The Weekly Friday Feast

@Jacques,

I don't tell my psychiatrist or anyone everything of my life. I just tell the things that seem most relevant to my mental health to my mental health support people. Most people have something they are ashamed of from the past. The idea with medications is also to help with excessive anger, which I have certainly had too but am far less troubled by now. So consulting with a psychiatrist is likely to help you with that too I think. I still get troubled by memories of the past, things done to me and things I have done to other people. But the good combination of meds and other support I am getting are helping me to move past these things so that my life now is making up for regretful things from the past. That kind of 'redemption' is a good feeling and I think it's something you could experience more too, with some more help.

Thanks again for your great support with my reduction process. I'm not really finding myself more fidgety or more craving as I slowly reduce. The initial resistance to the reduction is difficult but once I establish a lower pattern of smoking over a week or so, it gets easier to reduce a bit more the next week or the one after that. It's getting more and more normal for me to smoke less and less. It's a really good idea to try nicotine gum. I was watching a man in my real life support group using those the other day and thinking it could be worth replacing at least some of my smokes with gum instead. I will try to remember to get some from the chemist to try that.

hi @Jacques, fingers crossed about the cyclones

and my hubby has a lot of panic attacks in the middle of the night , finds it hard to go back to sleep

sounds like you and hubby are going to have a nice day, i hope you enjoy your movie.

Yes, i have my fingers crossed too, although it would be nice to get some rain here, all the grass has died here, only dirt left 😞 we need to water so muc hto keep the plants alive.

OMG does he, they are terrible, i can't go back to sleep they are too distressing. i am so scared of sleep now, so terrified of the night.

good night everyone , take care @NikNik, @Jacques , @Mazarita, @PeppiPatty, @Appleblossom

Nighty night, @Shaz51. Hope you and hubby get a peaceful night's sleep tonight.

Hi @Jacques, he wakes up so tired in the mornings , need to talk to the doctor i think but he doesn`t want too ¬¬¬

yes , some rain would be nice here too

thank you @Mazarita, I hope you do too

Oh ok @Mazarita, i don't know that, i just don't know if i will ever be able to reach out for help, since my doctor retired i have been going to different doctors each time so they don't ask questions. i know it is not helpful but i am just too scared.

Yes i know the feeling of giving back, i help mums friends out sometimes, it is nice to help someone without wanting anythign in return.

Wow you are so lucky @Mazarita, when i quit i has bad cravings and fidgiting, it took me so long to let go of my lighter, i had to play with it all the time for a long time, but i quit cold turkey, maybe a bad way of quitting.

you are doing so well and i am proud of you. give your body a few years, it does rebound to a healthy state, you will find you have more energy and just generally feel better.

You have such a good outlook with your quitting plans, i am glad you are not too hard on yourself and allow things to progress at their own pace.

Hey @Mazarita and @Jacques, interesting to hear about the quitting smoking, I was using an e-cig with nicotine eliquid until last week when I noticed breathing problems at night...I thought it was panic attacks but narrowed it down to the vaping. So back on the expensive stinkies unfortunately.

But, yeah, congrats on cutting down from 20 to 5 @Mazarita

hi @BamBam, try to get off the E-cigs, they have found they are just as harmful as ciggies, try some nicotine gum, it is not great either, but better than the other two alternatives.

I wish you all the best with your quitting journey too. i have not had a cigarette in 8 years.