Reply #19: Congratulations [View All]

on taking the first step. It's been 1 1/2 years for me and I can't tell you how wonderful I feel now.

What got me through was tons of gum and candy. Suckers are good, too, because you have the same hand-mouth thing going. Lots of water will help flush all of the toxins from your body. I didn't use the patch, so I slept a lot for the first couple of days.

For me, the first week was REALLY hard, but it kept getting better. I stayed away from smokers -- if that's possible for you -- for a good month and I didn't drink for a couple of months because I was afraid of those triggers. Now, it's not a problem to drink or be around smokers.

One thing that was surprising to me was that a couple of months in I started coughing a lot, particularly when I was exercising, and felt out of breath. I guess that was just part of the process.

Good luck. You're a very strong woman and I'm sure you can succeed with this.