It's been almost 200 days since I quit smoking, Wow! Even now I'm flabbergasted to understand the significance of my quit. I had thought so many times about quitting, and even tried a time or two, pretty half heartedly I must admit, but it always felt so difficult and I just knew I couldn't do it. I still wanted to be a non-smoker though, on second thought I don't know if it's that I wanted to quit so much as I didn't want to feel like crap anymore, that I wish I'd never started smoking, that's bizarre as I look back on it all cause I gave no thought to how I could be a non-smoker if I kept putting those poison sticks in my mouth!
I remember going to my new PCP and him asking me if I had considered quitting, I said yes that I would someday really put effort into quitting, he told me I needed to quit soon because of the damage smoking was causing (yeah I knew that too but still I continued to smoke). He told me about a new drug that had more than a 70% success rate with his patients, I half heartedly agreed, he wrote the prescription and I continued to smoke without filling the prescription..........hmmmm, I wonder what I was really thinking. So anyway, I went back in for a follow-up appointment and he asked me how I was doing on my quit, I had to admit that I hadn't filled the prescription and he informed me that it was now critical for me to quit, stop soon or have a heart attack or stroke or both........I left his office and filled the prescription. Three days after starting the Chantix, I put the cigarettes down and haven't gone back.
It's now more than 6 months later and I haven't died nor have I suffered a stroke. I'm much healthier, and I'm moving into the much more happier mode.
I still get tuggings/urges when strong triggers smack me up side my head but I don't give in, I just don't light a cigarette, I'M A NON-SMOKER, I'm the person I've always wanted to be!!
If you are a smoker and you've thought about quitting and haven't moved on that thought, give it a whirl, ask your doctor if Chantix could help you become a Quitter.
QUIT SMOKING!!!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
What was I thinking?
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6 COMMENTS:
Mama,
You were probably thinking the same thing as I was..."Oh that doesn't apply to me (heart attack, stroke, emphesema,cancer) or my personal favorite that I used for about twenty years, "I'm going to die of something anyway so why not smoke?" I do not know what finally made me REALLY want to not be a slave to big tobacco anymore...I think what really made me wake up was when I got really sick and couldn't talk for almost a week. I kept thinking about the lady on the commerical with the hole in her throat and how she smoked through it! I am so glad that we have all followed each other in this journey! Now for the weight loss battle!
Peace,
Diva
Like you said, I wanted to not be a smoker, but I didn't really want to wage that battled I'd been through before on previous quits. When I heard about Chantix, I was all over it. I've said a million times, I still had to work at it, it definitely required my full and complete cooperation even with Chantix, it still wasn't easy, I'm still working at it, sometimes it's still a little tough, but I've mostly come through the other side, and it's so very, very worth it. I don't know whether Chantix is for everyone, and I do think people need to stay in contact with a real, live medical doctor if they choose this route in case of anything goofy, but it worked beautifully for me. Of course, you know all this because the other benefit was meeting other great Chantix bloggers like you along this journey.
I'm so impressed you are nearing 200 days. You've come such a long way, and that's awesome.
Actually, looking back at my blog and remembering it was more like THREE WEEKS that I could hardly talk and my doctor made me take off work. I was so terrified about what would happen if I had cancer of the throat and could NEVER talk again. I had only been on Chantix a few weeks when I got sick and I think that motivated me to stick with it! You guys are great and I am still blogging!
Peace,
Diva
congrats congrats congrats. isn't it nice not to have to worry about what kind of damage we are doing to ourselves? i always just tried to push it out of my head. but now, we don't have to worry about it anymore.
what you guys are doing is nothing short of amazing. I think i'm at 32 days now, so I'm gettin there!
Hi! I clicked on your blog at the over 50 bloggers, which I am on (Aging Wisdom)....and was excited to read this blog in particular because I also quit smoking Feb. 22, 2007 with the help of Chantix. Now I am on Medifast to lose weight and have been really edgy. Could almost go back to smoke, but won't. It was a very good year without those damn cigarettes!
I circled Mother's Day as the day I would quit smoking after an accumulated 40 years of being tied to a habit that was slowly killing me. I am now 67 and that was 5 years ago! The irony of it is that I was healthier when I smoked a pack and a half of smokes and had my daily two or three scotch on the rocks than I am today. Although I am glad I quit smoking, partily because of the cost, my health went to H--- in a hand basket after that. I kept saying to myself, "self, ya gotta quit smoking and ya gotta quit drinking." So I did, and then I was diagnosed with diabetes, osteoarthitis, and ultimately diverticulitis. In the past 5 years I have had four surguries and had a 7 day stint in the hospital for internal bleeding. Before then I smoked, sometimes like a train, and drank for the pure pleasure of it. But pretty much never had never been seriously ill (except for female problems).
But, you know what folks, quitting smoking was the best d---- thing I have ever done. I was proud that I could actually not light up after making a conscious decision to kick the habit. And, I never regretted putting the cap on that bottle of Dewar's either.
As to whether I will live longer because of this, who knows. I could step off the curb tomorrow and some dang ol' drunk trying to light up his Lucky Strike might run me over. Now wouldn't that be a hoot, dying from smoking and drinking after all, but just not by my own hands.
The one thing I can say is this: I can breath! I can walk up and down stairs and it may hurt me because my bones feel every step and my knees give way, but I am not out of breath. I can breath! So far as the drinking, well it's good to remember everything I do, not to go to bed in a fog and get up the next day trying to remember where I put my smokes. Ya know what I mean.
And, I can breath!
It wasn't the drinking and smoking that caused my diabetes - it was all that sugar in those Coca Cola's and lack of exercise. You'd think with all the Tums I've eaten all my life that I wouldn't have any bone problems; well, some folks just do and I'm one of them. And, I guess I just didn't eat right or I wouldn't have ended up in the hospital with internal bleeding only to find out that some of my favorite foods are not worth eating.
But I can breath!
Mama Flo - God bless you. You did it, and hopefully you are breathing easier these days as well.
Come visit me on my blog at scoop1942.worldpress.com.
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