Day three.... sharing my new path on life's road

Pete

Pete

Member
Location
Texas
….I woke up for the hundredth time tonight and settle in to an hour or so of tossing and turning before falling back to sleep. My mouth is as dry as the desert, my sinuses overstuffed to the point of pain and for some reason everything smells...bad. My dreams however more than make up for the discomfort because for some reason they have been the best I have experienced in my life. The colors are more intense and the story-line's though still a total mix of insanity and family adventures are better than going to watch an movie at an IMAX theater.

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I have decided to not use one drug to fight another's drug addiction, so as I enter day three of not smoking it might be purely on personal willpower. The funny thing is I really don't have any willpower as proven by my oversized stomach and can be verified by a trip with me to do my weekly food shopping. However something has fought back the continual off and on cravings for a cigarette, so I guess we will lay it off on willpower..... although there is one other very important force working in my favor, faith.



Now many of you may not believe in God and that is you right, but for me there can be no other explanation why it has been more than two days since my last cigarette. I did not joke when I said I have little or no willpower and the drug prescribed to me by my doctor still sits unused, so what gets me past those frequent urges? I can only lay my current success on prayer and my faith and its ability to overcome whatever life throws at us. So for the time being forget how I am doing this and share with me in my feeling of well-being at the fact that this is day three without a cigarette!



On November 28[SUP]th[/SUP]

at 12:00am

I smoked my last cigarette,
so who do I see about my first day chip?
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Pete, I quit cold turkey in 1998 after 40 years of 2 pack a day habit. My secret to success was power of suggestion. Instead of quitting on the day I wanted to I set a date out 2 months away. Then I resumed smoking but every puff from that day on I thought about my quit date. I didn't try yo think about it, it just happened. As the days clicked by I found myself smoking somewhat less. When the eve of Q Day (Quit Day), I sat down by my fireplace and chained smoked about three cigs then, I threw the rest of the carton into the fire. The next morning as I prepared for work I craved a smoke but diverted myself with a stick of chewing gum. At work, I made several trips to the coffee machine as each craving came. Day one in the books found day two with slightly less craving and that continued until I booked week one, then came week two and soon one month. By then I was not about to backslide and I was feeling confident. My sense of smell was returning and the odor of cigarette smoke was repulsive. I knew I was finally free of the filthy habit of smoking. One other thing that contributed to success was my telling friends and co-workers that I was quitting so I had some support and I knew an explanation was expected if I gave up. I tried the patch, Nicotine gum everything I could think of and failed but this method worked. I have COPD as a reminder of my smoking days. Good for you for quitting.
 
AZ Jim said:
Pete, I quit cold turkey in 1998 after 40 years of 2 pack a day habit. .
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Congratulations also to you 'AZ Jim' I'll bet we both wish we had acted sooner.... but we did stop.
You have a long time under your belt and I am still struggling.
Hopefully I can follow your example.
 

Good for you Pete, it's a fight worth winning. Quitting cigarettes was probably the smartest thing I ever did, smoked for around 15 yrs, a pack to a pack and a half a day of Marlboro Red quit around 35 yrs. ago cold turkey. I always liked to smoke, but I felt it in my chest, congestion, getting out of breath walking up stairs, and I was only 30. Failed a lot of times, but when I finally quit I was ready to, it just made sense and I just did it. Never regretted it, felt so much better once my system cleared out, and now that I'm in my mid 60s, I'm really thankful I did, too many folks walking around with oxygen tanks, COPD, or worse.

Very happy to hear this, good luck...you won't be sorry.

Jim, congratulations, I know it's not easy.
 
Great job quitting. I never smoked but my mom and dad did and both wound up with COPD . Daddy just quit one day and never looked back. Mama struggled with it for months before she was able to completely stop.
 
I have never tasted a cigarettes but I applaud you in trying to give them away Pete ,I’ve seen so many suffer and die from smoking related illnesses in my almost 72 years on this earth ,my parents and my hubbies parents all passed away before they reached 70
 
Congrats to all you now Ex-smokers!

I kicked that nasty habit back in 2007 using a new drug at that time called Chantix. It worked like a charm for me once I got my dose adjusted to derail the whacky dreams. I smoked at least a pack a day since I was 16 for a total of 28 years. Within 3 days of starting the Chantix I had my last smoke and have never touched one since. I've since gotten my lungs back and don't get winded so easy anymore. Just the smell of a smoke these days makes me gag.
 
JimW said:
new drug at that time called Chantix.
Click to expand...

Jim my doctor prescribed the same medicine for me but when I read the warnings that come with it I decided to try quiting on my own. I am quick to get depressed so stayed away from the drug.... but in the end we both have succeeded...
 
Hi Kadee46....
well in two months I'll be 72 so I should be safe and at the same time wondering why I bothered. With no illness from all the years of smoking other than coughing a lot there was no reason to stop... but your righ there is still a few years left so better to be safe than sorry.
 
Pete said:
Jim my doctor prescribed the same medicine for me but when I read the warnings that come with it I decided to try quiting on my own. I am quick to get depressed so stayed away from the drug.... but in the end we both have succeeded...
Click to expand...

Congrats to you Pete! Doing it cold turkey like you are is no easy task.
 


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