jillar

JH63 Posted March 11, 2021 I've spent the last couple of days watching the Big Tobacco video's and the Marlboro video again and I've read the Alan Carr book tree times. Got me to thinking back to when I was young and first started smoking. My first memories of smoking were some friends and me riding our bicycles about a mile to a little country store for cigarettes. This was about 1970 or 71 cigarettes were 28 cents a pack. We often pooled our money and shared the pack or two as we rode our bikes the rest of the day. I also remember stealing cigarettes from my mother. She never missed one or two out of her packs from time to time. I say packs because for some reason she smoked both Belair's and Salem's. She died young of lung cancer! Even when I was in the Army, they put a little box of four cigarettes in each C-ration. That was twelve stale cigarettes a day. But plenty enough to keep me hooked. Well I'll get on with it! Did the tobacco companies put profits ahead of my health? Yes Did tobacco companies add chemicals to the cigarettes to make sure I would stay hooked? Yes Did the tobacco companies know that cigarettes were killing people long before I started smoking? Yes Does our government, still to this day, allow the sell of tobacco products because of the lobbyist money and the money they get from the ever increasing sales tax, claiming that the increases are to get people to quit smoking? Yes I never thought of myself as a victim. I can remember telling people that "nobody twisted my arm to smoke" and that "I'm responsible for the damage I've done to my health". Well I'm starting to think differently about that. Even If I do have to take some responsibility for my situation, I was surely deceived to say the least. This change in thinking may or may not help me as I continue to try and Quit. But it can't hurt! Sorry about the long winded Post! Link to original post: https://www.quittrain.com/topic/15311-do-you-feel-like-a-victim/

johnny5 Quit Date: Nov. 16, 2014 Posted December 13, 2020 First off, I'm curious if these negative people you are talking about are smokers. I know that when I was a smoker, I often got defensive when one of my smoking friends attempted to quit. I didn't try to sabotage their quit but I definitely felt threatened. Looking back, I realize that I was envious of people who were trying to quit and might possibly be successful. If these people who are negative to you are smokers, fight past their negativity and realize that they might just feel threatened by you quitting smoking. If they aren't smokers and are just jerks, then try to use their negativity to prove them wrong. Don't let them bring you down. I know that is easier said than done but realize that smoking will not make anything better. The trap I always fell into when trying to quit smoking was feeling that smoking somehow calmed me or helped me cope. The reality is, the only thing it did was feed an addiction to nicotine. Introducing nicotine into your body actually makes you more stressed and doesn't make anything better. Nicotine really does nothing at all positive for you. It is all negative. Dealing with a--holes is tough but smoking will not make it any better. It is best to fight through these type of situations. Every time you fight through them, your quit gets stronger. Link to original post: https://www.quittrain.com/topic/14839-how-do-you-stay-in-control-and-handle-your-anti-supporters/

Lust4Life Quit Date: Sept 26 2016 Posted January 13, 2021 Newbies and lurkers - rest assured I did not smoke a pack of cigarettes. Way back in 2016 one of fearless leaders @jillar shared a great tool - the air cig. Put your fingers up to your mouth. Take a drag of air. I termed it pack of JACs. Jillar's Air Cigarettes. Hard to do in public these days. My security blanket was a straw, cut down to the size of a cig. That did not work for me tonight. After all these years, I dove into a pack of JACs. I'm sad to admit that this evening - all the stress of life in the USA, life in my own existance, came to a head in my own head. I've been in a state of unease for quite awhile. When I reflect back on my near panic attack this evening - I realized I did not crave a cigarette. I craved breath. The shameful Pavlovian response for decompression breathing resurfaced. I found myself with smoker's fingers married to pursed lips. I inhaled quiet air. Clean. Deep into my lungs. Deeper into my body. Exhale anxiety. Exhale stressors. Exhale my own breath- without purchased toxins. My fellow quitters have great success stories. Faded triggers, broken routines have secured their path to a lovely life as an ex-smoker without looking back. The tender path to reformation is longer for some. Do not let it thwart your efforts. The suck it up buttercup mentality is great for some. I chanted that mantra for months. Maybe years. It worked until it didn't. I did not smoke. I did not want to smoke. I was startled by my stress response. After all these years - I still require a physical motion to decompress. Do you? If no- OK If so- OK. Okay? Okay. Link to original post: https://www.quittrain.com/topic/15014-pack-of-jacs/

Congratulations @Genecanuck, eight months is Awesome!

Sazerac Quit Date: October 23, 2013, A Good Day to be Free. Posted October 3, 2014 Our Nancy asked me to post this from my blog to 'Quit Smoking Discussion'. Thank you Nancy. Lifetime of Addiction I didn't want to hear this but, I am now facing this truth. Nicotine Addiction doesn't go away. You can put it to sleep. You can even put it into deep deep and deeper sleep for years ! but, it will awaken the moment you take one puff. One Puff. This is for your whole life. Mind boggling, huh !? This was the choice you likely didn't even know you were making all those years ago when you started smoking, I didn't understand the ramifications for sure. But, it is the truth. You will always need to be cognizant of your addiction even when smoking is a vague memory, because the moment you take a puff, the moment you take One Bloomin' PUFF, That's it ! It's all over and your enslavement will begin, again. What tenacity ! but, you need to understand, Nicotine is not as tenacious as You and Your Will. You can quit. I know you can. I quit and I am not a special snowflake, I am a Nicotine Addict, just like you. I have great resentment about my Nicotine Addiction. Damn....I didn't know it would be so invasive. I didn't know it was going to be a lifetime relationship. I am so angry about this and it is My Own Damn Fault ! But, my anger, it is a good anger. It is a righteous anger. It is an anger that will fuel my commitment to NOPE. Not One Puff EVER. Copping to the 'forever' part is a cold hard reality of the addiction. At some point, I had to quit fooling myself and accept it. It isn't just for today. It must be forever. If it isn't...I will continue to enslave myself. Some feel their addiction is so strong they cannot quit, This is wrong. You have the power. You always have the power to quit and you always have the power to stay quit. Make the commitment to NOPE ! As our friend, Sarge, says, 'Easy Peasy'. Easy ! not complicated ! This is not Rocket Science. If you make that commitment to NOPE...you will not fail. You Will Not Fail. The simplicity of it ! The Beauty of it ! Not One Puff Ever. Do it. You won't regret it. Love, S Link to original post: https://www.quittrain.com/topic/2927-lifetime-of-addiction/

Hi @Jane, congrats on day 12 and isn't it awesome when we start seeing positive results of quitting like you did on your exercise bike. This is the right place to post about your journey. I use to read my old posts each Monthaversary just so I wouldn't forget where I came from. Because I did not want to do that whole first year ever again...

Hi @Minnie Mouse, yes this is the right place to ask this. The blogs are a great place to have all your thoughts in one place. Not everyone looks at the blogs so if you post something you're looking for replies on you should post on the main forums. The blog that looks like reposts is just that. I created the Pick of the Week blog for members who haven't dug deep into the board posts and may have missed great information.

SecondChanceSailor Quit Date: 20Sep20 Posted December 1, 2024 I know I’ve been really bad about checking in here. I’m a couple months past my 4 year anniversary and felt compelled to touch base and if I can help anyone struggling, to do so. If you told me 14 years ago, when I first quit, or any of the 10 years between then and when I actually did quit that I’d be here right now, I wouldn’t believe you. My journey started on the old message board, the one that shall not be named, and I recall reading SO much information. Posts, celebrations, failures, advice, tricks, tips. I remember getting compassion and tough love with every relapse. Every relapse that I would eventually tuck my tail between my legs and come back looking for some commiseration and a new plan of attack. There were also long bouts of staying away, while I was smoking, of course. It’s the normal cycle of a relapse. After enough times, you sort of even stop feeling sorry for yourself. At least I did. At this point though, I feel that I’ve gone from “I used to smoke” to “No, I don’t smoke.” Like, it was a part of my life for about 15 years but where I am now people are surprised to hear that I used to smoke, they would never guess if I hadn’t told them. And for me, that’s a good feeling. The battle with nicotine was mine, and mine alone, but as far as anyone else is concerned, it makes me so happy that I have severed that connection with the cigarette. I don’t have any tips, tricks, or other advice that made this quit stick when the many, many others did not. I just knew, my body knew, my mind knew…I was done. It was like I had never smoked before at all. No withdrawal, no cravings, no triggers…I was free. And that’s where I am today. I am as free as I will allow myself to be, which is honestly why I DO make an effort to come back. To celebrate and to remind myself that I got lucky. To remind myself that before this quit, I struggled countless times. And to remind myself that I can NEVER go back, no matter what. Because it’s easy to go back to it. And it’s easy to stay quit for good…as long as you NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF! If you’re struggling, on the brink of relapse, don’t give up. Speak up, reach out, don’t give in, don’t give up. This to shall pass. Stay the course, shipmates. Link to original post: https://www.quittrain.com/topic/28047-it’s-as-easy-as-you-let-it-be/

Welcome aboard @Sherberry and congratulations on quitting smoking. I didn't use lozenges but we do have others that have so hopefully they'll be able to give you a clue on that. Just out of curiosity, have you tried calling the manufacturers helpline?

Welcome aboard @Kingelocin and congratulations on your deciding to take your freedom back Googling my symptoms was also how I found my first support board. There's no better place to be than with a group of people who have been through or are going through what you are going through. As far as your symptoms go, you can expect them to last at least few months so you still have a ways to go. And you will still need to go through the nicotine withdrawal once you get off the patches. I used distractions, playing games, reading funny threads in our Social section or educating myself on the main section. I also found supporting others took my mind off my misery. I also was addicted to soft peppermint puffs and sucked on them for the whole first year of my quit. And when things got really bad I took out my JAC (jillars air cigarette) an imaginary cigarette I pretended I was holding in my fingers and then going through the motions of "smoking" it. It worked great at tricking my mind into thinking it was getting the real thing Hang in there, because the icky feelings are only temporary!

I agree, great post pilgrim. You're done with Hell week, the hardest week of them all

Yea @tocevoD it sounds like you're still getting a lot of nicotine between the patches and lozenges. I would worry you're getting too much nicotine using both and would encourage you to maybe try using just the lozenges since those sound like your preference. At any rate, the idea with patches and lozenges is to reduce your nicotine use over time and at four weeks I would think they would have started doing that. Just my opinion.....

Glad to hear that @Paula B., let us know if you need any help figuring things here out. Youll probably want to post any questions on the main forum and not this Nope one so more people will see it.

Wendy Quit Date: 18/01/2015 Posted January 19 Yesterday, I celebrated 10 years since I quit smoking. Except celebrated is a bit of an exaggeration on what I actually did. I remembered the anniversary at around 7pm, promptly texted my eldest son to say “hey it's been 10 years” - he congratulated me - and logged onto Quit Train to log my 10 years on a little section in my profile. I’ve done that almost every year (usually a couple of days late and my 6th year anniversary I totally missed and didn't realise until the following year) since quitting for reasons I struggle to articulate other than it feels important to do so. Anyway, that was the extent of my ‘celebration’, other than the thought of “what shall I have/get as my reward?” And that started a little trip down memory lane. Sort of … This wasn’t my first quit attempt by any stretch of the imagination. I struggled for a few years, cold turkey or with aids, always finding a reason to abandon the ‘attempt’. Eventually a mix of hypnotherapy and Champix did the trick. I had planned to quit on the 20th but on the morning of the 18th I had run out and made the decision to not buy any more, bringing forward my quit day. Still, it wasn’t easy and there were some really hard days. What did I do to get through those hard days? I honestly don’t remember, I don’t have any words of wisdom, but I think I did the 4 second breathing thing through craves, after meals I would have fruit flavoured chewing gum and I found rewards to be really important in those early days, weeks, months. Things I would buy with the money saved. Never anything extravagant and honestly I don't even remember what they were - maybe a chocolate bar or a donut? I think for my 6 month and 1 year anniversary I bought some jewellery. Maybe a ring and a necklace? Ooh maybe perfume! Are you sensing a theme here yet? I also rewarded myself on my 2 year anniversary - I think I bought a kindle or a tablet? I also made the decision that I would next reward myself when I got to 5 years. But when I got there I didn't feel the need for a reward. Smoking was no longer part of who I was that would need rewarding for not partaking. So my almost immediate thought of “what shall I have/get as my reward?” at 10 years made me chuckle. I think I just wanted an excuse to treat myself! The only ‘reward’ I have these days is a square of chocolate after a meal but that’s more a reward for doing the clean up than anything else. Sometimes I’ll have grapes. My point is, ‘smoking’ is just something other people do and has nothing to do with me. I know quitting was hard but I don’t remember it, even the once so important rewards. I barely remember the anniversary. If you are down in the trenches of your quit and holding on for dear life, I salute you and I congratulate you. You will find that one day, almost without realising, you can do everything without needing the crutch of a cigarette. I have lived celebrations, deaths, vacations, going for a walk, writing a letter, drinking a beer, drinking coffee, reading a book, watching a movie, eating a meal, waking up, going to bed, and everything in between, all without smoking and it was absolutely fine. (I actually struggled to come up with this list of what I previously couldn’t do without a smoke because … you guessed it … I don't remember!) I implore you to keep the faith, keep your quit. Because one day, you will not remember this stage of your life that clearly or with the focus it currently has. Congratulations to all, wherever you are in your quit, 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 1 year, 1 decade … wow, time sure does fly. Link to original post: https://www.quittrain.com/topic/28569-10-years-quit/

I'm glad your site came back on. We'd love to have you all stick around but understand if you don't and will be here if it happens again