Date Joined: 7/4/2007 3:36:08 AM
Posts: 1960
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Public Profile for Brenda
Age: 49
I am: Female
I am from: United States
My occupation: instructional designer & technologist
My hobbies: writing, drawing, painting, people watching, cafe cruising, my 12 step group (more like a religion)
Signature: Been There. Done That.
I, Brenda of United States, pledge my commitment to quit using tobacco forever. I have set 5/1/2009 as my quit date. My main reasons for quitting and the things I will personally do to be successful are:Money (I'm not spending $8.00/pk), self-esteem (greatest achievement), asthma, bronchitis (entire host of problems smoking causes), don't want to do what my parents did, want to be more environmentally friendly, don't want to die with a cigarette hanging out of my mouth, want to move on to dealing with other problems, such as weight (need to get smoking out of the way).
My Mileage:
My Quit Date: 5/1/2009
Smoke-Free Days: 496
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 13,888
Amount Saved: $5,902.40
Life Gained:
Days: 55 Hrs: 18 Mins: 29 Seconds: 21
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My Quit Blog
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hahaha!
4/17/2010 12:56:56 AM
13 days, 23 hours, 2 minutes!
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350 Days!
4/16/2010 12:55:24 AM
I'm well on my way to one year, and I'm so excited I'm getting restless. I can't beleve I'm quit, that I'm doing it. I've been setting goals this past year and reaching them. I'm now three days and six one hour classes a week at the Y. Had I not quit smoking I wouldn't be able to exercise.
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350 Days!
4/16/2010 12:54:53 AM
I'm well on my way to one year, and I'm so excited I'm getting restless. I can't beleve I'm quit, that I'm doing it. I've been setting goals this past year and reaching them. I'm now three days and six one hour classes a week at the Y. Had I not quit smoking I wouldn't be able to exercise.
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Okay
2/18/2010 10:55:09 PM
Okay I realize I haven't written anything in quite some time. The truth is: I'm not good at writing in diaries. I'm not a diary person. Things are going fairly well. I'm sleeping meg-gobs, which makes me a little miserable. My medications are behind this and I have to wait until I see the doctor in March to clear up the problem. One of the things I will be adamant about is not waiting three months for the next appointment. The truth is the psychiatry in Chicago s.ucks! Never in San Francisco did a doctor put me on a drug and then make the next appointment so far out. Here everyone says come back in three months, even though my insurance has okayed 52 visits.
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In Good Shape
12/9/2009 2:59:47 PM
Well, I haven't written in a while. I guess it's because everything has been going well. I haven't had any asthma attacks and I am breathing wonderfully--100% oxygen, no reduced lung volume. MY old apartment was a dust-hazard.
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First Smoke-free Apartment
11/14/2009 9:42:38 PM
I think my new apartment is my first smoke-free apartment. It will be a no-smoking zone and it is smoke-free right now. I'm packing up and feel a lot better. I guess I'm finally getting the last of the peanuts out of my system, so I'm finding that it takes about 72 to, I hope, no more than 96 hours to completely flush them out. I feel tired and want to sleep. That's good, because I haven't slept too well for a couple weeks now. Normally I unpack fast. I may spread this out over three days. My new apartment looks nice. And I will never ever smoke again, nor will I ever allow anyone to smoke in my apartment.
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Collusions!
11/12/2009 12:39:18 PM
Well, it seems the doctors and I are making progress. Too many things happened at one time for me to easily sort things out. Some of my respiratory symptoms have occurred from quitting smoking, but the more distressing symptoms have occurred because of allergic asthma. The tuck-pointing and welding have been problems. However, the asthma attacks I've been having lately are caused by a peanut allergy. Yes, you read it right. I have developed an allergy to peanuts and possibly other legumes and seeds.
The dietitian suggested that I eat 1 oz of nuts, peanuts, seeds each day. I've been doing so for about 10 or 11 days and have been sick since November 3rd. Usually, I ate the peanuts all at once, but sometimes I ate a half of an ounce here and a half there. Last night I grabbed my ounce, sat at my desk and ate them. My throat started tingling before I even got them down. I started to produce a lot of mucus, and then I suddenly started having problems breathing and my inhaler was not clearing up the problem. So I went to the emergency room at the local hospital. The day before my doctor had already told me I was allergic to something. Hopefully, we'll do more allergy testing. Now I'm allergic to peanuts, as well as all of the treenuts, probably many of the legumes as well as seeds.
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Allergies
11/10/2009 1:22:59 AM
Still struggling with breathing. I think my apartment is contaminated from the tuck-pointing. I'm sneezing while in the apartment with the windows closed and so is my cat. I'm using my inhaler every six hours or so. I can't wait to get out of here. As a matter of fact, I probably should have sued to break my lease. I'm sure that something in the apartment is at least contributing to my respiratory problems. The apartment has a chemical smell.
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No Chest Congestion
11/5/2009 8:41:39 PM
It has been six months, but finally I'm feeling no chest congestion. Yesterday the doctor told me my lungs sounded clear. Today I'm breathing wonderful, and I can't wait to move November 15th because even though I'm feeling better and some of the problem may be all in my head, the apartment is still excessively dusty, has a chemical smell, and I think it's contaminated. I just quit smoking. I don't want my lungs polluted with mold spores and dust mites.
Unfortunately, my cat's a smart girl and knows something's up, too. She spent the day under the bed. She'll be okay.
I'm wondering if I have to buy another air conditioner next year. Although I had this one cleaned, it still has a lot of dust in it.
It is clear that I do have the allergic asthma that the pulmonologist diagnosed this summer.
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Not Chewing Gum
11/4/2009 10:59:55 PM
It hit me today when I was talking to the nurse at my infectious disease specialist's office that I haven't chewed gum in a few days. I'm not sure when I last did, probably Sunday I guess. Another thing down.
My mood is better today. I feel better. The truth of the matter is that I'm getting depressed. I started wondering if this asthma thing is making me paranoid. Now I'm starting to panic. The doctor today told me that I was probably on the verge of having an asthma attack the other day, that it was not all in my mind. However, she stressed that my lungs sound clear and my spirometry is good. But I feel like I have lots of problems breathing. I realized today that I'm depressed and that one of my psych meds, Trazodone, makes my chest hurt; that can be a side effect of the medication. Plus I really do have asthma. I have to retrain my mind. I am paying way too much attention to my breathing. The chest tightness is gone. I see the psychiatrist Friday, and I don't know what I'm going to say. I don't want him to think I'm crazy. Lol
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A Little Depressed
11/3/2009 11:58:48 PM
I've been dealing with a lot of restlessness since I quit smoking. I think some of it was due to bipolar hypomania and some to smoking. Well, now I'm crashing. I have been since yesterday. Yesterday started out well. Got up and took my morning meds, ate breakfast, and headed out to the movies to see, This Is It. I didn't make it to the start of the movie. I started to feel like I was suffocating. I did wonder how much of the feeling was just panic. I had forgotten my inhaler and decided to head back home, but was afraid of having an asthma attack on the way. I made it home, took a couple of puffs of albuterol and felt much better a little later. That was the first time my asthma has stopped me from doing something. I am also becoming increasingly worried about COPD and how well I'll cope with it, if it is what I have. My peak flow and FEV1 readings are still really good, and I'm wondering how I could be having so many breathing problems while having normal oxygen and spirometry readings.
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Wow!
10/30/2009 9:49:11 PM
Can't believe I'm writing in a diary.
Well, I guess I need to talk a little about moving on from my gum chewing. I've been off the nicotine for months, but didn't let go of the the sugar free candy until about a month ago and at that time, decided to keep chewing gum, even though it was costing me a fortune. My mouth is hurting from all of that chewing and rubbing. I think it's even swollen in spots. So it's time. I went without gum after dinner and stressed for only a few minutes. It'll be time for my bedtime yogurt soon, and I'm hoping that I handle not chewing gum afterwards gracefully.
Hopefully, over a period of time, I'll stop missing the gum.
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