Here I am again. This is my seventh official attempt to quit smoking. I’ve been smoking for the past 12 yrs. I started out as a 14 yr old boy lighting up a stick with cycling friends on weekends. We would buy a cigarette or two and light up secretly at the underground parking lots in Abu Dhabi.
The roots of my decision to quit smoking sprung when I was down with Jaundice back in August of 2010. Lying on the hospital bed I lost fifteen kilos in 5 days and struggled to breathe air into my lungs. I’m a lean man so losing all that weight turned me into a stick. I walked out malnourished as ever coughing like a dying man with my jeans held in my hands to make sure they didn’t fall. It was then, I realised the impact those tobacco sticks had on me. I got back to smoking a month later.
Then came my new year resolution 2011. I went cold turkey and pulled 7 straight days without cigarettes. The next few attempts are not something to talk about. With all those attempts, I fell back into the trap in a day or two.
This time around I’ve decided to use Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT). Yeah, that is what all the science guys call it. In simple terms, I’ve begun shoving a nicotine filled chewing gum up my mouth. This pushes the nicotine into my blood stream and reduces my craving. Seems to work. But I still have the urge to blow some smoke.
So on Day 1 , 1700 hrs I have had two gums. I haven’t lit a stick but have had two gums till now. I’m still fidgety and a little over active. Hope, I’ve smoked the last of my cigarettes. The weekend is coming up. It can’t get any easier.
Boom Boom ! 