Posted on 12/04/2011 7:22:02 AM PST by Marie
A couple of months ago I posted a thread that I was trying to quit smoking and asked for advice.
I tried going cold turkey, but only managed a few days. I finally went to the doctor and got a prescription for Chantix.
I'm right at three weeks smoke-free now. I quit taking the Chantix about a week and a half ago (horrible nightmares and seriously screwed up sleep) and I'm past the 'cravings' stage. I really only think about smoking a couple of times a day, but I'm not fighting the urge to smoke any more.
This is the point where I usually fail. Week three.
Since I quit, I've been dealing with a constant, low-level anxiety. It's like a panic attack that won't stop. I'm very sensitive to noise and even mild stress pushes me into a horrible place.
This is not 'craving'. This feels like the worst, never-ending, PMS attack ever.
I've been through this before and, as I said, this is when I fall. I start to think that this is how I'm going to feel forever. That I'm never going to feel normal again.
In the past, I've given up and started smoking, not because I wanted a cigarette, but because I knew that this horrible anxiety would go away as soon as I had a cigarette. I actually have made the choice to smoke rather than be crazy.
I need to know that this does eventually end. That I'll one day feel normal again. That I'll be able to concentrate and think and not feel like I'm having a panic attack. That this is part of the process and that it does get better.
Marie. I quit smoking by cutting down gradually. It took about a year, but that was about 30 years ago. I got down to one cigarette a day and kept them in the refrigerator. After awhile I didn’t want one.
Now, it annoys me if people are smoking around me.
You have to choose the method that works for you. But if you have family and loved ones, it is so important to stop. I have sadly seen a number of people pass away from lung cancer.
Once you quit, you can breathe easier, smell better, and taste your food. The air smells wonderful.
Good luck, Marie. If you need help, Freep Mail me.
Here’s a link to the book I used to quit smoking. I loaned out my copy years ago - or I’d send it to you. Every person I know who read the book and followed the steps was able to quit.
http://www.amazon.com/How-Stop-Smoking-3-Hours/dp/0446350060
Smoked for thirty years, one pack a day ultra lights. I quit many times for two to three weeks only to start smoking again. My wife would be so upset when I started back. One night three years ago we were driving home from a visit with my son, 90 miles on back roads in rural south GA. I ran out of cigs and there was not a store open for 70 miles. As you know smoking and driving go hand in hand. I decided to quit that night and I told no one. Cold turkey, I went thur a month long depression. My wife had a friend whose husband committed suicide a year before, and they were comparing notes. I was confronted by a worried wife and I had to confess. I came out of that state shortly after and I have been smoke free since. It does get better hang in there and take B’s and C’s for a supplement. Sunflower seeds in the shell have been by driving partner since.
I threw myself into working out in the gym, getting winded helped with wanting a cigarette, the exercise and the new routine helped with both the occasional bout with a strange sort of hybrid boredom-anxiety as well as the inevitable weight gain. You’ll still gain but it’s well distributed and muscle instead of fat.
Just going for a walk helps, too, if that fits your life better than joining a gym. Strong mints helped satisfy that sensation of inhaling cigarette smoke.
Could be that the sudden absence of Chantix has something to do with the anxiety too, as others suggest. I don’t recall it being a strong sense of anxiety, just occasional bouts. Not sure why it struck me that life was boring without a cigarette, but it did. Getting physically active is the solution to that if you’re experiencing it, imho.
LOL!
I never voted for the O....that is for sure!
I quit cold turkey last May 10th.
My secret was to not dwell on it, not talk about it and if the urge to smoke came i would put it out of my head fast and think about something else.
Sems to have worked. not a single puff since early May, I will never smoke ever again.
Just thinking of all the cash i have saved makes me smile.
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