Wendy

Congratulations on 3 years Bat :)

Thank you all, very kind of you. Yes Joe I'm proud of myself whilst at the same time, can't quite believe I have 2 years under my belt. Never thought it would happen and can't quite believe it has. AND mostly I can't believe I ever smoked in the first place ...

Can totally relate to this. I find myself holding my breath when passing smokers or when going in to stores ('cos store entrances reek of smoke!). And I hate going to smokers houses ... I'm lucky I can arrange it so I go straight home to shower and change.

Wow. Just ... wow. You know, the last few years the ends of a couple of my fingers were feeling a bit odd, kinda numb .. and I KNEW it was circulatory issues from smoking. Never would've thought it would lead to what I just saw ... jeez ... I think I quit just in time ... Awesome video Doreen ... should be required viewing in schools and tobacconists ...

What they said ... Did you watch talking dead afterwards?? The cast were on it and most of them were almost in tears talking about it ... Feels like it's gonna be a different show from here on out.

I briefly forgot I'd posted this lol ... oh boy my memory is going! Thanks Nancy, I remember you joining me in a happy dance when I thought I'd got rid of the cankers. Sadly that didn't last long but yep, they are mostly under control - still get one every week or so but that's better than 7/8/9 or so! I have a dental check up in January so if it happens again or I get any other weird tastes I will be sure to mention it. Hi bakon ... I used to smoke roll ups the last few years (that was all I could afford) and if you've ever done roll ups you'll know that every now and then you'd get a stray piece of tobacco end up in your mouth ... absolutely vile taste. Really strong, tangy, stale tobacco ... tricky to describe but if it happened to you, you'll know what I mean ... Well, it was exactly like that ... almost as if I'd flossed a piece of baccy out lol ... I actually checked the floss to see what the hell I'd unearthed!! Nothing on it but I had given my gum a whack so thought maybe it was tobacco juices hiding long term in my gums ... I've googled it but can't find anything relevant ...

Hi folks, how is everyone? All good and behaving themselves? :D So something weird happened during my morning ablutions today and it got me thinking ... Whilst flossing I suddenly got a taste of old, stale tobacco ... eeewwwwwwwwwwwwwww (where's the vomit emoji?) Now bearing in mind my quit is a grand 21 months old .... WTF??? Yes, ok, my gums are not great after 20 odd years of smoking - there is receding going on which is a great look (NOT) and I've endured 2 deep cleans over the last 12 months to try to get it under control. But are they really still soaked in tobacco juice so that I get to taste that old stale taste in my mouth??? Shouldn't it be all gone by now? So, so gross ... Anyone else had this or just me?? Anyone with a clue as to why?? By the way, some of you may remember the saga of the canker sores/mouth ulcers? A new sensitivity to SLS in toothpaste, the majority of mouthwashes and citric acid (which is in so much stuff it's frickin ridonkulous) caused a never ending supply of mouth pain ... thankfully it's mostly under control now but I finally found out why I got this sensitivity when I quit ... I've recently been diagnosed with fibromyalgia which causes a variety of symptoms - including oral sensitivity ... It looks like I've had this for about 20 years but smoking was hiding some of my symptoms ... Anyhoo ... I'm on medication which is helping but it is sooooo nice to finally be able to explain why!!!! Why I've felt so crappy for sooooo long and why I felt so much worse when I quit smoking when I was supposed to be feeling better! I mostly feel better now :)

Happy birthday Mr Bandit :)

Hi Ev, I definitely hear you on the snow! Yesterday in my town, we had blazing sunshine with blue skies followed by high winds and rain, then hail, then snow, then a blizzard, then more rain, some more blue skies and sunshine ... was totally crazy and I ended up soaked and freezing cold and came down with a cold last night! I would love for spring or better yet summer but honestly, right now I'd settle for consistency lol ... Have a great Kingsday - no idea what that is but enjoy anyway!

Hi guys and girls, hope all is good in your world :) Last week was my 15 month quit anniversary and I didn't even realise until today. I think I must really be a non-smoker now lol ... At the start of a quit you wonder how you will ever cope without a cigarette, believing whole heartedly that you are a confirmed smoker - that you love it and could never survive without your "friend" and constant companion. A few months in and the urgency has gone from your craves but you still think about smoking, possibly even have a small yearning every now and again - romancing the cigarette. You even fail a few quits and have to start over 'cos some days you just don't want to fight the urge any more. People tell you that if you just hold on, soon you won't think about smoking at all but in the grip of a crave you think how can that possibly be true?? You look at your ticker and count off the days, celebrating every achievement. And then you realise you didn't even notice the latest one ... and it's all true. It IS possible to quit. It IS possible to not miss it anymore. It IS possible to be over the whole smoking thing. If you just hold on. I got myself fairly big(ish) rewards for my 6 month and 12 month anniversaries and had been planning something for my 18 month but at this rate - I don't think I'll even notice it!

Congratulations to you both!! Awesome news, really happy for you. :)

So very shocked and sad to read this ... thoughts and condolences to her family and to those of you who knew her far better than I

Its like a baby laptop and tablet in one .. its cute and a total extravagance ... something I would not have bought normally but I felt made a good reward spent using a fraction of the money I would have spent on cigarettes ... FAB fireworks ladies - my thanks to all.

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Aww thank you boys and girls, much appreciated :) I've been focused on getting to this point for soooooooo long now that it's slightly surreal and ever so slightly anticlimatic lol (I may have built it up in my head a tad too much and expected ACTUAL fireworks LMAO) ... I did celebrate with a KFC though! So yummy! Oh and I bought myself an Asus chromebook flip as a reward - so much better than nasty smelly ciggies!

Congratulations Evelyn! So happy for you to reach 1 year free. You are awesome!!

Happy birthday Doreen!! Hope you have a fabulous day :)

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