busy today aren’t we
My goodness!!!!!!! I got home today and found 64 messages, most from the group.
Thought I would post after my treadmill stress test I had today. It was not a
pass or fail test, but it measured how my heart was doing after the heart attack
and how much more or less exercising I should be doing. I did 6 minutes at a
steep incline at 3 miles per hour. Now I KNOW I could not have come close to
that before I quit.
Someone posted that quitting was not easy. We either were lying or was not
hooked. I am hear to tell you that #1 this group has done bunches for me even
though I am in month 3 of my quit, and compared to the fact that I only would
have lived 10 more minutes if my hubby had not found me that night, quitting has
not been a hard thing for me. Having a heart attack was hard for me. Knowing I
was dying was hard for me.
I love reading all the posts, but I am like some. I don’t post often, but I
read it all. I passed this site to my tech today to reccommend to all who
really want to change their lives forever. All of you that are struggling,
please keep working at it. Life is precious and the freedom from smoking is
incredible.
Ann
May 1st, 2003 at 6:57 am
Pat… This letter means so much…
Thank you again, so much.
Thank you. I don’t know what’s wrong
with me. Rather than anger, the thing
I find most disconcerting, is that the
smallest things cause me to burst into
tears! What’s up with THAT??? This crusty
ex-Army-sergeant does NOT burst into tears!
(or, at least he didn’t, prior to the 17th
of October!) *twinkle* That was my quit day.
I’ve had some slips since then, but I am not
allowing myself to slip any longer.
I am using Wellbutrin in conjunction with the
nicotine patch. I have to say that this combination
is MAGNIFICENT!! I just don’t think I would have
been able to make it without these two cessation
aids. I did it for the first month, cold turkey.
The withdrawals and cravings and sleep disturbances
were simply unbearable. Absolutely awful. Hell on
earth. Truly. So I went on Wellbutrin. That helped.
It helped quite a lot, actually, but I was still
having monster withdrawals from nicotine, and I’m
sure I prolonged the agony by allowing myself to
slip, thus starting the withdrawal cycle all over
again.
Yesterday was my first day of using the patch and
Zyban together, and I have to say that I am feeling
WONDERFUL!! For the first time I have confidence. I
have hope! There is a light at the end of the tunnel!
I am willing to crawl through ten miles of broken
glass, as long as I can see a light at the end of the
tunnel, but if I lose sight, lose hope, or keep getting
beaten down without relief, then despair begins to
set in.
Thank you for your message and for the hope and good
cheer that it brings. Congratulations on quitting, and
congratulations on REMAINING QUIT! *applauding* Also, I
heartily agree with your thoughts/comments on gratitude.
The Attitude Of Gratitude is like the key to Heaven…
-Frank
May 1st, 2003 at 6:45 pm
Frank,
I am on my way out the door but I just had to write a short note to you.
You wrote:
I don’t know what’s wrong
with me. Rather than anger, the thing
I find most disconcerting, is that the
smallest things cause me to burst into
tears! What’s up with THAT???
I had to smile when I read this. Not smile at you but smile in memory.
I called these tears, the tears from hell. They came from out of
nowhere and usually had no explanation as to why I was
sitting/standing/laying there crying. Disconcerting??? Omigosh, so
much so that I have lost quits over this one factor. I, too, am not a
crier. I also didn’t know what was wrong with me and why I was
experiencing such high emotion. Come to find out there is a very real
chemical explanation for the tears. It has to do with the lack of the
chemicals (that assist the neurotransmitters) in our brains. (Steve
wrote a fairly long post a while back that included this particular
explanation. If you didn’t read it, let me know and I can send it to
you.) So don’t let the tears disconcert you. They are part of your
recovery process. I was VERY glad to read that you have visited your
doctor and taken steps to help yourself. This is excellent.
One other thought…. I quit cold turkey. If I had it to do all over
again, I would use every quit aid I could lay my hands on to assist me
in quitting smoking. This addiction is insidious and our bodies need
the time to recover. If there is something out there like Wellbutrin,
the patches or the gum that will help us keep our balance until we are
able to get it all together so we can walk through life smokefree, then
why not use them? I applaud you (and all of you) for doing so.
So, you crusty old sergeant (smile)…. you’re doing grand. Well done,
Pat
May 2nd, 2003 at 11:38 pm
In a message dated 27/11/01 14:03:26 GMT Standard Time, fisacorp@…
writes:
Hi Pat
I read this letter that Frank was referring to but only cos it came attached
to Frank’s posting - I didn’t get this and wondered if it is a new post or an
old one. If its a new one then I am missing some posts cos didn’t know what
you were referring to in regard to Ann.
I’m only being nosy cos I’m like that
Indi
May 10th, 2003 at 9:20 am
So glad to hear that you’re doing so well, Ann. Sounds like you’ll be
running in a marathon soon - ? Hey, don’t laugh, it happens. You
reminded me of an acquaintance I haven’t thought of in a long time. I
remember he used to be a heavy smoker, had a heart attack when he was
42 and almost died. He quit smoking and started walking, then running.
Within a year he was running in road races all over the state! I guess
having a goal is a good thing. Let’s see, my goal is to walk all the
way out to the mailbox everyday. Hey, it’s a start!
- Cat
pass or fail test, but it measured how my heart was doing after the heart attack
and how much more or less exercising I should be doing. I did 6 minutes at a
steep incline at 3 miles per hour. Now I KNOW I could not have come close to
that before I quit.
hooked. I am hear to tell you that #1 this group has done bunches for me even
though I am in month 3 of my quit, and compared to the fact that I only would
have lived 10 more minutes if my hubby had not found me that night, quitting has
not been a hard thing for me. Having a heart attack was hard for me. Knowing I
was dying was hard for me.
read it all. I passed this site to my tech today to reccommend to all who
really want to change their lives forever. All of you that are struggling,
please keep working at it. Life is precious and the freedom from smoking is
incredible.