Photon Lexicon Quiters Support Group

[dchammonds]

I quit on May 3rd... so I am with ya main! Mine might have a bit more in the craving department, although I couldn't just light up anywhere. I have been fairly craving free for 3 or so weeks. I seem to be drinking a bit more though. You'll be alright!

OK, my turn... I made it just over 3 days without lighting up! The last time I quit (a few years back),
I used nicotine gum to ease the shock, but I didn't follow the recommended drawdown, I just blew through
a couple boxes and then quit abruptly when they ran out. At a later point, I thought that I could start
smoking again only on select occaisions and not allow it to be an everyday thing... Yeah, right!

At some point, I bought some more nicotine gum to make it easier to quit a second time, but more than a couple
years went by quickly, and the expiration date on the gum had LONG passed. Anyway, I recently decided to let my
cigarettes run out to see what happens from there, and if I needed a fix, I could fall back on that dried up
gum. So far, so good, I haven't broke into the nicotine gum, because it's a matter of pay now or pay later-
nicotine gum makes it easy to stop smoking, but you have to get off that as well, down the road.

The initial shock is over. The hardest part is to not start up again... Faith?

The funny thing is that I don't smoke in my house, so I've always stepped outside to light up, and now I still
step outside for a few minutes every now and then to look at the yard and sky and pace around for no reason at all;
but I'd still like a smoke...

Dean

[allthatwhichis]

Nice Dean! I just passed 2 months, but yours is much harder in my opinion as you can watch other people doing it all over. Mine becomes a problem when I smell a skunk on the side of the road that has been run over.

[dnar]

The funny thing is that I don't smoke in my house, so I've always stepped outside to light up, and now I still
step outside for a few minutes every now and then to look at the yard and sky and pace around for no reason at all;
but I'd still like a smoke...

Dean

I hear ya. I sit on my balcony with a glass of Shiraz in 8c cold wondering why I do this. Easy answer, I used to sit in the cold to smoke. Now I can relax in the warmth of the house... Old habits die hard.

BTW, today is day # 42 for me. That's a significant number for me, just ask Deep Thought.

[dchammonds]

OK, it's been just over a week since I've gone cold turkey, and I'm still having cravings;
I think the worst was around day 5 (a bit later than I expected)... I wish the cravings would
just go away...

On the good side, my wallet has found immediate relief, and my pulse has slowed down considerably,
so I think that makes it worth fighting the urge to go back.

The funny thing is that Government loves to tell us how bad smoking is, but if everyone were to
suddenly quit, it would be fiscal Armageddon from all the loss of tax revenue...


Dean

[300EVIL]

Shit.... I forgot to quit smoking! I gotta put this one on my list. Hey, the up side is I'll live longer and have more laser bucks.

[JohnYayas]

The craving never completely goes away. But the habit dies.

[dchammonds]

OK, here's another unexpected side effect from quitting- I live near a nice park, and I like to take
walks through it on a regular basis. I find myself walking at about a 10% slower pace now, and I have no
clue as to why. I would have expected the opposite result...

[Bradfo69]

I'll join the ranks one of these days but, it's my only remaining vice. Drugs went out between 11th and 12th grade. I've been alcohol free the better part of 26 years (a few very brief relapses), and I ain't had sex for 3 years and 5 months today (not by choice, I assure you!) So...caffeine and about 8-10 cigs a day are all that's left!

[dchammonds]

Two weeks in... The cravings are slowly dying down, but I did have a strange dream early this morning:
I was at the store and wanted to buy regular Marlboro reds, but all they had was one pack of menthol.
It caught me off guard, but I finally settled for a pack of Winston instead. It wasn't until after I
left the store with a pack of cigs in hand that I remembered...

I'm sure Dr. Freud would have an explanation...

Dean

[dnar]

Two weeks in... The cravings are slowly dying down, but I did have a strange dream early this morning:
I was at the store and wanted to buy regular Marlboro reds, but all they had was one pack of menthol.
It caught me off guard, but I finally settled for a pack of Winston instead. It wasn't until after I
left the store with a pack of cigs in hand that I remembered...

I'm sure Dr. Freud would have an explanation...

Dean

My dreams are more bizarre than that, but I'm not going to share in fear of sounding weird.

Each night is like an adventure, that is for sure!!!