Stop Smoking Support Thread
Comments
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Is everybody still recovering from the party? You're awfully quiet ...
I got my quitnet email yesterday: 9 months, woo hoo!! I've never been quit that long. 6 months is the longest I've ever made it.
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Just lost a really long post, oh well. Hi Bama, I was wondering where everyone was too. Nine months is fantastic, congratulations. Must be we are all doing well with our quiting. On the 16th, I will be 4 months, never ever expected to be a non-smoker, amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it. Everybody else, check in, I think we partyed too hard for o2b, but it sure was fun.
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I am here! Still recovering
Thanks everyone for a great party!! Bama 9 months!!!! You go girl! Pretty soon we will be throwing a party for your ONE YEAR!!!!!
Woooowhoooo Karen!!! Rapidly approaching 4 months! You ROCK!!!!
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knock knock.....I am thinking of coming back now.....:D I am looking at setting a target date for the month of May to join you all once more. Sick of them and ready to move on. The mental guilt sucks. I hate quitting, but love being a quitter. I'm in a good place mentally and have my fingers crossed. I'll keep you all posted and I send you all a big hug, thanks for all you've done for me in the past!
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{{{LAURIE}}} You can do it! Hugs, gal!
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hey Laurie, give it another try, why not, it can only make you feel better....
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How did everyone quit? I really need to! Smoking is my stress reliever. I don't drink, I'm not a big eater. This BC scare isn't my first health issue, but now with the possiblity of BC right around the corner I need to really be serious about quitting. I have looked into some herbal medication I can take to help with cravings but they can interfere with surgeries and with getting my surgery soon, I can't take it. I know this is an excuse, but I have too much going on to quit. I know myself and how I deal with stress and I know I will need something to help me quit. Any advice is welcomed. Thank you so much!
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smoking was my reward system; if i was cleaning i would tell myself "as soon as you are done with this room you can have a cigarette", needless to say cleaning is very difficult for me now LOL! i stopped smoking the night before my surgery and after all the tests, scans and bull s@#t i found that my lungs and heart were clear after 40 years of smoking (started when i was 10...). i HAD to continue to not smoke, it's still my mantra (heart & lungs are clear). just wish i could get DH to do the same but he needs to have the epiphany too... i guess each of us needs to find something that moves us into this decision, but it doesn't hurt to try in the meantime, IMO there is nothing wrong with failing at attempting to quit.0
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Lets reframe "failing at attempting to quit" as a "practice run". There is no failure until you stop trying. It can be just as important to figure out what doesn't work as what does work. But often smokers give up because "I've tried everything and nothing works" but all they did was figure out what didn't work. Every method will work for some, no method will work for everyone.
I'm again making the offer of sending anyone on the site, a free copy of my workbook that I use in my cessation workshops--no strings, no spam, I just need your regular email address (I don't check in everyday, so please end request to VJSL8@CS.COM) and I'll get it right off to you.
Good luck to all and congratulations to the many that are still smoke-free!!! yeah!!
PS: Great party!
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Hi All:
I have alot of catching up to do on reading here...been a bit lazy since the party
Laurie: I hope you come back soon...you can do this!!!
Bama: Congratulations on 9 months...you are 1 month ahead of me, I'll be 8 next week. Who would have thunk it!!??
I gained 15 lbs but not sure if it's the Tamoxifen or the quit or a combination of both. So, I went and hired a personal trainer (who is killing me by the way
) but the 3 month program also has nutrition linked to it. Great news, after using the food plan and having 4 personal training sessions I didn't lose any weight, but I lost 2 inches on my waist and hips and 12 lbs of body fat! Needless to say I'm so excited!!! My new 'girls' will be looking better one of these days 
I'll try to catch up with y'all later today or tomorrow.
Jan
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Feelingalone, when I saw my BS for the first time, he was reading my records over and asked how much I smoked and for how long. I had been a smoker for 30+ yrs. and was up to a pack and a half a day. He just said we'll take care of this now and worry about the smoking later, you have enough stress right now. I quit after the surgery and rads. I was just ready, used the ecig. to help, I think because he was so non-judgemental it helped because I didn't feel guilty too. This board was a huge help to me in encouraging me and letting me know of certain tricks to use. You can learn a lot by just rereading pages of the posts. Good luck to you when you are ready, I will be around to help you out. Laurie, welcome back, if you were successful at all before, this may be your time to quit. Can't hurt to try. hugs, Karen
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Yay!!! To see everyone posting!
I've missed you all and was wondering how everyone was doing!
Will post more tomorrow when I have more time!! Need to grab some dinner and get ready for Idol
Bama,
Good to hear from you!!! You still doing OK??
FeelingAlone,
Welcome! Will post more on what worked and didn't for me, tomorrow!
Laurie!!!
You are in a much better place this time around!! You have ALL of the knowledge of what worked and what didn't from last time around AND, I don't know about you but, for me, I am so much more busy in the summer months than in the winter (which if I recall correctly was when you tried last)! That will work in your favor!!
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Feelinggood: I quit with the patches and Wellbutrin. I needed all the help I could get. The patches let you keep nicotine in your system while you work on the mental part of quitting, which is just as hard and as important as the physical part. Wellbutrin helps somehow with the cravings. I've quit many times in the past and I guess I needed this push from BC to get serious and stay quit. You can do it.
(((Laurie))) you can do it too!
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Ladies, as always you are wonderful. I have chosen the Tuesday after the holiday weekend, May 31st as my quit date. My birthday leads into the weekend, and my family and some friends are going to go on a camping trip, I will count it as my last hurrah. I think I am ready this time. I am going to try to get into my Dr and see if any meds would help. It's hard with the kids to get to an appointment, but I am going to try, maybe I'll be more successful? I've not smoked more than I have smoked in the last three years, yet it is such a crutch! When I go back to it, it's with a vengeance. I am ready for trips to the beach with out a butt break. God, I hope I do it this time for good. Thanks again.
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VJ you are so right about rephrasing what I "attempted" to say, thanks for keeping me honest! I'm rooting for Laurie & Feelinggood, you can do it!!
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I have been so blessed to find this site! It has helped tremendously!!!! I really don't know how I would have dealt with everything if I didn't have this outlet. I have been keeping so much to myself because I don't want to stress out my family and friends. My dad passed away unexpectedly 4 and a half months ago (he was only 55) so my mom has been dealing with that and I didn't want to tell her what was going on because she has so much going on with her grief. My friends were awesome when I was dealing with the death of my dad that I didn't want to seem selfish by needing them again, considering I have been extremely withdrawn from them since his death. I don't want to seem like the friend that only contacts them when I need something. I did end up telling my mom about my biopsy and upcoming surgery, only because I have to get surgery. It is kind of hard to keep that hidden. The day I told her she sent me a long email about how I need to quit smoking, if I don't I am going to die and she can't handle losing me too. I get it, I really do, but like I said I am keeping all of this to myself (my husband has been out of town for work since all of this has started, he comes back tonight, thank goodness). I just don't need the guilt trips, so I am so grateful for all of you!!! Thank you for letting me ramble on. Sometimes that is all I need. I appreciate all of you more than you will know.
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FeelingAlone, you have hadso much going on, so sorry about your dad. Don't feel you are rambling, it is just stream of conciousness talking. When you keep so much in, it just feels so liberating to spill it all out in a safe setting. We have all walked in your shoes. I'm sure I rambled for quite a while on this site.
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FeelingAlone,
First off sending you a BIG HUG!!!!!!
Sometimes having breast cancer, or any major illness, does feel a bit lonely in that it's hard for others to really understand what we are going through 100% BUT no one should go through this alone! I know I couldn't have done it without the support of my family and friends (although it WAS interesting to find out WHO my friends really were)! Your real friends will want to support you in any way that they can! Don't be afraid to ask for support where you need it! For people who care about you it is NOT a burden! It is empowering and helps make them feel useful!
Very sorry to hear about your Dad! That must be just so hard! I'm sure that your Mom meant well in her e-mail and I know she is coming from a place of, I can't lose someone else that I care about, but the "try to frighten someone into quitting", in MY opinion just doesn't work! In my case it made me tense and I wanted to smoke MORE not less!
Anyway... I smoked for over 30 years... 1-1 1/2 packs per day... 2 if I was really stressed!
I had just too much on my plate to try to quit during treatment so didn't even try. Although there are people here who have done it successfully! I had my last rads treatment in Oct and cut back and cut back for a little over three months before quitting in January!
My point is... You are right in the thick of things now and it MAY or may NOT be the right time for YOU! But the fact that you are considering it is a GREAT first step!!! You will know when the time is right, whether it be now or a week or month or year from now, and we will be here to support you!
Looking forward to a day when your name changes from FeelingAlone to IAmNotAlone because the ladies here will make sure you're not!!!
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Lol.... Yep... I think we were all just partied out!!!!! BUT it was a good one!!!
Jan,
WOW.... Sounds like, with your personal trainer, you are getting GREAT results!!!
Who cares about what the scale says!!!! No one sees that but you! 2 INCHES lost in the waist and hips (which is where Tamoxifen likes to pack it on) AND 12 pounds of body fat.... FABULOUS!!!!
You are gonna have a rockin' beach bod this summer
O2B,
Funny the things I remember, especially since I can't remember things I did just yesterday, BUT I do remember your first post to me on this thread and you were right where Bama is now at 9 months! I was a 'newbie'! And now... you just celebrated 2 YEARS and I will be 1 year and 4 months on the 18th!!! My how time does go by!
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Seaside - Isn't it amazing how quicky the time has flown by...
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kal_1865,
No matter how you word it, what you said is spot on!!! It's not a failure... it's a learning experience!!
For all just starting out...
Two things that are just SO important to quitting, and I think really get kind of glossed over, are that you MUST have a reason to quit that is more important to YOU than the desire to smoke (that's what will strengthen your resolve when you hit a rough patch) AND find the right combination of quitting tools that WORKS for YOU!! These two items are different for everyone!
I also think the single most important thing is... If one method doesn't work for you.... TRY another and another! Each time you try, even if you don't hit success right away, you learn so much about what worked and didn't that are tools to help you next time!
Karen,
You are doing SO great BOTH here and on the weight loss thread!!!!
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O2B,
Seriously.... I don't know WHERE the time has gone! And not just the last couple of years!
I haven't been posting as much because I am so busy planning my son's senior prom and graduation stuff!!! My daughter will graduate from college in December....
Wow... Seems like yesterday it was naptime and band-aids on boo-boo's!
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Thanks seaside, will go yard saleing for a real bike as soon as they start up, so I can bike outside. I live in a second floor apt' and it does tend to get warm up here, it'll be interesting to see how I manage on the hills. I remember you telling me that there would come a time when I would realize I had not thought of smoking for a period of time and I thought that that time would never come. Well you were right, whole periods of time go by and I'll realize that I haven't given it a thought. Now, the exercising is a different story, especially the crunches, hate them. I have two grandchildren, who I remember batheing in the little plastic tubs and I turned around and they were teenagers By the way, I found a way to get through Sundays a little easier, my daughter asked if we could all eat Sunday dinner together since both the kids are in afterschool activities. She finds recipes she'd like me to try and it makes Sundays feel like mealtime with my godmother, we would all gather around the table and eat and visit. So I restarted one of her traditions.
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Karen,
I always hesitate to tell someone who is just starting out exactly what I told you... That, if you can just hang on in those rough early days, that it will get better... I think it's because, when I think back to the first days of my quit, I would have smacked the lips off of anyone who said that to ME(and I'm thinkin' you might have thought the same....lol)! But, it IS the honest truth... Sooooo glad that my story helped you!
Not to say I don't have a fleeting thought now and again about smoking BUT it is just that, a fleeting thought!
I couldn't really think of a better way to spend a Sunday and I'm CERTAIN your godmother is smiling!!
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Boy it looks like it's been pretty quiet here lately. I was traveling with work and we are getting so so busy, which is a good thing.
Also, still with personal trainer, eating no dairy or carbs...hopefully losing weight.
Today is 5/20....8 months smoke free for me...YAY!!!!
Have a great weekend all!
Jan
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Yay, Jan!! I have been pretty busy, too. 6/2 will be my one year anniversary. It is hard to believe so much time has passed.
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Jan, Congratulations!!!
Have a good weekend everyone!
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Jan.... CONGRATS on 8 months!!!! You should be very PROUD of yourself!! I just really can't get over how much time has passed!!
Keeping the cat theme going....
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Jan and Barbara, congratulations to both of you. Those are very impressive numbers. And a big thank you to the two of you, when I first posted on this thread, you both welcomed me, encouraged me, especially in that critical 1st week. 5/16 was my 4 month quitanniversary, my grandchildren are so proud of me, I'm proud of me!!
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Jan and Barbara, congratulations to both of you. Those are very impressive numbers. And a big thank you to the two of you, when I first posted on this thread, you both welcomed me, encouraged me, especially in that critical 1st week. 5/16 was my 4 month quitanniversary, my grandchildren are so proud of me, I'm proud of me!! Hi Seaside, we were posting at the same time. You too were instrumental in my quiting and in my membership in E-LAB, which I continue to do. Karen
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