A cautionary tale. I began smoking in 1959, I quit in 2018 (you do the math).
It wasn't as difficult process for me as it is for most people. My secret "weapon" was a heart attack. I was in a debilitated state in the hospital while they strengthened my body to endure heart surgery.
As I lay there and the nicotine craving began, I realized that this is my chance. No one here is going to bring me cigarettes. No one here is going to find me a place in this hospital where I can smoke. Even with a wheel chair, I wasn't strong enough to find my way out of this labyrinth of a building. So I slept as often and as long as I could. It worked. After two weeks of this I was ready for heart surgery, then another week for recovery.
When I returned home, my daughter removed all of the cigarettes that were in the apartment. Unfortunately, she took them to her cousin (who was a smoker) in a neighboring city. He died last year at age 53 from smoking related disease.
The hardest part to quitting is to overcome the nicotine addiction . Don't wait until you're lying in a hospital bed (or coffin) to try. Know that once you can get that far, all you need is the determination to stay there. You will have urges, but without the nicotine addiction, it's not that difficult to overcome them. I haven't smoked a cigarette in five years.
I have my own story to share with you, and I hope it inspires you or helps you in some small way :)
In late 2014 a friend I used to work with says to me one day, "hey I'm thinking about quitting smoking" and it put a bug in my ear, because right before that I saw a sign for "Free Smoking Cessation classes". Told my friend but he wasn't able to attend. So I figured, okay I'm going to go for myself then.
I had been a smoker since about 1996, not long after I met my GF. She was a smoker but I wasn't. So I figured, oh let me help you light your cigarette and before you know it, I was a smoker. I smoked for 18 years straight, then I developed a cough followed by phlegm, and this lasted about 6 months. Apparently I was getting the first thing of Emphysema.
Anyway, I went to the first class, had plane tickets prior to all of this and told the instructor I'd miss the next class but it was no big deal, I would just come back to the 3rd class. So on the airplane, on the way back home I thought to myself, "Do I really want to go back to this class?" One part of me said, "Nahhh it's fine, don't go back" and another part of me said, "Yea but you just got laid off recently, so no job, no income, this weird cough, you probably should go back" So on the plane I decided to go back and I am glad I did go back.
My quit date was April 24th 2015, I have been 100% smoke free for 8 years. No cigarette, no vape, no e-cig, no cigar, I haven't inhaled a product that requires a lighter in 8 whole years. Now, this stuff stays with you. Constant dreams of smoking, instructor says to ignore, and he's right. I was walking out to my car after work one day, saw a fresh, unlit cigarette on the ground. I was 🤏 this close to picking it up, and smoking it. I walked past it, and sat in my car and literally for a good minute and a half at least, contemplated going back out and smoking that cigarette. But in the end I started up the car, and drove home.
For me some days are a struggle. I have siblings who still smoke, so being in their cars is constant second hand smoke. So while I've quit smoking, whenever I am in their vehicles and they smoke, I get the second hand, which is worse than smoking, but I haven't touched a cigarette in 8 years.
The steps to quitting is easy if you break it down into stages:
1) Set a quit date. This is the day you no longer smoke cigarettes or vapes or anything else. 2) Get your quit aid. This is your crutch that helps ween you off the nicotine. Since it was a free class I took, we got a months free of quit aid. I only needed a 2mg lozenge. Then I followed the instructions the instructor gave on how to use the lozenges, and within 3 weeks I was no longer addicted to nicotine. 3) Once you are no longer addicted to nicotine, you need to find where you can best focus because for me, I went right to junk food for 2 full weeks. That eventually calmed down, and I spent time rearranging my room.
I hope my story helps, and I wish you the best of luck :)
@whowasthatmaskedman Well, the smoking cessation class that I took, when the instructor said to us on the first day, "Okay! Your quit date is April 25th" I said to myself, uhhhh what? I ain't quitting on that day, I'll choose my day (but that day would never come)
I didn't want to quit, but when my friend mentioned it, I thought I'll give it a shot. And then once I realized the instructor giving us a quit date, that's part of the process. I wouldn't say it's hard, more like, if you do it and stick with it, then you're fine. Anyone can do it.
@twiigss Exactly..A few pointers from someone who did it before patches were around: One cigarette is a breakdown. But this isnt shattering a window. Just kick yourself and dont have another. It takes your body less than 10 days to withdraw from nicotine, so you are "clean" after that. But it can take years to get past the psychogical dependencies. Like always having that smoke with coffee. (I switched to tea) Or having something in your mouth at times to "draw" on. (I put a pin hole in a pen top and it sat there) Those are the ones that will trip you up.. Or hanging with the smoking crowd in that favourite spot at work.. Just dont quit quitting. Every cigarette you dont smoke does you good and saves you in taxes..😷
