Day 1!!!!!

[nsd_user663_19697]

Hi, Im 33 yrs old and have been smoking for 15 years. Well yesterday 5:30 PM I had my LAST cigarette...how do I stop the cravings?????????

[nsd_user663_18536]

Hi there

A very warm welcome and congrats on your decision.

The best advice I can give is as so many have said before me on these boards - read, read and read some more.

The best tool you can give yourself on this journey is education - i promise you

whyquit.com is a good source of information

Post on here as often as you like and when you need help

regards

Dean

[nsd_user663_19697]

Thanks, the feeling of having others that understands what Im going through, a lot of them have been where I am today, surely helps a great deal....nd the water helps.... a bit....

[nsd_user663_18145]

Hi Kula and welcome to the forum well done on giving up are you using any nicorette replacement therapy! or going cold turkey?

just remember to take each craving as it comes alone and breathe distract your mind and hands and it will pass i found playing games online and reading lots of the threads and links on this site plus the people on here are amazingly helpful and yep we know what your going through and again that has helped me and others just knowing there is people that know that its def a big help

regards Carol

[nsd_user663_19068]

Hi Kula,

Welcome! I know what your going through. I'm starting on day 5 now and it has been an off and on battle, but I told myself I would win this time. Here is one thing I found on here that has helped me a lot. Everytime I want a smoke I read this and then say "I don't need one". Here it is, hope it helps:

JUNKIE THINKING: "One puff won't hurt."

RESPONSE: "One puff will always hurt me, and it always will because I'm not a social smoker. One puff and I'll be smoking compulsively again."

JUNKIE THINKING: "I only want one."

RESPONSE: "I have never only wanted one. In fact, I want 20-30 a day, every day. I want them all."

JUNKIE THINKING: "I'll just be a social smoker."

RESPONSE: "I'm a chronic, compulsive smoker, and once I smoke one I'll quickly be thinking about the next one."

JUNKIE THINKING: "I'm doing so well, one won't hurt me now."

RESPONSE: "The only reason I'm doing so well is because I haven't taken the first one. Yet once I do, I won't be doing well anymore. I'll be smoking again."

JUNKIE THINKING: "I'll just stop again."

RESPONSE: "Sounds easy, but who am I trying to kid? Look how long it took me to stop this time. And once I start, how long will it take before I get sick enough to face withdrawal again? In fact, when I'm back in the grip of compulsion, what guarantee do I have that I'll ever be able to stop again?"

JUNKIE THINKING: "If I slip, I'll keep trying."

RESPONSE: "If I think I can get away with one little 'slip' now I'll think I can get away with another little 'slip' later on."

JUNKIE THINKING: "I need one to get me through this withdrawal."

RESPONSE: "Smoking will not get me through the discomfort of not smoking. It will only get me back to smoking. One puff stops the process of withdrawal and I'll have to go through it all over again."

JUNKIE THINKING: "I miss smoking right now."

RESPONSE: "Of course I miss something I've been doing every day for most of my life. But do I miss the chest pain right now? Do I miss the worry, the embarrassment? I'd rather be an ex-smoker with an occasional desire to smoke, than a smoker with a constant desire to stop doing it."

JUNKIE THINKING: "I really need to smoke now, I'm so upset."

RESPONSE: "Smoking is not going to fix anything. I'll still be upset, I'll just be an upset smoker. I never have to have a cigarette. Smoking is not a need; it's a want. Once the crisis is over, I'll be relieved and grateful I'm still not smoking."

JUNKIE THINKING: "I don't care."

RESPONSE: "What is it exactly that I think that I don't care about? Can I truthfully say I don't care about chest pain? I don't care about gagging in the morning? I don't care about lung cancer? No, I care about these things very much. That's why I stopped smoking in the first place."

JUNKIE THINKING: "What difference does it make, anyway?"

RESPONSE: "It makes a difference in the way I breathe, the way my heart beats, the way I feel about myself. It makes a tremendous difference in every aspect of my physical and emotional health."

JUNKIE THINKING: "I'm bored"

RESPONSE: "Smoking is an 'activity' or 'something to do' only for smokers. I'm really not 'doing' anything when I smoke except still sitting/standing there. The rest of the world survives occasional boredom quite well without inhaling life-challenging chemicals."

JUNKIE THINKING: "But they've been smoking on TV and in the movies for years! There are even magazines devoted to tobacco products!"

RESPONSE: "That's right. They were on TV for years, I wasn't. I'm still alive; many of them aren't and they departed this vale of tears in prolonged and painful ways. And the smiling faces in the magazines now are risking painful and disfiguring surgery later, at which point they won't be smiling at all."

JUNKIE THINKING: "Its so nice to go out for a 'breath of fresh air' and a cigarette."

RESPONSE: "Fresh air? I've got to be kidding. And face it, sunny days are one thing, but how many days do I huddle out in the rain with the rain hitting the cigarette and turning the cigarette paper that disgusting yellow color? How many times is it windy and it takes forever to keep a match or lighter lit long enough to light the cigarette, and then how often does a gust of wind come up and blow the ashes into my eyes?"

Good Luck,

Ron

[nsd_user663_5920]

Spur of the moment decisions can work ..... read up and learn about quitting and the possible effects it can have on body on mind.

It's your quit ..... your in charge and you can even enjoy it and control it

Craves reduce ... don't be scared and don't let fear of the unknown or uncomfortableness have you running back to smoking. It gets easier.

Read the links of some folks signatures and be prepared.

All the best

[nsd_user663_3282]

Fantastic timely advice!!!

Michael.

Isn't it just the way of things....on occasion

[nsd_user663_19697]

Seriously, you gave up yesterday at precisely 5:30 PM after having smoked for 15 years, without any idea of why/how you were going to stop??????

I suggest you come back when you've actually decided that you want to quit and that you have a bit of a clue why.

Michael.

I have been thinking bout this for months and months, yesterday is the only day that I got through without a cigarette in 15 years...

I decided to stop smoking cause I am planning to start a family, and its not only bout me, its bout my family, that is enough reason for any woman to quite...Day 2

[nsd_user663_19697]

Hi Kula,

Welcome! I know what your going through. I'm starting on day 5 now and it has been an off and on battle, but I told myself I would win this time. Here is one thing I found on here that has helped me a lot. Everytime I want a smoke I read this and then say "I don't need one". Here it is, hope it helps:

Good Luck,

Ron

Day 2 and Im still holding out, Ive read your post like 50 times now...Thanks

[nsd_user663_18143]

Drifter that post is brilliant, truly brilliant - printed and put on my desk and will be on my fridge when i get home.

Thanks you

Kula - well done on your decision to quit. Mine was a spur of the moment thing too: had a horrid flu/cold and something clicked. Am on day 39 and still going strong. Hope you're okay and coping with everything, this site has been an absolute lifesaver for me so get on here as much as you can and, to echo what others have said - read, read, read!!!

Must be day 4 now, how's it going?