Here I go...got motivated

[GoingNorth]

Thanks for the suggestions on deodorizing the house. I do appreciate them. I had to go to cutting the lozenges in half. According to the instructions, if you smoke more than 20 cigs per day you are to use the 4mg dose. It's too strong for me even though I was going through 2 packs at least per day.

I can get the 2 mg lozenges, but have been cutting them in half until I kill these off. I can't afford to throw the ones I have out. They're cheaper than cigarettes, but still pricey.

I have an e-cig that I picked up a while ago to use in situations where real cigs were out of the question.

It's supposed to be menthol flavouring, nicotine, and generates water vapour with nicotine which you inhale. For some weird reason, it makes me cough.

I know from trying to quit before, that I'm due to start coughing up crud from my lungs any day now. Sinuses are doing better already and I didn't wake up with a hacking cough and sinus headache this AM.

So far, so good, but I discovered that too many sunflower seeds are bad to digest if you are on a low residue diet like I am.

So, in addition to quitting smoking, I have to cut back on the seeds and nuts. Paid the piper for that this AM and it was NOT pleasant.

I also noticed today that Jakey, my cat with the chronically irritated eye is experiencing less tearing and the eye is less inflamed. So, now, I feel like a rat for smoking in the house all these years and subjecting his poor eye to that.

 

[donna723]

Good for you! I'm so proud of you! That's going to be my next step.

Have you tried a different brand of the e-cigarette? They're not all the same and you may find one you can tolerate. My daughter and sister in law both tried them, both of them long-time smokers. My sister in law managed to quit completely. My daughter hasn't had a real cigarette in months but still uses the e-cigarette occasionally. My niece has quit regular cigarettes all together but still uses the e-cigarette once in a while. And a friend of mine who is my age and has smoked forever also managed to quit completely using them. This is going to be my next project. If these people can do it, I can do it! And if I need motivation, I'll just think about how much $$$ I will be saving and what all I could do with that money!

 

[tiredmommy]

Look on your state's health department website. They may have a "quit line" and offer assistance toward the cost of your lozenges. Personally, I think each state should willingly foot the bill for any smoking cessation programs or supplies. It saves more money down the road due to lower medical costs.

 

[Tiapet]

Good for you! I wish I could. I simply HATE it. I mean HATE it! I can't stand the smell, the taste. Well the EVERYTHING about it and it makes me literally sick to my stomach every single time and yet I still do it. I just can't stop. I've done it all to try to stop and nothing works. You would think with the above it would but it hasn't. Soon enough I believe it WILL happen when it's meant to though. I have FAITH in that. It's all I can hope for at this time. YOU keep up the good work!

 

[svengandhi]

Good luck to you, GN, and to everyone else trying to quit.

 

[GoingNorth]

Still hanging in there. Definitely not pleasant and my mother says I need a medication tweak, LoL.

Maybe we could start a "quit smoking" thread to encourage each other?

Am not starving, which is surprising as the last couple of times I quit, I couldn't stop eating. So far I'm noshing on sunflower and pumpkin seeds which keep my hands busy as well as my mouth. I feel very spacey and irritable, but hopefully that's active withdrawal and will ease once the physical is past.

Either that or I might need a medication tweak. Tobacco acts on the dopamine/serotonin system, and so do most of my medications. I want to wait until the physical withdrawal is done before tweaking any medications as otherwise it'll turn into a merry go round trying to get level again.

Best of luck to all who are trying to quit along with me. We can do this if we support each other.

 

[GoingNorth]

Well, THAT was disturbing. I thought e-cigs were used by people wanting to quit.

A neighbour recommended a brand that was refillable/rechargeable. Even comes with a nifty USB converter to charge it with. Got some extra menthol cartridges for it, too.

That part wasn't disturbing. What was was the display with nearly a hundred different kid-friendly flavors the cartridges come in. Fruit, spice, chocolate, all sorts of things. He had to dig my menthol cartridges out from behind the counter, they weren't even on display.

I charged up my new e=cig and this one doesn't make me cough. So, I can get by with a few puffs here and there and that combined with a low dose of nicotine from the lozenges seems to be doing the trick.

 

[GoingNorth]

Busywend, I'll give that a try. Does it have to be Joy brand detergent?

 

[scent of cedar]

husband and I are using vapor pens. They are like e cigs, but black. This is the first time anything has helped husband. His lungs are clearer, his color is better, and he coughs less. He has been sneaking real cigarettes, though. Still, everything is so much better. (For me, too ~ it's unbelievable, and I never did smoke that much.)

Until you aren't using them, you just don't get how damaging cigarettes are.

Or how really bad they smell.

Next thing is to get my teeth whitened.

:O)

Cedar

 

[GoingNorth]

I had a breakthrough last night/early AM. I have been getting up at 4AM or so to pee for years. I've also been smoking a cig for years. This time I got up, did what I had to do, and didn't even have a craving for a cig.

Just did my business, washed up, and went back to bed.

The cats are back to sleeping with me because my bedroom isn't full of smoke anymore. I'm starting to feel really good about this. It seems to be going easier this time than it has before. Maybe because I am more motivated than the last two times I quit.

I am now just entering the "cleaning out the lungs" stage of coughing up crud and blowing it out of my sinuses. This is good because it means the cilia (little moving hairs) that move crud up and out are starting to work again. Tobacco paralyzes them which is why smokers are so prone to respiratory infections and the like. Today was also the first time in years I didn't wake up with a sinus headache, so another landmark reached.

So...onward and upwards. Who will join me and the tobacco free party?

I quit the last two times to make husband happy. I wasn't doing it for me. I think that is the difference. I think cigs are just like any other addictive substance: one has to hit some sort of bottom and decide to do it for oneself.

For me my bottom was seeing and hearing how tobacco use, even after all those years clean, has ravaged my mum's health. I could still wind up that way if I live long enough, but I'd like to have 20 healthy years before that happens.

 

[AnnieO]

I'm so proud of you!

FWIW - AngelKitten had wheezing attacks for years. When we stopped smoking in the house, she stopped wheezing. I wish I'd just quit way back when.

 

[Liahona]

Sending support. You can do it!

 

[GoingNorth]

Still hanging in there. So far the really bad cravings are only hitting about 4-6 times per day. With my tea, after I eat, that sort of thing. That tells me that only those cigs were necessary for the addiction. The rest of all the cigs I smoked, where habit.

Looking at it like that, it isn't so bad. I'm still using the lozenges and hitting the e-cig a few times a day for the cravings.

I did discover that spicy food/snacks set off cravings. Especially garlicky stuff. Not sure why that is.

So far I'm doing well, not real irritable today, but so spacey I feel drugged. I mean, I've got ADHD (according to last neuropsychologist exam), but cannot take medications for it due to the bipolar, plus I'm mostly compensated from years of living with it.

This is ridiculous. Some of it will be funny in retrospect. Like I bought toilet paper twice. Picked it up on sale at a Dollar Store not remembering that I'd already gotten some the day before. So now, I've got a pkg of TP sitting on the kitchen table since I don't have anywhere discreet to stash it.

 

[InsaneCdn]

The drug-free ADHD "medication" is... exercise. Brisk walk, or something like that (exercise bike, treadmill, floor-scrubbing...) gets the oxygen going to the brain again, and helps clear that spaced-out feeling.

 

[GoingNorth]

I can't do more than walking. My back and knees are shot. I normally try to walk for 30 minutes a day.

Right now I'm waiting for my new ice cleats to arrive. We've got snow and ice down and it's too cold for salt to work. I need the cleats to walk outdoors in our winters. Our winters aren't as bad as yours are, but bad enough to make getting around difficult. My old pair of slip on cleats broke on me. The new ones I got are heavier duty and strap on instead of stretching to fit.

I went to WalMart today and did my walking there. Not my idea of a good time. Crowded and I swear they heat that store to 80 degrees in the winter. I didn't buy anything, but at least I got the walking in.

 

[InsaneCdn]

Your other option is swimming, or at least "water walking"... walking laps in chest-deep water. The water takes the weight off your joints. Of course, it's not usually as cheap as regular walking!

 

[GoingNorth]

IC, that's a great plan, but the only health club we've got is the YMCA and they charge like 160 dollars a month.

We do have a semi-public beach on one of the lakes up here. Of course, that's frozen. In addition, I've been in that lake exactly twice and came up with a skin infection both times that took a course of antibiotics to clear up.

I don't know exactly WHAT is living in that lake, but it isn't healthy.

I agree with you on water exercise. It's about the best thing out there for arthritis/fibro, but it just isn't feasible at this point.

 

[BusynMember]

I am late to this party but GOOD FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!! My husband quit using the gum. He had tried to quit five times before with no luck. It has been almost three years now. YOU CAN DO IT! Two thoughts:

1/I have heard e-cigs are also dangerous and they are becoming banned in some places. I think it's probably best not to go there if you really want to quit. After all, isn't there still nicotine in them? (I am not an expert here!!!!)

2/In the winter, I exercise indoors. I either run in the house with my little puppies barking and chasing after me or I go to t he YMCA and use their equipment for 30-45 minutes. You would NOT catch me outside when it's this cold, but I find exercising five times a week is awesome. I started out with bad knees and a sciatica. I don't know if I still have them or not, but exercising (plus my big weight loss) has literally eradicated by severe knee pain and back pain and I feel great. No old lady aches and pains AT ALL. Exercise to the degree that it is safe for you, and do it right in your home!

 

[GoingNorth]

MWM, the nicotine is in the quit smoking aids that are sold in pharmacies, such as the gum, or the patches. You use them and gradually cut back on them. The nicotine inhalers, which is what an e-cig really is, are just another nicotine delivery system and can be used as an aid to quit smoking.

I can't tolerate the lozenges in the recommended dosing, I get sx of nicotine toxicity from them if I try to use them every hour, plus it means you can't drink anything for fifteen minutes before use,which is a pain in the rear.

Personally, I think the patch works best of all for quitting, but I've tried several brands and am allergic to the adhesive.

I have to laugh about running through the house. I live in an ancient 64'x 14' mobile home.There isn't ROOM to run. It'd be amusing to try as the cats would probably be convinced I'd lost my mind

 

[BusynMember]

The low floor of my house probably isn't any bigger than your mobile home...lol. I run from the small living room, around a coffee table, through a very small dining room and into the kitchen...over and over again, until the timer goes off...haha.