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Awesome job @Pilgrim! I know you've had some challenges through the process but the fact is you remain quit and I expect things are improving all the time. Stick with it because total freedom is within sight ...

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Nope

Nope!

NOPE for today!

NOPE!

Half a year smoke free everyone!

fly ball

Koi

Ghouls

nape of neck

yeoman

Has anyone else watched all or close to all of Joel’s videos? They seem to give me strange comfort. It’s like a pep talk by the coach.

twist

can worms

Hey, 4 months is awesome. You’re really on your way!

Yes, I hit a number of challenges around the 4 month mark too. I was beset by triggers. My mother died unexpectedly. Work blew up. Big stuff went wrong with the house. Quitting had become a strong pattern by then, but being a smoker was recent enough that the cravings and temptations were quite vivid. I felt empty and adrift… like I’d lost the part of my identity that was a smoker and I didn’t have a mental model for being a nonsmoker. It was a strange feeling of loss and limbo. Things turned a corner for me around the 6 month mark. That’s when some switch in my head flipped from abstinence (not smoking) into true recovery (mental, emotional and relational). Give it time and you’ll find a new groove. Meanwhile, congrats on 4 months!!

So proud of you @Kdad! Living proof that quitting IS possible!

Hi @BettyBlue. There really is no perfect time to quit… if it isn’t a vacation, your addict’s mind would probably invent some other reason to procrastinate. (I used every excuse in the book… traveling, work stress, family stress, pet stress, in a bad mood, in a good mood, LOL.) Whenever you choose to stop the patches/ lozenges you will go into full withdrawal. And yes, it will be uncomfortable. But perhaps not as gruesome as you might think. By rationing your nicotine (and using the slow delivery system of a low-dose patch), you’ve already been in a prolonged withdrawal state for a while. So cutting off your nicotine supply will be unpleasant, but it won’t feel totally alien. It will also allow you to turn the corner once you’re fully nicotine free. The cravings will ease and your new freedom will finally begin! And the sooner begun, the sooner done. Withdrawal doesn’t last forever. Stay busy, stay focused. Whatever else happens, don’t let yourself lose ground by smoking again. Change situations, post an SOS here, use a lozenge if you have to - just don’t smoke or vape. You can do this!!

NOPE!

Nope!

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