Hi everyone, I've spent ages looking for a support forum and you guys look the best fit for me, so here I am.
I quit smoking about 6 weeks ago, the psychology of the decision took more than 2 years, the decision took 2 weeks, smoking the last cigarette took 6 minutes... it's a work in progress. I bought nicotine patches before I quit, took a short vacation (can't go on vacation and not smoke, I'll be stressed and miserable, yada yada yada), so made every effort to cut down until we got back. Thought about it some more when we returned home, and began to realise why the psychology takes so long! Eventually, let myself run out of cigarettes and decided the last one in the packet was the last one. And it was.
I'm still using patches (21mg down to 14 mg, with a pack and a bit to go before I finish the program). Spoke with my doc this afternoon, she's thrilled. She suggested getting some nicotine mints in, for when I'm done with the patches, but I don't know, that feels like I'm still feeding a habit. I just want to think about next steps and avoid having a major wobble when the patches are finished. I think what I need is to hear from others about management. How did you manage quitting long-term? For those of you going through it right now, we can be travel buddies - how are you managing cravings? I haven't had too many cravings, in the early days of quitting, I would sometimes realise I was really thinking about smoking (not actually thinking to do it, just thinking about cigarettes) and then realise I forgot to put a patch on today. So off I'd pop and put on a patch and the thoughts would subside. I guess that's what craving is, right? Other days, I'd be so irritable that I'd pick a fight with my husband and then realise I had nowhere to stomp off to... that was hard.
Its not been an easy journey so far, but it's not been as hard as I thought it would be either. I'm feeling strong, I'm feeling healthy. We walk around the block most days, it's just a mile and the elevation back up the hill is, according to my tracker, 18 floors. There's a point midway where I'd always stop and pretend to be admiring the view but, in actuality, I was doing a quick cardio recovery. I don't stop now, my chest feels clear, my breathing is good and there's no coughing and throat-clearing after exertion. I'm at a point where I don't want to give that up. Right now, I don't desire a cigarette. I don't want to be a smoker anymore. I've smoked for 30 years and never seriously tried to quit. I've always been able to last for hours between cigarettes without it hurting. I take several trans-Atlantic flights a year and can do that no problem. Having said that, I can go through bouts of near chain-smoking too. Depends on the situation. Got it all under control... so why am I here? I live in a world of non-smokers and they don't really 'get it' - that sounds ungrateful for their genuine support, but it's true. Sometimes, 'well done, I'm proud of you' isn't really what I need. Soon it will be 'you don't still need support do you?', in the way that people have when they don't realise the depth of something. You know?
Well, I wasn't really going for 'War and Peace', so I'll stop there - just wanted to say 'hi'. 🤭