Made it to day 9, have a mix of feeling very pleased with myself but very worried.
I breezed through the first 4 days, deliberately locked myself away Fri night as the thought of the pub was too scary, survived day 5 when I did make the pub, day 6 was tougher somehow but I thought as soon as the working week comes around again it would get easier, not the case !
Day 7 and 8 have been difficult, more frequent cravings though they generally only last a few seconds or until I demolish another bag of cashew nuts or bowl of bombay mix !
So here I am at day 9, feel OK at the moment, Mon/Tue were slow at work so maybe the mind was allowed to wander more, today is busier so hoping it could be easier.
Anyone else find week 2 harder than week 1 ?
I am cold turkey BTW so no patches, inhalator, gum etc to fall on....
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Thanks Karri - interesting that you struggled at this point as well, and I think your comment:
'It's as though you've proved to yourself you can do it so what next'
is absolutely spot on.
Maybe you prepare yourself mentally for going a few days without fags as you are convinced that is the toughest period, the challenge disappears, you get complacent and therefore weaker.
I've read quite a few week 2 comments in here and it differs from person to person, some people say it gets easier some say it gets harder, I guess we're all different.
And there is now an official shortage of bombay mix in Kent or I would happily send you a bag.
i can also relate to the idea that once you have gone through the first week, you can think, well, that's that done - i've proved I can do it - where's the fags?!
I'm now on day 10 - yesterday was a real breeze but today just feels harder. It does change from minute to minute, even second to second. One minute i can be thinking how well have done so far and how proud i am of myself, how much better I will feel, how much more money i will have etc etc, and then i get hit with a craving and how sorry i feel for myself that i have done this to myself and taken away one of life's pleasures! All in a matter of seconds!
work for me has been a bit slow too and i think boredom allows your mind to really torture you - that's why i've been giving in to the urges to eat, based on the notion that at least it isn't smoking! Yesterday afternoon i was called to a meeting which lasted 2 hrs and i found i was more focused because i wasn't willing it to end so i could dash outside. My boss smokes and we usually do our catching up at the smoke hut but i do think he may be a teensy bit jealous of me!
Una - i do feel like there is something missing all of the time. It is going to be a massive habit to break - but we can do it! I just think, millions have done it before me, i'm no better and no worse than them, so i can do it too. This is one statistic i want to be part of, not the other.
una-g - nothing wimpish about wanting a fag, in fact you've already been incredibly brave in taking the decision to try giving up in the first place.
I can't offer any huge advice but stick with it, you've come so far and I really do believe that the worst of it is over.
MrsCP - boredom is a factor, when I was bored as a smoker I'd smoke more, and now I'm not smoking I am eating more, but I could go through my body weight in Cashew nuts and as long as I'm not smoking I'll feel better about myself.
And it's strange how the smoking area was a good place to catch up with what's going on elsewhere in the business, I now go to meetings pretty clueless, but I go there as a non smoker !
Don't beat yourself up over the inhalator, whatever you use is better than the weed so everything is positive - this whole experience is about re-training the mind, the nicotine left you days ago, what remains is beating the habitual nature of lighting up.
Stick with it !
And yes I've been a little surprised at the lack of traffic sometimes, a few times I've half expected some kind of instant messaging exchange but it clearly doesn't work that way.
I guess most quitters are ahead/behind you and stick to their time....
I guess most quitters are ahead/behind you and stick to their time....
Er nope, i always click the 'New Posts' tab which will always show me any new or updated posts no matter which thread/area the post resides in.......... but as i'm at work a can only clicky that tab every now and again
I too, like Camper Pete, only look at new posts now when I come online.
Una, if you need the inhalor, so be it; you are not smoking. You could try using the inhalor without the cartridge, or I, rather than get the nicotene again, washed the filter and put on peppermint oil. worked for me when I was desperate.
Horse and MrsCP, you are both well on your way; as you both have read, all quits are different. I have never gone thru so much bitchiness, almost anguish, stopping myself from having a fag. For me, it seemed to last forever. I am amazed that I was able to stick it through.
Now that I look back, although I state that it was one of the most difficult things I have ever done, it was also dead easy and I wish I had had the balls (tho I have none) to have done it sooner.
I do know that I cannot go back to day one again; it is not in me, therefore I cannot smoke again.
If a weak willed ninny like me can make it thus far, there is more than hope for the lot of you.
Today has actually been OK which makes me think that it's the lack of mental stimulation that creates the cravings - two very slow days at work and I thought more and more about smoking, a busy day today and I've got to 3pm with only very fleeting thoughts of a fag.
So lesson for me is to ensure my mind is kept active (which wasn't the case last night when I demolished a 500g bag of bombay mix whilst waiting for Deadliest Catch to start).
And advice to others, the weak moments are inevitable, but the busier your mind is the fewer weak moments you'll have.
Yes - my mind is least active after dinner, watching the box with my feet up and a glass of vino. That's when i miss it the most, but i knew i would.
no good to anyone now but for the 2 weeks leading up to quitting, i used the patches then smoked when i wanted to, with a view to cutting down. What i wanted to do was look at the triggers and the times i would want to smoke more than others, so i could be prepared for them. I would then try and ride them out without smoking, but i knew i could if i wanted to - so i would say to myself, i won't have one now, but i will have one in an hour. Then i'd add another hour, and another, and before i knew it i was down to 3 a day. The biggest thing i learnt was that nothing happened to me, the sky didn't fall in, i felt fine and the day went on as normal. Nothing happened just because i didn't have a fag when i normally would.
I feel confident now because i am ready for the triggers and i try to look at it as something separate from me - it's not me that wants to smoke, it's the addiction. THen i think, i can't 'need' one because i have a patch on. Like bbbreezy - i can't go back to the start again so i know i can't smoke. In my head, I am the parent and the addiction is the child and i just tell it straight - you're not having one and that is final! Sometimes it does put on the waterworks and emotional blackmail, but from reading on here and thinking it through, i know it is just the addiction trying different tactics.
We can all do it, it is not beyond the realms of possibility - it is just blimmin hard!!
I purchased mine from the pharmacy, but in retrospect, you are far better off purchasing a food grade from the grocery store baking aisle. Just think, peppermint extract today, cinammon, almond and the list goes on. if you are using a well clean and dry filter I cannot see how it will harm you. Even better, cut a wee bit of sponge and put in inhalor.
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