FreshCaffeine

I started taking Chantix 9 days ago and like I have said before I wasn't having trouble with being nervous about quitting. I had felt up until the moment that I realized that I only had 4 cigarettes left that I had to run out and but more.

Today is day 9, I should have quit on day 8. I am still smoking but I am putting more time between smokes, at least while my husband is around because he has quit in expectation of me quitting again.

I feel like I don't have an option except to quit this time. I don't want to put him thru my smoking again. I feel like I was the reason that he started smoking again after a year of being quit. I don't want to do that to him again.

Gotta Go, made a deal with the devil. Almost bedtime anyway.

Good night

Posted by Kelle at 08:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I just added my Twitter Feed to the sidebar of my page, now I don't have to send people to that page to read what I have posted and what my friends have posted. If you don't have Twitter yet go sign up, it is a rally fun thing to do and it's great for things you wanna blog but don't want to write too much about. My name is FreshCaffeine on there if you wanna add me.

Posted by Kelle at 06:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have a feeling that I won't keep posting everyday, but instead post at milestones. I still haven't noticed any side effects. I am feeling really good. I have to admit that I really haven't cut back on my smoking yet. I have noticed that I don't really feel the urge to smoke, I am just smoking out of habit.

Still, I do not feel any pressure about the up coming quit day. I guess it's because it isn't such a final feeling this time. This is really good for me.

I am also hoping that by Saturday these pills will kick in and I will feel happy to let go of my cigarettes. I really want to quit this time too. That could also be helping with this event.

I will update you again on Saturday, I will keep a count of how many cigarettes I smoke after that. I am willing to except that I am going to have a few, I have been smoking for 16 years, it's going to be hard to just quit.

Posted by Kelle at 09:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Another day on Chantix. I feel fine. No side effects to speak of. I still haven't quit smoking but I feel like I can go longer without thinking about having a cigarette.

I signed up for the "Get Quit" support program. According to the site I should be getting calls from the site on a daily basis for the first month or so. Then the calls get further apart up until the 12th week.

The big thing that I have noticed is that I am not nervous like I have been in the past about quitting. Anyone that has been around me when I have tried to quit in the past knows that I get extremely nervous when the quit date gets near. For some reason I can't handle the stress of a quit day. But with this stuff, I haven't even thought about it.

It's really cool. I am a 2-3 pack a day smoker right now but today I was able to go about an hour without even thinking about having a cigarette. If it wasn't for my hubby lighting up I probably would have gone longer.

I haven't noticed that the nicotine isn't making me feel good like the drug information says, but it is still too early to tell. I do feel different about trying to quit this time and I do feel like this time it is really going to work.

My goal starting tomorrow is going to be to try and complete things before I have another cigarette. Things like watching a whole TV show before I have another cigarette, don't smoke right after I eat, don't take my cigarettes if I am only going to be out of the house for less then a couple of hours, and try to do things with my hands that will take both hands to keep me from smoking.

Knitting is going to become a new hobby for me I think. I haven't done it in a while, but I am going to work on making myself a king sized blanket for our bed. I think that will really be a good thing for me to work on while I am trying to quit.

My actual quit day is suppose to be this Saturday. I am not going to stress about it because with this drug I don't have to worry about getting nicotine poison or anything. Or wasting a patch because I have to take it off if I smoke.

I also plan to only buy the nicotine free Quest cigarettes after my quit day. That should really help. I may have a few packs left after this carton I got today, and I will finish smoking them over time, but if I want anymore cigarettes after that then I am going to go nicotine free.

Another thing that I think I am going to do (starting tomorrow) is to not smoke while I am blogging. No matter how much I type. I think that if I start cutting out certain things over time I am going to be able to quit this time for good.

I have tried to quit several times in the past. What is funny is that I was able to quit smoking while I was pregnant both times and then I bought a pack as soon as I got out of the hospital. I guess if I know it's only temporary I am able to do it. It's making it final that is hard for me.

So, the overall feeling and success of today is that I am not feeling stressed and I feel like I have a good chance of quitting this time. I really hope that I do, I have so many reasons to quit. If this doesn't help I really don't know what will.

I am really so happy that my insurance company decided to cover it too. Hopefully more insurance companies do too.

I am also really hoping that my best friend decides to quit too. I really want to be able to hang out with her and right now we are each others trigger. When we are together we both smoke more then we normally do alone. I really don't want to have to avoid her for a while. That would really bother me. It would be nice if we could support each other through this.

Okay, more updates tomorrow.

Posted by Kelle at 08:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today I started taking Chantix. It is the first week so there really shouldn't be much happening but I wanted to start a blog about it. My doctor called it a "miracle drug" that "works wonders" and she is never so enthusiastic about anything.

With today's dose I didn't notice any side effects and I am really not feeling stressed about the idea of giving up my smokes next week, which is usually a problem for me.

I doubt that I will be posting about it everyday, but I will try to keep up on the progress or lack of. I have to say though that in my research of the drug, I couldn't find anything on the internet about people not quitting using it.

If you want to check it out for yourself you can go to Chantix.com to get lots more information. The key thing to know is that it has a much higher rate of success then other drugs, 44% actually.

Posted by Kelle at 12:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just thought that I would share this with those of you that don't know. I posed this question to my friend and she found the answer for me.

I have been wondering for some time now, why there is no cent key on a keyboard. Admittedly you don't need it as often these day because how many things do you really need to notate with the cent symbol and it's pretty easy to just type "cents"

For those of you who really want to know, it's really simple on a mac just type OPT+$ to get a ¢ symbol. On a PC you need to type more then you do to just type "cent or cents" but here it is ALT+0162 to get the ¢ symbol.

Hope that helps!

Posted by Kelle at 02:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I think that I am going to quit smoking. I have done some research on this new drug called Chantix and I think I am going to give it a try. It is suppose to work by attaching to the parts of the brain that get pleasure from smoking and basically take away the good feeling. I really think that it will work for me. I still have to get approval from my shrink and get the prescription from my doctor. I called up the local Target and found out that it only costs $117 for the starter pack, which is a one month supply. That is so much cheaper then what I am spending on cigarettes these days. I am up to almost 3 packs a day. That really isn't good for me and I know it.

I have been a smoker since I was about 14. I
have been at least a pack a day smoker since then and more recently I
have been at least a 2 pack a day smoker. It just keeps getting worse
with time.

My health is really bad too. I have a Thyroid
problem, Arthritis, Lupus, Bi-Polar, Insomnia, bad lungs, coughing,
high cholesterol and even trouble with my immune system. For myself and
my family I need to quit. It's really the best thing that I can do for
myself.

Why do I want to quit? Maybe I should make a list.

• I am sick of being sick all of the time
• I want to live longer
• I want to spend more time with my family
• I hate smelling like cigarettes
• My room and clothes smell like smoke no matter what I do
• I am coughing a lot, that would end
• My husband would quit again too and I wouldn't feel guilty about smoking while he quit
• I want to live longer
• Cancer runs in my family, and it would reduce my risk
• I could actually wear perfume and the like
• I would be able to breath better
• I would be able to taste food better
• I would overall be happier and proud of myself for doing it finally
• We would have more money (about$330 per month)
• We would be able to do more
• I would reduce the risk of having heart or lung diseases
• My kids would be less likely to start smoking
• I
  could have a nice fresh scent around my house and I can wash all of my
  clothes on my quit day and never have to worry about smelling bad again
• I think that I would make more friends if I could quit smoking
• I would really like to go swimming in the local indoor pool for health reasons and smoking has kept me from doing that
• I want to be able to go out to eat and not have to sneak out for a smoke, the same for movies.

• Because I have a lot of stress in my life and it seems that smoking helps me to cope with all the things that stress me out.
• I like the feeling of smoking, which is why I would smoke the nicotine free cigarettes if they still have them (at Rite Aid) while on Chantix, until I can handle dealing with the physical addiction
• Because
  the first cigarette that I smoked was on the day that my grandfather
  died and it makes me remember him, even though it is such a stupid
  thing to say
• It is relaxing in the morning, after I eat and especially after sex. Nothing else could ever compare to a cigarette after sex.
• I smoke a lot when I am alone. I hate being alone, so I will have to start venturing out of the house to do something each day
• Smoking is always there for me when I am depressed
• All of my friends smoke and I fit in with them
• I
  find it very hard to quit, I have tired about 4 times to quit and I
  haven't made it more then 4 days without going back to smoking
• It keeps me from gaining too much weight. Really...I would eat so much more if I didn't smoke

• Get Okay from Shrink
• Get RX from my doctor
• Take the pills for a week before my quit date (October 2007)
• Smoke the Nicotine Free cigrettes for as long as I have too
• Continue with pills until 12 th week
• If I still have not quit within the first 12 weeks, get another 12 week supply
• Finally quit
  
• Use the money that we would spend on smokes on a family vacation
• Spend an entire weekend washing all of my clothes, blankets, floors and spraying a cleaner on everything. Getting all of the smoke smell out of all of my clothes and house
  

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Posted by Kelle at 05:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)