sigh
I have fallen so far off the wagon. I got to about five weeks the last time around and then went THUD.
I do want to try again …
Here it is, Thursday Sept 14th. Tomorrow is the big day for me. I woke up coughing for 15 minutes this morning with my chest hurting, and am ready to quit this time. You probably won’t hear how I’m doing until I get back to work on Monday (I get a 3-day weekend) but if I can, I’ll try to post from my dad’s house to keep you updated.
ruadh - we’re here for you. I’m ready to sponsor anyone who may need me.
OK, my first 2 days could’ve gone better. I lasted till about 2:30 on Friday, then I bought a pack while at the gas station. Smoked three cigarettes Friday and three more on Saturday. Today, I haven’t had any at all and I’m hoping to keep it that way. I’ve been going through Tootsie-Roll Pops faster than Superman through a phone booth. Anyway, I fell of the wagon on Day 1, but I learned a lesson from it: Pay at the pump.
I’m so very sorry that I keep missing this thread, Bratster. Please forgive me. I’m here now, and want to sponsor anyone who needs it. I’m so happy to hear that more dopers are going to quit this time!
For those who don’t know, I’ve never smoked, but hubby <Mr Bear> has since '80. He’s never been allowed to smoke around me or the kids, or in our house, or my van; yet, he can’t seem to stop. He quit earlier this year <see the 2nd Smoke-Out thread>, but it lasted about 4 months. He says he’s determined to stop for good, and has cut way back, so I’m ever hopeful.
Sea Sloth, thank you for your comments about what smoking is like. This is what everyone needs to remind themselves of. Constantly, every day if that’s what it takes.
So, who needs a sponsor? Crunchy, I’ll volunteer for tomorrow, your first day back at work. I’ll be here, and I expect to hear from you, how you’re not smoking. Rant at me if you need to, cry on my shoulder, whatever you need, I’m here.
Who wants me to sponsor them for Tues? Or any other day, for that matter.
Good luck everyone, and you’ll be in my prayers.
Hi, PB.
Just saw your post, otherwise I would’ve been happy to have you as a sponsor. I did rather well today, considering work is when I want a cigarette the worst. I made it all the way till 2:00. I fought the urge to take a break and drive the the nearest QT and buy a pack, but then I went to my brother-in-law’s desk to chat. He wasn’t there, but his pack of Marlboro Lights were. The spoke to me. The box opened itself up and one of the cigarettes slid out and cried, “Smoke me! Smoke me, you bastard, I’m so crowded in here! I need to get out, I need to feel your lips around my soft white filter!” The pleas of the poor little guy got to me, so I rescued him from his cardboard prison and took him outside - where I promptly lit him on fire and puffed away before my brother-in-law came out and caught me. (He wouldn’t have minded me taking a smoke, except for the fact he knows I’m supposed to be quitting and wouldn’t have given me one if I asked.)
I haven’t given up hope though. One slip in the day isn’t bad I think. But since I smoked today, PB, this won’t be your day for me. I will ask that you sponsor me tomorrow though. So I promise, right now for all the Teeming Millions to see that tomorrow, Sept 19th, I will not smoke for purplebear. If I do, she must punish me. She must give me a right goos spanking. Then, the oral sex . . .
Ummm . . . thast should be a right good spanking. Goos spanking is optional.
I’ll sponsor you the day after tomorrow, then, hon. hugs You can do it!
Ahhh…now we come to the crux of the matter! Tell you what, m’dear. Don’t smoke tomorrow for me, and I’ll still give you what you want. 'K? Whether that be a good spanking or a goos one. 
And, as for the oral sex…
You’re not playing fair! Remember, Hubby’s been gone a long, long, long time. And, that’s all I’ll say on the subject. For now. 
Ok, Falcon, Wednesday, I promise I won’t smoke for you. If I do though, I expect a good punishment, a good spanking and maybe a tongue lashing?
So, where is everyone? I had to really search for this thread! I’m so sorry that I was too busy to post to it yesterday, Crunchy. I looked briefly for it, but didnt’ have time to hunt it down. I’m very sorry for not checking on you sooner. How did it go yesterday? Do you deserve the kisses and hugs and such, or do I punish you severely with…hmmm…what would I punish you with? You’d probably like most things I can come up with!
So, CHECK IN ALREADY!!! <insert worried smilie here>
Hi . . . .uh . . . .my name is Kevin. I am 28 and I have smoked for 14 years. Literally half my life. I want to quit. I need to quit. But, well . . . OK . . . I am scared to death I can’t make it. I mean thats a damned long time with cigarettes as part of my lifestyle. During formative years no less. What if I fail ? Will that make me a failure ? How do I have a few beers without smokes ? How do I cruise down the highway without smokes ? How do I eat a great meal at a restaurant without having a smoke afterwards ? How do I have sex without having a smoke afterwards ? (Oh, wait . . . I don’t have a sex life - scratch that last one.)
Frog, Sue, and others - I will try with you. I will give my all because if I do not I will be dead by 50. I know it. I wish I had never started but it is far too late for that. This is a timely thread because thanks to our great Satan have begun taking Zyban. It gives me pretty bad headaches and its expensive - but headaches are not death, and its not nearly as expensive as smoking.
So what I guess I am saying is count me in. I can do next Thursday as a quit date. We do not all have to give up cancer sticks at the same time to help one another out. In fact I will be out of town and away from a computer for the first three days at least. I still respect, treasure, and desire help from whoever on this MB is willing to give it. Thanks. Email me at will and berate, support, and smack me around. I do indeed need it.
Thanks all,
- NM
Bringing this one back to the top. NothingMan, gather all your willpower - we all know you can do it.
How goes it, Crunchy Frog?
I’d be pleased to sponsor someone. Be warned, though, if you smoke on my day, I’ll beat you up.
since there has been no word for some time.
Nothing Man and Crunchy and anyone else who wants to quit… I quit 18 days ago after 26 years of two packs a day. I tried twice before and failed quickly.
I did not use Zyban, although I tried. I ended up in the emergency room twice in one week over that.
I did not use the patch or gum or anything else.
Today, I feel wonderful. I barely miss them at all, I do not think about smoking, I was never angry or grumpy or depressed or hysterical. (Although I certainly was the last time I tried, and I used the patch that time!) I do not envy smokers, and I am not upset about not being one anymore. (The only major withdrawal symptom i had was fatigue, which took about 2 weeks to totally clear up. For 26 years, my body was accustomed to heavy stimulants to get going in the morning and stay going all day, and it kinda fell apart when left on its own. I also gave up coffee at the same time, only because drinking coffee has always made me wanna smoke, too.)
If anyone would have told me this would be true before I quit, I would have had a hard time believing them.
There are two reasons I believe this has gone so incredibly easy for me. Well, maybe four, but two stand out.
-
I broke most of my smoking habits when I moved in with my boyfriend over a year ago and could no longer smoke in my own home. Having to go outside tosmoke was nearly as uncomfortable as quitting altogether, not being able to smoke at my computer was torture. Not being able to smoke in front of the TV and anywhere else I wanted to was almost torture. But I got used to it. I’d still smoke plenty, especially in the morning, but none of it was as a part of my life activities - it was separated out, so when I gave it up it wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable as it had been before.
-
And this one is huge. I read an amazing book called “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking” by Allan Carr.
To read about this book, go here:
Unfortunately, it is not available on Amazon in the US, which is a crime. It’s also not on Barnes and Noble. I got my copy on the remainder table at a B. Dalton, so it has been available in the US.
It made SUCH a difference for me, I cannot tell you. I actually started reading it a year ago but didn’t finish until I was truly ready to quit, and it has made it a breeze. Go read about it.
And you, too, Crunchy. IT WORKS.
stoid
My apologies to everyone who has been waiting for me to check in. I can only post at work, so I don’t always have time to post updates. My absence over the last three days are due to my being out of town to attend a family reunion in KY.
So here it is:
I haven’t quit, exactly. I have, however, cut myself down to abour 4-5 smokes a day from a pack - pack and a half a day. I will quit, and am rationing myself a set number of cigarettes a day. I keep the cigarettes in my car, so they aren’t always right there and handy when I want a smoke.
Thatnks for the info Stoidela, I’ll check out that book as soon as I can.
So since you smoked on my day…you still want that spanking?
Well, I feel it’s only just that I be punished for being so naughty.
Well then…c’mere. grins I think we’ll ahve to come up with something good for you…
I’m doing SO incredibly well (23 days and counting, feeling virtually zero cravings) that I want others to be trying, doing succeeding.
Remember folks, I am someone who was smoking for 26 years, 2 packs a day average. I was planning to use Zyban and the patch together, ended up doing neither. I gave up coffee and and pot at the same time I gave up cigs. I’m a compulusive overeater. I have an intensely self-indulgent nature. I never dared hope that quitting would be anything but a miserable, teeth-gritting experience. And I’m doing great!
It is because of Allen Carr’s book, I’m telling you. If you don’t want to smoke any more, AND you don’t want to SUFFER, wither physically or psychologically, find it, get it, and read it, cover to cover. It will change your reality if you let it.
And just as a side note of encouragement…I feel as though my life has been transformed. I am continuing to walk, work out, swim, I’m staring yoga, I’m going out with friends…I just feel like new person.
Do it.
Thank you Stoidela for sharing a positive quitting smoking story. I haven’t been posting too much to this thread because I feel bad for starting it and then not being able to go through with it myself.
What’s killing me is I once went 6 months without a cigarette, cold turkey, and it wasn’t that bad. But now that I started again, I’m finding it much more difficult to quit than the first time. I still plan to be smoke free by the end of the year, though. I just need to get myself better prepared mentally for it.
Sue, StuffinB, Lsura, Rachelle - how are the rest of you doing?