Very restless: No physical craves today. But... - No Smoking Day

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Very restless

laura6 profile image
laura61 Year Smoke Free
22 Replies

No physical craves today. But cant make my mind up what I want to do. I watch something on tv, get bored. Do some housework, bored. Go out in the garden chat to my neighbour make my excuses, im bored talking. I dont wanna do anything or talk to anyone. What a miserable cow I am.

Iv have noticed I can smell better and realised I dont like the smell of all my plug ins. Will be buying new ones. Also I have noticed my poor rescue cat smells. She is so fat she cant wash herself properly. Only had her a few months and she is on a diet. Not sure if I should try to clean her and what would I use.

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laura6 profile image
laura6
1 Year Smoke Free
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22 Replies
Nozmo profile image
NozmoValued Contributor

I would give the cat cleaning a miss if you're feeling irritable. I know if I tried to wash Eric (our tom) we would BOTH need a cigarette afterwards! Good for you on taking a rescue cat in! We've got two, and two rescue rabbits as well.

It's all part of the process laura6, most people feel like this. It doesn't feel natural and you don't feel like yourself but it comes and goes...and eventually goes completely.

And you're not a miserable cow!

laura6 profile image
laura61 Year Smoke Free in reply to Nozmo

Haha that tickled me. Maybe the cat can wait. I love animals. My vets think Im mad. Im always taking animals up there I find abanoned or injured. I took a pigeon up there a couple of weeks ago it had been attacked and couldnt fly. I couldnt bare watching the cats tormenting it so I got it put down humanely.

Cant wait to get this anxious, fidgety phrase over with.

Nozmo profile image
NozmoValued Contributor in reply to laura6

Yeah, it DOES go but when it's hanging around it's horrible. I hated that stage, and so did my family.

I would have done the same with the pigeon. I love cats but can't stand seeing them torment things. If you manage to get your cat to lose some weight can you give me some tips? Eric is an eating machine, and not just in our house. Luckily he's out a lot so he's not obese but he's teetering on the "overweight" borderline.

laura6 profile image
laura61 Year Smoke Free in reply to Nozmo

My cat is seriously obese. Her belly drags on the floor. I give her small portions of wet food through out the day. Say a tablespoon every few hrs and she has a plastic maze which I put biscuits in before bed to keep her occupied and slow down her eating. She has to work out how to get the food out with her paw

She is constantly asking for food. She is a pain but I love her dearly.

Ps she doesnt go out much which doesnt help. So I have taken to keep enticing her up the stairs as abit of exercise .

Nozmo profile image
NozmoValued Contributor in reply to laura6

Ours are a pain too but as you say - wouldn't part with them for the world. Same goes for the kids. :-)

How's it going today? Any better than yesterday?

laura6 profile image
laura61 Year Smoke Free in reply to Nozmo

Much better. Feel more with it. Not having so many of them Im missing something moments. Sleep is terrible and the dreams mental.i know its the champix so will cut out the evening one in a week or so. Two full dose tablets are abit too much for me .

Nozmo profile image
NozmoValued Contributor in reply to laura6

Glad it’s better for you today. I’ve heard you get mental dreams with Champix, although I’ve never used it. Watch out for the smoking dreams!

RoisinO1 profile image
RoisinO1Administrator3 Years Smoke Free in reply to laura6

Glad today is better laura6 , even stopping cold turkey affects your sleep, majority of what you are going through at the moment is not champix (nausea and vivid dreams would be common side effects) but withdrawal from nicotine. For the first 4-12 weeks I was waking up 2:00 in the morning wide awake and couldn't get back to sleep, there is alot of rewiring and repairing to be done in the brain but it will improve as the days pass. When it did settle down I could have slept for 12 hours running if I got the chance :O

The impatience was a terror for me too, but after the first month time passed by much quicker. You are doing great :)

RoisinO1 profile image
RoisinO1Administrator3 Years Smoke Free

Hey laura6 - ah the restless, irritable and anxious feelings, all very common complaints in the first couple of weeks of stopping. Your new found sense of smell is normal too (but unfortunate for the foul smells we now get, never realized how rotten KFC smells since I stopped!!) The taste of food is another surprising delight from stopping, everything tastes so much better :P

Yankee Candles were my milestone treats and now Yankee Candles best customer. Be kind to yourself for the next few weeks, lots of pampering and 'me' time, you have that soak in the bath and leave the cat until you are in better form. Good on you for taking on a rescue cat....

laura6 profile image
laura61 Year Smoke Free in reply to RoisinO1

Its so annoying. Im taking Kalms lavendar thats helping. I have suckie lollies to help with the hand to mouth habit. Then I pretend to smoke the stick 😂😂 my son says Im mad. I wish I was a hedgehog and could hibernate for the winter and wake up in the spring and sleep thru all this crap 😴😴😴😴

Hercu profile image
HercuValued Contributor

Laura..Welcome to the normal world of quitting....The restless rediscovery phase was amazing for me .... Discovered smells and stuff that was lost to me for 38 years...

Hang on get through (Don't kick the cat) ....!!!Take the frustration out by maybe rearanching your house, wash the carpets, repack your closets...It is time to keep busy !!!!

I stripped my vehicle insde out and washed the carpets and seats and upholstery just to get rid of that old smoke smell... (Twice)

laura6 profile image
laura61 Year Smoke Free in reply to Hercu

Thanks Hercu. I know its not going to be easy. I need to be more postive about this quit. Im impatient I want to fast forward three months cause I know it will be easier. Dont worry the cat is safe I would thump a person before an animal lol. I do want to clean but my mind is in a cant be bothered to do anything mode. I need a slap and a kick up the bum.

JulReal profile image
JulReal2 Years Smoke Free

I was actually happy to read your post because, (and I don't want to be a downer for anyone), but I'm at 8 months without a smoke and still have plenty of days where I literally do not know what to do with myself. I sometimes have a anxious feeling in my belly when I wake up and I know that that day will be a day of anxiety. I've learned to accept it, I keep telling myself it's temporary and that some day I will be free of those feelings!! I guess I felt that those feelings would go away earlier in my quit and for many they do, but they haven't for me...not yet...but they will. Hang in there. I smoked for 35 years or so and I'm thrilled that I am not a slave to cigarettes any longer! I guess I'll take some anxiety in trade. :)

laura6 profile image
laura61 Year Smoke Free in reply to JulReal

Aww sorry you still get anxious. I suppose when we have smoked as long as we have. Its not gonna be a five minute fix. I reckon after a year it gets better as you have faced most triggers

JulReal profile image
JulReal2 Years Smoke Free in reply to laura6

Anything is better than smoking...that's how I look at everything that I feel now. It's all good.

RoisinO1 profile image
RoisinO1Administrator3 Years Smoke Free in reply to JulReal

Hey JulReal - you raised a very good point there and got me thinking. I too have days like this and I am over 2 years smoke free. At this stage I didn't associate this feeling with no longer smoking, possibly subconsciously it is a factor and head wreck to comprehend not smoking ever again. Like you, I am so happy to be smoke free and one of my best achievements but I do get that anxious feeling that I will never / can't have 'just one' smoke ever again, I thought this was just my moods and shrugged it off and seem to happen when feeling nostalgic about something I associated with smoking and are very few and far between now - I suppose as the years pass by, this will become less and less.

Well done on 8 months, you are doing great :)

Exsmo profile image
Exsmo in reply to RoisinO1

Roision, Do you think due to the amount of time smoked, 30&35 years it will take us longer to have feel good feelings than people who smoked 10-15 years?

RoisinO1 profile image
RoisinO1Administrator3 Years Smoke Free in reply to Exsmo

Hey Exsmo , hope today is a better day for you?

Personally, I don't think it matters how long you smoked or how much you smoked, the addiction to nicotine and damage done is the same as soon as it has a hold of you regardless of this. I think it depends on what type of smoker you were, I was a smoker who was brainwashed into thinking I needed to smoke to function on a daily basis, thought it was my crutch and everything would be ok after a smoke. I thought lighting up a cigarette(s) sorted out life's curve balls, stress, grief, happiness, celebrations, holidays, nerves, anxiety - I could go on and on. I hid behind a cigarette for about 25 years and for the last 2 of those years smoked seriously heavy as thought it was getting me through a very dark place.....

But my husband who quit a year and a half before I did, smoked because he enjoyed it and out of habit and stopped one Sunday night over 3 years ago and that was it for him and had a much easier journey than me...

You are doing great Exsmo, try to embrace the journey and especially the next stage with coming off the chantix, you have majority of the hard work done now. Also, I know I keep going on about them, but really think herbal supplements would do wonders for you and help greatly with the anxiety, irritability you are experiencing....

Exsmo profile image
Exsmo in reply to RoisinO1

Thanks RoisonO1. I have bought the omegas & B complex am hoping thats what will help. I do take an anti anxiety med also that id cit back on due to it possibly making me sleep w full dose chantix. Perhaps i cut back too much. Lol Today my "drug" of choice is fudgesickles! I know its bad, but didn't care for one day. I usually have no sugary anything in house ( due to hypoglycemia) but after reading quit makes sugars even lower thought id better have more fruit in house. Grabbed fudgesickles too. Usually pretty strict on foods sm

JulReal profile image
JulReal2 Years Smoke Free in reply to RoisinO1

Thanks for your insight, it made me feel much better...about how I feel...I thought I was the only person this far into a quit that felt the anxiety and now I know I'm not! THANK YOU Roisin!

I also feel that I smoked to calm myself, to think out a solution to a problem, to procrastinate doing something I didn't want to do, to take a break from a chore, to celebrate something happy and to help me grieve in the saddest moments of my life. I really never realized how much I depended on a cigarette until I quit! I was speaking to a doctor at a social function and we got to talking about my quitting & I did mention how sad I can be some days and how anxious I am most days. She said....Julie...you've probably always had anxiety and probably always had sad days but your cigarettes masked it and helped you get through...I think she was right and now I get to learn to do a lot of things smoke free! :) I'm learning, I just wish it wasn't so hard and for such a long time! But no matter how hard or long I will not smoke again...no no no!

RoisinO1 profile image
RoisinO1Administrator3 Years Smoke Free in reply to JulReal

Thats my feeling too that I always suffered anxiety from time to time but it realize this when I smoked. I suppose we should count our blessing that this is the only thing smoking masked when you think of all the serious illnesses it causes...

Exsmo profile image
Exsmo

Laura congrats on a day or 2. I read other post of wetting cat brush. Apple cider vinegar mix w water will help clean AND repel fleas. Has worked for my dog and cats.

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