Survived the holiday but only just

[woody76_flat9]

Hi everyone. I am now back in London after two weeks holiday. Firstly I am very pleased to report that I did not have a single cigarette. This had probably been the first holiday in 20 years when I didn't smoke.

As a result I am now successfully on day 108!!

However what concerned me is I almost slipped up. On the final Saturday I admittedly had a few drinks too many and I sudden got the urge to smoke. And what did I do about it? I bought a pack of 20!! I then even opened the pack and said to myself one night off from quit will be ok.

I then held the pack in my hand for about 30 minutes. In the end I came to my senses. Part of it was down to fact I didn't want to ruin a 100 day plus quit. Secondly I didn't want to post on here saying I let myself down and smoked.

I am really pleased I didn't smoke but part of my had alarms bells. Why after such a long period did I feel the sudden urge? I have read other posts on here of people having cravings again after three months or do. I guess I can put it down partly to being on a holiday and being drunk that night.

Now I am back in London, my cravings have declined again and I am back in my routine again. As I say I am so glad I had a smoke free holiday and was able to be strong during that 30 minute moment of madness!

[nsd_user663_61196]

Oh very well done Woody, absolutely brilliant you didn't give into the temptation after all that. Massive congratulations. Shows what strength you have.

Great to hear you had a good holiday too.

108 days is incredible. bb x

[woody76_flat9]

Yes so glad I resisted. Debbie so true on what you said. I always associated smoking with holidays.

I am so serious about this quit and was very annoyed with myself for actually buying a pack. But I felt so guilty while holding that pack, and when I finally chucked them away I was so glad I didn't let my guard down. I absolutely cannot smoke again. My previous quit attempts were a joke which I never took seriously. I also cannot go back to day 1. I am also pretty sure if I had smoked that evening last Saturday, I would have smoked again on Sunday, then Monday etc etc. that's why I cannot even have that "one" cigarette.

Thanks for your support

[nsd_user663_60964]

Thing is, Woody, I'll bet you that you'll never again have that urge to smoke when you're on holiday. I suppose it's just that we face most of the smoking trigger-points early in our quits (and therefore get them out of the way & parked) and by the time we're some months in there aren't very many left to confront. Because of that, when we do confront one, it pulls quite a punch because we've not had to deal with it for quite a time.

The main thing is that you didn't succumb, which shows that however unexpected and powerful the smoking urge, you have an inbuilt resistance now that will always come to the fore when you need to rely upon it.

Well done on standing firm and welcome back!!

[woody76_flat9]

Thanks skiddaw and kat for such great replies. It is so true about trigger points. Now that I have notched up a number of weeks, I have faced off numerous trigger points. The most significant ones for me were definitely Christmas, New Years and now a two week beach holiday.

The holiday was definitely the biggest test to date and has given me a lot if confidence that this quit will truly continue. I have said it in previous posts but on holiday I would chain smoke! My next planned goal is to hit 6 months which isn't really too far over the horizon

[nsd_user663_2681]

Hi Woody,I read your post in awe... I really don't think I could of got that far to the point of buying a pack and then just binned them all, I hope you are really proud of yourself, if not you blinking well should be

[woody76_flat9]

Thanks Donna for your message. Yes close shave but happy to have resisted!

[nsd_user663_61198]

Well done Hope i can be as strong as you, you are awesome xx