GUS (Gave Up Smoking) is a community support diary for Kossacks in the midst of quitting smoking. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. We avoid discussion of political issues. If you are quitting or even thinking about quitting, please -- join us! GUS Library at dKosopedia is organically evolving, and stocked with free-range information: quit-smoking links, helpful GUS diary writing tips, and the GUS buddy list.
"A message to all quitters: you don't have to avoid GUS if your latest attempt to quit didn't work out. We won't give you a bad time and we consider the attempted quits as practice for the real quit." (h/t to FG)
And yes while I hope that headline grabs your attention, no I didn't slip and smoke a cigarette, or two, or a pack. Its actually been 90 days since I've smoked a cigarette so instead what that number is in reference to is the number of days I haven't had nicotine in my system. That's the number of days its been since I actually stopped feeling any kind of nicotine withdrawal symptoms in my body let alone my mind, and let's just leave that, my mind, alone for right now.
Instead let's go to my body and something another GUSer, peterfallow, had the unmerciful gall to tell me:
"Along the way, I tried gum and patches, but the last two times I have used patches for the first 48 hours and then cold turkey.
You are gonna suffer anyways, so might as well get it over in one go. Using patches means that everytime you go to a smaller patch its like starting all over again."
And I sure don't mean to pick on peterfallow but he told me something I didn't believe because I didn't want to and because those patches just seemed to be working so well for me. In fact I even bragged about it here on the GUS thread explaining how I was even going 24 hours without a nicotine patch on.
Well guess what? 24 hours wasn't 36 hours, or 48 hours, or 72 hours, and before those hours were up peterfallow was right. There was still some suffering and renewed dedication on my part not to mention a day or two of mostly being on the couch. So just to forewarn if you're a patcher even when you get towards the end of your program and you've been clearing every hurdle that last one, the actual final goodbye to nicotine, still might be a little higher hurdle than you anticipated. Or at least it was for me.
But even so I have to say that the nicotine patches have seemed to work for me and I would recommend them. But then, I would recommend any kind of quit smoking approach anyone wants to try and just hope they find the right one for them.
With the possible exception of my outdated licorice bits program.
And not because that didn't work either. Because it did in many ways. Beginning with, and I have no explanation for this, but when it comes to craving nicotine and/or cigarettes nothing seems to work better for combating them for me then black licorice. And of all the kinds of black licorice the little sugar coated pieces of black licorice work the best. And as luck would have it just when I was thinking about just kicking the last of my nicotine patches early I visited a neighbor of mine and hit the mother-load.
Which was a long story involving a relative of my neighbor that distributed candy machines to businesses, a candy machine that got forgotten about and moved into a back room for more than a year and a half. The discovery of the candy machine. The dropping it off at my neighbor's house (until the relative could transport it), the putting the keys in the machine, and the free candy, especially the candy coated licorice bits.
It seemed like a God send. Because these weren't just licorice bits anymore. After that amount of time they were more like a licorice jaw breakers, that could be reduced to licorice, and then turned into a cud like chewing tobacco.
And yes that worked. That helped me get past the final nicotine withdrawal. That gave me the inspiration to write this diary. And that is the reason I'm headed to the dentist tomorrow.
Well win some lose some. But still worth the GUS.
BUDDY LIST
1BQ, 2thanks, 3rdGenFeminist, 417els, A Man Called Gloom, Abra Crabcakeya, Actbriniel, addisnana, AfroPonix, aishmael, Alise, Alpha99, also mom of 5, ambeeeant, American in Kathmandu, amk for obama, andsarahtoo, angry marmot, Anne933, anodnhajo, aoeu, AoT, aquarius2001, arcadesproject, Archie2227, arodb, Arthur Wolf (in memoriam), assyrian64, Aunt Acid, awkawk, b4uknowit, BadKitties, bamablue, BARAKABETH, barnowl, b barrie, bdizz, beatpanda, beefydaddy18, betterdemsonly, BFSkinner, bgblcklab1, BigAlinWashSt, Bike Crash, BirderWitch, BJKay, bleeding heart, blingbling65, blue husky, Blue Intrigue, bluedust, BluejayRN, BlueJessamine, BlueMississippi, Bluerall, bluestatedem84, BoiseBlue, boudi08, Brahman Colorado, breedlovinit, BrenP, BrianParker14, Bronxist, broths, BrowniesAreGood, bsmechanic, Buckeye Nut Schell, buddabelly, Bugsydarlin, bumbi, BusyinCA, cactusgal, cagernant, Carol in San Antonio, CathiefromCanada, CathodeRay, CDH in Brooklyn, Cedwyn, cee4, Cen Den, ChocolateChris, 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