Saturday, October 20, 2007

Day 24

I missed another day of posting. My apologies. I have taken steps to cut back on smoking. I am at about half a pack a day without the assistance of Zyban. I feel relatively normal compared to a week ago. I think I have most of the Zyban out of my system. I am still slightly anxious but at least I don’t feel like I am going to vomit at any second!

One thing I noticed yesterday was that I had two beers and felt wrecked. Not necessarily extremely drunk, but a little sloppy and unable to stay awake. Two beers rarely do anything to me. On a night where I’m out for a long time, I can have 6 or so and I will go home feeling close to normal and wake up the next day feeling fine. I never feel sloppy when I have beer. I am always relatively in control. Certain liquors on the other hand…

I woke up very thirsty today but, other than that, I was fine.

I am not sure if the 2 beer phenomenon is related to not drinking for 3 weeks, the Zyban, or both. Either way, it’s something I will have to remain aware of. The good thing is, just as I felt overly intoxicated off of two beers, I was not inclined to drink any more. I had no interest in it and felt very full.

I will be making more steps to completely quit smoking soon. I hope I will be completely prepared this time. Probably will read the Easy Way book again, too.

I keep hearing more and more praise about Chantix lately. People really seem to like that drug. I am still kind of scared of it, but in hindsight, I wish I had chosen Chantix over the Wellbutrin first. My fear of its “newness” is less than my fear of Zyban at this point.

I had never thought my mind could end up in the places it did right before I stopped taking that drug.

I like the idea that Chantix blocks your nicotine receptors. I think that is key.

I hear people gain a lot of weight on it though… Does anyone have firsthand experience with that? The weight gain alone would prevent me from even considering it. I am not in a position where I can gain weight right now.

3 comments:

cb1 said...

So, it looks like you're still having "blind spots" ... you missed more than one day posting - Wednesday to Saturday??!!!

Was feeling a bit concerned about what happened to you - for days. Anyway, seems like you're kind of back to normal now. Great to hear that you cut down on smoking. I, on the other hand, am smoking like a trooper ... is that just an English expression?

Still determined to stop some time soon. I must admit it was nice those few days when I really cut down, nicer in the flat and nicer not to be desperately craving most of the time.

Yes, I've stopped the Zyban now. I can't say though that I am able to cope with my job any better. In fact it seems to get worse on a daily basis. So still desperately job seeking. I've sent a couple of applications (they take hours and hours to complete), so trying to remain positive. Also registered with loads of job sites. Although I don't know anyone who's ever had success that way.

As for smoking, we HAVE to keep on trying. Obviously there's no magic solution to this. My feeling is that I was expecting Zyban to make it far more easy than it actually was. I believe that Ineed to be more single minded, and devote all my energies to Quitting. Unfortunately with everything else that's going on with work etc., I don't know when that will be. Would love to hear other people's quitting tips/stories, and as you say, experience of Chantix. I don't know if we can get it here so easily, my GP was really reluctant to give me the Zyban in the first place. It was only because I was ever so insistent!

Also good to see that you seem to have a lot more visitors to the site now. Well over 500 - well done.

Keep posting, it's great to read your stories, even if they're not particularly smoking/Zyban related.

Chris, London, sunday afternoon

And so it goes... said...

I had no clue that it was for more than a day until you pointed it out! I think, together, I did miss an entire day last week...

I didn't even realize it was Friday when it was. I had made plans on Thursday for the next day without realizing that it would be Friday and had to cancel... I thought I was just being flighty, but now I am wondering where the hell one day last week went! I was off an entire day from Wednesday and on... Maybe it was Tuesday that I lost? I have no idea.

Good luck with your job search. I actually have a history in recruiting, and, atleast here in the U.S. the job boards help if you have the right background.

"smoking like a trooper"? Not a common American phrase, but I think I understand what you mean :)

Anonymous said...

don't know if anyone gave you any feedback on the Chantix, but I tried it and I could not even make it 3 days. The stomach cramps were horrible. So now I am trying Wellbutrin XL. I am on day 4 and head has been a little fuzzy, but managing. I have my fingers crossed this will work.