Suffering with the fags

[redser]

Morning. Still off them, 3 weeks now in about another hour or so. Still have the odd strong pang, usually when something isn't going right, like spilling gloss paint all over the floor but generally speaking its going well. I've never had sinus problems before but have had what I though was a head cold for two and half weeks now. Can only imagine it is to do with quitting. Just goes to show. Thanks for asking

[Feral007]

Redser, I found that after you give up, your body starts pulling any bits of nicotine it has stored away and putting it in your system, so you get more things than you did when you smoked. But the good news is that it gets better really fast!

Onwards and upwards! Watch out for those gloss paint moments

[ladylottie]

Well done redser! Three weeks - great. The sinus problems are probably to do with quitting - it will pass. I kept having a sore throat for a couple of months after I stopped. It's just your body getting used to not having all those nasty chemicals in it!

I love Ireland - my ex boyfriend was Irish (from near Tullamore) so I was over there quite a lot - back and forth for a good few years, and have walked a lot of places especially in the west. Never been to Dublin though (not a city girl) although they do say it's well worth a visit. In fact my ex-husband lives there now.

Those photos have made me want to go back again...........

[Glutton4...]

Congratulations, Redser. Hold on in there. It's so easy to use it as a crutch when something doesn't go according to plan. I think that's how my Husband has got back into it each time he has given up.

Incidentally, I have just come clean about the 'new car/give up' idea, now that the plan has changed. It looks like we may be able to get a Mortgage, if we use this money as a deposit, so cars will have to wait. Meanwhile, I'll have to find another carrot to put on the stick.

Well done you, keep it up!

[mothhawk]

Well done! Keep on keeping on, Redser!

[Jeanied]

Yay well done Redser - keep it up!!!

I always found my urge to smoke lasted only a short while, once I had given up. Probably about as long as it used to take me to smoke one. Once I had distracted myself for a while the urge had vanished to be replaced by a nice smug feeling!

[Aberdeenplotter]

Well done! Keep on keeping on, Redser!

My sentiments too matey. You are dunning good

[Two_Sheds]

Still off them, 3 weeks now

That long already? Wow, it's gone quick. For me, possibly not for you !

[redser]

Congratulations, Redser. Hold on in there. It's so easy to use it as a crutch when something doesn't go according to plan. I think that's how my Husband has got back into it each time he has given up.

Incidentally, I have just come clean about the 'new car/give up' idea, now that the plan has changed. It looks like we may be able to get a Mortgage, if we use this money as a deposit, so cars will have to wait. Meanwhile, I'll have to find another carrot to put on the stick.

Well done you, keep it up!

That's great news! Hope it works out. A new house, new start, ditch the old habit ...might work?

And thanks for all the good vibes everybody

[out in the cold]

Well done!

Don't know how the urge to do something with your hands is coming along? I have never smoked myself, but a mate that stopped ages ago used to struggle with this, especially at a tea break. He cured it by carrying a pencil about with him and basically replacing the fag with the pencil, which he would sit with between his fingers, as if it were one.

[redser]

The hands thing doesnt bother me too much to be honest. It's more the getting up and going for one. I keep finding I'm almost rising out of a chair or heading for the door after doing certain things ... like completing some task at work, finishing a meal, finishing any sort of task around the house, getting into the car, getting out of the car. You realise how habitual the whole thing was and any sort of tiny acievement or change or mishap would go hand in hand with a little celebration/reward/pick-me-up smoke. I do absolutely anything now instead of that, drink some water, go grab some fruit, have a big sigh and curse to myself Whatever. It does pass quickly, but it's there on your shoulder chipping away at you. Just have to replace it with other habits, preferably ones that are good for me!

[Two_Sheds]

Just have to replace it with other habits, preferably ones that are good for me!

Are you walking yet? (exercise)
How much money have you got in your jam jar? (3 wks, one pack a day: £105 ?)

[Aberdeenplotter]

My uncle, who will be 81 next month smoked very heavily until about 10 years ago. he was a farmer and was also affected with farmers lung disease which comes from spores in mouldy hay/straw. He was told, stop or death was inevitable in a short period of time. he stopped - cold turkey - had the odd lapse but got back on track and has been nicotine free for at least 7 years. He always carried his cigarettes in the bib pocket of his dungarees and even now, I see him occasionaly put his hand in there(he loves his dungars) and then realise what he is doing.

You will be tempted matey so it's mind over matter. You are past the worst though, remember that.

[redser]

Are you walking yet? (exercise)
How much money have you got in your jam jar? (3 wks, one pack a day: £105 ?)

Actually I made a conscious decision not to exercise until now, not even walking. I know myself well (at last) and if I'd gone all gungho and tried to change too many things too quickly I would have gotten p*ssed off trying to keep it up. So I decided to go easy at first. Small things like the water, then the fruit. I know if sounds pathetic but I do have plans to make bigger changes down the road.
The habit was a fiver a day (rollies) so yeah that's 105 saved I don't have a jar, but it's nice to feel realxed about treating ourselves a little bit instead of watching every penny.

[redser]

My uncle, who will be 81 next month smoked very heavily until about 10 years ago. he was a farmer and was also affected with farmers lung disease which comes from spores in mouldy hay/straw. He was told, stop or death was inevitable in a short period of time. he stopped - cold turkey - had the odd lapse but got back on track and has been nicotine free for at least 7 years. He always carried his cigarettes in the bib pocket of his dungarees and even now, I see him occasionaly put his hand in there(he loves his dungars) and then realise what he is doing.

You will be tempted matey so it's mind over matter. You are past the worst though, remember that.

Cheers. That's a mad story about the dungarees My mother stopped in her early 70's after becoming convinced she had cancer. She's not given to overreaction at all, tough as old boots. But her weight and general health nose dived within a few weeks and she had crippling pains in her stomach. So she quit after her first visit to the GP. They ran all sorts of tests and turned up nothing. In the end they said it was probably delayed grief after my father died. Gradually she improved and she's in great form again these days, there's nothing she cant/wont do. But she still stands outside the front door with her arm bent upwards like she's having a fag. It looks like she's giving everyone the two fingers Maybe she is.