Cognitive Quit Smoking

Hey, Pam….
I’m beginning to think I truly am an Old Fogey by the way I feel today.
Giggle. (I’m gonna take a lazy day today as my poor *old* self needs a
break. And I am teasing you.) How it goes over in AS3 is:
1 year quit - Old Fogey (OF)
2 years quit - Double Old Fogey (DOF)
3 years and 4 years quit - Very Old Fogey (VOF)
5 years and above quit - Olympian Old Fogey (OOF)
I’ve been chasing Steve, OOF, for a long time now. He won’t slow down for
me either!!! But I guess that’s a really good thing. Smile. And brain
fog? You mean I have to own up to it’s passing and this is who I truly am?
Omigosh!!! I’m in trouble.
To Indi… a VERY Heartfelt Congratulations!!! 3 months is an awesome
accomplishment. When we have fought hard to rid ourselves of this addiction
that is literally robbing us of the breath of life, we get to stand tall as
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….one of those tough days. Stupid - I’ve found the tools but today
I just couldn’t seem to use them as effectively. B’s and C’s got a
bit mixed up and I felt like I’d ‘lost the plot’. I’m trying to
work out why I felt like that. Just had a quick chat to Pam a
little while ago which helped me, but I still can’t work out what
triggered those cravings today. Maybe I just need an early night -
have certainly been feeling tired this past day or two.
I’m a bit down, but not out. I’ll think about it some more tomorrow.
see you later
Katie

Whistles, bells, horns, and confetti. You should be so proud. 3 months, 90
days, 1/2 of a year of freedom. You worked very hard to get where you are,
order yourself a pizza tonite!
Gail
One week, one day, 10 hours, 19 minutes and 24 seconds. 210 cigarettes not
smoked, saving $31.61. Life saved: 17 hours, 30 minutes.

Hiya Pam
For an ‘oldie’ with brain fog you are being a proper little ‘clever clogs’
aren’t you?:)
Well done its a great job. Catch up over weekend.
Indi

Hello. Today was not too good. I just feel so blah. Very lazy, anti-social,
mad at the world, etc. I know these are expected since it’s only been 8 days of
my quit but it seems to be getting worse not better. Today I actually felt
light-headed and nauseous. My husband has quit the Zyban (we’ve both been on it
for about 3 wks now). I think maybe I should quit it and see if I feel better.
It scares me though, what if I start craving cigs? The physical craves are
still there, but not so bad. Any suggestions?
Gail
One week, 19 hours, 9 minutes and 59 seconds. 194 cigarettes not smoked, saving
$29.24. Life saved: 16 hours, 10 minutes.

So far, I’ve set up folders as follows :-
A.B.C.’s
Depression
Detox
Diaries and Journals
Diet and exercise
Foundation statements
Stress and nicotine withdrawal
The files contain links to posts in the archives, so you’ll also be
able to link to `follow up’ posts on the particular topic. Tis
early days yet - there’s plenty to do yet, but it’s a start.
Are there other topics you’d like to see gathered together?
Are there particular posts you feel belong in a folder? If so, send
me the post numbers and I’ll sort it.
This week is manic at work - I haven’t much time or energy, but I’ll
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Just a quick post to say hi to you all - day 8 under my belt and I’m
feeling good with this quit.
I went back to work yesterday knowing it’d be a stressful ‘too much
to do’ day and got myself prepared for it - getting some strategies
in place. Just been talking with Steve and it seems like this
preparing beforehand really is the way of stopping those triggers in
their tracks - or before they even get on the starting block. I’ll
post more about this later, but it’s late and I’ve been online for
ages. But this chat and support is fantastic, and I’m off to bed a
very happy camper.
nite everyone Katie

Well everyone I got through a really productive day at work and came home
stress free thanks to Steve and his help with getting some ABC’s into place.
You all know I’ve been having a hard time at work lately and for three weeks
I am in sole charge of a company. Now its not a multi million dollar company
but its my ‘friends’ company and I am an over conscientious person anyway who
doesn’t like to ‘fail’ or admit ‘I’m not superwoman’.
Managed to chat with Steve about it last night cos I’ve also been having
problems with this ‘hole’ thing inside that I haven’t been able to figure out
what it is.
First of all I put it down to side effects of zyban - so stopped the zyban.
Then I put it down to ‘healing process’ - cilia growing back etc.
Then I put it down to ‘hunger’
Then I put it down to ‘cravings’ but couldn’t be having physical cravings
now could I
Then I put it down to anxiety - never had that before so not sure.
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Hi Mike
Sorry to hear you blew it - but can understand - the addiction to alcohol and
returning to it is a real scary issue.
When I tried to quit last year I began by going to smoking cessation classes
and having individual counselling alongside them
My counsellor was originally trained in the addiction of alcohol so she was
well aware of the 12 step approach and the AA sayings. She was also a
Medical Practitioner.
Her belief was (not sure how much is actually medical fact) that smoking is
more harmful to our bodies than alcohol but smoking is less of a ’social
problem’ than alcoholism.
I know it was with my husband - he would prefer me to smoke 2 packs a day
rather than drink - but addiction is addiction is addiction.
Its all to do with this feeling of discomfort which causes us to reach out
under our old belief system for the thing which will stop/ease the discomfort.
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Ann
Nice to hear from you - good to see you are still quit - hope hubby is ok
Indi