The Glade 4.0

So after 16 years of smoking I am quitting again. I previously had success with a combination of Welbutrin + patches but this time I've opted to take Chantix.

..and I am freaked out as **** due to the potential side-effects. Today was my first dosage .5mg. For the first three days it is .5mg in the morning then for days 4-7 it is .5mg in the morning and .5mg in the evening and on my quit date (6/18/2012) it jumps to 1mg in the morning and 1mg in the evening.

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consider hypnosis? fewer side effects.

I've considered many options but want to stick with medically "proven" ones initially. There are a whole bunch of one-off treatments that work for individuals (hypnosis, laser-treatments, some shot you can get, etc). But I am going to try using the one that has worked for the majority rather than assuming I am an exception.

PS: Life feels realllly good atm.

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I suspect few of the side effects are worse the the effects of continued smoking.

Good luck. Single most important thing you can improve.

The craziest side effect I've heard of with quitting meds is the insane dreams. If you can handle those, you should be okay.

Crazy dreams last night. 3x of them. One was a nightmare the other two were just very vivid. No suicidal or homicidal thoughts though so there's that.

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I ended up doing it cold. One of the odder suggestions I got was to put cloves in between your lip and gums. I did that for a bit. Cant say how much it helped if at all, but I havent smoked in over 10 years now.

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“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general”. - Mark Rippetoe

Day 3: Slept much better last night, had some dreams but they didn't wake me. Feeling emotional churn today for lack of a better term but still overall good. Tomorrow I double the dosage from .5 to .5 in the AM and .5 in the PM.

Update: Feeling very content.

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Day 4: Still feeling good. Slept very deeply last night to the point where I woke up 1/2 an hour before the alarm feeling refreshed. Have gotten several comments from women about me being much more confident, funny and pleasant to be around. Slowly arriving at the conclusion that perhaps I was depressed for a good long time without realizing it. Today I double my dosage for the first time which will put me at 50% of the true dosage.

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Sounds like you're doing awesome bro. Keep it up!

Keep it up, Hopwin! As someone who is trying to quit yet again, I'm cheering for your success!

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"Said I never had much use for one, never said I didn't know how to use one!"~ Matthew Quigley

"nothing like a little meow in bed at night" ~ Bruskey

"I gotta float my stick same as you" Hondo Lane

"Fill your hand you son of a *****!"

Day 4 dosage has made me pissy as hell. More nicotine blockage = more withdrawal symptoms. Time to start hunkering down.

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How is it going this morning?

I don't know much about Chantix...do you keep smoking while on it?
I have quit 4 times over the past 17 years...each time was cold turkey. This last time it has lasted for a little over 3 years so far and I don't see myself going back at all.

This website helped me out a lot: www.whyquit.com
I read "Joel's Library" and his talks about nicotine addiction and relapse and such are really what did it for me.

Good luck, Hopwin!

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Today isn't bad, emotional churn in the am settling into fuzzy blanketness in the pm. Cigarettes make me feel anxious, looking forward to the full dose and quitting.

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12 hours into quittedness, 1 hour into double dosage. Hanging in there Do feel more than a bit zombielike.

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The zombieness won't last forever....hooray for 12 hours! (lil bit longer than that now, eh?)
Good job keep it up!

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

36 hours quitted
29 Cigs not smoked
$7.29 saved
2:54 hrs of life gained (not sure about this calculation...)

Ironically the strongest urge to smoke I've had yet was after a really hard work out. I think because it took me by surprise as I failed to identify exercise as one of my triggers. On the flipside of that equation I had no idea how much smoking was holding me back in my weight training, I was able to increase some combination of weights and/or reps on every exercise I did yesterday. Cardio was perhaps a hair easier but it is too soon to see any significant impact there yet.

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Hooray for 36 hours!! Good job!

Maybe find a new way to *reward* yourself for working out?

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

I tried rubbing one out in the parking lot by where I used to smoke. They weren't having it

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ROFL!! Shoulda hid better, dude!

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Any way, almost 48 hours. Feel super sleepy, had a few cravings, some strong, some weak. Rolling on.

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I quit cold as well, 12 years ago this past January 6. I used toothpicks for my coping device.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

Three days, 60 not smoked and my sleep has normalized.

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Ugh WTF, does everything need to have a SMELL? Maybe this is why I started smoking all those years ago.

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Have you smelled someone who just came back from having a cigarette yet? You'll be surprised how much it stinks.

Good work, keep it up. Random unsubstantiated factoid I heard when I quit: Your body begins to repair the damage you did to it within 3 days of quitting. True or not that helped me stay away from em.

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“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general”. - Mark Rippetoe