Karaoke Forums

UPDATE!!!!!    

it's now been hmmmmm 29 days i think, all's well, no cig.

things seem different with me, it's not normal, when i used to lay in bed and think about quitting the next morning i would break out in a sweat just thinking about it, so the next morning i don't think my feet hit the floor before i had a cig. just the thought drove me crazy...

THIS TIME......i smoked about 4 packs a day, everyday.....but being in the hosp. knowing i COULDN'T SMOKE made it pretty easy for 7 days, but knowing and thinking omg when i get out i'm on my own, so i was dreading that...    

now i do believe in god so i do pray alot...i mean where else can i turn? and i'm not 1 to say i believe in a higher power r to say YOUR GOD ...nope, its GOD.....period...

ok back to the story as it's going so far.....

i honestly feel like i have never smoked a cig in my life.... to a point....altho i will say maybe a few times a day it does hit me and i reach for a cig...i found that everytime i go in a place like a dept. store and walk out that's WHEN I WANT A CIG....
because when i smoked  I COULDN'T WAIT TO GET OUTSIDE TO HAV A CIG.... sorry about the caps....
but this feeling only lasts a few sec. then it's gone... i have to say that as much as i smoke and as hooked as i was it truly is a miracle, for me anyway....

on a scale from 1 to 10,  10 being the hardest, most of my days r a 2....i did have a 6 the other day, that was tuff...
things pop in my mind, like ok this is really not hard  what's gonna happen if it does hit me hard i won't be prepared at all for it....things like that....but even that only lasts  a few sec....
i'm doing nothing different than i normally did, other than smoking meat....anyone care for some bbq? i have about 400 lbs cooked and no one to help me eat it....llol...i do get a little antsy but not bad...

i have to believe that it's all been prayer, certainly not me....i didn't suck it up and grit my teeth and just quit,  so far it's been very easy, and keep in mind i smoked 4 packs a day....my bro. call me the miracle boy, and says my god if he can do it i know i can....so that's helping me too, no one on here has a clue to how hooked on cig i was.....i never just let a cig. burn up,  i always had at least 1 pack with me all the time...if i got below 1 pack i went to buy more....

i'm not sure if what i'm saying will help anyone else  i can only tell u how i'm dealing with it....

i had no mindset that ok do i reallyyyyyyy wanna quit? r omg these things r so bad for me, i wasn't scared into quitting, truth is until i went into the hosp. i wasn't giving it much thought 1 way r the other....my thoughts were always....my god i have to quit smoking.....SOMEDAY .....

i know i'll make it thru this....but i will say there r times when it seems to be getting harder more so then easier....

for me anyway i put things r say things that puts the pressure on me so that i won't start smoking again....
such as feeling MY quiting is from god....his help....now if i start back would people say.....ok i guess god quit helping him....maybe....but for me its just another thing to help me NOT smoke....

do i feel better?   hmmmmm, well in 29 days i think i may have coughed maybe twice, not sure i even cleared my throat.....so that's pretty good i think......i do feel i have more energy for sure....plus i kept smelling this funk of a smell hard to explain, but i kept taking showers like 3 times a day, i don't smell it as much now, i'm thinking it was all that tar and junk in my body, if so how could people stand to be around me? gag....plus my sense of smell has become alot better now that's for sure....

personally i think we each have to find our own reason r reasons, and time to quit....what works for me may not work for you....i didn't say...ok i'm quitting today...i just quit....and as each day went by i felt very proud of myself and figured i could go another day, and did....

will i slip and smoke another cig? i may...but now i know that i can quit, stress would be the only reason i would go back, it won't be from wanting r missing a cig....because i don't...it's like i never smoked....altho i was around a cigar soaked in grape...omggg that smelled sooooo good...ll...i have had smoke blown in my face i just moved away....it wasn't all that bad...i just wanna quit long enough to be able to (@$%&#!) at all those smokers that r killing themselves with that nasty habit....how can they do that? ll

take care all.  gl....Billy

BODY COUNT.....12 dead 22 wounded, i'll go back later and finish the wounded off.....

I usually skim through a long post, but I read every word of yours. Knowing you smoked as much as you did and could quit gives me great hope I'll be able to do it too. Does your post help others - YES!

It worries me you said you weren't worried about slipping and having just one. Be very worried. I've quit before for a couple years at a time. You start to get a comfortable feeling after time thinking just one won't matter. Well with me it did! No matter how dizzy I got or horrible tasting it was I would think I could control it and have another than another. Before you know it your smoking again. It is an addiction for sure. I'm not saying everyone is like me. I just would hate to see all your hard work go for nothing. Keep up the good work and thank you for being an inspiration.  :hug:

_________________
[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

hi babs ty alot, and i'm sure if i can do it u sure can....

as far as slipping and smoking another , what i meant was before this i figured if i stopped and then slipped and started back i was done for...now i realize that i can be in control, it's all up to me and no one else...i can make it easy r hard on myself, easy by KNOWING that i can and WILL quit, R HARD, BY GIVING IN TO MY THOUGHTS,  i know now it really is hmmmm 95% mental for me it is anyway, but i also know i could trash talk myself right into smoking again...just 1 won't hurt....plus it does help me calm down...before u know it i'm a smoker again....no way....alotta doors have opened up for me now...i'm not going back....

just think i can now go to the movies and watch the whole thing, that would be a change....i'm gonna buy some new clothes...my life was completely controlled by cig....

i just pray that i don't start back r have the desire to....

babs i know u can do it....i'm here if u need me....

I know what you mean - it is more mental for me than physical. all those trigger times - like after I ate and talking on the phone.



When I had quit before I loved going into a restaurant and being able to tell the hostess non-smoking.  :D

_________________
[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

  Congrats on the first month of being a non-smoker




Sure,  that stuff is poison to our body, and the body struggles to rid itself of that stuff anyway it can..



In my case, after 20+ years, *IF* I was to pick up a cigarette, take a drag. I'd get that bronchial spasm that an asthmatic feels, get the strong nicotine rush and get dizzy and a little nauseated..  I WOULD NOT feel a desire to start again, I know this, reason being, I MADE UP MY OWN MIND, that I don't like cigarettes and I draw a DIRECT association to how sick they made me !  Call it miracle, but it's as if I NEVER was a smoker.. In my case I quit because they were noticeably making me sick.. I don't believe I'm still a person who would tend to naturally smoke heavily.. Although I'm an ex-addict, I never gambled.. Never wanted to.. I've learned firsthand that smoking is dangerous for me too now.  So although I WAS addicted to nicotine at THAT time, I don't believe nicotine addiction is a lifelong process that a dependant personality has to deal with in the same way the alcoholic must deal with how alcohol as a drug works and deteriorates the body even in the non-drinker due to chemical changes... Anyone can be quickly addicted to ciggies within a few days... I'm currently a non-smoker, and if I started up would go thru the initial BLECH,  these things hurt that I felt when I was addicting myself as a youngster..LIfes patterns have fallen into place FINE without nicotine..

For the first few weeks of withdrawal, I had bronchial pneumonia,  during that period there was NO withdrawal that was noticeable because breathing alone was the reward..  I was walking death because my body was not strong enough to endure what I was putting it thru since I have a genetic problem with respiratory problems bad asthma, allergies, chronic sinusitis, etc.. Even without ciggies, due to being a rigid and tense person breathing isn't easy and natural for me.. I'm always constricted.  Given my chemistry, Cigarettes are just TOO powerful and intoxicating for me !   Plus they created MORE anxiety.



Yep,  I was talking to a friend this past weekend at the pool here.  She said "I really need to quit, I can't"..  but she also kept saying "God, I love cigarettes".. Well, SHE'S OBVIOUSLY not ready to quit YET.

When I quite I didn't love ciggies, nor did I love alcohol and drugs when I quit them.. I quit because I was REALLY physically sick, and they were noticeably making me even sicker... I quite when I was sick, NOT when I felt good..

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

I actually believe I sang better when I was in my late teens, because of smoking. I asked my doctor about it and he said I am a shallow breather and maybe smoking (big drags) caused my lungs to expand more than they normally would. However, I can attest since I have quit smoking around 8 years ago (wedding gift to my ex-wife, go figure) that I have never felt better and my energy came back on a rampage.

Ahem, maybe I just had a better voice those many years ago and smoking helped me get over the nervousness of singing in front of people. Not sure.

Good luck with kicking the nasty habit!!!

Edit...

I was about a pack a day smoker (Marlboro reds, 100s, newport 100's...). I will agree that smoking is a form of self-hatred. After I stopped being mad at people, situations I couldn't control, and finally myself; I was able to kick it. Of course, all the lures... situational, emotional, mental had to be broken down. Why do I smoke? What benefit am I deriving? Do I feel like I am worth, to myself and other people, to be more myself and live a longer life to give my love to others. Financial benefits are also a merit.

UPDATE........still no cig.  i had 1 rough spot but i made it thru, thery're right it doesn't last but a few sec then it's gone,  but i did realize that the more u think about it the harder it becomes pretty soon it just takes over all ur thinking, that's what used to happen to me when i tried quitting before...i lasted a whole hmmmm 30 min....l....right now i'm having no hard cravings at all and less cravings period....maybe a cpl a day....

Bab's ?  how's it going for you? i promise if i can do it u sure can....

everything i always thought it would take for me none of it came into play...i always thought  there is no way i can quit in the middle of the day....well i did....there's no way i can quit and not have cig around....full packs....but i did...i had some just didn't know where, nor did i care....nothing was as i thought it should have been...

i do have alotttt more energy, voice is getting hmmmm i started to say better but i should say different for now...l...for sure it's stronger....

i'm now wearing shirts with no front pockets....l...i didn't even know they made-um
ll.... even my outlook is better, i feel better about myself, because i diddddd quit smoking....gotta go, tc Billy

Folks,

    Can anyone share what it's like the second month of being a new non-smoker ?  I don't recall, but I've been discussing this with a friend.. Since it's been over 20 years for me, I don't recall how tough this time period is.. But is the second month really tough ?

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Im on my second full week & I am much better than when I first started, ( remember I tried cold turkey..well lets just say me & my family are still alive only b/c I called the Dr 3 days into the cold turkey thing & got Chantix, I have just finished my 1st month of Chantix & am trying to not fill another script of it b/c ins doesnt pay for it & its expensive..so Im on my second full week & have found myself craving a cig like at trigger times after meals & at karaoke. But only decided to have one since quitting & it tasted horrible Thank God ! So it proved to myself it isnt the taste its the habit that I crave. Which is an eye opener to me. Sure I miss the nights relaxing on the porch just after dinner watching the sun set or having a cig after things like eating & sleeping & ..well..other stuff but really its getting easier & easier for me to not think about it as much.Its a continual effort to not go into a store & buy a pack but one that hopefully will fade in time.

BTW my second full week comes after a month of Chantix..You can still smoke while you are on Chantix it takes your "want to " away & thats how it works I smoked almost 2 weeks into the 1st month.

_________________
Kelley
Star Sounds Karaoke & Mobile Recording Studio


[shadow=black][scroll]You have to respect your audience. Without them, you're essentially standing alone, singing to yourself....KD Lang[/scroll][/shadow]

Which is probably why I don't get the urge to smoke.  There's no other stuff.  LOL
Well there is, but, without anyone else around to keep me from falling asleep afterwards, I suppose that helps cut the need for smoking.

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".