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Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Days 3 & 4..The Good, The Bad and The Meltdown

Nobody who said that quitting smoking was difficult lied.....oh, it's tough alright...especially when you're an emotional smoker, like me and you have a meltdown.

My youngest has been sick.....it's been one of these, "Hmmmmm, is it a virus or an infection?" I broke down Monday morning and decided to take her to see a doctor. Since her pediatrician is a pretty long drive into Indianapolis, and we were having stormy weather, I decided I'd just take her down to Minute Clinic. Yeah....not such a good idea after all.

The Nurse Practitioner diagnosed the little one with a sinus and ear infection and proceeded to write a prescription for antibiotics.......this took over 30 minutes! YES 30 MINUTES TO WRITE A PRESCRIPTION!

This woman couldn't figure the dosage, that is, after she spent a full 15 minutes trying to figure out which antibiotic to give her. Amoxcicillin doesn't work on my kids (so mark that one off) they "don't give Keflex for ear infections" (which I knew to be total and complete BS) this woman was driving me nuts! So we finally get out of there, prescription in hand, and all I can think about is smoking my Electronic Cigarette.....................

.............and the battery isn't working!!!!!!!!!!!!! The doggone LED tip just keeps flashing at me...mocking me...letting me know, "No nicotine for you!"

So I get home, change batteries and puff away as I speak to the pharmacist on the phone. He proceeds to tell me that not only is the dosage WAY OFF on the antibiotic, the total cost is going be to the tune of $179.00!!!! WHAT? I'm still puffing away. I just doled out $77.00 for an office call and a strep test!

So I call my daughter's pediatrician, literally in hysterics babbling about an "idiot Nurse Practitioner", "wrong dosage" and a "cost that we cannot afford". Luckily, my daughter has one of the best pediatricians in the world and the office called in a prescription for Keflex which DOES treat ear infections and happens to be free at our pharmacy. Deep breaths................no more puffing at the Electronic Cigarette...........I'm calm....and relieved.

Come to find out, one of my Electronic Cigarette batteries is defective and works when it wants to. So, I bang it on the coffee table, unscrew it, screw it back on, puff......puff.......get one drag and start all over again. I still have one good battery and the owner of Sharp Smoker has assured me that he's sending me a replacement battery right away. Ahhhhh, if only Minute Clinic could have such good service!

So day 3 ended with me still only having 4 tobacco cigarettes and learning that I really enjoy the flavor of apple smoke juice (which I used to refill one of my cartridges as well as adding a little drop to the atomizer) and learning NOT to be caught out with a dead battery, especially during this crucial transition time.

So here it is day 4.....and I'm REALLY feeling the effects of giving up tobacco cigarettes. Now, I went to quite a few of those stop smoking support sites and while they tell you about uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms, they really don't give you the REAL TRUTH.

I feel like I'm walking in this haze....I'm dazed confused and feeling really funky. The light-headedness has turned to full blown dizzy spells......my body doesn't know what to do with all of this oxygen it's been starved of for almost 30 years. I almost feel high and doped up at the same time. My family can talk to me and it takes me a moment to slowly look up at them and said, "Huh?" It's difficult to concentrate on more than one thing at a time.

I have a sore throat and one heck of a deep cough....there's stuff working it's way out that I don't EVEN want to know what it's gonna look like! My chest feels tight and my extremities tingle from time to time. It's hard to think straight....or should I say, it's hard to think quickly. I do have a wee bit of a headache from time to time, but nothing to even take a pill for. I do feel tired and want to nap...not sure if it's less of the nicotine stimulant in my bloodstream or just the fact that it's easier to cope while I'm asleep!

I still don't have much of an appetite...so I suppose my Electronic Cigarette is keeping my hands and mouth busy. That's a good thing...I'm going to Florida in June and certainly don't want my daughter to have to roll me down the beach! I'd really like to prance around in a bikini WITHOUT a cigarette!

I really do feel attached to my Electronic Cigarette now......it feels more like a tobacco cigarette and has almost completely replaced them. I know they "say" that nicotine is the only addictive portion of tobacco cigarettes, but I'm not so sure. I crave the taste and I crave the tobacco....or "something" that's in them. Odd, because my Electronic Cigarette gives me the nicotine I need......though I know I'm only taking in a small fraction of the nicotine I used to take in daily.

This is a struggle for me....but one that is well worth it. In all honestly, though I am struggling, this is much easier than I thought it would be. I'm not nearly as grouchy as I thought, not eating everything in sight and so far, I'm not having any problems sleeping. Let's see what tomorrow brings.....I'm hoping that this is the peak of feeling bad.

This is all worth it. Every bit of it!! Stay tuned for day 5.

2 comments:

E. Cigs said...

I am just raeding this blog and i liked it ... electronic cigarette now a days are very good option to quit smoking .. it is similar to normal cigarete but it doest contain tobbaco which makes it healthy ..i like your blog thanks

Ms. E said...

Thanks for your comment....however, SADLY, I picked the tobacco back up after experiencing a "nervous breakdown", several hospitalizations, a medical clinic that didn't know their arses from holes in the ground, a diagnosis of panic attacks and FINALLY (six months later) a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia. *sighs* I wanted to start back with my e-cigarette....BUT, my eldest daughter is expecting a child....my first grandchild and I GAVE mine to her. A great thing to do for her.......not so great for me! Since I got a fabulous discount on my E-cigarette, I was easily able to afford it. Now...no big discount= I can't afford another one. Oh well, that's life. Maybe someday.....*Looks off dreamily*