I quit smoking!!
I'm proud to announce I smoked my last cigarette in July 2019.
If anyone tells you that's easy, well, it's not. But let me tell you a secret, it's not as tricky as I said. I did smoke for more than 30 years; I admit it's a long time. This habit and dependency are hard to stop; I still remember smoking in enclosed spaces like the office; yes, it was allowed! Even worse, the smokers had seats on airplanes, buses, and trains (one or two wagons just for smokers). Now a day's, all that is forbidden.
The first public transport to banish smoking permission was aviation. But as an Engineer, it was more a financial decision than, because of health or safety, to reduce aircraft maintenance time between flights.
But that is history, and I will not give you any insights or tips on how I did succeed (please subscribe to this blog; I will keep you informed).
When I decided to stop smoking, back in April (2019), I realized I was smoking 30 cigarettes a day. Yes, even for a smoker, it's too much! I'm an outdoor sportsman; at 46 years old, running was breathtaking. My heartbeat was too high even when resting. Looking at my Fitbit watch heartbeat measurements.
Let me tell you that I don't have anything against friends or people that smoke; I'm the first to understand the habit and the addiction. I will be the first to assist and support you to stop smoking, but I will never put you aside due to the addiction. As a side note, I'm unsure if there are any studies on how much humanity is in debt to the tobacco side effects. I believe that science is in debt with nicotine side effects.
Back to what I did, I can summarize in four steps, but it's me as an Engineer and Business Process and Transformation Manager:
Step 1 - I did argue with myself about the need to stop smoking. I did even question the potential financial savings but let me tell you, saving money should not be the reason. It will be a side benefit but never one reason.
Did any of the persons that quit smoking I know become rich? And no, none of my friends became richer just because stop smoking, so I gave up the idea that saving money is a motive to quit. The main reason for me was my health and social behavior. What I mean by social behavior is a general acceptance by my peers at work and social networking; smoking is no longer a social acceptance or bounding as it was in the '80s and '90s. So there is no need to explain the health benefits of not smoking; we all have people we love, and we want to stay with them as much time as possible! So that was my motivation: keep myself healthy for the persons I love as long as I can. So this step it's essential; in every phase, you will go thru, in your head, you will need to return to your motivation. So I did several times, and honestly, I still go back to my motivation every time I think about smoking!Step 2 - Start to draft a realistic smoking cut plan. I requested a doctor's assistance, but be aware that they are the first to tell you that he is not the person quitting smoking but you! The plan I agreed with my feedback and acceptance was a biweekly cutting of the number of cigarettes over a certain period until a complete stop.
In the first two weeks, the goal was to reduce from 30 cigarettes a day to 15, and I succeeded. By the end of the two weeks, I meet the goal of just smoking 15 cigarettes. Let me tell you that it was easy, I didn't feel nicotine-less or any other side effect, and by the end of the first week, I was already meeting the goal of smoking the 15 cigarettes. The second two weeks cycle was to reduce from 15 to 10 cigarettes a day! I completed the plan, but in the last three days of the process, I reached the goal of smoking 10 cigarettes. On the 3rd cycle, I started to miss the lack of nicotine and, even worse, the social habit, mainly during breaks. It was not a significant cut, just less than 2 cigarettes a day, from 10 to 8. On this cycle, I almost failed; it was hard, and by the end of the day was always counting to 10 or even 11. So did start to leave home just with the number of cigarettes planned for day 8. At the end of this 3rd cycle, I went to the doctor's appointment and described my struggles with the lack of concentration. Well, he did suggest starting to use the nicotine patches. As a starting point, the doctor told creating level 2 (intermedium). However, by the end of the conversation did suggest starting with the highest (Level 3) and reducing the number of cigarettes to 5 a day. The reduction from 8 to 5 did work on the first week, and surprise of the surprises, by the end of the 5 cigarettes cycle, it was suggested to reduce from 5 to 3. Still, it did I decide to stop smoking the cigarette and continue just with nicotine patch level 3 for more than 2 weeks.Step 3 - No cigarettes and lowering nicotine levels. During this period, I did start to feel some side effects. The worst was the nightmares, which became more frequent every time I dropped the nicotine levels.
I did start to miss the smoking breaks; the combination of suspension and smoking gives a sense of rest. What to do at home when all house tasks are finished? That's when I did realize that smoking was not just a nicotine addiction but also a period you reflect; you do a mental break! I reflected on that, and the thru is that I used the smoking break to calm down, relieve the pressure, and also as a problem-solving period! My issue now is to replace those smoking breaks periods that need to be filled with something else, 6 months it's gone, and I still adapting. So I did stop the nicotine patches after 6 weeks, and the Nicotine deprivation did stay for another 6 weeks.Step 4 - Day-to-day, in the first month, I did feel the need to smoke. Sometimes more than once a day, but what kept me from avoiding the designated smoking places did not socialize much. I also did take quality holidays with my partner and my support during this process.
My partner was the first to feel some health improvements. She thought that I was sleeping better. It was essential, and I also suggested I keep all the people around me informed on the process I was going thru and asking for their support. I also encouraged them to ask me about the process, and they did. Thank you to all of them; they were essential in supporting me, and I'm proud of their friendship. If I recall well, in the second month, I started to be okay with being near a smoker and smoking. So it's now 6 months, and I do feel better and proud of my accomplishment; there's just a thought when I think about cigarettes, "You didn't smoke yesterday, so no need to smoke today!" another thought that works as a reminder is my age. I'm near 50, as in the navy, we say - "I'm already cutting rope," which means counting down the days to go home. In this case, to the end of my quality life, smoking reduces that time, so I can not be stupid to return.
Let me also share some side effects I did experience and some of them I am still feeling:
Psychological symptoms:
- Nervous and Irritability
- Once alone, my mood went down, with a sense of loss
- Difficulty concentrating on a subject; my mind did get everywhere
- Anxiety, most on the weekends.
Physical symptoms:
- Sweating mainly during bedtimes
- Sleep quality and quantitive, filled restlessness
- Did start experiencing bleedings gums
- Did start to feel the lungs obstructed, leading to some cough.
- Increase on Saliba
- Hair growth, and I'm bald
- A vast improvement in the sinusitis did completely stotakingke cetirizine
- My teens are now whiter
- My face and skin became reddish, which is funny since people I don't see often ask me if I went on holiday to look tan.
- General skin: I felt less dry on my elbows and foot heels.
- Average heat beet significantly improved
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| Yearly Heat beat |
What I didn't experience but did read or was told me a high probability to have:
- Headaches
- tremors
- Increased appetite
- The digestive issue, including constipation
- Weith gain
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