Here I am, many years later giving up smoking once again. Cold Turkey. It's been 2 weeks now.

Day 8 - Observations and Challenges

So I had to struggle with the hardest bit over the weekend, my first hard drinking session in the middle of summer down at Bondi Beach; obviously this means that I'd be in an outdoor area, where cigarettes are being passed around like a $20 note in Bolivia's infamous 'Route 69' bar. There was a point where I almost went, fuck it, I want that smoke... had to fight it off... and after a few minutes of hard craving it went.

I guess the most important lesson from this is that it always passes and always will do, and it always seems to be 2/3 minutes - which ironically, can seem to last a lot longer at the time. Walking away to 'get some gum' seems to provide adequate distraction for now.

I'm at the end of Day 8; most of my cravings are gone besides from a few flash thoughts here and there which quickly subside within a second or two.

However; what they don't tell you is this. Your body starts shutting down as it 'repairs itself', I was unable to breathe last night due to the amount of thick mucus my lungs have been generating. As a result an emergency visit to the doctors was crucial as I could literally not breathe, tight chest pains and a shot of steroids straight into the lungs later. The peak of this is supposed to last up to a month... my lungs are feeling bad enough that I have no inclination to smoke anyway, and I certainly don't want to be around anyone's dirt!

Oh and that's the other thing; you start to notice how bad other people smell when they smoke, and how good some foods can taste. I've been pigging out way more than I would usually, thankfully I've been doing more exercise than usual - only time will tell.

So far so good. Just a quick visual reminder first.

Over and out.

Day 4

Almost lost the will to give up this morning, I was overcome with a strong sense to put a cigarette in my mouth and light it. I've now got to the stage where I am getting flu like withdrawal symptoms and headaches. My chest is also extremely tight, and it feels harder to breathe than before I decided to stop smoking...

That said, during the actual course of my day. The urge to go for a cigarette has reduced, I've not noticed it as much - hence why I started to write this blog quite late in the day!

I can't wait to have a run later, really need to get some heavy breathing going to help clear the chest.

What else... nothing else... Oh, did my first deal in the new job today. $10k. Bosh!

Day 3

Feeling so much fresher today and avoided a lot of the cravings this morning, what I have noticed however is that my chest has got quite tight and I woke up several times during the course of the night; that said, I do have a lot more energy than I usually have and am raring to go today!

Also noticed that I can smell other people smoking quite a bit more, smells disgusting too.

I've replaced my smoking with snacking on fruit and bits like that, for now anyway.

Day 2

How did I jump to day 2 all of a sudden? Well I decided to scrunch up and throw away any remaining cigarettes, this was when I got in from a night out on Saturday. Perfect I thought.

Yesterday was a complete struggle with nothing better to do apart from contemplate smoking and watch TV.

Today has a strange sense of light-headed-ness, but a rather fresh feeling; I could smell other people smoking on my walk into work, which I wouldn't usually notice, at all.

Anyway, I guess I can look forward to an hour or of solid exercise after work today - hopefully to give me the endorphin rush I crave!

Deciding to Quit!

I've been giving this some serious thought lately, I.e. stopping smoking and getting my health up to that of someone 'normal' in their mid-20's. I've been finding myself out of breath, without energy; and a terrible cough which I recognise is completely out of place for someone of my age.

A little while ago I visited the doctors who prescribed me with Champix without warning of the dangers if you do suffer from even mild bouts of depression and/or anxiety - fortunately for me, I just so happen to have both. Not a good idea! Don't think I'm keen on suffering the worst nightmares of my life yet either, I'm still scarred by the visions of Stephen Kings 'IT' the clown which were my recurring nightmares as a young lad.

So here's the concept; I start on 'cold turkey' (go straight!) and I blog it on a daily basis on my progress and thoughts as I go through the cycle of giving up smoking. I really believe having an outlet such as this will enable me to move forward and align myself with being a normal healthy person again.

Hopefully this sort of strategy will enable me to keep myself busy when I feel like smoking, and really assist to move things forward in the correct direction.

Let me know your thoughts, always keen to hear from others!

My start date is Monday 7th November 2011.

Shepz :)