Grrrrrr. I am told by my wife that I am a grumpy bastard in the morning. Even the kids agree. Hell, even the dog (when we had one) kept well clear for that first hour.

So today is THE day. I collected my prescription of patches and an inhaler yesterday. My last smoke was around 11pm last night. I made a list of things to keep me occupied when I feel a need to smoke (there is still half a packet downstairs somewhere). I got rid of the sleeve of cigarettes I had. I also had a late trip to Tesco to stock up on the recommended items, fruit juice, bananas, yoghurt, sugar free gum, etc.

I read the instructions for the patches and inhaler last night. Normally, my first smoke is within minutes of crawling out of bed.

So there I am, eyes still not fully open, trying to figure out how to unwrap the patch to put it on! Grrrrr. Not a good start. It took me a few minutes. The fact that you don’t feel the affects of it for about 30 minutes didn’t seem to take the edge off my frustration.

The inhaler, well, it doesn’t seem that good to be honest, I have tried a few puffs and am sure it is working, but I don’t get anything psychologically from it.

So, it is almost 9am, I’ve been up for three hours, and not smoked for 10 hours so far. According to the info from the NHS cessation clinic, my nicotine and carbon monoxide levels in my blood have reduced by half and oxygen levels have returned to normal. Great, I’m ready to do the Great North Run. Not!

Really though, it doesnt feel too bad just now. I am having difficulty focussing on work and am kind of skipping around (figuratively, not literally!) from thing to thing. Speaking of which…back to it…no doubt I will write more later.