I haven’t had a cigarette since the 28th of May; I’ve tried using 7mg (step 3) patches at the suggestion of the Mistress of Juvenile Scorn. The general lack of withdrawal symptoms is very comforting, however, over the weekend I came down with cold-like symptoms that started with a tickle behind my throat, followed by generalized muscle pain on the torso, stiffness of the neck, and a general feeling of weakness and malaise. Soon it progressed to a pounding heartbeat just as I started falling asleep. I thought I had flu. I thought I had mono. I thought I had heart disease.

I thought a lot of things until yesterday when I asked Chelle what the heck, and she told me that most of the latter symptoms are a sign of nicotine-patch-rejection. Apparently this good ol’ tub-o-lard doesn’t like nicotine seeping through the skin. I’ve been off the patch for 48 hours now, and I haven’t had a smoke yet. I now feel some sort of unease in my stomach whenever I eat too much, which is about two out of three of my meals in the day. I’m not yet—yet—rejecting food nor are my legs restlessly shaking the way I did when I went cold turkey before.

I know I’m gonna feel the withdrawal pains sooner, if not later, and I know I’m probably going to have a drag or two, if not a whole cig or two while hanging out with an entire crowd of my smoking friends, but this is one monkey I don’t want on my back for the rest of my life. I’ll have to write about the next time I smoke a cig with my best friend, which will be some time next week. Who knows, maybe I won’t be able to go through one now.