Trying to quit, having lots of trouble

[BAT]

Hi Sandi. To you and the other newcomers to the train. Welcome. Stay with us and you will do good. We are all quit buddies here. 

[Brioski]

Also Sandi I did sugar free red vines, beef jerky, regular gum, water w those sugar free packets (they have skittles and starburst flavors lol so good). You can totally get through it.  I know it sucks

[Christian99]

On 5/23/2023 at 11:23 AM, Sandi149 said:

 

 

When you all got the urges, what did they feel like?  for me it seems to be a feeling in my mouth.  It's not a pain and doesn't hurt,  but just an annoying and aggravating feeling.  I hope these urges go away soon.  Having this all the time could be a nightmare! Yikes!!

The way I described it to never smokers (including my wife) was as follows;  imagine exercising or doing yardwork in 95 degree weather and needing some cold water.  The water is available--indeed, there's a big cold glass of ice water sitting on the table in front of you.  But you can't have it.  The mental obsession with the water and the physical discomfort that comes with not having it when you feel like you need it approximated what craving in the initial stages was like for me.  

 

There will come a time when you no longer experience what you're going through right now, and the only way to get to that point is to smoke absolutely no cigarettes, not even a puff.  How it long it takes for that to happen is different for everyone and the process can be uneven at times (some people experience rough, cravey stretches after they think they've gotten through the toughest stages); however, over the long haul it gets better for everyone.  And for loads of people it gets amazing and absolutely transformative.  But a key ingredient is complete absintence from cigarettes. 

 

Exercise was helpful for me in the early stages:  it gave me some precious moments of not thinking about smoking and it helped me manage some excess anxiety that began to surface when I stopped self-medicating with cigarettes. 

 

Keep up the fabulous work!

 

C99 

[Sandi149]

Good morning everyone!  I am much better this morning, thank you!!  I hope I don't have anymore of those meltdowns.  Today is the 3rd day smoke free so I'm hoping it gets better from here.

 

Thanks again for all of your support!!

[BAT]

Keep facing forward. And keep posting. It will help tremendously. Stay on the train. 

[jillar]

Good job @Sandi149, do you feel confident enough now to fill in a quit date on your profile? Be proud of that date. That's the day you gained your freedom.

Here's the link to the tickers so you can make one for your signature

https://www.quittrain.com/tickers/

[Sandi149]

28 minutes ago, jillar said:

Good job @Sandi149, do you feel confident enough now to fill in a quit date on your profile? Be proud of that date. That's the day you gained your freedom.

Here's the link to the tickers so you can make one for your signature

https://www.quittrain.com/tickers/

Do you think it's too soon since I only quit Monday night.

[Doreensfree]

Think positive..you are now a none smoker ..no time like now to shout it from the roof top ..

Feel proud ..

[jillar]

11 minutes ago, Sandi149 said:

Do you think it's too soon since I only quit Monday night.

 

Nope, not at all! You'll be surprised to see how much money you've already saved and the amount of cigarettes not smoked since Monday. It'll give you added incentive to keep going. I used to love logging on and seeing my ticker each morning  

[Sandi149]

I'm not sure the banner is visible.  I filled in the fields, generated the link and the copied it in my profile, but I don't think it's there.

[jillar]

52 minutes ago, Sandi149 said:

I'm not sure the banner is visible.  I filled in the fields, generated the link and the copied it in my profile, but I don't think it's there.

You have it in your About Me on your profile page. You want it to go on your signature which is in your account settings. 

[Sandi149]

23 minutes ago, jillar said:

You have it in your About Me on your profile page. You want it to go on your signature which is in your account settings. 

Great!  Thank you! 

[Sandi149]

2 hours ago, jillar said:

 

Nope, not at all! You'll be surprised to see how much money you've already saved and the amount of cigarettes not smoked since Monday. It'll give you added incentive to keep going. I used to love logging on and seeing my ticker each morning  

The money I saved isn't much because I used to get my cigs from an overseas duty free shop so they were cheap....$33.10 a carton!  The reason why I quit was because the duty free place that my mom and I used was having problems with their shipper so we only had a few packs left.  I weaned myself off trying to to let them last in hope that they would arrive, but they never did.  So that is when I decided to quit.  My mom spoke to a different person at the duty free place last week and he assured her they are coming.  For her sake I hope they do come.  She is 97 years old, in relatively good health but her doc told her quitting would be worse at this age.  I made up my mind the other day when I ran out of my cigs to just quit because these duty free cigs aren't reliable, and I didn't want to go through the weaning process every time the duty free supplier had shipping issues.  Of course, I could get them locally if I wanted to spend $15.10 a pack, $150 a carton!!!  No way would I spend that much, nor could I afford  it considering I smoked between 3/4 pack and a pack a day. The price could be close to $600 a month for cigarettes!!  No way, would I spend that, so I decided to quit and not only am I saving money, even though it wasn't that much, my health is the biggest reason that I should quit.  I want to exercise but since I smoked it was hard to breathe when I walked so I didn't walk much.  Well, Monday night I decided to walk around the block and I did it again on Tues, skipped Wed but did it again today and will do it again tomorrow!  Hopefully in a few months I can do it every day and increase the distance that I go.  My husband and I are planning a trip to Scotland in the next year or two.  Since traveling has so much walking, I think it's a great time to start walking now.  In addition to a bit of breathing problems when walking around the block, the front of my calves hurt, but hopefully after a while I will get used to it.

 

So there you have it, that is why I quit and in the long run I'm better off. 

[jillar]

You are better off @Sandi149 and your calves and breathing should improve the more you walk ☺ 

[Doreensfree]

Your body and your bank balance will be better off..

There are no negatives in Quitting .

[Brioski]

Way to go Sandi!!! Proud of u!!

[Sandi149]

thank you all!!  I am so amazed with your kindness and consideration!!! Thank you, all of you for being so wonderful to me!  I truly appreciate it!! I never had such an amazing group of people to help me!! 

 

 

[DenaliBlues]

Those are GREAT reasons to quit, @Sandi149! So glad that you came here and are giving yourself the gifts of freedom and better health. I found traveling (long walks and especially long plane rides) to get a lot easier after quitting. Big congrats on making it through those first few days - what an achievement!!

[Slow progress]

Hi sandi149

im a type 1  diabetic and a very recent quitter!  What can I help you with? Are you craving carbs or sweet things?

 

not smoking is the absolutely most important thing for your health - especially as a diabetic!

[Sandi149]

38 minutes ago, Slow progress said:

Hi sandi149

im a type 1  diabetic and a very recent quitter!  What can I help you with? Are you craving carbs or sweet things?

 

not smoking is the absolutely most important thing for your health - especially as a diabetic!

Good morning SP,

 

I am a prediabetic, I have been for several years now. My A1C hovers around 6.0/6.1 and I have been trying to get it down so I don't become a diabetic.   I'm worried that since I quit smoking, I will crave the carbs a lot and snack on things that I shouldn't.  I have been, for the most part eating healthy snacks, although a few times I did have popcorn.  When you get the cigarette cravings and want a snack, what do you eat?  After a while, snacking on carrots, peppers, apples, etc don't satisfy me.

 

Do you think quitting smoking will make my blood sugar go down?  

[jillar]

26 minutes ago, Sandi149 said:

Do you think quitting smoking will make my blood sugar go down? 

Here's an article I found for you on this:

 

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/best-snacks-for-diabetes#TOC_TITLE_HDR_2

[overcome]

Congrats @Sandi149 you are doing great and no longer a slave to nicotine. All the best and continued success in your quit. 

[Sandi149]

9 hours ago, overcome said:

Congrats @Sandi149 you are doing great and no longer a slave to nicotine. All the best and continued success in your quit. 

Thank you! 

[Sandi149]

Hi everyone!

 

Yesterday was a tough day for me.  My husband and I went to visit friends for the day, we were gone from late morning until around 10 at night.  We had lots of snacks and drinks so the urges were pretty much with me all day long!  I didn't smoke though and did get through it pretty good, but I don't like these all day urges. I am proud of myself that I was able to handle it.  Hopefully the urges will go away soon as I'm smoke free for over 5 days so shouldn't they be gone by now?

[overcome]

Great job sticking with your quit!

Be careful about alcohol early on (and later). Many have lost their quit due to drinking, myself included many times. 

Everyone is different, but I believe you have a ways to go to be done with cravings. 

Hang in there, you are doing awesome.