I'm 20 weeks free of cigarettes tomorrow but today I'm having the most horrendous cravings. I'm a little bit hungover as we went out yesterday but I don't think I even craved this badly in week one.
I'm not in any danger of smoking, I have come too far and would be so completely disappointed with myself but I don't understand why I'm feeling this so far into my quit? It's driving me nuts. Has anyone else felt like this so far in?
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I'm sorry you're feeling like that, but sometimes we do get craves from time to time - am 4 weeks behind you but have had some pretty bad patches - a few people on here have said the same thing.
They *do* pass, and there doesn't seem to be any logic behind them.
All I can think is that quitting isn't "new" any more, and it's just getting to be more normal.
Again, well done, 20 weeks is a great achievement.
What you're experiencing isn't unusual. I still get my moments and I'm a year quit next week! I don't want anyone concerned by that - I wouldn't even say I 'crave'; it's more an annoying sensation that catches me off guard now and then, but which I can just brush away.
Remember that quitting is predominantly psychological, and that's infinitely harder to manage than the actual physical withdrawal. Yours is a typical experience - aftershocks following a strong earthquake.
You've made a conscious decision every day for 20 weeks not to smoke. Your subconscious has had years of training to smoke, and it will not overcome those false memories and nostalgia in a few months. It takes a while for the subconscious to catch up - effectively - to untrain your brain. It's part of the process that most of us go through.
You've already acknowledged that you aren't going to smoke, which is bloody good going! Now, you can be re-assured that what you're experiencing isn't out of the norm.
Best advice I can give is to be defiantly, unashamedly stubborn and tell that monster where to go! Deep breaths, suck it up, and I promise it will soon pass.
It's reassuring that others have experienced the same. I asked hubby but he can't remember when he had his last craving, he seems to think his stopped at two months :confused:
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