Thats IT !!! Im Sick of it !!!!

Nursing Students General Students

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I mean SMOKING !!!!!!!!!!!

I know this has nothing to do with Nursing School for most people...but for me it does.

1.I start NS in August...will be working less So I wont be able to afford smoking.

2.I will be in Clinicals...not really a place to step out there and have a puff.

3.I will be studying ALL THE TIME, and since I do not smoke in my home, I really dont have time to step outside and lose my focus

4. I feel terrible and I want to be healthy for school :redbeathe

5. I'm just plain TIRED of the hold it has on me :angryfire

6. My car stinks !!

Please share your quit smoking tips with me.....I need some encouragment !!!!!!

Specializes in Hospice.

i recently started then quit smoking after a month and a half. before i quit 4 years ago, i smoked for quite a few years. it is def a hard thing to stop, but it souds like you are sincerely at that point where you want to. i have not read all the responses so i am sorry if i repeat what anyone else has said.

1. don't buy them, cause they cost a ton! buy a pack of gum instead and while you are at the gas station getting that grab a straw to hold in your fingers or put in your mouth. smoking very much has to do with keeping your hands busy!

2. brush your teeth when you get the urge. you won't want to mess up your delicious breath, now would ya?

3. tell the people around you to jump your shiznit if they see you smoking or buying cigs. i swear it works. my fiance, when we first started dating told me he wouldn't talk to me for 24 hours if he caught me smoking. oh and he crushed any packs he found. it really worked for me!

4. get nicotine gum. i never used it but it could take the edge off!

5. if you have to wean yourself. go to lights, then ultra lights. smoke less and less everyday.

6. there are websites to help for free.........visit them!

www.smokefree.gov

www.anti-smoking.org/

www.cdc.gov/tobacco/how2quit.htm

good luck! you can do it. remember as a nurse you will be so happy you did this for yourself! i promise.

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Thanks for the encouragment and all the web sites....they will sure be useful.

I get to go to school tomorrow and schedule my classes and clinical sites for August,

not smelling like an ashtray when I finally meet the Nursing School Coordinator is a good

incentive ...for tonight anyway.

Am making a HUGE DINNER for the kids...and have hit hour 7....

Doing Well...

SSSSHHHH...REALLY IM LYING !! NOT ABOUT DINNER OR THE 7 HOURS BUT THAT IM OK ! IM TRYING TO FAKE IT TILL I MAKE IT...YA KNOW WHAT I MEAN ?

I KEEP HAVING MOMENTS THAT I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MY HANDS ....OR MY BREATHE IS TAKEN AWAY FOR A MOMENT OR TWO...IVE BEEN DRINKING ALOT OF WATER..AND I THINK THATS GOOD...WILL KEEP YOU POSTED AS I AM FEELING LIKE I NEED THE HELP

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Specializes in Hospice.

Actually the drinking water is good because it could probably keep you from over eating. Seven hours is so awesome. Keep going you got it! Put a straw or toothpick (faux redneck) in your mouth or in between your fingers!

You got this!

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i to am a true smoker; I quit when I was pregnant and started back the day I was released from the hospital. my husband said we could get the house of my dreams if i quit so i quit we got the house and a year and half later i started smoking again; I just quit again about 4-5 months, I would beg my husband to go buy me some cigs but he would not and knowing how head strong i am i would not have bought them, if he bought them it wouldn't be me giving up (at least thats how my brain works) sugar free popcicles did the trick for me this time! good luck

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Specializes in Hospice.
i to am a true smoker; I quit when I was pregnant and started back the day I was released from the hospital. my husband said we could get the house of my dreams if i quit so i quit we got the house and a year and half later i started smoking again; I just quit again about 4-5 months, I would beg my husband to go buy me some cigs but he would not and knowing how head strong i am i would not have bought them, if he bought them it wouldn't be me giving up (at least thats how my brain works) sugar free popcicles did the trick for me this time! good luck

Good luck to you!

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Good for you, OP! After smoking for about 30-plus years (started as a young teen) and many attempts to quit, I stopped about 5 years ago with the help of Commit Lozenges. I didn't like the taste of the gum too much so I tried them. After about 3 years I started up again! What an idiot! I was actually smoking in secret--neither hubby (who smokes) nor the kids knew. I finally realized how much worse I was starting to feel, physically,and went back on the Commit and haven't smoked in about a year. The trouble is, I'm still using the lozenges! I don't even know if I'm actually doing myself any harm, but it has to be better than actually smoking, right? Anyway, I really do have to kick this "new" habit, preferably before NS starts in the fall. I might actually try the patch for a while. If I can break the "have to have something in my mouth" part, perhaps the nicotine addiction will be a little easier to kiss goodbye. Oh, and I felt so much better after quitting (again) last year that I actually started looking after my body--worked out and started to eat sensibly and lost the 40 pounds that had crept on in the previous decade. The working out part was so much easier than it had been before. As a smoker, the treadmill was like torture to me. Now I love it!

Good luck to you--you'll be so happy as an ex-smoker!

:yeah:

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OK OK OK OK

SO.....the physical cravings arent TOO terrible,(THEY ARE THERE THOUGH !!! ) since I do have a patch on...but I swear its like I dont know what to do with myself !!

I was kinda walking around...doing nothing, subconsiouly moving from place to place in the house....I snapped at a kid or two ( they were probably going to do something wrong soon anyway ! ) so whatever !!! it wont kill em right ?

I ate dinner....and then about 3 hrs later when I was feeling anxious I said to my son " Wanna walk to the corner and get chicken wings with me " ( hes 16 and growing so he jumped)

I know I shouldnt be eating alot....but a few days wont hurt...Ill get some lollipos and other things tomorrow.

Right now Im tired and have a headache....I guess that could be from not having my OTHER friend COFFEE....

I was afraid the caffeine would trigger me to cave...so I didnt drink any...and my HEAD HURTS...and I feel sad...

I mean I like smoking...but there is not 1 positive thing about it...so like it or not...Im going to go to bed and go to sleep, when I wake up in the AM it will like adding 8 free hours of smoke freeness under my belt :yeah:

Thanks for listening

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Specializes in Hospice.

Maybe you shouldnt go off of caffeine and nicotie at the same time?!

Good luck in the AM, girl! You are doing sooo good!

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

There are probably some really good tips on those websites, so I won't repeat, so I'll just tell you how it went for me. And this without any patches, etc. cause they hadn't been invented yet!

Before I quit, I filled my mind with positive and negative images. Sounds like you are already doing this. I visualized how I HATED that they controlled me to the point I couldn't fully enjoy myself somewhere if the thought of the next cig dominated my mind. So I just allowed myself to be royally ****** off at them.

Like others suggested, use the plight of others to at least let them teach you what not to do. I had a patient, a vital lively wonderful lady, who's COPD/emphysema reduced her to a pale, bent -over, fear- stricken lady pushing her oxygen tank down the hall. And, she never did quit smoking. She died pretty soon after. In a way I felt like her death meant something if it helped me to avoid the same fate.

It took about two weeks to get past the point of thinking about smoking 24/7. So, if you expect it you won't freak out so much. It WILL get better. It is gradual, though. If you slip, take it in stride. I actually tapered down and that worked for me though not for everyone.

One of the best things I had, haven't ever seen again. It was a little inspirational, motivating book that looked and was shaped like a pack of Marlboros. So when you're hanging on by your fingernails, you look at that instead of the real deal. I think it may have been in Day 1, Day 2 3 etc. format.

Tobacco is so insidious, where after years of freedom, life smacks you around some and the first thing you want is a cigarette!!! I relapsed after an assault crime, 3yrs after I initially quit. Was able to quit again after about a month.

Best wishes with this, and your future, smoke-free, healthier self will thank you because the benefits of quitting are soooo good. . .so worth it.

PS Start planning NOW for what you want to do with all the extra money!! Make it fun.

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Specializes in ICU.

Not a smoker, but I just wanted to wish you good luck! I have witnessed how hard it was for some of my friends to quit smoking and I was so proud of the ones who stuck to it and fought through the cravings. I think I would have become a smoker myself if my mom hadn't caught me when I was 16. A friend of mine had just started supplying me with a cig here and there everyday for about 2 weeks until I was caught. At that point it wasn't hard for me to stop but even still today (10 years later) whenever I pass by someone lighting up that smell gets to me and I think for half a second that I wouldn't mind smoking "just" one. How sad is that?

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AAAAHHHHHH !!!

Its the middle of the night and I keep waking up...my throat hurts and my mouth is dry....

WOW...what a slap in the face...lolololol...im a junky !!

So I have read GREAT advise, and I am trying to see myself on the other side. I really dont want to get up and go outside to smoke ( again I dont smoke in the home) I have to laugh at the number of times I have gotten up, put on my slippers, put on my Winter coat and hat, grabbed a cup of coffee and went out in the cold to ENJOY my cigarette !!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOLOLOLOLOL...thats the laugh I needed, and here everyone is sleeping, so I thought I would share here...

Night

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Just DO it. You named all the reasons why quitting smoking will be easy for you. The same stamina you will use to stay focused on your quest to become a nurse you can apply to quitting smoking. You will be so busy studying etc, just like you said, that you wont have time to smoke. Be strong! You CAN do this!!!!!

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