Stoptober - Diary of a Quitter: Day 9

Matthew Backhouse smokes his last cigarette before starting Stoptober. Photo / Nick Reed

Journalist Matthew Backhouse chronicles his efforts to quit smoking for Stoptober in a daily diary.

I'll keep this brief because I've been off work, sick, with nausea and a killer headache.

Here's my thoughts on quitting when you're feeling terrible - it sucks.

In a way, it was good to be confined to bed for the better part of a day, because nobody really feels like smoking when they feel like sh**.

Read yesterday's entry here.

But boredom? Total trigger. It's not like I actually wanted to smoke - but there was nothing to really do instead. I couldn't read because my head hurt. I couldn't stare at a screen for too long because my head hurt. I couldn't listen to music because my head hurt.

So I thought about smoking. A lot.

Back when I was a smoker, if I had half a day on my own and nothing to do, I'd put in some quality chain-smoking time.

Bored? Light up. Bored again? Light up. Repeat ad nauseam.

But I wasn't about to rip my patch off and drag myself down to the dairy. Instead, I spent a tiresome day trying to sleep, staring at my watch, and pondering how I ever got myself into this mess in the first place.

Hopefully I'll feel better soon. Because, thanks to the tedium, this was probably the worst day yet.

To take part in Stoptober, visit www.stoptober.nz

For help quitting, visit Quitline at www.quit.org.nz or phone 0800 778 778