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Having 'given up' about two years ago for some four months (and some time prior I lasted six months without a cigarette), I still had some nicotine patches left. Although they had exceeded their use-by date, I thought I'd put one on anyway to help get through the day.
Later in the morning I headed to the Dr's to make an appointment in the Smoking Cessation Clinic. Handily they managed to schedule an appointment for straight after work.
So, I'm now armed with a couple of boxes of more up-to-date patches and three packs of nicotine inhalators (the plastic cigarette butts you can draw if things get really tough - which I'm sure they will).
I get to go back to the nurse at the clinic once a week for a month for a bit of encouragement and more 'supplies'.
When I have quit before I've found the withdrawal symptoms very, very tough indeed; blinding headaches for days with seemingly no respite on offer and the knowledge that just one cigarette will ease the pain - release and relief.
Having been to the Cessation Clinic I'm reminded of what's ahead; palpitations courtesy of the patches, night sweats, vivid dreams (apparently smoking can inhibit your ability to dream, thus once your brain discovers that it can dream again, it does so with a vengeance - at least that's what I found the last time!)
On top of that there will be the lack of concentration, irritability, hunger, clearing the lungs of all that 'stuff', thirst - and cravings.
There is a long road ahead - but it's a journey worth making; of that there is no doubt. And once the withdrawal symptoms subside in a couple of weeks there will be the benefits, bit by bit by bit...
Well, that's 20 hours so far (20 if I use a bit of self kidology and count the time from the final cigarette I smoked last night before going to bed). The day has been pretty easy thus far although I keep finding myself just about to reach for a packet of fags that isn't there...
Let's see what tomorrow brings...
Syzygy
Congrats Syzygy!
If you need further mutivations, just keep in mind tobacco causes lung cancer, heart attacks, erectile disfunction, bad breath, (and overa bad odor), and will make your genitals shrink in size.
Good luck!
vivid dreams
Man, you aren't kidding. It had been a long time between when I bought and used the patches, so I didn't remember that it mentioned dreams on the box / warnings, etc.
I was having nightmares so bad, I really thought I was going crazy.
I mean... these things had beginnings, plots, endings. They were full-length horrifying stories, and sometimes I just wanted out and knew it wasn't happening. I told someone about it after 4 or 5 nightmares in 5 or 6 days, and they told me the patches likely caused it. I read the box again, and yeah. I was so relieved not to be going *that* crazy. If you've had some of these patch dreams, you'll probably know what I'm talking about.
I found that I had no problems if I took the patch off a few hours before I slept and put it back on the next morning. (I think getting the nicotine while asleep is what does it... no problems with that as a smoker since people typically don't smoke while asleep.)
I have been clean for 16 months now, after being a smoker for 15 years.
1 session with a hypnotist did the trick for me (although I now dance naked at 3.02am daily).
Shak
Battle through the first 2 weeks (gather/warn your closest friends for this period - moral support is REALLY helpful). After the 'cold turkey' then it becomes easier.... more a battle of will.
You may also want to avoid the pub, as you probably know the temptation is quadrupled with alcohol.
Good Luck, I hope you'll not need it :)
The second two weeks still bring occasional bouts of craving. Usually by 30 to 60 days, you'll find the thought of a cigarette revolting. At least, I HOPE! Having quit myself, I scoff at fools who pick up the habit again after weeks, months, or years of not smoking... usually over some ultra-short-term stressor.
Good luck!
Just don't let yourself backslide on either of these and you'll do it. It takes less than four weeks to get rid of the physical addiction. It seems like longer, but that's all it is. And you'll feel liberated when you're finally free.
From a 30-a-day man who stopped in March 1988 and has never wanted to go back.
I've been concentrating on cutting down a lot in the last three weeks - from about four or five a day to about that number in a week. I think next I'll go to that number in a month. Drinking without smoking is definitely the hardest thing, but I'm getting a lot better at it.
I've also made it a pretty solid rule never to smoke when I'm not in the company of smokers - which means no cigarettes when I'm on my own either.
Keep it up.
I wonder if you might want to buy a piggy bank and put what you would have spent on cigarettes into it each day. When it gets full you could either go out for whatever kind of dinner it would buy, or take it to the bank, start to refill the piggy, and save for something really nice, like a weekend trip.
