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Well, I’m doing it without patches this time. I always wound up smoking while wearing one so I’m trying a different route. So far so good, almost 94 hours cig free.
I figured something out for me and I’m astonished I didn’t do it sooner. Traffic in Florida is horrible. A 30 minute trip turns into a 2 1/2 hr trip. I would get so antsy stuck at a stand still. So I got bubble wrap. Cut it into squares just big enough for one hand and I would pop bubbles until traffic moved again. Hey, it kept me from yelling obscenities out the window 
. Point is, I just cut me some busy fingers fidget squares for anti smoking defense. Yeah, I’m happy lol.
Today was a real test. Riding in a car, doctor appointment, car again, out to lunch at a restaurant, car again, Starbucks and then an eternity of a drive home in a car with no ac. I didn’t smoke!!
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Dang. You’re really f–in’ trying, lady!
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I’m giving it everything I have. 
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Just wondering if anyone else has suffered with paranoia from quitting. I’m assuming it’s anxiety related, but man… Like I am feeling a little crazy. It’s day 3 no vaping. I’m struggling, lol.
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Meant to reply to you so I’ll edit and tag instead lol @Mama2Sunny Not paranoia but I’m definitely jumpy. I feel like I’m mentally itchy all over my body and can’t settle down. Luckily I’m aware that this will pass and each time a wave comes over me it is weaker and weaker.
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@SassyBoomer congrats. Exactly. What worked for me when I quit was not having any supplemental nicotine which seem to just keep me wanting nicotine. Cold turkey worked for me. I’m very proud of you keep going.
@Mama2Sunny As soon as you stop the continual smoking pattern your body begins to repair itself in miraculous wonderful ways.
One thing that happens is as your body begins to heal is that you get more oxygen, that it was getting robbed of before.
This gives lots of people lightheaded weird strange different feeling and it could be kind of offputting because it’s something that you’re not used to. I don’t know that this is what’s happening to you but it could be.
Look for ways to soothe yourself. Breathing exercises are good. It only takes 15 seconds, you can do it while you’re doing anything else. If you were to do a breathing exercise for as long as a minute that would be good too. This will help you with the anxiety. It will help with the anxiety. One that I mentioned on here earlier is simply breathing in to a count of four. Hold it for a count of four. Let it out for a count of four. Again hold your breath for a count of four. That is one sequence.
You can repeat this a number of times over a minute or so.
This slows down your heart and will lessen anxiety.
You can do it several times a day, you can do it as much as you want.
There are all kinds of variations on those, for instance, breathing in for four seconds holding it for seven or eight and letting it out for seven or eight seconds.
You can Google it and find all kinds of different things on the Internet
. What makes the most difference is to actually do it. It is always helpful.
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Just ordered both of those toothpicks. Should be here Sunday. Amazon also had other cinnamon toothpicks for 5-6 times the cost because the package mentioned quitting smoking lol. Thanks for the suggestion
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Thank you so much 
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It definitely helps knowing that all of this is temporary and won’t last forever. Finding healthy distractions had helped, too. But yes, I’ve been jumpy, too! Lol
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Here’s another oldie for you all.
Smoking is not just a bad habit. It is a nicotine addiction.
A great “oldie” repost – “JUNKIE THINKING” – toundra 10/20/1998 19:59:57
JUNKIE THINKING: “One puff won’t hurt.”
RESPONSE: “One puff will always hurt me, and it always will because I’m not a social smoker. One puff and I’ll be smoking compulsively again.”
JUNKIE THINKING: “I only want one.”
RESPONSE: “I have never wanted only one. In fact, I want 20-30 a day every day. I want them all.”
JUNKIE THINKING: “I’ll just be a social smoker.”
RESPONSE: “I’m a chronic, compulsive smoker, and once I smoke one I’ll quickly be thinking about the next one. Social smokers can take it or leave it. That’s not me.”
JUNKIE THINKING: “I’m doing so well. One won’t hurt me now.”
RESPONSE: “The only reason I’m doing so well is because I haven’t taken the first one. Yet once I do, I won’t be doing well anymore. I’ll be smoking again.”
JUNKIE THINKING: “I’ll just stop again.”
RESPONSE: “Sounds easy, but who am I trying to kid? Look how long it took me to stop this time. And once I start, how long will it take before I get sick enough to face withdrawal again? In fact, when I’m back in the grip of compulsion, what guarantee do I have that I’ll ever be able to stop again?”
JUNKIE THINKING: “If I slip, I’ll keep trying.”
RESPONSE: “If I think I can get away with one little “slip” now I’ll think I can get away with another little “slip” later on.”
JUNKIE THINKING: “I need one to get me through this withdrawal.”
RESPONSE: “Smoking will not get me through the discomfort of not smoking. It will only get me back to smoking. One puff stops the process of withdrawal and I’ll have to go through it all over again.”
JUNKIE THINKING: “I miss smoking right now.”
RESPONSE: “Of course I miss something I’ve been doing every day for most of my life. But do I miss the chest pain right now? Do I miss the worry, the embarrassment? I’d rather be an ex-smoker with an occasional desire to smoke, than a smoker with a constant desire to stop doing it.”
JUNKIE THINKING: “I really need to smoke now. I’m so upset.”
RESPONSE: “Smoking is not going to fix anything. I’ll still be upset. I’ll just be an upset smoker. I never have to have a cigarette. Smoking is not a need; it’s a want. Once the crisis is over, I’ll be relieved and grateful I’m still not smoking.”
JUNKIE THINKING: “I don’t care.”
RESPONSE: “What is it exactly that I think that I don’t care about? Can I truthfully say I don’t care about chest pain? I don’t care about gagging in the morning? I don’t care about lung cancer? No, I care about these things very much. That’s why I stopped smoking in the first place.”
JUNKIE THINKING: “What difference does it make anyway?”
RESPONSE: “It makes a difference in the way I breathe, the way my heart beats, the way I feel about myself. It makes a tremendous difference in every aspect of my physical and emotional health.”
The best time to quit would have been yesterday but that day is gone now. The next best day is today (not tomorrow). Quit smoking TODAY.
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Do you have some secret direct line to the voices in my head??? That is EXACTLY the conversation that keeps going on. LMAO.
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I’m 41. Started when I was 20. Quit many times until I finally did at about 25. I just started again about 3 months ago . Because I relapsed and had a cigarette. Never had it while drinking before so I’m not sure. Anyhow. Now I have to quit again. So we’ll see at my age how it goes. Patches gave me nightmares so going to have to go cold turkey. Fun stuff. Keep going everyone!
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I’m 69. Too many, way too many years smoking. I’m doing it cold turkey as well.
The patches I would put on first thing in the morning and take off an hour or so before bed. If I left the patch on my sleep was indeed the stuff of nightmares. I just didn’t want to be bothered this time. In the last five days I have caved to cravings and took a lozenge but both times my stomach couldn’t handle it. Spit it out fast.
I struggle at times but overall I’m doing much better than I expected. Funny thing, five days and none of the people that I didn’t confide in have noticed I’m not smoking. Lol
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Here’s another repost for all you grumpy braves out here! The writer of this one, Cara/Teach is still active on NOPE365.com , a spinoff of the old Quitnet, the forum that helped me quit smoking back in 2015. She just passed day 6000 smoke free.
I don’t really promote NOPE here because I don’t like the format too much, but I encourage you all to have a look. And a lot of the collective wisdom of Quitnet is still kept there. It’s where I get these reposts from. Have a good smoke free day all!
Dear New Quitter
FROM: Cara (Teach404) on Quit Day 3909
Dear New Quitter or someone who is thinking of quitting:
Are you thinking of quitting?
Are you scared?
Do you think you cannot quit?
I am writing you this letter to tell you that I was once where you are now.
I was thinking of quitting – not cause I wanted to but more because my doctor said I could quit before or after the heart attack – thankfully I quit before. I did not want to quit – I felt I had to quit - that I was being forced to quit and I was very unhappy.
I am not sure if scared describes the emotion I felt building up to my quit. Let’s be honest here – this quit was not my first attempt. I quit for 12+ years. I was out with smoking friends who I had been around for years when I decided I wanted a smoke – figured after all those years I could have just one. What a shock – I am an addict and within a few weeks I was back smoking a pack a day again.
Do you think you cannot quit? I seriously believed that myself. I got my 12 year quit following a visit to a hypnotist – I believed it would work and walked out from that office with no interest in smoking but a huge desire to eat and gained 50 pounds. I do not blame that on the quit I blame that on me making poor choices of food and choosing not to get any exercise. Quitting smoking was not the cause of the weight gain.
I started trying to quit smoking after about 9 years after tossing that 12 year quit. That was in 2004 – October. I went cold turkey and lasted 60 something days. I tossed that quit over some excuse that I cannot remember but I will say was nothing serious. I became quite upset with people in the quit smoking forums who were not buying my justification of my failed quit but I got over it and for the next year and a half I made half hearted attempts at quitting – I can say that because I made excuses and justified over and over my decisions to smoke. I had pneumonia and I smoked. I tried patches and gum, cold turkey and even a shot with a different hypnotist but alas nothing worked. It did not work because I refused to take smoking off the table as an option in my life and rather then working through the quitting process, I just chose to go to the store or mooch smokes off of others.
Two things happened in my life that helped me choose to start a quit and keep it. The first was the previously mentioned doctor’s statement. It did impact me but not enough to have me quit then as it took an additional 4 months give or take for me to quit. It was the well-intentioned comment from someone in one of my clubs in quintet.com back in March of 2006 ( Rosie in the October 2004 Buttkicker club). I announced yet again that I was going to start another quit and this angel of the internet said to me that she so admired my repeated attempts to quit but it was such a shame that I kept putting myself through those early days over and over and over again. March 15, 2006 – this quit was born and here I am today approaching 4000 days, 10+ years quit.
Was it easy – hell no those early days were hell. I journaled my feelings, emotions, illness and I took Zyban to help me quit. I cried and cried and cried bitter tears for my 25 best friends who were so cruelly taken from me. I hated happy people, happy smokers, happy non-smokers, happy quitters – hated them all.
But here is the thing. I never understood this before with my prior 12+ year quit and even hanging around the quit smoking sites. I never saw myself as an addict. I thought that I loved to smoke – it made me happy. I remember writing this in my journal and I want to share it with you now.
“I feel that I have lost a friend - a very close one at that. My smokes are - not are, were - like my dogs - always here for me - and in some ways better as they did not bark. Now I have my dogs who I love, but I no longer have my smokes and sad as it is it feels like something is totally missing out of my life.”
I truly believed this load of crap. That was not me speaking it was the addiction talking. I did not love smoking – I loved the relief that smoking gave me. I could not see this while in active addiction – I had to quit and when the smoke screen cleared I saw smoking for the vile enslaver that it was. Smoking did nothing for me but kill me. I gave it credit for everything I did for myself.
What does this mean to you my smoking friend or newly quit friend? Please hear the wisdom I have learned from my quit smoking journey and hopefully you can make your life easier by not falling in to the potholes I did.
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There is never an excuse to smoke period.
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Quitting smoking is not an overnight thing. We all ask in those early days when will it get better as we seem to think that 10, 20, 30 or more years of addiction will be gone in a week. It takes time folks but it is worth it.
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Quitting is not a linear process. It does not get better each and every day. I remember many times saying my quit was like a roller coaster ride and I wanted to get off. I stuck it out and finally the good days were much more frequent then the bad.
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We are forever addicts. I tossed a 12 year quit and I could toss another one should I buy into the lie that I can have just one. I do not think about smoking the way I did in the early days of my quit but it does enter my head now and then and I dismiss it easily.
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Quitting smoking is not an easy process cause if it was the world would have no smokers. I worked really hard to get to where I am today and I had mentors and support to help me get here. That is why I try to give back to others as I want them to be where I am today.
I have taken back my power from addiction. I control my life again and I refuse to ever again allow a white tube filled with poison to enslave me. I call the shots in my life. I am not running out to serve my addiction. I am free but vigilant as I never want to go back and start over again. I use a line in my daily pledge that I walk the Freedom Road. That is where I am. Living my life, doing my thing and doing it my way. Life is not perfect but it a whole lot better smoke free. Come and join me on the Freedom Road. I know it is kind of rocky to start but if you take my hand, I will support you till you are ready to walk it on your own beside me.
Quitting is not always easy but doable. Not a person in the world who cannot quit and we do not even have to want to quit to be successful – look at me.
You can do this. Let us show you how.
KTQ
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I’ve been low key quitting. I haven’t said anything because I have failed at quitting smoking many times…
I’ve been following @SassyBoomer success. You have helped me get through a couple of cravings from hell.
Eight days ago I smoked my last cigarette and decided to not get another pack.
A decision I have made many times only to end up buying another pack.
It’s been a rough week. Mornings are the hardest. They aren’t as hard as they were.
It’s amazing how intertwined those nasty little cigarettes become with everything.
Every pause… Everything! I couldn’t use my phone, or my computer without freaking out.
It’s still hard, but I’m forcing myself. I’ve survived enough cravings that they are losing their power over me.
I’ve been getting organized.
Ive been painting, hiking, riding, keeping my hands busy. I’ve been practicing holding my breath. I’ve been hiking aggressive steep trails.
I’ve been sleeping surprisingly good. Not having a cigarette to calm me down all day makes me sleep good. The good exercise too.
I’m starting to train myself for free diving. It’s something I’ve talked about doing for a while. It’s time for less talk, more action!
Those nasty cigarettes are fired!
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This one’s for you Jason. A bit to the South from where you are, this is Fort Bragg CA. I love the Pacific too. Makes me happy you’re kicking smoking’s butt!
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Oh you just made me so happy!
I understand not talking about it. We failed and failed and failed so many times it’s hard for loved ones to rustle up support any more. For me hugging it tight to myself made it more personal for me. I told only two of my grandchildren, the two who are most supportive of me. I told them as a form of accountability because both are sworn to not say anything until I am ready.
I still go out to my old smoking chair when I get restless and antsy. Just the action of getting up and going to my chair helps end the cravings. It also helps that when I’m in my old smoking chair I am on TS the entire time. So familiar behaviors carefully mixed with new behaviors continue to comfort me and banish cravings. Crazy, huh?
A strong sense of humor is also important. Granddaughter asked me how I’m going to celebrate a week free in a few hours. I told her I was gonna smoke a cig. The look on her face lolololol. Nope, my celebration will be to post my milestone and keep on trucking.
I’m glad I was able to help you. I’m glad you and I are on the same journey. We got this!!
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