13 days smoke-less!

[Cambear]

It's been 13 days since my last cigarette. I've been smoking on and off since I was about 15.

I tried gum and patches in the past but oh man, waaay too concentrated for me! Made me physically sick.

I had prozac added back to my wellbutrin too. I think that helped a lot, as I have no craving for anything... Not even food! I haven't been hungry at all, but if I lose more than 15 pounds (and that's pushing it) on it, I'll have to stop taking it. That's why I stopped taking it in the first place.

My mother has yet to stop smoking, and it's frustrating as hell, because she knows she cannot smoke around the bird, not that I have him yet, but still... She also knows that her perfume and cigarette smoke trigger my migraines, yet she still puts too much on and smokes around me. Ugh.

Anyone else have any no smoking achievements? Share them!

 

[getwozzy]

CONGRATULATIONS!!! Keep it up!!! Quitting cigarettes is HARD!!

I had my first cigarette when I was 17...I smoked for 10 years with the occasional attempt to quit here and there, but never *wanted* to quit. When my husband and I were dating we decided to quit together, and he actually quit first- but doing it with someone definitely helped. Having someone to hold you accountable is helpful, and so we've been smoke-free for 5? years now.

I still have my days when I would like to just smoke one, but I know if I start again I don't know if I can quit again.

It's definitely not an easy task, but if you find other ways to cope with your stress or other triggers, then that's half the battle! I think it's selfish and rude that your mom continues to smoke around you and wears excessive amounts of perfume- especially when she knows it causes you to have migraines. I also can't stand to be around perfumes- going to the mall is a nightmare because I end up with a headache that makes my head feel like it's going to explode.

 

[Cambear]

Thank you!!! I will! I'm just looking forward to when it gets a little warmer and I can open my bedroom windows and clean the hell out of my bedroom... But I really can't wait to move into my (non-smoking!!!) apartment. Ugh.

I've always wanted to quit, but never could because of my mother. She just told me to move out... I was 15, and while you can get emancipated here, lol... Yeah, no way in hell that the courts were going to emancipate a 15 year old with severe mental health problems who can't function in society. I have severe anxiety, bipolar, PTSD from a severe medical condition, etc. Plus, it's not like I could drive. Although, me working has helped a fair bit, and I'm properly medicated now (thankfully).

I've had people tell me to just get the e-cigs... But those aren't healthy either!

It is rude, but eh. That's how she is. I've had migraines since before I knew what they were, meaning that I would just sit there, holding my head and screaming and crying. I have no mass or anything in my brain. Nobody knows why I get them. I was born 2 months earlier, and the chemo I had last year didn't help anything at all. At least she isn't whining about her damn sniffles to me while I'm sitting there on red death (aka a chemo that is dark red and can only be injected via a giant syringe and needle into a vein). Shes' done that. I wasn't amused.

Unfortunately, I cannot get out of this situation fast enough. Oh well. I shouldn't whine too much.

I went to the store today to get some nutrition drink things and electrolyte drink (since I'm not eating well), and I didn't get cigarettes! Pretty proud of myself... Told my mother to get her own, since she told me to get her some.

 

[getwozzy]

Oh gosh- That's a lot of extremely difficult things to deal with! hopefully getting your own place will open up new doors for you and your health!

Going to the store and not buying them is a huge accomplishment! Some may not think so, but I know so! Lol I stopped going to the gas station where I bought mine because it was just too difficult...and we don't buy cigarettes for other people either- even at 5 years it's still too tempting.

My husband's worker smokes, and I've been finding butts all over our driveway and even found one in MY CAR! grrrrrr

 

[mtdoramike]

I'm very proud of you. I hope you don't try the "stop smoking program" I used 15 years ago to kick the habit. I wound up in the hospital for two weeks after having a heart attack. That will slap you sober for sure. So after going cold turkey for two weeks, I made sure to never pick up another cigarette.

Good luck and remember, it's one step at a time and one day at a time.

 

[MangieSun]

Congrats. I'll be a year smoke free next month. I was smoking a pack a day. I do smoke an e-cigarette still though. I feel so much better now that I ditched conventional smoking. Wish I didn't enjoy my ecig, but sadly I do very much.

 

[Cambear]

Oh, no, definitely not trying any program! I hate those. I refuse to even do group therapy because it tends not to be like... Individualized. Like... Nope!

I just got a call from my college saying that my enrollment is at risk because I literally haven't handed or done a single assignment in one of my classes, and I've only done like... 3, in my other classes... And my finals are today. I'm so screwed, I should do crushing right now, but I'm not. At this point, I guess I don't really care. I know that there are no do-overs, and it's so stupid that to get any well paying job you need to have a degree, when so many people with degrees still don't know what the hell they're doing... I start classes again on Friday. I can always take these classes over, but that's just a pain, and it looks really bad on my transcript...

I guess it's a good thing that I'm moving closer to the cities (more than likely, at this point) where the rent is I think $550 she said with pets allowed (She said I can have both cats and my bird, but the first time there's any damage caused by the cats... they're gone. But they can stay with my mother.) and most utilities paid. I could afford that now, mostly, but I am waiting so I have a bit more money to start up and all that. Closer to the city means more hours, more job selection, and (sometimes!) better pay. Unfortunately, my state has $7.25 as minimum wage... But I'm communicating with a company who builds Tiny Houses (gorgeous, but tiny houses/cabins/cottages for people who really can't afford, or don't want big houses), and for me to move to somewhere on the east coast into a Tiny House, the house itself is uh... Somewhere around $60k, but I have perfect credit, so a loan isn't that big of a deal for me to get. And since it's so tiny, property taxes definitely aren't that bad.

I was considering moving farther south (I'm about as far north as you can GET in the midwest), but then I realised that it's way too hot... But Colorado is also a possibility, but sooo expensive.

Oh, wow, I don't know how to stay on topic. Good thing this is called off-topic.

 

[crimson]

Way to go!!....quitting is one of the most difficult things to do....I use to smoke, but when I got pregnant with Sarah I quit, that was 13 years ago. It was fairly simple due to morning sickness and I never had another one since.

I just made a decision to stop for good, hopefully you won't ever have another one.

 

[RavensGryf]

Yay!!! I know it's very hard to do. You have to want to do it... Not someone telling you to.
I first tried cigs in my late teens, but didn't get into it then. As an adult, off and on I'd smoke (sometimes many years off). People would tell me 'you don't look like a smoker', but then what the heck does a smoker look like? LOL, trying to imagine is making me laugh

Irony is, much of my adult life, I've been into physical fitness... I'd smoke before the gym, and chew gum and spray perfume and air out real good, and hope to God no one at the gym smelled cigs on me hahaha! Believe it or not, at one point was even a certified fitness trainer too (I only smoked for a few months during that career) - but wow, looking at it now, that was SO bad that I even did it at all LOL!! I never did it so much that it impeded my physical capacity. I made sure no more than 1/2 pack a day. Ask your personal trainer if THEY smoke LOL HAHAHA..
NOW - I will never have one again... Health issues really scare me, so I'm serious about it now.

CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU CAN STAY SMOKE FREE!!!

 

[Cambear]

Thanks guys!

I had to stop smoking cold turkey when I was diagnosed with cancer on Valentine's Day, 2013, but unfortunately picked it back up short after I went into remission on Oct 2, 2013. (Woot, woot for me! On the remission, that is...)

Now, I have COPD due to consistent pleural effusions causing pleurisy, pneumonia, bronchitis, etc... None of which smoking helps at all. This hopefully with help, and it should be a LOT better once my lungs get back into shape via jogging and when I'm finally into my non-smoking apartment!

I've never used a fitness trainer! But damn, congrats on you for being one! I don't think I could do it... But I might be training the primary school kids for soccer/footie! It's all volunteer for the first season, but if they want me back for the second season, I get paid! Not going to complain about that. Plus, I can't smoke around them!

I have a million reasons to quit smoking, and none to continue smoking. I'm really proud of myself, considering that my brain gets attached to things, especially chemically addictive things (duh!).

Congrats to you guys who have all quit smoking or are in the process of it!!!

 

[Kiwibird]

Good for you! I know a lot of people struggle with it, but your past that initial hurdle, so hopefully you will be able able to quit for good now

I started smoking around 12/13, and by the end of high school, I was up to a pack/pack and a half a day (which is crazy now that I look back on it). I actually cut back when (of all things) my hubby got me a really nice car. I decided not to smoke in the car because I didn't want burns and the smell. After that, I just cut back to 1 or 2 a day. I never really thought about it before then, but I chain smoked whilst driving and rarely did it elsewhere (I HATE driving, if we magically got rich, first person on my payroll is a driver lol). That was 5 years ago, and now I rarely smoke. It's not a daily or even a weekly thing anymore, just when we have family visiting and stuff. (which isn't often). I don't drink, I don't do drugs, I eat healthy, I exercise, I abide by the law, I'm a good person and if I have a cigarette a couple times a year, I'm not beating myself up over it. But I don't EVER want it nor will I allow it to become a daily habit again. My hubby has 1 or 2 a day, but that's a battle I chose not to start. He's a grown man, he's never smoked indoors and he's not smoking an unreasonable amount.

 

[Cambear]

I totally understand the car thing! The smoke totally accumulates on everything and it's a pain to get off! Same with in houses!

Good for you on 99.99% of the time quitting. Good on you regardless, and good on your husband for smoking outside! One or two a day is a lot better than a pack or two a day. I'd be okay with my mother smoking outside, but I don't see that happening any time soon.

Smoking is nasty. It doesn't make you cool or anything. It just totally ruins your lungs and for some people, your teeth. Never again. I am so done.

Did anyone else have issues with gum and patches? I mean, I can't be the only one who got physically sick from the amount of concentration, can I?

 

[SoCalWendy]

I had my last cigarette in February 1985. I was a gradual quitter, I couldn't do it cold turkey. So I just took it one day at a time. Sometimes one hour at a time, prolonging the desire to light up. Finally when I was down to one a day, I stopped. It wasn't easy and I even had dreams about smoking. But gradually I was filling my time with more important things like, my baby. I never regretted quitting. And I am healthier for it. It's been 29 years!

 

[Cambear]

Woot! Congrats! 29 years... That's longer than I've been alive! Definite kudos to you.

Me getting my Meyer's is definitely a big push to quit. I can't smoke around him, and it's not healthy for anyone involved!

 

[Kiwibird]

I hope your meyers will be a positive influence for you I know Kiwi was a major catalyst for me and my hubby to become more responsible. Heck, he was almost as big of a reality check as a kid- 100% reliant on us for his care and needing constant attention. I was 19 when we got him, and it was like an instant stop to late night parties and sleeping in

 

[Cambear]

Ahahaha! Parties... Yeah, no.

I live in a town that has roughly 800 people in it, I like nobody in this town other than like, 3 people my age, and I have severe anxiety... No parties for me!

Sleeping in, however... I either sleep all the time or sleep... never. There is noooo in between!

 

[RavensGryf]

Good for you Cambear. Here's to the NEW healthier you! Anyone can do it if we just set our mind to it. Especially since you're young, you have that on your side too. Sometimes it takes a cancer or pre-cancer scare like I had to finally take a look at the bigger picture.

 

[Cambear]

Yeah, I had cancer. Not related to my smoking at all, though. However, I'd really rather not tempt the beast, as I have a "dead" tumor that I'd really not mess with.

I am totally done with the excessive coughing from my COPD aggravated by my smoking, done with the bad breath, the huge amount of money wasted on cigarettes, etc. I am done!

 

[RavensGryf]

I HAD TO quit cold turkey. I found it impossible to just "cut down". If I'd allow myself a few, I'd justify one more, one more, one more... and I just couldn't cut down. Then when I had a Pre-cancer scare it freaked me out so badly that it MADE my mind up for me. If it wasn't for that fear, I know it would have been SO extremely hard to quit. I'd actually be afraid to have even one ever again. Besides... I found if I'm not a regular smoker, it tastes/smells AWFUL to me unless my body is "used to it".

 

[Cambear]

Yes! Like, even after only 13 days, cigarette smoke is just terrible to me. Before, it never bothered me!