Beyond Stressed!!
By katsmeow1213
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
United States
April 16, 2009 2:08pm CST
I have 5 kids, the oldest is soon to be 12, the youngest is about 15 months. I am married but my husband works 50 hours a week. 3 days of the week he doesn't get home until after 9pm, and 1 night a week he works until 7pm. He gets out before 5pm on Saturday and has 2 days off...so basically, I'm home alone with the kids a lot!
So, needless to say, my life is rather stressful at the best of times. Sometimes I manage just fine. You'd think I was June Cleaver or Donna Reed or something like that.
But most of the time I don't handle it so well and I'm counting down the minutes until bedtime.
But lately it's been none of the above! Lately it's been so crazy, so hectic, and so stressful, that I feel overwhelmed with anger, and it's not just towards the kids.
Every little thing has sent me over the edge lately. I became irate 2 days ago because I didn't get my next movie shipped from Blockbuster.com. I e-mailed them and even threatened to cancel my account over a tiny little error. Granted they were being a little stupid telling me the same thing over and over again and not really solving my problem... but that's not what matters. What matters is how angry I was over this! It was scary!
I can only assume that I'm acting this way because I'm no longer smoking... but I'm now almost 3 weeks smoke free and still acting like a crazed lunatic?? How long is this supposed to last for? When am I going to stop feeling so angry over everything? If this is the life of a non-smoker... maybe I should light up again, because honestly what I'm doing to my family and friends is so not worth it!!
7 responses
@gemini_rose (16264)
•
18 Apr 09
This is how it got for my hubby, he started off fine with no smoking but as the weeks went on his mood was vile. In the end it got to the point where I told him that he either went to the doctors to see what help he could get there or go light a ciggie up. I said that he had to make a choice or else we were heading for divorce courts because I could not stand it and it was not fair on me or the kids. You have done so well, three weeks is good going, but you have quite a lot on your plate with the kids and everything so it will be that bit harder because the first thing a smoker does when they are stressed is go smoke but you have not got that anymore. You should try and find some other stress reliever one of those stress balls that you squeeze when you are stressed, it would be a shame if you went back to smoking now after all this time.
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
19 Apr 09
I still haven't smoked and I definitly don't want to. There are moments when I do want one, but it's usually not when I'm stressed, it's usually just those moments when I feel like a smoke would be fitting at that time. I'm just finding that I'm more stressed than I should be, and it's probably because I haven't had a smoke!
@sudalunts (5523)
• United States
18 Apr 09
I understand your frustrations. I can imagine it is really hard to deal with the every day stresses and at the same time you have quit smoking. I want to quit, but I know it is going to be real hard, because I am going through really stressful times at the present. It will probably drive me crazy. I do not have children at home and my husband just got a job where he is gone all day as a salesman, it is commission only, so if he does not sell he gets nothing. We have one operating car, so I am stuck in the house all day every day. These walls alone are driving me crazy and I know if I was not smoking I wouldn't be able to handle it.
I want to and will quit soon.
Hang in there, things will eventually get better.
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
18 Apr 09
If I were in your position I would quit just to have the extra money. The money you spend each week on smoking could be a day out for you on your hubby's day off. I've been in that situation where I haven't been able to leave the house. I spent 5 years without my own car, and too many kids in order to share hubby's car, it was too small to fit all my kids. So the only thing I could do was walk around my neighborhood. We finally got me a car all the kids could fit in, but I still don't have anywhere to go!
@GreenMoo (11833)
•
2 May 09
I think I'd be surpised if you were NOT stressed and bad tempered, considering your circumstances! Add giving up smoking and your diet and it's a miracle you haven't thrown yourself under a bus!
I'm joking of course, but please don't be too hard on yourself. Giving up smoking is likely to affect your mood for quite some time, particularly if you've been smoking for years.
If it's any consolation, when I was pregnant for the first time I had to take serious stock of things after I found myself actually throwing things at my colleagues! Different reason, but the same over reaction. Just chemicals flowing around the brain that we're not used to.
@Opal26 (17679)
• United States
17 Apr 09
Hi kats~ I wish I could tell you that it will get better and
I really believe it will. But when you have been smoking for
a long time it takes awhile for your body to adjust to being
without the ciggs and the toxins! It doesn't just happen
overnight! So even if the inital cravings are gone the symptoms
will still continue. I think you know that. If it was so easy
for people to quit smoking more would do it!
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
17 Apr 09
The website I read said it would happen sooner... at least that's what I thought it said. I haven't gone back to check it out, I've been too busy! That's another problem I'm having is I'm so busy, and when I'm not busy, I don't want to do anything.
@dreamweaverjan (3471)
• United States
16 Apr 09
HI Kats: Wow! I'd be stressed out too (G)! I've never been a smoker but I've been around plenty when they have quit, if you've not bodily harmed anyone yet then you are doing great (G)!
If the pressure of quitting keeps getting to you in this way you might talk to your doctor I'm sure there are "things' you could take or get to help you de-tox;
I'd be way worse for even a day with my Moutain Dew as I'm a full blown
DEW-A-HOLIC and its VERY addictive too!!
I used to scare quite a few people back when I was still working when the machine would go empty and they didn't have it filled up, it got so bad that inside the fricken machine they would put extra mountain dew cans in there for the crazy
BI!!!TTCCCHHHYYY me could get her fix while waiting for the guys to refill the machine; LOL! I was so bad I'd go get the keys from management in a hissy huff
that I needed my "fix" and I needed it NOW, and God help them all if they didn't
get it for me, and on the days there was NO DEW IN THERE, NO EXTRA DEW...OH MY
GAAAWWWDDDD!!!! it was pure terror....I'd clock out and leave and go get some
somewhere...LOL! Yep I was bad! I'm still that way! 
good luck to you on your endeavor of quitting smoking I wish my two nieces would;
good luck to you on your endeavor of quitting smoking I wish my two nieces would;@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
16 Apr 09
I used to drink that too, but eventually I stopped. I can switch to different kinds of soda now. At the moment I'm drinking Coke zero. It's good. Tastes a lot like regular coke but has no calories.
@cynthiann (18612)
• Jamaica
17 Apr 09
TYhis is classic withdrawel symptons of not smoking. You have done so well and please don't resume smoking. You know that you are a good Mom. Just tell the older ones what you are experiencing.The eldest will definitely understand and seeing this could help to prevent him from beginning to smoke. Are ther any clinics that you could go to for help? I mean health clinic that are free? do you have health insurnace so tha tyou can see a doctor re this? You may need to have a mild tranquiliser for a feqw weeks. For me, the first 3 or 4 months were sodifficult and I was on tranquilisers to help me.Trust me, this very mild and gentle lady would sometimes turn into a rotweiler! I had to openly admit to my students at school what I was doing and how I was suffering. They so understood and were kind once they realise how the withdrawal symptons were affecting me. Get help if you can but please don't go back to smoking. Blessings
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
18 Apr 09
I haven't yet and don't want to... but if I don't smoke soon, I may end up divorced! My husband's being a total jerk!
@lilybug (21107)
• United States
16 Apr 09
I have never been a smoker, so I can't really say that I know what you are going through right now. I don't know when it will get easier. I don't know if it will. Most of the people I know that have been smokers still are. I know one person who was smoke free for almost a year and he lit up again a few weeks ago because of stress.
