Hey Janet - I still have a bit of a cough but its getting less. I will deal with the excess weight once I am over 7 months (thats the longest I have ever done before). Dont really know how long the appetite increase will last for though - I dont remember from last time!
I do feel healthier, am sleeping more soundly and apparantly I dont snore as much as I used to! I dont have to blow my nose as much, I wake up with a clear nasal passage now.
And to top it all - I have more money and should live longer!
Yep - feeling somewhat superior at the moment and thank you for the PAT on the back!!
Hi Janet,
Thanks for your story. As others have already said it is truley inspiring.
I also stopped smoking about 2 weeks ago and as you I am flabbergasted as to the missing longing feeling even though I have to admit that I have more appetite than usual 🙂
Since I am 5kg below my optimum weight that is no problem at all but actually a benefit for me 🙂
Anyway, just wanted to drop in and wish you all the best as well. You are inspiring people to stop and that is priceless!
well done to all of you that have managed to stop,i'm on to my 14th month of non smoking,i managed to put a stone and a half on with in that time,but guess it was too be expected .Deal with one thing at a time, mines just shifting the extra weight now which will be a doddle considering i have more energy .
Well pat on the back to everyone who has stopped - even us newbies.
As I had been a smoker for 30 years and had never ever stopped I had a fair bit nicotine in my system so think that is why I've had really bad withdrawal symptoms and I mean bad - I certainly wouldn't want to ever live through the last 6 weeks ever again and it was only when I was talking to my GP and I confessed how crap I was feeling that he said it would be the withdrawal from the nicotine. He actually prescribed me tranquilisers as I was having really bad panic attacks (never knew you could get these but seemingly it's one of the side effects) but I didn't want to go down that road so haven't even cashed the prescription and needless to say I'm quite proud that I haven't had to take them.
Still have a wobbly spot now and then but believe me NOTHING compared to what I went through in the beginning - thought I was losing my marbles at times but I read up on it on the internet and was surprised to find out how many different symptoms there are.
And it gave me hope when I read one story of a very professional mature father of two who had gone cold turkey and he was going through the same symtpoms I was - so that made me feel better - and this man after two weeks went and bought patches and as soon as he put a patch on his symptoms disappeared. But I thought as I'd gone over 3 weeks without anything may as well be in it for the full journey.
So I hope that my story does truly inspire anyone out there who thinks they can't give up - they can - I honestly never ever thought I'd manage it and everyone in my family is so proud of me too!
So to everyone who is giving or given up - for however many weeks, months, years - well done for getting the evil weed out of your life.
I won't ever go back on it again because I know for sure that if I do I'll be facing life with either COPD, emphysema and an oxygen bottle - and there is no way I'm living my life like that.
i went cold turkey tooo after smoking 25+ a day for the last 25 years ,,,,it gets easier, and the withdrawal symptoms you find before you know it,,, that you dont suffer from any,i struggled on holiday after 7 months of stopping .but managed to hold out thankfully thats the only time i thought i wud have had 1
How long did you get withdrawal symptoms and what were they. I don't fancy one or want one it's not that withdrawal kind of symptom mine were panicky feelings, spaced out, tired etc.
I had disturbed sleep,light headedness,constipation,lasted for about 4-6 weeks then all of a sudden ya seem to be back to normal,seems like they are pretty much the same as yours. All worth it in the end 🙂 i started to swim more and can even pick out the smokers in the pool ,,,,cant believe i used to smell like them ,yuko!!!!!!
That's how I was feeling - disturbed sleep, foggy head, constipation - horrendous - panicky feelings, not wanting to be on my own, feeling clingy, depressed - so you did well to get over it in 6 weeks. I am feeling better than I was at the beginning but I had smoked for 30 years so probably a lot more nicotine to get rid of.
Graham
Did you go cold turkey or did you use patches or something else and what have your withdrawal symptoms been like, if any?
I gave up smoking six weeks ago on my 35th birthday due to health problem's. Ive got to have a major operation on my hip in July due to being in constant pain from a fairly new diagnosed hip complication called Hip impingement disorder. They said i had to give up smoking before they would even consider doing the operation,so it came to a choice of being in constant pain or giving up smoking.
The first few weeks wasn't easy although now i wonder why i didn't give up a long time ago. I have put on half a stone in that time, food just tastes so much better now. I also notice that when I'm out shopping i can smell the people who smoke a mile of, i was walking around DFS with my partner and i could smell all the people who smoked, and to think i used to smell like that too. You really don't realize until you stop.
I have been using nicorete patches which i don't think i could have done it without them,so my withdrawal symptoms haven't been as bad. I did have interrupted sleep for the first couple of weeks and a little light headedness and they did seem to pass quite quickly. I was a smoker for 19 years and was also smoking up to 25 a day. My partner still smokes a couple a day although he is quite good and doesn't smoke near me or in the house.
Just wanted to tell my story
On wards and up wards
Jackie X
The only thing I seem to be left with now and a symptom which came on about 4 weeks ago is a really tight chest a bit like asthma but people say that again this is common - just not sure how long it will take to go - don't want to use an inhaler neither - but it is better than what it was - just want it to go. There was a programme on the radio the other day and a Dr said this was a common thing that can happen when you stop.
10 weeks for me this Wednesday and I can honestly say I don't think about them now. Just come back from being away for the weekend (freezing cold weekend I hasten to add and glad I'm back) and I've managed the alcohol drinks without wanting one. Still waiting for my taste to come back - since stopping my taste has gone completely. Can't say I feel any different or feeling any of the benefits yet of stopping smoking - feel just the same apart from saving loads of money and suppose I don't stink of cigs now. But I won't go back on them - ever!