Topic : Trying to Quit Smoking?

Well I made it another day I have been cleaning alot going through closets and things that were stored Trying not to just sit around I go to Wal-Mart and walk around and other stores Chewing gum sucking on hard candy Walking on the treadmill Every day I wake up and think please don't let me think about it today but I do My husband and children give  me alot of support but they try not to mention it to much so that I want think about it Worried about gaining weight I was always real slim then had to have a hysterectomy and gained 20pds Don't want to gain any more I know I will but trying to keep it as low a number as I can But hope everyone is doing fine in staying quit and the ones that are going to quit Don't do it until your sure because it should be for life And the more times you go back to it the harder it gets Take Care Everyone Southernspice You can e-mail me at suellen@centurytel.net I live in North Alabama I am 38 with 4 kids 2 of them grown and out of the house a 17yr old left and a 12yr old Married to a long haul truck driver and I have a yorkie

hi,  

i'm new to the message boards, but have a problem i need to resolve.  i am basically a closet smoker.  i have smoked on and off since i was 20, mostly on....i'm 39 now.  i have also been keeping this a secret, amazingly enough (and sadly enough), from my boyfriend of 2 years....i really want to just stop....but it's really hard.  i find when i wake up it's the first thing i look forward to doing.  it's become not only such a physical addiction, but a psychological one too.  whenever i'm alone...i light up.  it really sucks.  and nobody knows except a good friend who is a smoker also.  i don't really have that support system to quit.  i wish i was strong enough to just do it already.  i have quit before for a year straight (about 10 years ago)....but i was working full time and jogging after work...i had a real routing.  now i am a stay at home mom with more free time...and can't seem to get up the courage to quit.    any advice?  sure would appreciate it...thanks 

Do you think that since you are a closet smoker it would be easier to quit?  I thought that.  But I then thought that if I came clean about it I would have more support?  Hmm, something to think about it.  Good luck! 

  

I am trying again to quit real soon!  How are you Shelly?  Smoke free! 

no it really isn't easier to quit when no one knows you smoke.  i don't have the support system.  i can't tell my kids, my boyfriend, friends or family how i'm doing, how difficult it is...etc.   but i guess the bottom line is that if you REALLY want to kick the habit, you keep trying until it happens.  it's just taking that first step that's the hardest for me.   i guess i'll have to just pick a date and give it a try!  thanks.

This was the route I took off this board. See if you can get the  Wellbrutrin XL prescription from your doctor, it takes the edge off of quitting, you have to be on it a week or so. Then you pick a quit date, get whatever you need to get you over the hump, nicotine gum, patches or inhaler. I used the inhaler. My suggestion to you, substitute the inhaler for the nicotine you are taking in. Then post often on the board, everyday if you can to get you over the rough times, there is always someone reading the board. But whatever you do don't tell yourself "just one more puff",  after you quit. The  word "NOPE", not one puff ever, that is what I took from this board. Getting your mind set  on quitting, go to the archives and read the old posts, there is also a web site that can help you see another side of why to quit, www.whyquit.com . That helped me, then there is this meter, that gives you an incentive. Hope this helps, I fought with smoking so many years, it is really something to say "I'm smoke free". 

  

Since you are a closet smoker, "how many do you smoke a day"? Everyone seems to be so judge mental of smokers....restaurants, malls...so on.  Since you had quit for aleast a year, you know how good that must  have felt not to have to hide anymore. I too was a closet smoker for a little over a year. Keep posting let me know how you are coming along. It's a hard to totally let go of the habit, but once you replace it with something else, your lungs will say now I have a chance at life. 

  

Linda  

  

Seven months, two weeks, 16 hours, 19 minutes and 59 seconds. 5488 cigarettes not smoked, saving $1,037.29. Life saved: 2 weeks, 5 days, 1 hour, 20 minutes.
Linda

Hi Gina, 

So proud of you!!!!! Right at 3 months. I know you have your hands full, with the grandbabies, work, and so on. But Gina, you did this for you. Way to go!!!!! 

  

Linda 

Thank You Linda. And it has been 4 more days. Hope all is well with you and everyone else Take Care Gina

linda, 

  

thanks so much for writing.  i probably smoke between 10 and 20 per day...depends on how much time i have alone.  i HATE having that monkey on my back.  i'm so so tired of it.  by the way, it did feel GREAT to quit when i did for that year.    

  

i've thought alot about wellbutrin xl.  my girlfriend went on that and quit for 9 months.  she was a 2+ pack a day smoker.  she decided she would rather be a smoker than a nonsmoker.  for me i'd like to just be done with it.   i know the commit lozenge helps alot when i don't smoke for days or a week (on vacations, etc.).  i just always end up going back.  probably because in a crazy way, it's like i'm not doing it if no one knows.  but obviously, that's not true.  as soon as the stress gets too much (i'm a single mom with 2 kids)....i want a cigarette.   

  

i am an avid tennis player (hard to believe, right?)...and i want to start walking regularly.  i think these things will help in quitting. 

  

thanks again for your post.  i'm glad you are doing well!   the first thing i think i'll do is get an appt. with my doctor to get a prescription for wellbutrin. 

Hi Linda and Everyone, Well I made it to 3 months. How is everyone doing?? I have been so busy this past week. I hope everyone is well and smoke free Gina 3 months 14 hours