REPOST By gummer  Date Unknown

I am putting my own note on this because gummer wrote this a long time ago!  Addiction does NOT change.  It is the same now as it was back then…  Addiction is what drives losing your quit!  Remember that!  If you do NOT believe the reality of your addiction?  You will come up with all sorts of excuses to smoke…  there is NO “Just one!”  If you are not careful you will be right back where you were before you quit…  Believe Addiction is real and fear it!  Rosemary H

Quit Progress - I guess this is the information I sought most during the first month of quitting…  How will I feel?   When will it get better?  It is probably a good sign that as I write this (day 38) I don`t remember that much.  Yes, the first week was horrible, and the second week was pretty close (I was on gum at the time). The frequent cravings and a persistent dull headache (could have been all that chewing!).  The third week sticks out as surprisingly difficult, but it was during this time that I was chewing only one piece of gum each day.   I suppose the cravings were weaker, but I was mostly surprised that they were still there. 

Weeks four and five - No more (Nicotine Replacement Therapy ( NRT)…  Yes, that means no nicotine at all.  Generally felt better, but those rogue cravings would come out of nowhere.  Reminds me of living in Northern California, where they have these sneaker waves - enormous waves that come out of the vast Pacific Ocean and drag everything on the beach back out to sea, including people.  There are great signs on the beach showing little stick people having a picnic in the top vignette, while the bottom half features an upturned beach umbrella and tumbling little stick people under an enormous wave.  Never saw a sneaker wave, thank God, but it does remind me of these nasty and perilous cravings coming out of nowhere…  All you can do is grit your teeth and bear it.  Fortunately, the rest of the time is fairly comfortable.

Week 6 - I have not smoked for five weeks, and I had no nicotine for the last two.   I am actually starting to feel normal!  I really feel quite calm.  The odd automatic thought about a cig comes up, but it is simple to brush aside.  A couple of times recently, I was socializing (alcoholic drinks involved), and I feel like my old self, with no need to smoke.  This is good!  I`ll keep an eye open for those sneaker craves though!  A thought - when I started all of this, 14 days, 21 days, a month, they all seemed so incredibly far away.  But, guess what?   It will pass much faster than you expect - I now have my eye on 100 days, and even though that is 62 days away, I no longer see it as overwhelming.   I am confident that I will get there, and what`s more, that I will do so in relative comfort.  So remember: Things get better, much, much better.  It is worth every effort.  

Day 49 - Yep, SEVEN weeks, and it is sooo much better.  Just spent a week at the beach and barely even thought about smoking.  Drinking alcohol no longer seems to trigger the intense desire to smoke (thank God, because I do like my drinks!).  I had the wonderful realization while we were traveling that smoking is losing its grip on me.  We arrived at the Boston airport and I did not dash out to the curb to smoke - I didn`t even think about it until I noticed other people out there sucking nicotine for dear life!   (Isn`t that ironic?!)  And what did I feel?  Relief and disgust - relief that I am no longer there, disgust that I was so weak that I would be such a junkie in public.  I am not being a smug ex-smoker, that is simply what I felt… I know that I just said that I have barely thought about smoking lately.  Well, last night I had the most massive craving and it lasted from 5:00 pm until I went to bed at 11:00.  What a $@!#%!  But I would not give in. 

Thankfully it was gone when I woke up this morning.  Always remember that a crave can hit you at any point - I suspect even years after quitting - so never be surprised and always be ready for it!  Which makes me wonder...  when people who have quit for a long time, months lets say, start smoking again, is it because of a massive craving?  Or is it on a silly whim (oh, I`ll just have a puff)?   I suspect the latter...

Commitment.  I firmly believe that commitment, will power, determination, resolve, whatever you want to call that absolute belief, is essential to quitting successfully.   Once you have it, it will influence the way you look at everything.  I came across the following quote in Wewin`s profile, and it really spoke to me…

“Until one is committed there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.  Concerning all acts of initiative there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans:  That the moment one definitely commits oneself then Providence moves too.  All sorts of things occur to help one that would otherwise never have occurred.  A whole stream of events issues from the decision raising in one`s favor all manner of incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man would have believed would have come.  Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do; begin it. Action has magic, grace, and power in it.”  W.H. Murray  Source: The Scottish Himalaya Expedition

Today is day 76…  that would be almost 11 weeks... wow...  It`s no longer that hard.   It is so tempting to complicate quitting, when it is actually really simple.  All you have to do is not smoke.  Period.   I know that sounds smug, but it’s the truth.  And it’s not that difficult to achieve if you always remember that however bad it gets, however huge the crave, it WILL pass.    If you are patient you will overcome this.  Time is your ally.  Always ride it out.  If you do, the discomfort will become less and less until it disappears.  If you smoke, you are doomed to go through the whole bloody thing again!