The Patch: Day One

It is 8:46 pm and I haven't had a cigarette today. I woke up this morning and put on a patch. Frankly, I decided I had to catch up on my taxes, and paying for cigarettes put a crimp in that. I should have done it for my health, but I didn't. I did it to save $230 a month. I was even cheap about the patches. Instead of buying the brand-name patch, I bought the generic, Target-brand patch for half the price -- less than two packs of cigarettes for a week's supply. I had been trying to quit cold-turkey, after finding that I was unable to take the C brand pills (if I write the name, some joker will find my website and leave an advertising comment). They made me sick, and when I tried again at a lower dose, in two days I found that they were affecting my mood. I do look forward to feeling better, to having more energy, and to not feeling like I smell like smoke (let alone the stigma of smoking in the Seattle area). It's getting a little tougher now as evening rolls on -- I think the patch starts running out of steam after a while -- but I'm going to keep it on all night and put a new one on in the morning. It will be great to be a non-smoker again.

Spoke to Camille tonight and told her what I was doing. She said she couldn't afford to smoke either. I told her about the generic patches and she said she would look into it. Clearly, she also wants to be a non-smoker.

The only fly in the whole ointment is making sure I don't gain weight. I bought a scale a few weeks back and I'm going to use it daily, watch my diet, and exercise. Alas, every time I quit smoking, I gain wait. I think it's a metabolism thing. It is a real drag (but not that kind of drag!) and it's going to take focus and energy to stay slender.

Posting Again!

Okay, it's been a while (like 3 months) since I've posted here, but I'm back! I am quitting smoking again. It is 1:26 pm today, and so far today I've had two cigarettes. Yesterday I allowed myself a cigarette every hour, and today I am allowing myself a cigarette every two hours. I got up at 9:00 today. If I go to bed at 10:00 pm or so, that will mean I would have had 7-8 cigarettes for the entire day.

The two-hour stretch is definitely a lot more difficult than the one-hour stretch. I had little problem waiting an hour yesterday, but today I am finding myself doing activities trying to occupy myself until I can have the next cigarette -- like cleaning house and giving myself a facial masque.

The last time I quit I used Chantix. It was much easier to do it that way, but I had a prescription for Chantix I got from my doctor in July, and it didn't make me feel so good. I couldn't take the medication longer than a few days before I would be so nauseated I'd have to stop. I tried twice. Never got past the second week's pack. I don't know why this didn't happen the last time I quit.

The truth is, I am tired of spending money on cigarettes, and my life revolving around cigarettes, and having to find places to smoke in the Seattle area that won't offend people. I also don't want to get any of those horrid diseases long-term cigarette smoking causes. So it's time to quit. The process isn't fun, but I'm doing it.