them--as well as yourself--sick. Stop hiding behind excuses that you "genuinely enjoy smoking" or "I'm scared" or "I've been doing this so long I won't be able to quit". I smoked 2 to 3 packs a day for the better part of 15 years. If I can quit in a matter of days, then you can quit by whatever means works best for you.

Good luck, and I'll let you know how it's going at 1 year.