Brotato

Two years ago I smoked my last cigarette and haven’t touched one since.  I smoked for nearly 20 years; for 15 of those years I smoked at least a pack a day.  I remember when I first started smoking that I said to myself that I wanted to quit within 10 years.  My goal was only 10 years off but I accomplished it.

I had tried quitting many times, but usually at the insistence of someone else.  This time I did it for myself.  I had tried going cold turkey a few times but was never able to make it past day one.  My most successful quitting attempt in the past came from using the nicotine patch.  I did quite well using the patch, and after a couple weeks I got cocky and felt like I didn’t need them anymore.  Shortly after making that decision I was puffing away again.

I decided to use the patch again.  Since my last time using it generic nicotine patches came on the market, so the process was a bit cheaper.  I planned on quitting on a weekend so I wouldn’t have to deal with the stress of working and quitting at the same time.  So on a Friday night I smoked all but one of my remaining cigarettes and went to bed.  Woke up the following morning and smoked my final cigarette while applying the patch.  The weekend went by surprisingly well.  

I went to work the following Monday, and besides being a bit cranky and drowsy everything was fine.  I was amazed by how the passage of time felt different when I was not smoking.  Previously I had my work day broken up into two hour chunks.  I would come in and work for two hours, then go on a smoke break.  Two hours after that I would go to lunch (and smoke).  Two hours after that I would take another smoke break, and after two more hours it would be time to go home.  When I was no longer looking ahead to those smoke breaks the time flew by much quicker.

The patch was not without its side effects.  If you sleep while wearing the patch you may experience very odd dreams.  In my first run through with the patch I enjoyed these dreams, and was looking forward to having them again.  But this time the dreams caused me to sleep so lightly that I was waking up several times a night, so I eventually stopped wearing the patch while sleeping after a few weeks.  The downside to this however is that on occasion I would forget to apply one in the morning, but towards the end this wasn’t a factor and I did just fine without using one.

I am still amazed that I am smoke-free.  When I was smoking I could not imagine ever being smoke-free, but I haven’t smoke for two years and I feel great.  It’s fun to rag on family and friends who still smoke, and recently I discovered I can climb up 4 flights of stairs without huffing and puffing like I used to.  The only downside to being smoke-free now is that I gained 40 pounds.  I’ve already started working on losing the weight, but that is for another posting.