DO YA WANNA QUIT OR NOT?

[jimmie 48]

just checking in on you guys!

spiritgirl, you are doing wonderfully well! jack had those same sick feelings when he got around smokers. he smells them and thinks the same thing "geez, i really smelled bad!" (i saw that comment about nosey journalers btw

rhonda, you are welcome to start a journal any time you please. so glad to see you noticing improvements beyond the smell and cost!

shirtpocket i don't see an entry for you today.....how are you doing?

i can't scroll back any further. i hope the rest of the girls are sticking with it. i am really glad to see you checking on each other. well done girls!

[nikki_e]

Well, I'm back from vacation...and I failed! I guess my mindset wasn't right. I made it 24 hours smoke free and then at the dang airport I asked a stranger for a smoke. What was I thinking? Anyway, I guess I need to get a better plan of attack.

I let you all down! :anger

Glad to see everybody else is doing well. I'm proud of you Spirit. You've been so strong! And congrats on being smoke free Rhonda!

[spirittalker]

Nikki-when you are ready you will do this. I will tell you this, being strong had very little to do with quitting successfully. I blame it all on the book. SERIOUSLY. Quitting was easy, there was very very little discomfort and would have been even less had I not made quitting an excuse to fall off of Atkins. I will never smoke again and I can say that without a twinge of remorse for what I 'gave up'.




!!!!PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!

We all know that Atkins is a WOE that works for sooo many and that most of us have found success with it. Allen Carr's EASYWAY to Stop Smoking is Atkins for smokers! Seriously not kidding here folks, please do yourselves a favor and get the book.

Boy he should be paying me for all my endorsements :geek

[Bugaboo]

Boy he should be paying me for all my endorsements

No kidding!
Easyway is definately great for Atkins people. We found our weight loss answers in the DANDR book and wanna-be non-smokers can find the answers in the Easyway book. I'm on Day 5 and I'm finding my thoughts go longer without thinking about smoking. Although that nicotine monster is a tricky mean one. Last night I was thinking "Maybe I should've waited until the kids were back in school....NO! No excuses! There will always be something and I'm not wasting these last 4 days. I can not doubt my decsion." Yes, I have arguements in my head. I'm a bit mental, what can I say? I've got my little nephew here again so that helps. I'm amazed at how steady my moods are. I thought Atkins leveled them out and now they're even more stable. It just feels so good to be free!

[Laurenfra]

Nikki, The only person you let down is yourself. We are there for you! :hug Are you ready to try again?

[Bugaboo]

Anytime you're ready Nikki we're here for you. No pressure though, do it at your pace. Just like my doctor told me years ago "You know it's bad for you so I won't patronize you. When you're ready to quit, let me know." And he stuck to it. Never berated me for it or when I came to him for help threw it in my face. I just sent him a private message through my health care provider's "personal health link". It will be nice to see "non-smoker" (or whatever it is they use) on my chart. So we're here when you're ready Nikki, whether it's tomorrow or next week or next month. I really recommend The Easy Way book though if you don't have it. I know it made a world of difference to me because it got into the psychological reasons behind smoking. For me that's what did it. I know it's bad for me, I know it doesn't taste good, improve anything and etc etc etc. It helped me prepare mentally and let me go at my own pace. So hugs to you Nikki and I hope your vacation went well! :hug

[Bugaboo]

Day 6 of being a non-smoker and doing great. I had a really bizarre dream this morning though. I won't go thru the whole thing because it won't make sense but basically there was a riddle like thing me and some other people had to solve to find out where some murderer was hiding. We figured it out...had something to do with diamonds, that's all I remember...found the psycho killer guy and someone gave him the "123". And I asked "But is he dead? Did you kill him? Is he still alive?" and my husband or someone said "Hey, I gave him the 123!" I looked to where the psycho was lying and saw he was breathing and starting to move. I said "Oh no! Oh no! Did anyone call 911 yet?" No. So I pick up the phone and dial 911. In the dream I saw the 911 digits appear on the phone and then some little weird icon thing popped up next to it. Weird. My phone doesn't do that in real life. I got the 911 operator and he was asking me questions and I couldn't answer any of them. No I didn't know what he looked like or how tall he was etc and the guy said "That sounds like the guy." and as I was holding a door shut with my hand I said "Please hurry. Please please please..." And then I woke up. I keep talking about the nicotine monster. I wonder if this was my subconcious (sp?) fear of the nicotine monster rearing it's ugly head before it dies completely. Weird weird weird. O.k...definately need to start my own journal now. This kind of thing really belongs in a journal and since I don't have one (yet) I better get one so stuff stays where it belongs. :geek Will start that today! How's everyone else doing??????

[Laurenfra]

Post whatevr you want to here.
How are all my non smokers today?

[lotusblossom1966]

My mom quit smoking in December 2003 - while in the hospital getting her emphysema diagnosed. It still wasn't her choice or what she wanted. She ended up with pneumonia and on a respirator. Dr stuck her on the patch, and when she finally got out of the hospital (3 weeks later) she had to go to a nursing home to rehab and build up her strength. She couldn't smoke there, so it was forced on her a little. She told me that she kept having dreams about floating down a river in a canoe and the canoe was full of cigarettes and they were all over the banks of the river and she was smokingsmokingsmoking. Wishful thinking for her.

My dad passed away in '98 from lung cancer. He quit smoking in 1969, but lived with my pack-and-a-half-a-day smoking mother. By the time his cancer was diagnosed, it was too late. We found it December 26th, 1997 and he died 28 days later.

Sadly enough, mom was diagnosed with lung cancer while in the nursing home, but decided not to tell anyone. Her emphysema was getting so bad that she couldn't make it from the car to the house without being worn out, and she slept with oxygen on at night. She had some "episodes" in November 2004 and ended up back in the hospital. Tests showed that she had to have bypass surgery - quintuple. She never made it back home from the hospital, and died two weeks to the day she went in - November 18, 2004, without ever getting her cancer treated.

I worry about my brother - who is a MAJOR smoker - and have been on him to quit. I am a non-smoker, but hubby smokes. He has been exiled to the front porch if he MUST smoke, but he has been trying to quit. Watching lung cancer and heart disease, two major health problems from smoking, take both of my parents has been tragic. I certainly don't want to have to go thru it with anyone else (especially hubby).....or see it happen to any other families. Stop now, get healthy, and be there with the people who love you the most for a long time.

Sorry to be such a downer for everyone. :sadblinky But I wanted to share what impact smoking has had on my family.

[Bugaboo]

My dad quit but not soon enough. At the time he didn't know he had cancer. The docs said he had it for about 7yrs before they found it. That's one of the things that get me. My dad and my aunt (his sister) both died of lung cancer in their early 50's. I'm 30. I was slowly writing my own death warrant. And don't feel bad sharing these stories. It helps new non-smokers like me because it reminds us what we're escaping. I'm on day 7! My uncle posted at our family's website this morning with some great words of encouragement and that's put a bit of pep in my step. Last night I had a strange dream of trying to get out of a really bad storm. I keep having "escape" dreams. Weird. No smoking dreams yet though. :icondance

[cajunthunder]

Go quitters go!! I am very proud of you all! :yes

As I said before, no addictions for me (I guess I didn't inherit the addiction genes or sumthin'), but I do have a story to share.

My Dads brother married my Moms sister, so I have double first cousins.
My uncle and aunt and one of their daughters were all heavy smokers. I say "were" because they are all dead. My uncle got lung cancer and even continued to smoke while doing chemo/radiation - twice! He died. His wife, my aunt, watched all of this happen and continued smoking herself until a couple of years later she was diagnosed with lung cancer. She too continued smoking during chemo/radiation. She died. Their youngest daughter watched her parents suffer and die from smoking and she didn't slow down. She was diagnosed with lung cancer and later with leukemia. She did quit somewhere along the way, but it was too little waaaaaay too late. She died.

I guess I'll never understand....... :no

So I am so very proud of all of you who have taken back control of your lives and your health! :hug

[Bugaboo]

My Dads brother married my Moms sister, so I have double first cousins.

I'll have to admit...that took me a moment to figure out. Lol! I think I'm going through some weird mourning phase right now. Which is lame. If I injected nicotine directly into my bloodstream it would kill me instantly. Which makes no sense because I'm not craving something like rat poison or cyanide so why should I (after 7 days) be craving nicotine. It's not physical at this point. It's mental. Hey! I'm mental! Don't look surprised or anything. Lol! I had to refill a prescription of oxycodone much sooner than I anticipated because I'm grinding my teeth at night so badly it's waking up my husband. Thank you Dear Lord for sending me such an understanding doctor. TMD really blows goats. I can't even express how thankful I am to have a doctor who is sympathetic to the pain I'm in. However I have to be soooooooo careful not to replace one addiction with another. On the other hand I have such a high tolerance to pain medication it puzzles me how some people get addicted to it. Just like how the non-smoker can't understand how a smoker is addicted to something so foul. Hmmmm, things to ponder. All I know is my jaw is popping and cracking more than Rice Krispies. It's temporary though and that's what I have to focus on. Tonight I was telling my husband that with each day I'm getting closer and closer to where he is now. He's an ex-smoker who always says "I'm so glad I don't smoke anymore." That's what I hear over and over again from ex-smokers. "I'm so glad..." It keeps me going.

[Laurenfra]

Rhonda,
I am at a loss for geat word to inspire you. But I offer an ear, a :hug and to be here for you. Know that ou are doing a great job.

[Bugaboo]

Thanks Lauren, I feel a lot better today. I slept with my mouth guard in last night and when I yawned this morning I only had one painful pop and it's not aching and stiff. Yay! It's so weird though because I can't imagine me grinding my teeth. Sorry that last post was so pitiful...I'm feeling great today! In fact my husband asked me "And how many days is it today?" And like a little kid showing you their age I held up 2 (count em...2!) hands and showed him 8. Wow. 8 days!!!!! The coolest thing though is I hadn't even thought of it since waking up until he asked me. Closer and closer I get to the thoughts of the non-smoker!!!! :icondance How is everyone else doing on this fine Sunday?

[Bugaboo]

Hi all quitters and losers! How's everyone's Monday going? This is day 9 as a non-smoker for me and it's amazing how much easier it is as each day goes by. I hope everyone is doing well...chime in and let us know! :hug