Tomorrow will be the end of month 3 for me and i will say it has definitely been the most difficult and therefore perhaps rewarding month for me...
I sailed quite confidently through the first month with feelings of great power and motivation...i felt on top of my game...even beach camped (which involves lots of wine and tequila..) with my smoking girlfriends..not a drama.....during the 2nd month i started to get those feelings of loss, grief, something missing and also noticing the 5 kilos id gained..socialising was becoming harder now and then at the end of month 2, the dreams started....
I struggled through the begining of month 3 feeling that life just wasnt so good, my marriage not so good, mylife without cigs was just plain boring.....the dreams totally threw me because i would be so happy in my dream because i was smoking and then i would wake up and be so sad that it was all a dream and i had to face up to my smoking free life now....
Im not sure what really made the difference, but as i end month three i now feel very positive about the continuation into month 4.....I only found this site a few weeks ago and you have all given me such a gr8 insight into your worlds and i no longer feel alone in my struggles and achievements...reading some of the posts has given me encouragement to go on with this and even made me feel special and helpful in some of the replies i have had..thank you, thank you, thank you.!!!...
..I have also this month been doing extensive reading into neuropsychophysiology ie the chemical brain reactions to stopping smoking...it sounds boring but i love it and i think its helped me understand deeper stuff and then i love sharing that with others to help them too...
and finally ,i also started taking a herbal supplement called "nurobalance" about a week ago....this was my own experiment based on what i understood about chemical changes with neurotransmitters after we have stopped smoking...the herbal contains plant extracts that help promote happy chemicals in our brains.....i feel like they are helping because i am definately smiling more, feel way less sad in general and feel more motivated, and sleep better....but difficult to know if its psychsomatic as i can be a bit suggestable...??
I would by no means suggest i am going into month 4 confidently, but mearly, optimistically, with motivation rather than sadness...i still continually think about smoking in alot of situations...my smoking conditioning is still sharp...the connections, the memories etc...but they do feel a little softer now at the moment anyway.....i thought hynotherapy might help with that problem but cancelled my appt today as quite costly and i feel stronger now than when i made the appointment?..although i am still very short of patience, i do get annoyed easily and put up with very little, where i had always been quite laid back and chilled out...i hope in month 4 this will dissipate....i want to have a personality that i like again and im not there yet..lol..
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Melli, I for one am glad you found this forum and truly enjoy your 'boring' posts. Who cares how long they are (we're here to read btw) so long as they are relevant and your posts certainly are that. Actually the length of your posts probably helps many get through their entire 'crave' time in a single post. lol
I'm a fan of the brain info you share and frankly I'm glad you cancelled the hypnotherapy. As you yourself has said the understanding of what is going on is enough to help you power through these urges even months later so keep reading, posting and most importantly keep the 'quit'.