How long 'till I get to the norm..?

[nsd_user663_23227]

This is the only worry I have about quitting smoking is, how hard will the initial change of life be after cigarettes. I've smoked for so long, and now I can't imagine future life without a cigarette in my hand. Everything and I mean everything in my life is associated with a cigarette. Just time is the best healer I suppose, what's your views on this?

[nsd_user663_20978]

hello and welcome

firstly i to couldnt imagine being able to quit or imagine life without cigarettes but here i am day 53

i would say the first week is the worst, week 2 is better than week one, week 3 u start to see light at the end of the tunnel, and the one month point is a real turn around u feel like a true non smoker

its all about breaking associations to cigarettes change the way u do things to break that association even down to wat radio station u listen to as the one u usually listen to will remind u of smoking

and read read read, knowlege is power and use this forum

[nsd_user663_3282]

Yup, everything revolved 'round smoking for me too...and you'll find that was the same with 99.9% of the members here. Smoking was a whole time experience.

You ask about getting back to normal...if you mean physically then I don't know that answer and don't wish to hazard a guess either. If it's a 'head' thing then you will find that you're forging a new normality as the time passes. Without wishing to sound 'happy clappy' it's a better scenario for us individually...we discover resources within ourselves.

Keep on keepin' on,

Cav

[nsd_user663_20558]

It's a massive life change. But the thing you have to hang on to is that the massive change is ALL GOOD. You are going to have time back (how many hours in the day did you waste standing around smoking?), so much more money, your breathing will improve, you won't smell any more, you won't be (as Karri said) chained to finding an opportunity to smoke, you won't be a smoking outcast.

It takes a while - the physical withdrawal is over so quickly, but you have to spend some considerable time retraining your mind. It shocks a lot of people that the mental withdrawals can feel so physical. But then, if rats can be trained to want food when they hear a bell ring, just think how a complex brain like ours can be conditioned to expect a cigarette and all the different things that can trigger it.

We've spent YEARS conditioning our brains. But the good news is, it takes only weeks, or maybe a few months, to recondition them.

I'm 60 days in and it's getting easier and easier. The feeling of freedom is absolutely amazing, and worth forcing yourself through the tough times.

Good luck with your quit!

Helen

[austinlegro 11 Years Smoke Free]

Most of us were very similar. Life was punctuated with cigarette breaks and we used to plan our lives around smoking opportunities. Like Ninjas we’d scope the new building for smoking areas, opportunistic exits, other fellow smokers, tables by the door, seats on the end etc. Life became a series of smokes triggered by advert breaks on the tv, ends of meals, before meals, with a drink, getting up, coming down, getting off and ends of tasks. Almost everything triggered a smoke whether stressful, or calming and any moment of boredom had us reaching for the fags.

It’s understandable that being a fresh quitter the thought of having no fags is incredibly daunting as we clearly needed those smokes just to survive. Similarly the thought of never smoking ever again is enough to stop the quit instantly and reach for a fag.

Thankfully it’s all an illusion. There is of course a hump at the start of the quit where you have to deliberately and consciously choose not to smoke despite all the mental prompts but it does become second nature very quickly.

Interestingly the smokes that were most common are obviously prompted more often, battled sooner and therefore coped with quicker. The occasional prompts are the ones that sometimes catch us off-guard and we end up on a beach in Greece smoking at some point 6 months into our quit!

It really doesn’t take long to discover that going out for the evening, taking in a show and having a nice meal without desperately searching for smoking opportunities is a far nicer experience than we could ever have previously imagined.

Even more bizarre is to watch those who haven’t quit sitting on a wall in the car-park, alone and desperately fiddling with their smart-phone sucking their way through a fag until it’s time to come back in and re-join the party. At that point you can only wonder how you ever thought that that was something you were going to find hard to cope with!

Like others have said, if looking to the future is daunting just take it one day at a time. Sooner than you think you’ll be relishing a future smoke-free.

[nsd_user663_22002]

Hi Danny - this question has bought some great and really helpful responses - so thanks!

Also my two pence worth is, although i didnt make it very long, a couple of things from my 4 day quit last month really stuck in my mind...

One was that on only day 3 i noticed a distinct gap between when i got up and when i firstthought about cigs - by only day 3!

And second was genuinely how quickly not smoking in certain situations became the norm - even when i caved in i never went back to smoking in my car, or at work. and that was only after 4 days not smoking.

Back on my quit now and hoping this time to break the association with smoking at home.

[nsd_user663_23227]

Most of the information in this thread is great! Really put my mind at ease, It's going to take alot of effort the re-program my brain, all I need is the determination and that's easy to come by for me, thank you for your responses everyone

[nsd_user663_22435]

yeah, it takes time but what Hellesbelles said is one of the things that has REALLY struck a chord with me

It takes a while - the physical withdrawal is over so quickly, but you have to spend some considerable time retraining your mind. It shocks a lot of people that the mental withdrawals can feel so physical. But then, if rats can be trained to want food when they hear a bell ring, just think how a complex brain like ours can be conditioned to expect a cigarette and all the different things that can trigger it.

That is so true...I've given up before & never felt as psychologically challenged as I am atm...I'm nearly 6 weeks into the quit...when my mind wanders, I'm still smoking ...I am having to make an inhuman effort to replace that fag I see in my hand in my mind with something else!!! Maybe it's because I'm older this time & have more time on my hands but all I can keep thinking is that I simply HAVE to do this & it is going to be the last time I ever give up...no more going back to it..yes, there is life after fags...it obviously takes time but all of us can do it.

[nsd_user663_1658]

Wow im really liking reading all this information...I know the replies wasnt intended for me and sorry for hijacking the thread dann-y:o.

Amazing post Austin.... Especially like the hump part of the quit ...and from what youve said over time life can be just the same if not better without smoking!

Like the rat example too!! very clever thinking.

Glad i looked on tonight.

Thanks everyone

[nsd_user663_23521]

The stuff I have read is so true, I packed in for four weeks last August and I started looking at the people sitting on walls looking at their phones thinking yes Ive been there and so glad to be away. Stupidly I started again but have reached day 6 and have been told by the doctor I must pack up due to it stopping ulcers heal, I wouls be a real idiot to start again but it is hard. I have never used this site before and some of the stuff I have read is great, most of my friends are non-smokers and dont realise how hard this addiction is, so being able to discuss thing with people on this site is great,

[austinlegro 11 Years Smoke Free]

The stuff I have read is so true, I packed in for four weeks last August and I started looking at the people sitting on walls looking at their phones thinking yes Ive been there and so glad to be away.

It's worth remembering that all the angst of quitting is caused by us smoking in the first place. Easy to say I know, but true all the same.

Non-smokers don't get cravings, temptations or little triggers and they still have just as nice a day.

It's worth watching those people stood around having a smoke, it's fascinating to see how little they actually smoke and how much they burn a cigarette.

The 'addiction' is as hard as you make it.

Education as to why you actually smoke can make it a lot easier to stop.

[nsd_user663_23521]

I think Iv made my addiction pretty hard, just need to get my head around does burning toxins and breathing them in actually make me feel better, do I really like standing outside work in the freezing cold - only to return five minutes later stinking of smoke. Think I might be at the depression stage ha thanks for your reply they really help