Quitting smoking isn't getting any easier - day 7

It is now day 7 in the morning and quitting smoking is not getting any easier. Actually just the opposite since my last post on day 4. It is now becoming more of a mental battle.

The little pangs I felt in the first few days have been overtaken by longings for a cigarette. The cranberry juice is not needed anymore as the nicotine leaves the body on day 3 or 4. I have tried to continue snacking often which helps with blood sugar levels to combat pangs.

Today I am just about to take a 5HTP tablet as I feel like my serotonin level needs a boost. I think I read somewhere that many people light up again on day 9 so these next few days are crucial. Then after 2 weeks things should noticeably get easier.

One resource I have been reading is http://whyquit.com/ which has lots of articles on it. I often find a page to read which relates to a specific feeling. For example there was one which helped me yesterday about longing for one "ideal" cigarette. It made me realise that I have been romanticising about the perfect cigarette instead of looking at the bigger picture.

For the initial few days I was thinking "quitting smoking cold turkey isn't hard at all". Now I am realising that it is the week that follows the first few days which is more testing. Fingers crossed I can prevent the thoughts longing for a smoke from winning over the next few days.

Is Cranberry Juice really a miracle quit smoking tool?

It is now day 4 in the morning and I am wondering why everyone says quitting smoking is so hard. I have an urge to smoke (possibly because there is no sugar in me yet) so I have just pored a glass of cranberry juice and started chewing gum. I jut let the cravings sit there and then pass away, I don't start fretting about it.

I'm not sure whether it is the cranberry juice or not but I really haven't struggled quitting smoking so far. Day 3 is supposed to be the worst, but it wasn't an issue. I even managed to have a couple of beers last night which I thought could be hard. It wasn't so bad.

Besides the cranberry juice so far I have kept busy (cycled 8 miles yesterday), avoided too much work (bought and played on a video game a lot yesterday), snacked (a lot) and just keep in mind the one reason to quit smoking (avoiding a long, drawn out premature death filled with suffering e.g. lung cancer).

I've not done massive amounts or reading online but I think the general consensus is that day 3/4 is when the nicotine leaves the body and cravings peak. Then after 2 weeks things should really improve. Along the way I should notice things like easier breathing which will help keep motivated.

One more thing - before quitting I bought some cheap knock-off cigarettes. They were horrific and I feel like I have a very minor sore throat from them. So perhaps trying to replicate this with very strong cigs or even cigars could be a helping factor too? I can feel a little something in my throat which just helps me reinforce the fact that I shouldn't be smoking when I get the urge to.

Quitting Smoking Day 2

Yesterday I took the plunge and decided to quit. It started pretty well and by afternoon I was feeling confident enough to throw away my cigarettes and ash trays.

I am now mid-way through day 2. I am getting cravings but they really aren't too bad. The worst is when I do something which reminds me of smoking. Then I get a kind of deja vu flash back which makes me miss having a smoke.

I am using cranberry juice as it is said to help with cravings (regulates sugar levels or something?) and may help flush nicotine out of the body faster. I've only been able to find 15% juice cartons so I had almost 3 litres of that yesterday.

I have also been snacking a lot. I really couldn't care less if I put some weight on. If snacking for a week or so helps me quit that is awesome. Peanuts, chips/crisps, chewing gum and chewy Mentos have been my friends in the past day and a half. Also had some Jasmine tea which is probably a good thing.

So far so good. I am just working from a single reason to quit- to prevent the very high chance of dying a smokers' death- a long, drawn out, painful death from something like lung cancer. So far that thought has overwhelmed the slight pangs I am getting to have a smoke.

I have also been doing more exercise and less work. I think it is the first 3-4 days which are supposed to be worst, then the body is nicotine free. So I plan on resuming regular eating and work habits soon. Any kind of sitting around doing nothing is bad and doing something new or outdoors is good as it helps to occupy the mind.

This Blog Was An Idiotic Idea It's Time To Quit

So I started this blog in 2012 thinking there would be some cool ways of being a healthy smoker by eating certain foods and supplements. What sounded cool was really a silly idea. I never managed to come up with anything to support getting healthier whilst smoking.

After being a smoker for most of my life I have decided to give quitting a serious try. The one thing I will be using to help me is cranberry juice. Also hopefully posting on this blog will help keep me motivated. I am just going to use cranberry juice because I read online once that it can help:

"This really works because nicotine raises your blood sugar, juice does the same thing. If you keep your blood sugar level, quitting is so much easier. All the craziness and mood swings after quitting are blood sugar related. Usually straightens itself out after a week or two." source: a forum

The above comment on a forum was enough to convince me to try cranberry. I don't expect the drink to have a massive effect. Really my method will be cold turkey and if the juice can help a little that will be great.

Why cold turkey?
I tried Zyban once and it worked until I stupidly had just one cigarette when on holiday. It is a drug you take for something like 3 months and after 8 days or so I just didn't want to smoke anymore.

At the beginning of this year I tried the new drug Chantix. That didn't work at all for me and I am guessing that this is because I had used Zyban in the past. It does seem to work for most other people.

I have tried an electronic cigarette which didn't work for me. I just ended up using it for long haul flights.

I read the Alan Carr stop smoking book and another one. They didn't work for me either.

So that leaves me with holistic treatments (acupuncture, hypnosis etc...) or cold turkey. I have decided to just bite the bullet and go cold turkey. I'm not going to try and con my brain or anything, I am just going to try and ride it out until the cravings are (almost) gone. I doubt they will ever go away 100%.

I will probably start Googling for quitting aids as soon as I start, so I will let you know if anything helps. For now I just want to keep it in my mind that I will probably avoid a drawn out, painful death by quitting whilst still in my mid-thirties.

Introduction to the Healthy Smoker

Like many people who smoke I would love to be healthier but just don't have the inclination to quit right now. I have for years said I'll quit one day but that day never comes. I have quit once but then started again on holiday. I know I am doing major harm to my body but have decided to see if there is anything I can do to help combat the effects of smoking on the body.

There will certainly be nothing to cancel out the terrible effects of smoke on the body. One day I hope to quit but in the meantime this blog will record my progress with research into whether there is anything which can help in the meantime. So far a quick scan online brought up a few vitamin supplements which may help. I will be looking deeply into these and posting links to any medical studies which offer any proof.

This site will not contain any remedies to help quit or advice like "cutting down is best". This is for people like me who are addicted to smoking cigarettes and wish to try and reduce harmful effects in any way. If you do wish to quit there are tonnes of sites to help out there. I have heard that hypnosis for smoking is a cheap method if you really want to quit. One friend has used a CD from Self Hypnosis UK for this which can be found at www.selfhypnosisuk.com if you are interested