Day 36!

[nsd_user663_60406]

Thought I'd check back in just to give an update on my progress - it seems to help me keep motivated if I keep track of how I am feeling. Also, I hope to be able to look back at these posts in a years time and say 'I did it.'

Right now I am in a pretty good place. Cravings are few and far between and it is very rare that I get those whispers in my head from the addiction telling me to smoke.

When people refer to nicotine as a demon, I now see why. It's like it is living inside me and appears when I least expect it. I just need to be ready to ignore it.

There is still that feeling of something being missing, like an ex, but like an ex I need to realise that smoking is history! The only way I can smoke is if I allow it - if I put a cigarette in my mouth, light it and take a puff. Nobody but me can allow that.

All-in-all, this quit is going reasonably well, but I won't be ignorant to the fact that I have lost quits way further in than this one - the most being 8-9 months. So I certainly won't be letting my guard down just yet.

[nsd_user663_54332]

Oh that's fab Lewis well done!!

You're right it is a demon, don't think anyone who has never smoked would get it, but it's like a split personality thing :eek:

Keep going like you are and you'll be free

Am dead jealous of you!!

[nsd_user663_60406]

Thanks. Don't be jealous, it just wasn't your time and I think you will learn from your recent quit.

Next time you just need to break the habit completely. Your quit certainly helped me because you persuaded me not to buy an e-cig!

I really hope this is my final attempt. Not sure I could go through months of smoking and another quit.

Just realised I posted this in the wrong section. Should be in month 2...

[nsd_user663_54332]

I'm glad I persuaded you not to go down that route - shows it's not all loss, lol.

You'll definiely succeed if you kep that attitude going, you are losing nothing by not smoking, only gaining!!

[nsd_user663_59305]

Well done Lewis, well into the first calendar month. I totally agree with both of your analogies. Nicotine addiction is a demon, we think we have the measure of it when it sneaks up on you and "whallop". Forget the sixes as the sign of the beast, it's actually the threes, 3 days, 3 weeks and 3 months, these are all dates that seem to "wake" the monster, many of us have become a wee bit complacent in month three only the have the sneaky little blighter take us totally by surprise with an attack so ferocious it's almost impossible not to surrender, so it's wise to stay on your guard. And I really do think many of us need to mourn the passing of our smoking habit, it has been with us so long through all the good and bad times and that desperate urge to pull in a lungful of toxic, acrid smoke was never far away, no matter what sort of day you were having, it isn't just a habit, like biting your nails, but a way of life, you honestly believe at times that you can't survive without it and when we decide to cut it out of our life it is just like a bereavement or a broken heart. Just like a failed love affair, once we are over the initial mourning period, we forget about the bad bits and romanticise about all the good times, which is why so many of us are seduced back into the arms of the demon weed.

[nsd_user663_60406]

Thanks guys. I am also very proud of myself because I managed to go out, get trollied and sit in a smoking area - all without being the slightest bit tempted to smoke.

[nsd_user663_54332]

Now that is flipping fantastic!!

Well done Lewis

Have you noticed less of a hangover now?

[Rex1000]

Not a bereavement

Lewis I would prefer to look at it as a release, an escape, from a killer! He want's to make you ill, and eventually kill you! So he is no friend and he will do everything in his power to get you back, because he wants to finish the job.

[nsd_user663_60406]

Now that is flipping fantastic!!

Well done Lewis

Have you noticed less of a hangover now?

Thanks, it's definitely a breakthrough for me. As for the less of a hangover - no, I feel dreadful! haha

Proud of you Lewis

Remember you were not born a smoker,you are not meant to be a smoker by nature.Smoking is an aberration,an obscenity that will kill you at worst and at best strip you of cash and make you stink. The fact that it has such a hold illustrates addiction,but it is not natural and that feeling of something missing does disappear totally over time :cool:

Yeah, I try to remind myself that there are many happy non-smokers out there and that smoking isn't necessary to living a fulfilled life. Nicotine isn't like water, we don't need it to live.

Lewis I would prefer to look at it as a release, an escape, from a killer! He want's to make you ill, and eventually kill you! So he is no friend and he will do everything in his power to get you back, because he wants to finish the job.

That is a really good way of looking at it! He won't get me back this time...:cool:

[nsd_user663_54332]

Thanks, it's definitely a breakthrough for me. As for the less of a hangover - no, I feel dreadful! haha

Oh heck :eek:

Make sure you drink plenty of water before you go to sleep and that should help!!

[nsd_user663_60406]

Oh heck :eek:

Make sure you drink plenty of water before you go to sleep and that should help!!

I always say that I will, forget and go straight to bed. I usually wake up either still drunk, or feeling like I've been hit by a bus.

Other than that, I am just over two weeks away from the two month mark - it's crazy, because the first month drags like hell! I absolutely have no desire to smoke at the moment, although last night I was have a nostalgic kinda crave which went away after a few minutes.

I still do miss smoking, but I no longer crave from the addiction. It's me that's the problem now, not the nicotine!

[nsd_user663_54332]

I always say that I will, forget and go straight to bed. I usually wake up either still drunk, or feeling like I've been hit by a bus.

Put a bottle of water by your bed before you go out

Other than that, I am just over two weeks away from the two month mark - it's crazy, because the first month drags like hell! I absolutely have no desire to smoke at the moment, although last night I was have a nostalgic kinda crave which went away after a few minutes.

I still do miss smoking, but I no longer crave from the addiction. It's me that's the problem now, not the nicotine!

You're doing amazingly well Lewis, keep it going like that and you'll be fine!!

[nsd_user663_60406]

Gemma, have you restarted your quit yet? If not, I think you need make a vow to yourself that this will be the last time and if you relapse, then you will smoke forever and never attempt to quit again.

This scare tactic seemed to help me a lot, the prospect of never attempting to stop again and the inevitability of what cigarettes will do to my body if I failed this quit. Still now, if I ever have just one cigarette, I will never attempt to stop again - which is what keeps me going on this quit.

Making it a one time thing and not something you can retry like a game has really worked for me. Maybe I'm talking rubbish...:confused:

[nsd_user663_4025]

That is a good tactic Lewis, I will try to use it alongside the apps and forum, well done!

[nsd_user663_59642]

Maybe I'm talking rubbish...:confused:

I don't think you're talking rubbish, Lewis...nothing wrong with scare tactics; I tell myself scary things too, things like the next fag might be the one that triggers cancer, a heart attack or a stroke. It frightens the life out of me but also makes me feel so glad that I don't smoke now.

......and it can't be rubbish, anyway.........you're still quit, aren't you!

Val

[nsd_user663_42390]

Keep it going

Lewis, well done so far, you have those awful first few days done and dusted now and will never have to do them again, so onwards and upwards for you now. Keep it going!