The nicotine...

Oma, have you tried calling your local health department? Sure they won't be open all hours of the night or morning, but I do believe you CAN get a phone number from them for just that.... Give them a call tomorrow morning, and see what they say... Another one, is Blue Cross.... If you have that, they can help you find a number to call for help when YOU need it... There is help out there, but I don't know where you are exactly... I do know that Blue Cross will help you find a phone number and someone to talk to when you need it... Do keep in touch, Oma..... I'll see what I can find out too.

 

When my friend stopped smoking, everyday he put the money he would have spent on the weed into a gallon whiskey bottle, (empty)it funded a trip to Egypt for him and his wife. KEEP IT UP SWEETHEART

 

Sorry Fred, didn't mean to hijack your thread. Thanks to your thread, I found that web link and that's helping me along with many geekies also in sticking it out so far.

Thank you all for your advice, support, words of wisdom etc. So far, I'm still without smoking. The cravings still are ongoing and guess it will be a while before they'll go away or come around less frequently.

Yeah, I notice my wallet doesn't seem to empty so fast lately.

I agree with you DomLuc that being on replacement nicotine is better than being on cigarettes etc. as being on the real thing is much more detrimental to our health. Thing is that I tried the gum and patches and they didn't agree with me so can't use them. Additionally, best bet is to just give it up.

 

Oma, Congrats, you have earned it, , and keep it up. Sure, it is hard, but it will get easier, I promise.... The cravings will slack off as well...It will take time, and you will be tempted too, but hang in there, we will help you any way we can!

I think you are doing great, and you are coming up on what now, 2 months soon? YOU GO GIRL! Now, think about when you hit that anniversary, what would you like to do? Give yourself a goal. Each day you will get closer and closer to it! Eventually, you will make that milestone, and have your reward... Maybe Lunch? Maybe an ice cream cone? Make it realistic! Hey, I think you are doing fantastic! Congrats!

 

Oma, Looks like you’ve got it licked, Hard work but worth it

 

The wife has astounded the hell out of me. She contracted a bout of flu (proper flu, not a mamby pamby, wishy washy head cold) and she couldn't be bothered to smoke tabs. Three days she was in bed, without a tab and has carried on not smoking for another four days. That's from 40 a day to zero. Cold turkey.

I used to get a craving when I was in a situation where I would have a tab. After a meal, coming in from work, during a break. But one by one, each craving passed and now I know I have this sucker beat. Well done on your achievement so far, oma. You can beat this. You know you can. Keep it up, girl.

 

Congrats to you JOTS and your wife! from 40-0! WOW! That is wonderful, you both quit too! CHEERS, my friend!

 

Thank you all for your support. Cravings are still present and in full force but am still nicotine free!! It doesn't help that hubby smokes. I had a habit of lighting up a ciggie when answering a post on the computer. After I quit I would still get up automatically to get me a non-existing smoke and realized that computer and ciggie were closely linked. So much that I lost interest in the computer. Hope to get it back again!!

 

Thank you JOTS. Great that you both have come sofar!! Congratulations to the both of you!! The habit ciggies are the worst and as the years fly by, more ciggies are being smoked out of habit and addiction rather than liking and enjoying them.

 

Hi Oma, that is fantastic ! :wave Congrats to you, you have been thru so much! :wine You are on a roll, so hang in there, keep up the great work!

I found a LOT of things I did while smoking, and didn't realize how much until I quit.. Yes, you will get your 'puter back.... That is a promise!

 

Hang in there oma, I know it's tough being cigs are connected to everything you do. After eating was a hard time for me. Seems like I always had a cigarette hanging out of my mouth but I only smoked a pack a day. Listen to me only, it was enough to do a great amount of damage.
A day at a time, before you know a year has gone by. Just watch out for those buses. LOL

 

This is one thread I love seeing revived. Congrats Oma! :-D

 

Thank you TeeCee. Yes, I need my PC back, used to spend hours and hours on it - another addiction I should say.

Thanks Darlene. You know that when my hubby comes back from his smoke into the house and when I touch his hand, I can smell the smoke on MY hand? Awful stench!! Every ciggie was connected to something. You "only" smoked a pack a day? That's a LOT and that's what I ended up smoking the last decade or so. They made me feel sick and no enjoyment out of them anymore, just pure addiction.

Thank you Fred!! We'll keep it alive?

 

You don't realize how awful that smell is until you quit and smell it on someone else huh?
Yeah a pack a day isn't a lot when compared to people who smoke 2 or 3 I knew someone who smoked 4 packs a day, he died.
Even the doctors who treated me for the emphysema would say, "is that all" I suppose they are used to hearing more.

 

Thought some of you may enjoy this smoking related incident, many years ago I worked as a welder, and at that time I used to smoke a pipe, one of those bendy ones, I had adapted my welding helmet to accommodate my favourite pipe by cutting away a section from the chin part of the helmet, so as I could indulge the disgusting habit I had back then. One day working on a new job I stoked up my pipe lit up and started work, minutes later I was covered in extinguisher foam. Quite a sobering experience at 7 in the morning. Don’t think TEECEES birds could have matched the amount of gunge I have to wash off.

 

Was that their way of saying NO SMOKING?

 

You're darn right darlene. Add to it an olfactory disorder that I acquired in Jan 2006 and you get the picture. EVERYTHING, even food smells horrible and since June, everything tastes horribly as well.

During the decades that I smoked a lot less I never could understand how people could smoke a pack a day until I started to do it myself much later in life. So how can people smoke 2,3 or 4 packs a day????

Guess that 1 pack daily was just too much for you darlene.

 

Oma, I do hope in time that the smells do get better for you...

I smoked less than a pack a day, but it was still hard to quit.... But I did finally quit, and now am counting the years....

Hubby's choice was a pipe... That didn't do him any favors either....By the time he quite, it was too late... He is now on oxygen and meds for his emphysema. So, I get to play Nurse Ratchet once in a while.....

How long has it been for you now? First, count in hours, then days, then weeks, then months, and finally YEARS... Yes, it is a good feeling, and I hope your hubby quits soon too...

 

Cool!~It seems that now everyone hates smokers.
have you ever smoked in the toilet during the working time? No place for smoker in the office. Sigh~
But it's hard to get rid of it.

 

Hi cosanostra, we aren't trying to bad-mouth smokers here, just trying to help those who are trying to quit... If you want to smoke, that is your right, for sure, and we won't put you down for it.. However, if you want to quit, this is a great thread to post in.. We encourage each other, and it does help... It really does...... Feel free to join in if you wish...

No, I never smoked in the toilet myself....

 

I smoked in the bathrooms in school, As I was walking out if a teacher was walking in, I would say, "ugh stinks like someone's been smoking in here" what a terrible kid I was.

What I think is shocking is doctors and staff smoking outside hospitals. At least here in Armpit they do.

Plus cosanostra0905, I can't imagine anyone telling you not to with a name like that LOL
Does LA mean Louisiana or Los Angeles?

 

TeeCee, don't know if the taste of all food and drink will change for the better. I definitely hope so since eating is the pits when everything tastes that bad!! Smells are horrible too.

It really doesn't matter how many ciggies one smoked prior to quitting. Being hooked is the same whether it's more or less.

Sorry reading about your hubby. At least he's got you to look after him when necessary eh?

I did quit on May 23, 2009 at 12 noon. That date is just engraved in my mind.

I don't think my hubby will ever quit. He's been smoking less though since he's been going outside or to the underground garage to smoke.

 

@ oma, do you think your heightened sense of smell could be due to a medication or anesthetic ?

 

The thing I remember is when we couldn't smoke anymore in the work place and in the malls, that I started to smoke more. "Stacking it up" so to say prior to going in. In the good "olden" days I used to come in to work 15 min earlier to enjoy my first ciggie with my 1st coffee at my desk and relax.

 

I'm pretty sure you're right on with the smells being due to medications.

I've many sensory problems which started once off a medication in January 2006. Only one specialist thinks it's sensory of the many I saw but I know it is. As far as I know there is no cure for it and cannot be managed by meds.

 

Resurrected this thread because it's been one year on May 23, 2009 at 12 noon that I stopped cold turkey and haven't had even one puff....

The nicotine receptors in my brain keep on telling me that they want their fill and therefore still crave it big time. :cry I zoom in immediately on anyone who smokes.... just like I used to zoom in on spelling errors when I was working.

Heard that genes have a lot to do with the ability to stop smoking and that therefore it is easier from some than for others to quit.

My hubby still smokes outside, so grateful for that awesome gesture.

Holy cow, I smoked for 50 years so even after such a long time quitting can be done!!

 

Well done oma keep it up you're doing great

 

Congrats Oma! It keeps on getting better. :-D

 

Thank you wildwolf. I keep on thinking.... if I would start smoking again, my year's battle would've been for nothing. That thought really helps a lot.

@Fred. Thanks to you posting this thread and me reading it one day, gave me the determination to stop. Therefore, a heartfelt thanks!! I'll never be able to play catch up with you senior quitter.

 

Congratulations, Oma! :wine Way to go! ONE YEAR! Yeah! I know it has been a HARD road, but you did it! I am so proud of you! Yes, it can be done. You are proof of that

Keep it up now, You are an inspiration to anyone who is still smoking !

 

Oma, you make me very happy. I posted the original thread to maybe get someone to quit. I know when I smoked and someone said something about smoking, I felt like lighting one up. So I made this thread.


Am very happy for you Oma, you made it one year!!! Trust me, as the years go by it gets better, but, be carefull, don't let your guard down!

And.... :-D:-D:-D

Your post is the best birthday gift I could ask for. Thanks.

 

As Fred says keep your guard up.
I stopped smoking for ten years and one ciggarette was enough to get me back on the evil weed, maybe i just lack character but i have not been succesfull in my attempts since then to quit.

Stick at it and look after your lungs, Many congratulations on a job well done.

 

Even though it's not my (Gemini) birthday, you made my day as well by posting the above. Yes, I know myself by now and have to be on guard for the rest of my life.

Eons ago I quit for 9 months and don't remember it being so difficult then and was very determined. My hubby kept on smoking at my side and it didn't even bother me. Took up crochet to keep my hands busy although I hate doilies etc. Then I thought that a ciggie wouldn't hurt. Oh boy, was I ever mistaken. So I lit a 2nd one to see if it would taste better and that was it, hooked. :-o Back to smoking again. I read that quitting after each attempt to quit gets more and more difficult.

I was hypnotized one time to quit and the ciggies tasted horrible for a week but kept on puffing. You really have to want to quit, otherwise you set yourself up for failure.

 

Thank you Bill. I went back on them ciggies in the past due to some emotional upheavals (coping). A shame though that you went back on them after 10 years. As I wrote in my previous post it gets more and more difficult to quit after several attempts. No, it definitely isn't a lack of character, one has to be always on guard and be motivated for the rest of our lives. One would think that one is safe after for instance 10 years like you, but then it's not. Once an addict, always an addict. That's how I consider myself, a nicotine addict. Ciggies are a great but very unhealthy friend/companion. I still mourn for that loss. People who say that the craving is gone after a few days are very, very lucky indeed.

A positive thing is that I'm not burning my $$ up in smoke and don't damage my lungs any further.

 

Try again one day Bill. Oma sums it up here: "You really have to want to quit, otherwise you set yourself up for failure."

That is the key, not what your friends or family want.

 

Thank you Teecee! So far so good. Yes, it's been hard and it still will be until I won't even THINK and/or crave about that poison anymore. :boxing

I had to quit most of my habits for a long while when I was used to light up a ciggie out of habit. Take a walk after meals, walk away from the computer when reading or trying to post, on the phone. The list was/is long.