Quit smoking cold turkey last week.  Didn’t intend it to be a New Year’s resolution, just realized that I was finally sick of smoking.  I’ve tried before a few times, using gum and the patch, but it didn’t stick.  I knew that if I was going to actually pull it off, I just had to cut it out totally.

I didn’t think it was going to be easy, but after a full week, I’m really about ready to go on a murderous rampage.  Being a moderate to heavy smoker for fifteen years or so, then just stopping, is a pretty sudden change.  I didn’t expect the “withdrawals” that I’ve been experiencing the past few days:  insane anxiety, waking up feeling like a small child is sitting on my chest, sore muscles all over- especially in my back, muscle spasms, a lot of the symptoms of having the flu, outrageous headaches, just to name a few.  Hell, I even got a random nosebleed today.  That hasn’t happened since I was in about third grade.  Pure misery, albeit temporary.

After wondering if I was being a total pussy about this process, I took it to the net.  Apparently, the symptoms of quitting cold turkey are supposed to be pretty intense.  One side actually compared to putting down the smokes with no substitute to losing a friend or family member, and that when someone decides to quit, they should actually take some time to “mourn” the loss of that “friend” that’s always been there.  I don’t know about all that, but it’s been rougher than I had imagined.  But since I reeeeeaaalllly want to kick this retarded habit, I am actually finding a lot of humor in my misery, which helps.

So, hope it works this time.  We’ll see…..