Stop Smoking: Kathy

Kathy Whatley
Advertising
Austin, TX

I had been a smoker for 33 years and I have been tobacco free for over a month now. I had a mentally foggy feeling when I smoked. I had always attributed this to menopause, but I know now that it was the tobacco. Smoking controlled me and that is not a good feeling. My schedule was controlled; I woke up and had to have a cigarette before I did anything. I would drive down the street, trying to maneuver three things in the car because I had to smoke. If I was on the 17th floor in a nonsmoking hotel, I threw my clothes on and went downstairs and walked out in whatever weather to have a stupid cigarette. It was things like that that totally drove me crazy, but I still did it.

I have tried to stop smoking with the patch. I also quit with Welbutrin and the lozenges. The patches made me feel horrible and I had sweats, it was miserable. I just couldn't do it because they made me feel so sick. The Welbutrin and lozenges worked okay, but I had a stressful situation and the mindset and the commitment weren't there, so it didn't last permanently.

I quit a week before my first appointment with Chantix. I still had cravings and for that first week, it was a matter of every day fighting the cravings; it was a constant struggle. I intentionally decided to use Chantix and hypnosis together because I thought that this would be a good pairing with a more behavioral approach in addition to the medication.

I heard about A New Day Hypnosis on citysearch. I read some of the testimonials and read about the mission and the focus and it sounded like something that appealed to me and that I would enjoy. I felt like hypnosis would provide me with some tools that I haven't had in the past.

After my first hypnosis session, the mental struggle had noticeably diminished. Within the first week, I was calmer and less likely to overreact to things. I was more mentally clear and I had more energy. In general, I just felt better. There have been times when I would have been tempted to smoke if I had only used the medication. Thanks to hypnosis, I've been able to go back and think through what we've talked about during sessions and that clicks in and reminds me of all the reasons that I quit. I have noticed that my blood pressure has gone down. I have better breath control when singing in choir, and I am much clearer in my thinking processes.

I feel more in control. When I don't smoke, I have more time and my life is more calm and organized. I have more control in a lot of different circumstances. Whether I am at a movie or making dinner, my time is my own. This inanimate object can no longer say, "drop everything, you need me now". I have more control over my life and that feels good.

The hypnosis has helped me understand more clearly why I smoked and what caused me to smoke for as long as I did. It's been a very deliberate process of working through and reminding myself of all the reasons that I quit. It seems that stressful situations are less and less frequent because I am coping better overall. I feel more confident. I am communicating much better and thinking more successfully and effectively. I am much calmer and more in control of my emotions and my approach to things.

The most important benefit for me has been the skill set and the mental awareness. I have had some "a-ha" moments and I would definitely recommend A New Day Hypnosis to anyone who wants to stop smoking. I think it is a very effective treatment, Laura's style is so easy and workable and amenable to working through issues. It's completely non-threatening and non-stressful. I wish I could recommend Laura to everybody; she is just a really neat lady. I am confident that I am a nonsmoker permanently. I've made up my mind to follow a course of action. It's a commitment to me, to the life I want to lead; to the person that I want to be. I'm not giving myself an option to go back to smoking and the hypnosis has really helped reinforce that for me.