Be proud of your quit and enter your details simply by replying in the
appropriate quit period. If you have a meter you are welcome to show it off
there also.

(Haven't got a meter yet? Get one at a link listed at the bottom of this
page.)

If you're new to news: alt.quit.smoking.support, post as often as you wish.
We are here to help if we can so don't be shy. We are all fighting the same
battle. It won't be easy, but it can be done, and we are doing it. We love
listening to a good rant, too.

Good luck and welcome, from all of us here at AQSS!

Included in this page are:

1/ Smoking abbreviations used in this NG
2/ Stages of quitting
3/ Junkie thinking
4/ Web site links
5/ Meters

.........................................................
Smoking abbreviations used in this NG
.........................................................

W - 1 week
FWD - first/full week done
WW - 2 weeks
M - 1 month
FMD - first/full month done
MM - 2 months
QOF - Quarter Old Fogey, 3 months (1/4 of a year)
HOF - Half Old Fogey, 6 months (1/2 of a year)
3QOF - 3 Quarters Old Fogey, 9 months (3/4 of a year)
OF - Old Fogey (1 year)
DOF - Double Old Fogey (2 years)
VOF - Very Old Fogey (3 years or more)
AQSS/a.q.s.s. - this group, Alt.Quit.Smoking.Support
NRT - nicotine replacement therapy

.........................................................
Stages of quitting
.........................................................

Stage 1: Agitation
Anxiety, muscular tension, irritability, difficulty sleeping, and high
craving. You've probably already experienced this innumerable times during
your smoking career (this is when you root through the ashtrays looking for
butts). It generally begins a few hours after your last cigarette and lasts
for a day or two.

Stage 2: Slump
You feel depressed, fatigued, jittery and are forgetful, short-tempered, and
emotionally volatile. You may also have trouble sleeping. You continually
crave a cigarette. This may last for several days.

Stage 3: Honeymoon
Somewhere in the first 10 days after your last cigarette, you start feeling
better. A lot better. Your mood improves and your energy returns. Craving is
still present but manageable. The danger is you'll become overconfident.

Stage 4: Second Slump
It's hard to pin down, but for most of our quitters, this second slump
begins two to six weeks after the last cigarette. Craving may return along
with episodes of nervousness, irritability, sleep disruption, flu-like
symptoms, and fatigue.

Stage 5: Second Honeymoon
Begins four to six weeks after the last dose. Improvement in the above
symptoms leads to the conclusion that danger of relapse has past and
withdrawal is over.

Stage 6: Relapse Phase
Most ex-smokers experience at least one more noticeable "slump" during the
first four months of abstinence. Craving returns, and with it, the risk of
relapse. To get through it, you have to avoid exposing yourself to risky
situations.

Stage 7: Stabilization
Once the last of the initial slumps has ended, things stabilize. Craving is
largely the result of conditioned responses (e.g., to smells, activities)
which can be avoided. Abstinence is fairly comfortable with the exception of
periods of unusual stress, recurrent craving, and occasional strong memories
of pleasures associated with smoking.

Patience is the key here. Keep going in your quit, and all these stages will
soon become history.

.........................................................
Junkie thinking
.........................................................

JUNKIE THINKING: "One Puff won't hurt"
RESPONSE: "One puff will always hurt me, and it always will because I'm not
a social smoker. One puff and I'll be smoking compulsively again."

JUNKIE THINKING: "I only want one."
RESPONSE: "I have never wanted only one. In fact, I want 20-30 a day, every
day. I want them all."

JUNKIE THINKING: "I'll just be a social smoker."
RESPONSE: "I'm a chronic, compulsive smoker, and once I smoke one, I'll
quickly be thinking about the next one. Social smokers can take it or leave
it. That's not me!"

JUNKIE THINKING: "I'm doing so well, one won't hurt me now."
RESPONSE: "The only reason I'm doing so well is because I haven't taken the
first one. Yet once I do, I won't be doing well anymore. I'll be smoking
again."

JUNKIE THINKING: "I'll just stop again."
RESPONSE: "Sounds easy, but who am I trying to kid? Look how long it took me
to stop this time. And once I start, how long will it take before I get sick
enough to face withdrawal again? In fact, when I'm back in the grip of
compulsion, what guarantee do I have that I'll ever be able to stop again?"

JUNKIE THINKING: "If I slip, I'll keep trying."
RESPONSE: "If I think I can get away with one little 'slip' now I'll think I
can get away with another little 'slip' later on. And the slipping will get
stronger and the trying will get weaker."

JUNKIE THINKING: "I need one to get me through this withdrawal."
RESPONSE: "Smoking will not get me through the discomfort of not smoking. It
will only get me back to smoking. One puff stops the process of withdrawal
and I'll have to go through it all over again."

JUNKIE THINKING: "I miss smoking right now."
RESPONSE: "Of course I miss something I've been doing every day for most of
my life. But do I miss the chest pains right now? Do I miss the worry, the
embarrassment? I'd rather be an ex-smoker with an occasional desire to
smoke, than a smoker with a constant desire to quit."

JUNKIE THINKING: "I really need to smoke now, I'm so upset (or depressed, or
whatever)."
RESPONSE: "Smoking is not going to fix anything. I'll still be upset or
depressed or whatever, I'll just be an upset/depressed smoker. I never have
to have a cigarette. Smoking is not a need, it's a want. Once the crisis is
over, I'll be relieved and grateful I'm still not smoking."

JUNKIE THINKING: "I'm bored."
RESPONSE: "Smoking is an 'activity' or 'something to do' only for smokers.
I'm really not 'doing' anything when I smoke except still sitting/standing
there. The rest of the world survives occasional boredom quite well without
inhaling life-challenging chemicals."

JUNKIE THINKING: "But they've been smoking on TV and in the movies for
years! There are even magazines devoted to tobacco products!"
RESPONSE: "That's right. They were on TV for years; I wasn't. I'm still
alive; many of them aren't, and they departed this vale of tears in
prolonged and painful ways. And the smiling faces in the magazines now are
risking painful and disfiguring surgery later, at which point they won't be
smiling at all."

JUNKIE THINKING: "Its so nice to go out for a 'breath of fresh air' and a
cigarette."
RESPONSE: "Fresh air? I've got to be kidding. And face it, sunny days are
one thing, but how many days do I huddle out in the rain with the rain
hitting the cigarette and turning the cigarette paper that disgusting yellow
color? How many times is it windy and it takes forever to keep a match or
lighter lit long enough to light the cigarette, and then how often does a
gust of wind come up and blow the ashes into my eyes? And when it's icy
outside, freezing my face off is bad enough, but when it defrosts, there's
this bizarre yellow condensation around my nostrils. Now THAT'S attractive."

JUNKIE THINKING: "Smoking makes work go faster."
RESPONSE: "Most jobs where you work indoors are in companies which ban
smoking in the workplace. Some companies won't hire me if I smoke. And every
time I stop for a smoke it actually prolongs my work, since I'm not busy
accomplishing it."

.........................................................
Web site links
.........................................................

These sites are in no particular order and are contributed by members of
AQSS. If you'd like to add a link, please contact the quit stats poster.
Many thanks to those who have contributed!

Quitting support and info: personal quitters' pages:
http://www.geocities.com/JALARS/
http://www.roofchek.com/quitsmoking/
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ranch/6100/
http://www.cognitivequitting.com/
http://www.thebrackenfamily.info/html/why_quit_video.html
http://www.ciggyfree.com/

Quitting support and info: organizational, directories, etc.:
http://www.sk.lung.ca/content.cfm/cessation
http://www.quitnet.com/library/guides/quitnet/
http://quitsmoking.about.com/index.htm
http://www.stop-tabac.ch/en/welcome.html
http://www.trytostop.org/
http://www.americanlegacy.org/greatstart/html/home.html
(especially written for pregnant women!)
http://directory.google.com/Top/Health/Addictions/Substance_Abuse/Tob...
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco/
http://www.thetruth.com/
http://www.smoke-free.ca/ is sponsored by the
Physicians for a Smoke Free Canada. This is a registered charity made up of
doctors who want to reduce smoking related illness by helping people to
quit.
http://www.4woman.gov/QuitSmoking/index.cfm (from the National Women's
Health Information Center)
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_10_13X_Quitting_Smoking...
(American Cancer Society's Guide to Quitting Smoking)

Both MSN and Yahoo! have quit support groups; for semi-private group
support, please search at:
http://communities.msn.com
http://groups.yahoo.com

Nicotine addiction, health effects:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/tobac-tabac/body-corps/index_e.html
http://www.nida.nih.gov/ResearchReports/Nicotine/Nicotine.html
http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofax/tobacco.html
http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/may98/nida-06.htm
http://www.garfield.library.upenn.edu/essays/v4p229y1979-80.pdf

Been super quiet lately.  Hope this finds all well, happy and smokefree!!!

Best wishes,
Susan