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Getting started on my Journey!!

dianeseattle said:
I don't know why you have to give up caffeine, although I know why you have to give up smoking. And here's another thing I know. A lot of times we feel extremely virtuous, knowing that we have to give up all of our bad habits, and we try to do it all at one time. Almost always people fail when they try to do that. Just focus on one . And don't give up coffee. Just cut back to one cup of day.

My son always makes a decision that he's going to quit smoking give up coffee and stop smoking dope and he does this all at the same time. It never works because these three things alter your personality. It is not a good thing to alter your personality because you are relying on who you are inside in order to reach your goals. So practice moderation instead of becoming a monk and giving up everything and flagellating yourself while wearing the hair shirt.
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Love the word of the day: flagellating :)

PS - hair shirt? Lost me on that one. ;)
 
jkiree said:
Right!! I can understand maybe carbonated caffeine..which I havent had them in a while..I started doing 1/2 & 1/2 coffee yesterday.
As far as smoking that's gonna be alot harder, so as of right now I'm concentrating on 1 thing at a time.
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Hi jkiree & congratulations on taking your first steps!!! I was never told to give up caffeine, I drink iced tea as much as I want. I'm certainly not telling you to ignore doctors orders but as Diane said, cutting back should be fine.

Smoking is a tough one, I have had family members who were dying from lung cancer and still couldn't quit, even when they were gasping for air. Did your doctor prescribe anything to help with that? I'm fortunate that I never started smoking because it seems to be one of the toughest addictions to break free from.

Good luck with everything and please keep writing!!!
 
Brenda2010 said:
Hi jkiree & congratulations on taking your first steps!!! I was never told to give up caffeine, I drink iced tea as much as I want. I'm certainly not telling you to ignore doctors orders but as Diane said, cutting back should be fine.

Smoking is a tough one, I have had family members who were dying from lung cancer and still couldn't quit, even when they were gasping for air. Did your doctor prescribe anything to help with that? I'm fortunate that I never started smoking because it seems to be one of the toughest addictions to break free from.

Good luck with everything and please keep writing!!!
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Thank you so much..my nutritionist told me to cut out caffine..and I'm going to see my Dr next week about the smoking..but the surgeon didnt prescribe anything for smoking
 
jkiree said:
I had my consultation on the 17th..& starting to cut back on caffeine & eventually go to decaf..how long does caffeine headaches last?! And if any has any suggestions on quitting smoking
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Quitting smoking is definitely one of the hardest things I have done (that and quitting bad foods!). My dr put me on Wellbutrin which is a mood stabilizer that helps curb the nicotine cravings a bit. Ultimately, for me it was the pure "want" and willpower. One of the thoughts I would have is "I can have just one cigarette. I have done it in the past and that first one is horrible after it has been days away from the last one. That will make me quit." But then I would remember that while yes, the first cigarette after days without tasted horrible, the next one tastes better and I deserve to enjoy the cigarette if I am going to break this streak just this one time. Then it would continue until the pack is gone and I realize quitting never happened. So this last time, I had to remind myself not only that the first cigarette is awful, but even with it being awful, it has the power to drag me down. That is the power you are fighting and it is hard.... BUT COMPLETELY WORTH IT! I am 1 year and five months out. I can breathe again. I can taste the actual taste of food, not the nicotine muted version. And I can do anything I want with my time because I don't have to worry about how long I will have to wait before my next cigarette.

Find what motivates you and will keep you committed to your choice. It could be family, your health, because you hate the smell, etc. Just find your motivation and use it as a mantra. For me the first 3 weeks were the worst and then it tapered off. People call it the "icky threes". The third day, third week, and third month marks are the worst. You tend to get cravings around those points in time. Just be prepared and ready to resist them.

As for the caffeine, my dr did the same thing. I have now been 10 months without it on a regular basis (At that time, my blood was actually Mountain Dew green because it was my ONLY source of liquid intake I would have in a day. I NEVER drank water). The caffeine headaches lasted about a week. The biggest problem I had is that I could feel a drop in my energy. Sublingual B12 vitamins cured that for me. Once I started taking those, I didn't see the drastic change in energy like before.

Good luck with both of these items! They are hard, but not impossible. And knowing I quit both of those things gave me the confidence that I could change my life with this surgery. You just have to want the end result badly enough to resist the temptations.
 
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