Follow Sadia, a local Bennington Citizen who is kicked the nicotine addiction. Learn about other strategies Sadia has tried, the times she almost quit, and how she made it this time!

Sadia's Profile

Name: Sadia

Age: 51

Occupation: Website Designer & Textile Artist

Where do you live? Bennington, VT

How long did you smoke? 9 years plus 10 years (19 total)

When did you start smoking? I first started smoking at age 15.

How much did you smoke? When I was a teen, I smoked nearly a pack a day. I quit after graduate school and stayed quit for 17 years, then picked up smoking again at age 40.. the last 10 years I only smoked 1/2 a pack a day.

Were you 15 when you first tried a cigarette? No, I was 13. My parents both smoked, and I sneaked their smokes downstairs with my friend a few times to try it.

Have you tried any other tobacco materials? No, aside from trying to roll my own when I was in college.

Have you tried to quit before? Once when I was 21, again at 24, then I didn't smoke for 17 yrs, and then once in 2005 and finally in 2008.

Why were you ready to quit this time? Because I didn't feel good, it was affecting my stamina when when I exercised, my clothes smelled awful. Plus turning 50 was a good incentive...

1st quit attempt

During my first 9 years smoking I quit for one year when I was 21, cold turkey, and was fine with it until I was backpacking in Europe and feeling lonely and someone offered me a cigarrette.

2nd quit attempt

In the last year of graduate school, I was fed up with how much I was smoking and how much money it cost me, being a poor married grad student. My husband then was never a smoker, and it was affecting our food bill.. so I quit cold turkey again... by buying a carton of cigarettes and smoking telling everyone it was my last.. and I made it last a very very long time, and then I was done. That time stuck for 17 years.

3rd quit attempt

I picked smoking back up in 1999 during some rough personal changes in my life, smoked, mostly outdoors, for the next 10 years. In December of 2005 I tried to quit again cold turkey, but just couldn't quite do it.. mostly I felt it was for the wrong reasons.. a Xmas gift to my family. I felt resentful mostly and it just didn't work. I had a Quit Plan, but I wasn't very tied into it.

On February 25, 2008, I quit for good. I wanted to quit quite badly, and I had set up a solid Quit Plan for myself.

First, I made a pact with myself to go see Gwen over at the Southwestern Vermont Medical Center and I made an appointment with her.

I shared my previous smoking and quit attempt history with Gwen and decided to try something besides cold turkey for a change. It was important for me to admit that I just couldn't do it alone. I decided to try the Patch along with the Nicorette gum as a backup. Because I smoked only a half pack a day, I started on a lesser dosage of the Patch.

• I told my partner of my plans only after I had seen Gwen and asked for family support. Since no one in the household smoked, and most of my family and friends don't smoke, this was fairly easy.
• I also told my smoking friends that I was quitting and would not be hanging outside with them for a while, and asked for their support
• I set myself up with access to Earl Grey tea at work and home, and used a tea break when I was feeling anxious. I also cut way down on Coffee, especially the first couple of months.
• I made sure my knitting was available to me if I really needed to keep myself busy at home and got a craving. I also found that unravelling old sweaters for yarn to knit with was a great mindless activity that helped me thru more than a few rough times.
• I told my online friends about my quit and also asked for their support. They came thru with lots! The best and most helpful things one of my friends gave me was the acronym "H.A.L.T." ... which stood for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired.. my friend said she learned it from AA and it represents emotions and states that often trigger addictive cravings. For me .. Anger was not one that fit, but Anxiety was... Everytime I got a craving I would stop and "examine" the craving for 5 minutes.. asking myself what I was feeling. By the time I would figure a craving out, I was over it. I used that technique alot during my first 3 weeks.
• I joined QuitNet and found a couple of Quit buddies online that I could talk to. I did the same on a knitting social media site I belong to, and joined their "knit & quit" group.
• I also tried not to substitute food for my cravings.. I just drank LOTS of tea.
• When it was time for me to go off the patch, I used the gum, but only when I had severe cravings. For me it was usually once a day, at 10am, my worst trigger break time at work. The gum gave me such a burst of nicotine that I only would use one, and it usually did the job for the day. I made a pact to wean myself off the gum early, as I wasn't crazy about the way it made me feel. I was off the gum after another month.
• I set up some rewards for myself after certain periods of time, 3 months, half a year, a year, so forth. I rewarded myself with some craft tools I'd been wanting but were fairly pricey and not something I would usually buy for myself, so having that 6-month mark gift to look forward to was a big help.

YES! I have been smoke-free for over a year now, and using the Patch and gum really did help me.. but having a PLAN that was well thought out and would work for ME was crucial. Earl Grey Tea became my substitute for smokes for the first few months, and keeping myself busy and asking friends and coworkers and family support was really important. I feel SO much better, can breathe better, can smell the flowers and fresh air again. Plus all the money I'ved saved has let me splurge on some pricey hobby and art supplies!

Do you want to send Sadia an e-mail to show her your support, get more information on her quit success, share your quit story with her, or give her tips to help him stay quit for good? You can! E-mail Sadia at tobaccofreebennington@gmail.com