Anne

Thank you, yes I do know not one puff ever.  That is hard living with a smoker.

I am very blessed with grandkids.  I have a total of 22.  Six of those, I really don't see at all, 7 live out of town and come for half the summer, one lives with me and the other 8 live close and just pop in and out whenever they call and want to come over......LOL  They range in age from 18 years old to 3 1/2 months old so, it is a lot to keep up with.

I am also blessed with many friends from different areas of my life that keep me going and keep me away from those things that are bad for me!

Hope you are having a fabulous summer?

Kathy

Thanks for your support Kathy, we will see how we go today

Yeah its no easy task to quit. Its been 5 weeks for me but seems way longer than that for some reason. I think its my 20th attempt this year, i would quit like every week so far this year, sometimes a quit will stick. 

I have been using the patches religiously and will work down to the 14mg ones this week. that has been the key for me is using the patches. You have to quit when its right for you.

Hey overdoze,

The patch was one of the ingredients of my successful quit. I started with the 21mg patch and was going to use it for at least 4 weeks.  Took it off at night because i had weird dreams if I kept it on.  Everything  was working fine.  With the patch I would forget to want a smoke... sometimes I would feel like lighting one up but in 10 or 15 minutes I would forget about it.  On the last day of the week 4 I left the house  without it.  I panicked but remembered I still had patches at home.  Running late i decided to wing it without,  and it worked.  The craving for a smoke got smaller and smaller.. in exactly one month i will be 10 years cigarette and nicotine free!!!

Overdoz -

Thanks for the response. Yea, 4 weeks. it seems longer than that. My best attempt early this year was 2 months, otherwise it was 2 days here, 3 days there. I just gave in without much thought. I simply HAD to have a cigarette and so I did.

I wish I could say that things are different this time than before. I still really, really want to quit.

And so it goes. We are already half way through 2022. I started smoking in 1970 some 52 years ago. That's a long time. Am I going to make it 53 or can I pull it off this year?

I believe I can. 

Andrew

Andrew....

I sympathise with you!  I resolved to quit the lozenges for good yesterday.  I caved at 4:30pm, bought a pack at the local drugstore and began sucking away.  I still congratulate you on your continuous desire to quit!  You haven't given up!  Sure, you are frustrated, as am I, but you keep on truckin'.

I honestly don't know how to quit anymore.  Sometimes I don't want to participate here because I think I will bring people down.  Not only bring people down, but disappoint .... I am disappointed in myself.  But I am also wondering, am I allowed to just use nicotine casually and suck on a few lozenges everyday?  It is so hard to quit.

I believe in you Andrew.  I am going to have a shower or do something to get my mind off of the lozenges.  I have a pack upstairs in my room.  I am trying to stay away from them for at least another hour.  If I use lozenges, surely I can at the very least lengthen the amount of time in between each one.

I have gone from 6 lozenges a day to 8 or 9 a day.  Some days I even have 10 lozenges, and then feel really bad about myself. It helps to vent.  Sometimes it helps to comiserate.  But when all is said and done, if we really want to quit, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and try and try and try again!!!

Hope I can at least get back to only 6 a day in stead of 8 or 9!  Wish me luck.... And I will be praying for us!!!

Best to you Jerthie. You are not bringing others down. The purpose of this forum is to share knowledge, fears, strategies, and anything else. 

Enjoy the weekend all.

Don't feel like you are dissapointing or bringing anyone down. We have all been in that place and some were on here way before they were actually ready to quit, we support everyone.  Your addiction is very strong, but  can beat this addiction in several ways. It's a multi prong approach to just will power, which by itself cannot persist. 

There is much reading material on here explaining how nocturne addiction works in the brain, and tactics of coping, as well as relying on fellow addicts here for advice and support.

The most important thing is that you are really ready to quit and that you want to quit more than you want to continue using nicotine and that is a significant difference.

Keep posting, and if you can, read as much as you can, many links available, because reading and education ourselves on the addiction helps to change our minds, the way we think. We need that because nicotine has taken over our thought process. 

We are here to support!

Don't give up on us Jerthie - we want to be here for you for as long as it takes, up and down your path.