Praise and request twoferone!

If you are friends with me on Facebook, you already know this.......but I've made a fairly radical lifestyle change last week:  I have not had a cigarette since Wed 2/3/16 at 12:45 AM.  Meaning that I am working towards 6 days completely smoke free, cold turkey.  Prior to that, I had cut myself down to a pack a week for a couple of weeks.  Something upstairs changed, and I was just "ready to be done" with it all.  It is like a switch has been flipped!  I have ZERO desire for them, and I give all glory to God for that.  "I" could not quit before this......I tried more than a few times.  There is just a "different" feeling to it this time around.  I am DONE, because God flipped a mental switch for me.......


For the most part, I feel absolutely GREAT.  I can BREATHE, and did not realize just how used to feeling "run down" I had gotten.  The difference, even just this short while in to the process, is astounding.


Now comes the prayer request:  I did NOT understand the concept of "nicotine withdrawal", and to be blunt, have SEVERELY underestimated how it would play with my psyche.  Specificly, I have been suffering from insomnia/terrible sleep patterns and TERRIBLE anxiety attacks......which of course feed on one another as well.  I have been absolutely humbled by what an "anxiety attack" really is, and how it can just totally mentally wreck you in short order.  Thankfully, even thru those there is still ZERO desire to smoke.....but I can't really express how badly it toys with my mind, borrowing this trouble and that trouble, and fabricating horrible "what if...." scenarios.  There have been multiple times that I have in essence been reduced to another terrified, whiny child for my wife to deal with, and it's way worse when the sleep is not good.  Started with some magnesium supplements, breathing exercises, and calming aromatherapy before bed, and it seems to be helping......but your prayers for my health and sanity (and that of my dear, sainted wife!) while my body adjusts to "new normal" after better than a decade and a half of daily nicotine ingesting is more appreciated than I can convey.  This has been a humbling, changing thing to encounter.........

I am praying for you my friend.
I have one advise, if possible, take heat baths, or go to a sauna bath, that will help taking nicotine out of your system.

Hey congrats dude!!!

I quit smoking too a while back, and I can totally relate to what you are going through!!!

It will take about 30 days for that nicotine to be completely out of your system and to stop play psychological games with your mind!!! I almost didn't quit for so long due to that stress/anxiety that comes from that!

Now that I've been smoke free for a few years, I feel great! Cigarettes truly are terrible for you, and they definitely limit one's lifespan. I want to be around to see my kid's kids ya know!

Not to mention - food tastes better when you don't smoke! All of your senses are enhanced too, because nicotine plays with your entire psyche! It's a drug. And unlike marijuana, this plant/drug has no medicinal benefits!

It's a very wise choice you made bro - and I commend you for it! Definitely not easy, but those who never have smoked will never understand just how hard it truly is.

Heck even now after years of not smoking ... I get thoughts of still smoking at times. I refuse to give in though! I will be smoke free (at least cigarette smoke free hehe) for the rest of my life!!! My kids are also very happy I quit! It means I can spend more time playing with them! Rather than going outside and 'having another death stick'.

Anyway - I have already begun praying for you today in my quiet time/prayer time. I have added you to my list! Just hang on for about 30 days straight and the serious anxiety type stuff will dissipate!

So, I.....uh.......ended up at the ER freaking out over chest pain and overall chest/upper body weirdness early this morning (4AM).  All EKG/cardio stats/bloodwork/chest x-Ray shows I am actually in pretty good cardiac shape, and the much dreaded "heart attack" scenario appears to be pretty much all tension and anxiety related.

Got a prescription for anti anxiety meds......hopefully they help :/

I seem to be vacillating between feeling like a million bucks and some pretty savage mental freak outs.....I hope that having a proper medical diagnosis of "not a heart issue" when these things come on helps my brain out.......

exo wrote:So, I.....uh.......ended up at the ER freaking out over chest pain and overall chest/upper body weirdness early this morning (4AM).  All EKG/cardio stats/bloodwork/chest x-Ray shows I am actually in pretty good cardiac shape, and the much dreaded "heart attack" scenario appears to be pretty much all tension and anxiety related.

Got a prescription for anti anxiety meds......hopefully they help :/

I seem to be vacillating between feeling like a million bucks and some pretty savage mental freak outs.....I hope that having a proper medical diagnosis of "not a heart issue" when these things come on helps my brain out.......

Dude, what state do you live in? In some states they prescribe medical marijuana for this issue. It helps tremendously with anxiety and it's all natural, unlike those nasty meds (true bad drugs) that hospitals give out.



Just saying ... something to think about if you live in such a state. There are about 23 states now that have legalized medicinally. But like I said ... just a thought. Trying to help. I know what I did when I quit. I got a prescription (because I already had one for my back), but I'll tell you! The marijuana actually helped me quit smoking! It takes away that anxiety the nicotine leaves you with for about 30 days.



But I'm glad you got help though ... any help is good.



Still praying for you too!!!

Took half a pill after getting to work last night, waited half an hour, still felt "off", took the other half.

20 minutes later, I was Ric Flair on a crack bender........  They are......effective......at getting your mind off things, I will say that!
(Lesson: next time, wait an HOUR and re-assess!)

That feeling gradually wore off around 4AM, and today I have been as peace filled as I have since before the holiday madness started at the end of October......

That's great to hear!

I haven't had a cigarette since March 19th, 2007. Cold turkey of course - gums and patches is like trying to quit drinking but you take a shot every once in a while.

What I did and I had little anxiety.
1) Lots of prayer
2) Lots of toothpicks (hand to mouth fixation)
3) Pump iron and lots of it (there's your dope free anxiety killer right there)
4) Take joy in knowing they don't jump in your mouth and light themselves. (You have a choice.)
5) Measure accumulative, not consecutive. (Don't beat yourself up if you smoked after a month of being stopped. You only smoked 1 day out of 30? That's pretty good! Now try for longer. )

Praying for you brother. If I can do it, you can do it.

My anxiety issues ARE subsiding as time goes, and enough that I can notice "hey, I feel calmer than I did a few days ago".

15 days into a new life, and it's absolutely great!

..glad your getting through this. I pray God will keep things going a good and right direction.

Yes, this is pretty nasty but maybe this will be some encouragement as well.



And this one: