lizw

I stopped smoking 3 days ago. I have been thinking about doing this for the last year or so and woke up Sunday morning and thought, I'll just stop and I have.

This is the longest I have ever gone without a smoke since I was 15 and I am 31. I've been clean & sober in AA 10 years now too.

I read on the net that the 72 hour mark is a hard one in terms of cravings and I have to say today has been 'one of those days' when everything that can go wrong has gone wrong. Of course my minds response has been have a smoke but I haven't. I am also very tired. My desire to smoke has probably the worst it has been in the other 2 days so far.

My approach has been surrender, rather than trying to fight it. I.e. if I feel like smoking I hand it over and go and do something else, like have a drink of water, do the dishes, go for a walk.

I do this because I think if I walked round thinking about how I am not going to smoke, I'd want to smoke even more more!!!

The other thing I am finding helpful is to live in the moment and focus my attention on what I am doing now, then there is no room for smoking thoughts.

I am looking forward to bed tonight. That's one good thing about sleeping, there's no thoughts of smoking!

It's great this forum is here. Thanks.

greeteachday

Liz congratulations! I've heard that 3 day mark is a big hurdle too and you sound like you are approaching things with the right idea. I find if I focus on the fact that I "can't" smoke, any desire to smoke lasts longer. Like you, if I surrender and just go about my business and do something active, I get passed the hurdle and move on. I'm at 3 weeks today and really feel terrific. Occassionally thoughts enter my head (like knowing I was going on a cross country flight this weekend and thinking, shoot, I'm going to crave a smoke) and then realizing...wow, no more worries like that, I'm a nonsmoker

I've also been putting money I used to spend on smokes into a special piece of pottery I made...I'm not quite sure yet what I am going to do with it, maybe vacation money, but I know it will be a better use than smokes. Amazing how fast the $$ adds up.

cess101

Dooing great! Here are a few tips I learned that helped me early on in my quit. it helps to identify between cravings and withdrawals. Cravings usually persist longer than withdrawals.......

UNDERSTAINDING & CONFRONTING CRAVINGS:
CRAVINGS mean that I am getting free of nicotine, the addictive drug in tobacco. Many people crave cigarettes in the first weeks after quitting.

EACH CRAVING lasts only a short time. I will be patient and as my body gets used to life without cigarettes, cravings will get fewer and fade. (They really do!)

The most dangerous thought to avoid is: "I'll just have one."

EACH TIME I overcome the urge to have a cigarette, I'll feel stronger and more able to resist the next time. Confidence builds every time I resist. (It really does!)


UNDERSTANDING & COPING WITH WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS
Withdrawal symptoms can be very uncomfortable, but they mean that my body is flushing out the chemicals from tobacco. My body is healing. I'll think about how to deal with these symptoms and jot my ideas down on a pad of paper like this:

Symptoms How I Will Cope

Irritability:

Fatigue:

Insomnia:

Coughing/Dry Throat:

Dizziness:

Lack of Concentration:

Constipation, Gas, Stomach Pain:

Hunger:

Headaches:

Craving for a Cigarette:



PRACTICING THE THREE R'S
I'll REMIND myself why I quit smoking. (I will jot down a dozen or so reasons for quitting and every time a craving strikes, I will go back to my reasons and read them over again)

I'll REHEARSE what to do to handle the urge to smoke when challenging situations arise. (Preparation helps. I will jot down a few situations which are exceptionally hard for me)

I'll REWARD myself in some small way each time I beat the urge to smoke. I'll congratulate myself for being determined and trying my best.
Smoking used to seem like a reward. A healthier life as a nonsmoker is a better reward.

WITHDRAWAL WILL NOT LAST FOREVER.QUITTING IS HARD WORK BUT IT'S WORTH IT!
You Can Do This. Keep up the good quits everybody.

Cess101

yeahgr8

That's great work Liz. I have been going on about giving up for years, only been sober 5 months and all through drinking i hated the bllody things but no drink could go without it's pal the cig!!! Without drinking i love the bloody things! Literally love it, but everyday i think i want to give up. So i'm inspired by what you have achieved and i hope, at some point, to follow suit! It's playing the odds really, i am 37, the older you get and the longer you smoke...well y'know...we all know the risks!

Great story for you, my grandad smoked all his life, he was said to have declared 'i will never give up smoking, even if they increase their price to plutonium'. My mother will go on about how he died at 76 from non-smoking related illness. yeah thats great but the guy could not even walk up 5 steps without being out of breath, had horrible yellow fingers, the bungalow looked like somone had puked up the walls and ceiling and im betting my poor old Nan stopped having 'fun' with im in his 50's...who the hell wants to live like that...how insane is the denial too hehe