Smoking Addiction & Recovery Support Group

first of all dont give up...maybe trying 2 methods will help...#1 you have to have faith in yourself and you will quit no matter what...have you tried to slowly wean yourself off chewing gum or have a lollie pop in between..you can do it...have faith you can...I found it to be more mind over matter...good luck sweetie...we are here if you need us....hugs

It's the third time to quit for me, and I'm going to make it stick this time. I think it's more of a mind game than anything else. The nicotine leaves you body quickly and then it' all in your head. But do not put yourself down, you learned from your previous quits.
What I did different this time is planning. I tried to prepare for all the pitfalls that I knew about from my previous quits.
So my summations is educate and plan plan plan. And honey doing the pledge and rollcall every morning and having everyones support helps tremendously. See that's what's different for me in this quit, I never had a support group before. You came to the right place, come on, you can do it, we will be here to help

You might want to do some more reading, I don't think smoking helps anxiety. Having a stoke is a warning sign, perhaps your Doctor can help. It is a matter of choice, willpower has nothing to do with it, a positive attitude does. Hope you find a method to work for you.

This is my umpteenth quit and this is the one that will stick. It really is all attitude. I would highly recommend reading Alan Carr's book. This book and this group of people made all of the difference for me.

Alan Carr Book

http://nerukom.googlepages.com/All...

Why Quit ?

http://www.whyquit.com/

I agree. I retrained my brain to think of smoking as the enemy, not the friend and promised to NOPE (not one puff ever). I can not even count how many times in the past I had tied and not succeeded! You are not giving up anything, just gaining a life of freedom from the chains of an addiction. WE will be here for you!

You've been given some great advice! Welcome and keep coming back...make a plan and educate yourself on nicotine addiction....

Best wishes!

Its not totally easy to do but it can be done. The right attitude about smoking and quitting is important. Get prepared and use this board for suggestions & support. I know for a fact it was right here that made the difference for me- and just remember tha t NOPE is your new mantra- not one puff ever!!!!

I have struggled for months to quit myself. I suggest reading the books you'll find on this website. I have had the most success with a rather unorthodox method. Here's a post I just made explaining what I'm doing. If it works for you then great. http://www.dailystrength.org/c/Smo...

But the biggest thing in mentality. You have to be ready and willing to quit. Do it for your healt, and life. Find it inside yourself to say NO MORE.

Good luck. There are so many great people here.

Hi Merylou I can relate to your struggles. I smoked for over 30 years as well. I had quit for one year once and now Ive been quit for almost 8 months. Anxiety is not relieved by smoking..it just gives you a reason to take a break from it. It is a mind thing, and preparing yourself and having a plan is the key to quitting. For me, I slept most of the first week, it was the only thing I could do to forget about it. But my mind did come around to thinking less and less about smokes. It is not easy but honestly it does get easier. Come here and let us help you. Wishing you all the best and hugs too. Kate.

Hi Merylou I too smoked for most of my adult life (36 years) and I used cigarettes to help me cope with life because I believed they helped my anxiety.
I have been quit 4months 3 weeks and 1 day and I can honestly say that my anxiety has lessened not worsened. I have done a lot of reading on whyquit.com and on this group about our addiction,I have read allen Carrs book and I used nicotine replacement therapy (the patch) to help me quit. The patch gave me the nicotine and that gave me a chance to deal with the psychological addiction. I had to change the way I though about cigarettes. I had to tell myself many times every day that smoking wasnt my friend it didnt make sad things happy or stressful things stress free. It didnt help my anxiety it made it worse because I was anxious about smoking taking my breath, harmimg my heart, crippling my circulation, making me more suceptible to cancer, costing me a lot of money and increasing my chances of dying from a smoking related illness.I told myself that having a cigarette during a stressfull time simply gave me a timeout, in reality it took my mind off the situation momentarily. Aha I thought well I dont need a cigarette for that. I can have a glass of water or a coffee or a lollie anything that would give me a slight distance from the stressfull situation. I could deep breath or self talk they werre just as effective.
So if I can doooooooo this so can you. This group is the most supportive and knowledgeable I have ever met. They helped me quit. in fact I probably couldnt have done it without them so How about you let us help you to quit.
Tell us your quit date and we can take it from there
Hugs deb