Hi
Scruffy,
Congratulations
on your progress so far, I’m only a few days in front of you so I can totally
empathise with what you’re going through. I’m 37 and have been smoking since I
was
I
found the first few days I’d get like a watery feeling in my mouth and a pang
in my stomach, that was me craving nicotine and I just did anything to take my
mind off it - some sit-ups, running up and down the stairs a few times, gulp
some water, anything. Hell Week was just that, absolute hell, not just for me
but for everyone around me. We have 3 young kids at home, all boys; Alex 6,
Samuel 4 and Baby Jamie will be 1 year old next Sunday. The option of sleeping
through the first week just wasn’t available to me. I work mornings 8am - 3pm
and my wife is an adult education teacher and works 4pm - 10pm. So the
afternoons for me are always hectic; nappies, making dinners, baths and finally
getting everyone into bed. It would have been so easy for me to say "I’m
stressed - I need a smoke" but the truth is, in the moments I felt like
that I would read a few threads on the forum and the urge would pass. And
interestingly, for everyone that "slips" because of stress, someone
else "slips" because of boredom - in the end we’re looking for
excuses.
Things
improved dramatically in Heck Week. The physical dependence subsided but the psychological
side of smoking was still there. A feeling of being a bit lost, or a sensation
of "Something’s not quite right, something’s missing" but anyway, I
went from thinking about smoking every 2 minutes to thinking about it every 10
or 15 minutes. At the end of Heck Week I went for a 10km run. A month ago I couldn’t
have run up the stairs without gasping for breath and bordering on the point of
vomiting. That was a real achievement for me - I could feel the fresh air
filling my lungs for the first time in decades and I felt good, I mean really
good.
And
now I’m in my 4th week. I’m taking nothing for granted, and I am working at it
all the time. But everyday really is getting easier for me. I go hours now
without thinking about smoking. I get out of bed and my first thought is no
longer "Another sodding day without a smoke" its more "I’m
starving, what can I have for brekkie!” I certainly have more energy than I´ve
had in a long, long time.
My
boss is Argentinean (although he’s been in
I
read a good post by RSFire (who I must admit I find myself rooting for and
checking his progress) and it was about this idea that on giving up smoking, you’d
somehow be able to press the reset button and it would be as though you had
never smoked. And of course the realisation and disappointment that it just doesn’t
work like that. And this is why for me this site is so invaluable. The combined
experiences of hundreds of others, the support if needed and the encouragement.
One particularly poignant thing that worked for me was Samantha’s quit video. As
a parent it really did strike a chord with me and it still makes my wife cry
every time we watch it. If you’re even tempted to try a puff, just watch that
You Tube clip and imagine your own little ones as lost as that wee lad.
I’ve
rambled on a bit much! (Quiet morning at work). We might be hundreds of miles
apart and it’s very unlikely we’ll ever meet, but I’m cheering for you, and
wishing you every success!
All the best
Steve
Quit Meter
$44,385.00
Amount Saved
Quit Meter
Days: 1062 Hours: 6
Minutes: 29 Seconds: 25
Life Gained
Quit Meter
5918
Smoke Free Days
Quit Meter
177,540
Cigarettes Not Smoked
Quit Meter
$44,385.00
Amount Saved
Quit Meter
Days: 1062 Hours: 6
Minutes: 29 Seconds: 25
Life Gained
Quit Meter
5918
Smoke Free Days
Quit Meter
177,540
Cigarettes Not Smoked