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Posts created by waldd

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 14

Success So Far- 7 Days In

Hi Everybody,

First off: thank you all for this incredible resource! I have been reading so many of your messages here over the past few weeks, they have been incredibly helpful and inspiring as I try now this sixth time in my life to give up smoking. I have been living in Germany since 2007 and it is not the best environment to seek support to quit in, am looking forward to learning more about everyone here and having a chance to converse in my native English!

I started my "Quit" last week using the Nicorette Spray as a helper (not sure if it is available in the States, pretty sure it is available in the UK), has been useful in addressing the intense cravings and keep me somewhat balanced though the grinding instinct to smoke is still pretty intense. In the past I have used the patch, gum, cold turkey...never lasted for more than a few days. For the past few years I felt like I was locked in this horrible cycle, stress caused me to smoke and the smoking caused me stress. It was one of those "look in the mirror" moments a few weeks which finally got me motivated to quit and quit for good.

Suppose that is enough for now, just wanted to get active and introduce myself, am looking forward to the coming adventure smoke-free!

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 14

Success So Far- 7 Days In

Hi Ashley,

I live in Germany and realized early on in the quit (first few days) that I was not going to get much support from my German friends or colleagues, I think there is still a bit of a hesitancy in reaching out for help (both giving and receiving)...plus the majority of them all smoke anyways! I had come across this website a day before I quit officially last week just to get information on how best to make this time successful. After the first few days I recognized I was going to need some further help and support and it would be even more enjoyable and relaxing if I could do it in my native language, hence my post from earlier this morning. Taking it day-by-day but so far it feels pretty good!

Walt

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 14

Success So Far- 7 Days In

Cheers for that and Guten Tag all!

Will be happy to give you a hand with any German words or phrases for the upcoming reunion Jim, fantastic that German was offered as a language choice for you, in my school we had Spanish or French, German would have been more helpful given how things worked out for me!

Thank you all for your kind words and encouragement, though I must say I am rather shocked how well things are going at present. I do believe the Spray is doing wonders so my body is certainly not 100% free from nicotine yet (is that cheating to count towards Hell Week?). On the plus side though I have already seen a massive decrease in the dosage needed over the past few days...on Day One I used the spray roughly 20 times (about the equivalent of one pack as far as I can tell). At this rate of usage the spray should have only lasted 7 days or so (150 doses per tube). As I checked it this morning though the fluid level still shows half full, meaning there should be a few more days left before I have to break open pack 2. I have not been keeping count at all on how often I spray, but it is certainly down to less than one per hour. I do believe the majority of this ease though is coming from the motivation...I literally just decided I did not enjoy smoking from one day to the next and that has never happened before, the feeling is still very intense and is doing much of the legwork of this quit I think. I see people on the streets smoking, I smell it and it does not seem to have the same effect as it did before in previous quit attempts. I won't be too prematurely optimistic yet, it is still early days, but this time feels different somehow.

To answer your question Lolly, smoking has been officially banned in most places and where I live in Dresden there is a city ban that has been in place for several years now. Problem goes towards enforcement though, rules are very rarely observed and of course the open beer gardens always provide a place to light up. The area I live in is right in the city center and it is populated primarily with the 20-40 year old demographic, hence everyone seems to love to smoke or hate it (those that hate it being the minority).

I will keep checking in despite the time zone and look forward to keeping you updated on my status and hearing how all of you are doing as well. I am really looking forward to seeing double digits in my quit days and that certain fermented beverage will be enjoyed as a reward most definitely on the weekend (though perhaps will celebrate privately on the terrace as opposed to sit in the beer garden!).

Bis später,

Walt

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 14

Success So Far- 7 Days In

Guten Tag ya'll - ok, originally from Tennessee so sometimes I can't resist mixing the two culture extremes

! ...the Big 10 has arrived and still feeling pretty good!

Last night was a bit more of a challenge to endure than expected, was having a few beers with a friend after a pretty exhausting day and it was a tougher urge to fight than before...made it through and felt a lot better when I got home knowing I did not give in to it. The spray finally conked out on me this morning so I am glad I bought two at the same time, will see how this one goes now for range. Thanks Working On It for the tip on the Cravings Diary, am going to start to track this a bit now and see if I can get about two weeks worth of range out of this next tube, will buy a third just to be on the safe side and have it ready if things do not proceed as well as I hope, main thing will be to have something on hand in case of an emergency: cigarettes here you can buy 24/7...anything from the drugstore is from an American perspective almost unbearable to find time to buy: missing the 24-7 Walmart now! I am confident I will find a substitute nicotine-free alternative to the spray to get me through the next adventure.

Outside of the NRT I have developed a few alternate coping mechanisms that seem to be working based on what I have been reading from all of you, the best one so far is the ability to get a little physical labor in during the day between meetings...I am restoring a small house in the city next to my office and so when the stress gets a bit too much and where I normally would have smoked a cigarette I now take 15, grab the sledge hammer and do a little "de-construction" break next door...it does help me get over the craving fits!

Well I will get back to it, wish you all the best from Dresden and look forward to making it to the next big goal: Day 14!

Tschüß und bis bald!

Walt

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 14

Success So Far- 7 Days In

Cheers Janie and John,

John I appreciate your words, the Christmas market is still going strong after what I think last year was the 576th continuous market in Dresden Altstadt...oldest one I believe on the Continent. I am remembering last year especially right now as smoking was banned in so many places for one of the first times that I can remember, was shivering out in the cold catching a smoke, am looking forward to this year's market with no such worries! What were you doing out here for six years if I might ask?

I broke open tube #2 today of my helpful NRT spray and will pick up another one just to be safe...I like your idea though and have set aside the long weekend here of 29 May- 1 June to box myself in the house and rid myself of the nicotine side of this thing. I am going to pick up enough booze as seems appropriate, make sure the satellite dish is properly aimed at FreeSat so I can veg out on the sofa and watch a few episodes of Top Gear and Grand Designs. Will of course be looking forward to jumping online from time to time to let you all know how it is going!

Nice to be alongside you Janie as well as we are both at about the same stage right now it seems, about three days ago I started to get a real aching feeling on the left hand side of my jaw, instinct was to "pop" the jaw and when done it shot pain up to the left temple, it felt like a muscle spasm in a way. It first appeared in the morning so I am wondering if it had to do with this symptom of grinding teeth that I read about here? It has subsided a bit since the start but I can still feel it a bit. As to the shaky wobble from last night I think I still associate beer drinking too much with smoking (same goes for a kebab or Döner on the streets), I have decided for the next few days when I am out I will just have a glass of wine with meals instead...at least for me I have never associated smoking and having a glass of wine together so maybe it might help.

Let me know Jim if I can give you a hand with any German phrases over my nicotine recovery weekend coming up, for now though this is Dresden at Day 10 signing off!

Walt

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 14

Success So Far- 7 Days In

Hi Jim,

I think you are right, doesn't matter what you use : main thing is one stops smoking. I see now though how important the motivation to quit is in the first place, even with the NRT the cravings and habitual instinct to smoke is just as strong as I remember them from previous quit attempts, this is the first time though that with each craving I put firmly into my head one of the negatives of smoking: such as the fact that even just one smoke will make me stink like an ashtray for the rest of the day; combined with the NRT it is enough to work through the craving. I am weaning myself off the NRT as well though, down to one spray every two hours during the day with maybe 1 per hour in the evenings. I think in the end I have been finally able to elevate the goal of not smoking to a level at parity with my professional jobs which means I do not quit until the goal is accomplished; it feels good to be at Day 12 and I think sometime next week I will tap into the piggy bank where my 60 EUR have been accumulating and pick up some DVD box sets and plenty of snack foods for the upcoming long weekend, lock myself in my flat and get off the NRT as John was suggesting.

You will have to tell me more about your short visit to Germany, I have had that experience as well when you get to a point the language barrier is so bad it turns funny...last time for me was in France taking a small sight-seeing detour while driving to the UK...stopped in a small town for an overnight, went out to dinner armed with what I thought was sufficient French which turned out a bit over-optimistic...I think I could have used some help from Lolly though in the end it turned out to be a funny experience, still no idea what I had to eat that night! Italy was by far the worst experience, but I digress...

Will sign off for now with greetings to all from Dresden, hope all is going well with you Janie and that you are celebrating the double digits of Day 10 properly!

au revoir!

Walter

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 14

Success So Far- 7 Days In

Hi Lolly,

I agree completely with your advice which is why I picked up a third tube of the spray, will give it a go next weekend and see how things work out. I will plan on keeping the spray at the ready for at least the next couple months just in case the need arises...better to be dependent on the spray right now and the small dose of nicotine associated with it than firing up a smoke after all this progress! This weekend I know will be a tough one as I am making an inspection tour of a few houses under renovation, all of the contractors smoke and they are going to be surprised when I tell them I have quit, has become such a habit to break up the relatively boring inspection process with a smoke break (usually many)...spray will be there for backup most definitely and will probably be required more than today!

As far as the content of this thread, I am enjoying it as well...was not aware that subject matter was supposed to be limited just to smoking cessation; seems to me that since our lives have been so dependent on these cigarettes for so long all of it matters and even the seemingly non-related stories are just as important as the addiction itself in getting the courage and support needed to finally kick the habit. I see so many choices I made in the past that were directly influenced by my smoking that now I really regret, no looking back or rewriting history of course but there has to be some optimism that all of this will bring better days ahead! A good example of that comes back from the last time I was in France and had the little communication failure...I recall very clearly that the initial icebreaker with the locals in the restaurant was offering and accepting a cigarette...that will be one communications tool that will obviously need amending in future!

Well I will run back to work, midday break is over. Wish all of you the best and send all best regards from Day 12!

Walt

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 14

Success So Far- 7 Days In

Greetings Everyone,

So today is Day 14 and this weekend has proved to be a mixed bag. Yesterday was incredibly difficult to get through the cravings while underway. There was a certain social stigma I entered into when all of a sudden I was not lighting up with my colleagues as before, though I must say Janie I had an opportunity to try your line and simply say "No thank you, I don't smoke" and it felt fantastic. Saturday ended on my own in the evening having not given in to the cravings, watched a bit of TV and asleep before midnight completely exhausted...I am not feeling too many of the physical improvements as others have reported after two weeks, though perhaps this will take a bit more time and apart from climbing around old buildings and walking every day my physical activity has never really been that affected by smoking in my opinion. Taste buds are coming back though as I made a batch of Chile in the slow cooker that was the same recipe as I have always made with the same spices...this time it blew me away with the flavor, way too strong and I will have to change the recipe moving forward!

Best part that I wanted to share came this morning, got up normal time (around 7:30), made a cup of coffee, started watching the news...it was not until 9:00 that I realized I had not taken a puff of the NRT spray yet...had not thought about a cigarette or the nicotine fix for almost an hour and a half after waking up...the minute it did though the craving was like a rocket ship and I was thankful to have the spray there, but really a good feeling and a nice and surprising way to start off Day 14.

Wish you all the best from Dresden and all my best wishes for all of our collective quits, look forward to keeping up to date on how everyone is doing. Keep the fight moving Janie, and thank you to everyone again for their support and help!

Walt

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 14

Success So Far- 7 Days In

Hi Janie,

Congrats to you also, will cross my fingers that we both make it through the hurdles coming this week in hopefully an easier fashion than the past week! I think that is wise not worrying about the diet at the same time as the smoking, definitely give yourself the 4 week pass and get through this challenge first. For me I am eating whenever and whatever I want and it seems to be helping my mood at least...if I notice a problem in the coming weeks then will also have to look at a diet, though right now I think I can handle a few extra pounds in exchange for a smoke-free life.

My reasons for quitting are numerous but it has mostly to do with me finally realizing how much control the cigarettes had on my everyday life...when I look back now over the years I see decisions that were affected by my habit, I see relationships that ended because of it, etc... No regrets really as it is all in the past but at the same time I want to move forward with a better chance of not making the same mistakes as before. In the end I think it is easier just to say that after so many times being told to quit by others I finally told myself to quit...and at present I seem to be listening to myself! How about you?

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 14

Success So Far- 7 Days In

Hi Jim, Thanks for your message, hope all is well on your end and you are finally able to start planning for your upcoming reunion with Frau Zinner...got a few ideas for conversation starters so let's keep in touch! Happy to report I am still smoke free, after 2+ weeks I am starting to think positively that this may be the one that gets me off these things for good! I will keep taking it carefully and minute by minute as you and so many others here have suggested, Lolly2 and John your last posts were very much appreciated! Still not sure on how to reward myself to be honest, am going to take each day without a smoke as reward enough for now. At some point moving forward I am going to find some kind of hobby that I can more fully invest in with funds that previously were earmarked for smokes, at present I am trying to figure out the logistics of setting up a 1920's lionel train running on 220 V, any suggestions would be a help! Will send you all the best from Dresden and will keep in touch as the adventure continues! Walt

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