Day 33 - Eeek!: Hi Guys Never posted before... - No Smoking Day

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Day 33 - Eeek!

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Hi Guys

Never posted before but have read through a lot of forums to get me this far!

Had a lot of ups and downs along the way but the thing I'm finding hardest at the moment is that even after 33 days my head still thinks I smoke...I do still have mild cravings but hopefully never strong enough to light up again..it's just my mind doesn't seem to accept that I've quit!

Is this just me? 😳

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nsd_user663_64242
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19 Replies

Hi there ..well done 33 days is awesome!!....no, its not just you..:) what you describe seems quite common, are you taking anything to supposedly help you stop or did you stop cold turkey?? are you around anyone smoking or passive smoking in anyway?? if there is any small source of nicotine around you it will keep activating a trigger in your brain and keep you craving a bit... if you are nicotine free then remember you have years of memories and deep associations that you brain needs to re cover with new non smoking images..it takes a while and you brain will keep trying to hastle you...keep strong, it will get easier and less...keep up the gr8 work..:)

Hi Melli

I started on Champix but had to stop after nearly 3 weeks as I turned into a raving loony!! One minute I was ready to fight the world I was so angry then the next I couldn't stop crying 😟 I have now gone it alone for the last couple of weeks.

I have smoked 20 a day for nearly 30 years so I knew it was going to be hard to break not just the habit but also the routines of when I smoked,start of my day, after food,breaks from work etc but I thought after 4 weeks that I wouldn't still say out loud at times "just off to have a cig" 😳

I'm trying to steer clear of people smoking and my hubby smokes an e-cig at home but in a different room - the most I've saw people smoke in the last 4 weeks is on TV! I do still want one lots..but realise that if I have one I will be starting back at day 1.

You're doing amazingly well. I've been quit a bit longer than you but still don't seem to have my life back on an even keel. I seem to have swapped one addiction for another: instead of sitting (in my garage!) having a cig with my first mug of coffee, I now sit with my coffee and open up my computer. This seems to continue throughout the day - instead of cig breaks, I open up my iPad and do a bit of surfing.

Unfortunately my change of addiction has been to food (eating a nice big cream cake as I write this) I also went through a couple of weeks of if I can't eat it I'll clean it! Soon lost that urge thank god lol

The "even keel" I'm trying to find is the way I was before I ever smoked - alas I was only 14 then and can't remember a smoke free me!!

Oh, did I not mention that surfing is done with one hand, whilst the other hand is busy sticking salted peanuts, chocolate, or a second meal, into my mouth? One cream cake - I can eat the pack of 4 eclairs!

"This, too, will pass" (hopefully)

Fingers crossed it does - everybody keeps mentioning the money I am saving..little do they know I'm just spending it on munchies..so instead of smoking it I'm eating it - but hey ho I'm sure we'll all come out the other side a different shape than we went in...but smokefree 😁

in reply to nsd_user663_64242

It does pass, this phase of the quit is horrendous, stick to it, once you reach week 9 all settles into it's own place

Hi Lilacsu, yes lots of people struggle with Champix, it doesnt work for everyone, but i wont go into that as you are not taking it now and actually your cold turkey is the easiest way despite popular advertising.

It does seem that the key to stopping smoking is "staying stopped" and the key to staying stopped appears to be in a change of mindset, where you no longer have a desire to smoke, you no longer think..oohh id love a ciggy now...

i have been researching this specific aspect of stopping smoking for several years, i will explain to you briefly as it may help you dislike ciggies and keep up your motivation...

When the chemical nicotine from our ciggy hits our brain it searches for a receptor that it fits so it can activate it...(thats what all chemicals do..) Nicotine fits perfectly into a receptor (now called a nictinic receptor) and like a key in a lock initiates a chemical reaction...It causes the release of a surge of Dopamine...our happy transmitter, our reward system...and this is the feeling we have become dependent upon....NOT the nicotine at all....its the release of surge of Dopamine...it makes bad things feel less bad, makes good things feel gr8, it drives and motivates us, makes us smile, laugh and gives us our zest for life.............

when you stop smoking your levels of instant dopamine release reduce and you brain drives you towards anything that will cause it to release dopamine, like eating sugar or chocolate,or just eating lots in general, (momentary feel good!!) its dopamine!! drinking alcohol, going on the computor, gambelling, exercising....different things for different people....

this is also why people can become low or sad or misereable after stopping smoking for a while(this was me)...so i started building up my own dopamine,(setting small goals and getting rewards, doing lots of things i really enjoy, taking a helbal suppliment with SAFFRON in it...and much more)... and i am now a happy non smoker of 19 weeks..i have stopped many times over the last 15 years but have never achieved being a HAPPY non smoker, for me this is the key..I still think about smoking alot but now in a very scientific manner, annoyed at being fooled for so long ...i dont believe i would ever smoke again now, like you i started at 14 and have smoke for 30 yrs plus..Now i really understand the brain trickery im on a mission to advertise it as its helped me so much....

I hope this helps in some small way..:) good luck and well done..Mel

Hi Mel

That explains a lot - I have tried to read up on things along the way to try and understand why I've had the feelings I've had but I've never known for sure wether it's been the withdrawals or the champix or a combination of both - that's why I stopped the champix (the forums about the effects of those are sometimes horrendous!)

It would've been great if my brain have drove me towards exercised though instead of food 😉

I'm a big believer in the power of your mind and realise that until my head accepts that I no longer smoke/want a cig then I will never truly be safe...this is what I need to work on...and the exercise..definitely the exercise!!

Day 37 and been a bit of a struggle tonight...no particular reason...came out of work looking forward to my cigarette on the way home then remembered - really feel like I'm missing out by not smoking! 😟

Stay with it, you'll be fine !

I did stay with it - I'm on Day 46 now!

Would love to say I feel great but I have never had so many things wrong with me in such a short time than I have in the last 6 weeks...I think it's sheer stubbornness that's stopping me smoking and nothing whatsoever to do with any of the reasons I wanted to stop!!

Canwes profile image
Canwes1000 Days Smoke Free

Lilacsu, that's funny, stubborness is probably what keeps a lot of us from picking up a cig and lighting up. If that's what it takes so be it, I also am stubborn, thankfully.

Well hopefully my stubbornness won't wear thin 😊 third trip to the docs in as many weeks today! I feel like I'm dropping to bits..someone asked me the other day if I felt much better for not smoking...I nearly choked laughing..I never had a cough to get rid off and I don't know when all this extra energy is going to kick in but I've been lucky enough to get the spots(?!!) depression, what looks like eczema all over my elbows,the sleepless nights and anxiety...the list goes on!!

Just over 2 months quit now but still experiencing most of the symptoms above.I searched around to find other forums which discuss not just the cravings but also the very real physical and psychological symptoms associated with quitting as I found this probably more important to know and to realise that other people were dealing with this also and I wasn't going mad! Support is great - encouragement is great but true information is key. There is so much more to stopping smoking than the quit and the cravings but very little discussions about it on this site. Giving someone a verbal pat on the back for resisting a cigarette for another day is all well and good but not much comfort when dealing with an anxiety attack or a depression. 😕

Canwes profile image
Canwes1000 Days Smoke Free

Lilacsu, sorry we couldn't be of more help to you. We share, we support and we encourage to the best of each ones individual's ability. Perhaps you'd like to do the same, share your findings with us so we can all benefit. Something like smoking or should I say quitting smoking sould be a universal goal to achive and if we all do our best to help one another forums like this may one day be a thing of the past simply because we're all wise to how to handle quitting or even better, never starting. Your particular symptons are certainly unfortunate and I sympathize with you for the battle your going through but you need to recognize every situation is unique and needs to be treated as such. All the best to you going forward.

Hercu profile image
HercuValued Contributor

Lilacsu.... This is a quote on one of the zillions sites I have been on looking for answers.....And it changed my whole attitude because it fit me like shoe it was speaking to me. You said knowledge is power....So I knew my shortcomings and adapted accordingly.....

"Visualize the war that's going on inside a smoker's brain: Nicotine versus Dopamine. Natural fight or flight reactions are now becoming nervous disorders. Organic feelings and emotions about life in general become exaggerated problems which seem insurmountable at times. After long term use of high-potency cigarettes (about 15 to 20 years), a person can permanently cripple the dopamine system, and ruin the ability to feel pleasure at all without first smoking a cigarette".

Is it a life long penalty....I still don't know !:confused: (After a centurion) 100 days quit

Canwes my symptoms are certainly unfortunate as you put it but certainly not rare - I've never felt able to express on this forum what I was experiencing as it is always a bit happy clappy. You're right when you say that everyone's situation is unique and needs to be treated as such but after reading comments on here I thought I must just be going mad - that is until I found other forums where my symptoms weren't so unique and we were all feeling similar things.

I wish everybody luck also in going forward however I feel this is not the site for me as I feel like I need to be truthful with how I am feeling and not feel guilty about posting it incase it brings everybody down - I'm not looking for a yay go you but information to help me understand!

All the best guys 😊

Canwes profile image
Canwes1000 Days Smoke Free

Try this one whyquit.com

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