greetings. working on quitting.

[mopinko]

it takes a special kind of stupid to start smoking at 60, but getting divorced after 30 years will do that to you. i swore i would quit when the divorce was final, but that is still dragging on after a year and a half.
was at a pack a day, and coughing like an old steam engine. so, i decided to start the quit by limiting myself to a half a pack.

it has been a month now, and it is working out pretty well. i have kept to my promise for the most part, tho occasionally mooching one or 2, or taking one from the next days stash. had one day when i was stuck in traffic half the day, and had picked up a pack when i hit the road. but that was the only big cheat.
from the start, i only buy one pack at a time, which is good. only broke that one on said stuck in traffic day, as i was in wis, where they are significantly cheaper than in chicago.
when i buy a pack i immediately split it in 2. it is making my very aware of my habit, because i am constantly counting how many i have left.
it is giving my something to answer my addictive voice.

it is getting easier to space them out over the day. gotta save that last one for after dinner. also not lighting up first thing in the morning, because every other day i have to go buy a pack before i can light up. so i make myself wait until i have had a cup of coffee.

the cough is starting to lighten up. i even slept pretty well the last couple nights. that there is the worst part. that cough kills my sleep.
one other good reason to quit is that my gall bladder has been acting up from time to time and my surgeon of choice will not operate on smokers. must be quit for 2 months. a pee test is part of the pre-surg testing. not knowing when or if it is going to act up enough to come to that hangs in my mind a bit, even when it is quiet.

once the divorce is final i will be on a fixed income, so i will have another good reason to quit. really looking forward to being a non-smoker again.

anyway, just wanted to say hi now, before the crazy starts to set in.

[PennyK]

1. You've done a lot of hard work!

Quitting cigarettes is about the hardest thing to do. I was so addicted to the oral fixation that vaping was the only way I could go. It may not be the 'perfect' way to quit, but I feel a lot better. You keep that good work up!

[mopinko]

2. thanks.

think i am gonna grab some nicotine gum. my doc says that she thinks most people do best w some kind of substitute for the first few months.

[PennyK]

3. We have something in common

I didn't read your post completely the first time.
I wanted to have some elective surgery and I needed to quit, at least temporarily, for that. I moved to the e-cig, and then used zero-nicotine liquid in mine for several weeks before the surgery.

[mopinko]

4. yeah, my mom quit in her 60's.

had a heart attack, and had a serious heart surgery (back in the day) woke up with no desire for cigarettes, and never had another.
she died just short of her 90th birthday. so, i feel like, whether i like it or not, i still have a lot of years left on this rock.

e-cig might be a smart way to go, but i feel like i just need to quit.

[PennyK]

5. Then that's what you do

I have a serious oral gratification issue...if I don't have that e-cig to pop in my mouth, I start eating. And eating. And eating.

[mopinko]

6. she was a lifelong smoker.

i have only been doing it for a year and a half, so i dont think it will be that hard. gonna try the gum, tho. i do have that oral gratification thing, fersher.

[mopinko]

7. update- well my 1/2 pack rationing has been a little wobbly.

but i have had quite the roller coaster the last couple weeks.
my farm got inspected by the city (stress), but we won. the case was dropped. (woohaw! who cares.) my divorce, not so much. (stress)
had a couple of full pack days, but mostly 2 or 3 extra cigs. but getting back on the wagon.

broke down and bought some gum. it helps. i am a gum chewer anyway. i know if i dont have something for my oral fixation, i will blow up like a balloon.
only downside is that you cant drink while chewing the gum, whereas i often drink and smoke, both coffee and beer.

coughing less, tho still do it enough.

one thing that is a big draw for me is knowing i will be able to taste food again. taste buds are bad enough at my age, they dont need a push down that slope. and i grow delicious food that i can only half taste.

how about you?

[PennyK]

8. I'm still recommending an e-cig for you

You can get one with zero nic or a low amount. You'd get all the physical activity of a cig. And you start to "recover" just as well as if you were using nothing. I use a very simple one and I'd be happy to advise you if you want to give it a shot.

[mopinko]

10. i will give this some thought.

there is a good smoke shop near here that has all this sort of stuff.
you may very well be right. the sensation of smoking will be hard to lose.

[PennyK]

9. Some more details

My mother smoked until she got emphysema. HER dad died of lung cancer.
I got an e-cig January 2014. It took me all of four days to switch over completely, and by that time, the real cig tasted so gross by comparison (e-cig is much cleaner-tasting), that I stubbed last last cig out after three puffs.
You can get any flavor of the juice you'd like! Most start with something that is similar to their cigarettes, but these days I'm all about tart and tangy fruit flavors. Yum! I use flavors that complement whatever I'm drinking: mocha or mint with my coffee, and the fruity flavors with iced tea or ginger ale.
Taste and smell have returned, I don't stink of cigs, and no more phlegmy cough! I joke that I have nothing to do for the first five minutes after I get up in the morning. I got back my singing voice! I love music and that was always a hobby of mine.
I buy fairly expensive juice, from a company that's considered to be "gourmet," and I still save so much money that it's nuts.
My adult daughters are so happy about it!
I feel like I've been set free.

Most of all, remember that most of the harm from smoking is from the combustion (that's what the e-cig eliminates), NOT the nicotine.

[Tobin S.]

11. Hi, mo. I have a Quit Keeper that keeps track of my smoking cessation stats.

It's a free little app that you can find with a search. Here are my stats.

I have been quit for 3 Years, 3 Months, 1 Week, 5 Days, 17 hours, 49 minutes and 57 seconds (1,199 days). I have saved $10,689.69 by not smoking 35,992 cigarettes. I have saved 4 Months, 1 Day, 23 hours and 20 minutes of my life. My Quit Date: 7/5/2012 5:00 PM

The thing that got me to quit initially was the cost. As you can see, I've saved enough to buy a nice car over the last 3 years and 3 months. But after I quit, I felt so much better that my health became my main motivator. I used to smoke 30 cigarettes a day on average, sometimes 2 packs when I was drinking beer. I quit cold turkey and never looked back.

[mopinko]

12. that seems like a great little app.

i will look for it.
i am facing life on a fixed (tho decent) income soon, and it would be a good motivation. probably be the only thing that i will be able to control. lol.

tho i am working on it now just for my sanity, soon as my divorce is final, i will kiss it goodbye if it kills me. which it wont.

[PennyK]

13. Just remembered a dumb trick that used to help me

I got a straw from Dunkin'; they are wide -- similar to the diameter of a cigarette. Cut it the the length of one. Use it when you get that urge. It helped me a bit. You can almost fool yourself when you inhale through it.

[mopinko]

14. ha! good tip.