Reciprocity

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Hope you had a really great Birthday Nancy!

You're doing great Jules! Just keep it going now. You have a lot invested at this point so let's make this one permanent!

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^^^ Cutie :wub:

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Kenzie, the first while is like that. Up days and days when you want to crawl into bed and pull the covers up over your head hoping the nicodemon will just go away. It's all normal so just go with it and use the tools you have been using so far to fight off the urge to smoke. This addiction is crafty and will attach you (mentally) when you are at you weakest. Understand that and just refuse to give in, no matter what! These crafty voices in your head that give rise to almost irresistible urges to smoke are your enemy. Do NOT give in to those voices. You are too far along the path to freedom. Stay the course & you'll be just fine. I know it's not easy but nothing in life worth having is easy - right? You are 5 days in now and things will start to easy up a little soon. You can expect that roller coaster ride for a while though. For me it was about 1 month. No where near as intense as week 1 but still a lot of up and down. After that, things evened out a lot. Now, I hadrly ever have what I would call a real crave yet, in week 1, I was like you or even worse so hang in there and you will get through it - I promise you. Just don't smoke - Not One Puff Ever (NOPE)!

Welcome annie! You show a lot of wisdom about what you are up against, based on what you said in your introduction. Please read all you can in the pinned threads on this board (the one's with the green pinned icon near the top of various pages). A couple of the important ingredients to being successful with a long term quit are, your desire to quit for yourself - no one else; just yourself. Sounds like you have that one done as opposed to some of your previous attempts. Secondly, understanding that this is a very manipulative addiction. It will play games with your mind in order to get you to feed it what it needs - nicotine! Just don't do it. It will make you think that smoking will reduce stress when in reality it doesn't. It just adds the stress of having to constantly feed the addiction. It's not easy to quit for most people, as I'm sure you know. It IS very worthwhile to go through the withdrawal period though so that you can be smoke free for the rest of your life. Just imagine how proud you would be, beating this horrible addiction. There's no better feeling and that can overflow to other areas of your life. Stay with us annie. Read all you can. Watch the videos and join us in our daily nope pledge and our daily discussions as we all travel to freedom!

Nice job Jules!! That's the way you do it. You are a non smoker now so smoking is off the table completely. Proud of you :) Keep up the good work!

Nice going. You turned your dislike for this life threatening addiction into a long term love affair with a beautiful dog. Doesn't get much better than that :)

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Wow, look at you SmokeFree! Only 1 more month to the Lido Deck - fantastic!

Congrats Missdixie! You go through so much that first month and undoubtedly it's the hardest of all. Now you're through it and have established a nice quit. Keep working on it. It only gets easier from here on :)

A belated Happy Birthday Nancy. Hope it was a great one. Love the pic :)

NOPE!

Although the nicotine is gone, the receptors in your brain are still craving that stimulation that nicotine used to provide. That will gradually die off. Also, think about when you smoked. How much of your day was consumed by smoking related thoughts and activities? Not smoking itself but all the stuff surrounding smoking. All that time you used to spend planning and thinking about smoking related stuff is no longer a factor so you need to start to develop new routines to fill all that free time productively. You also need to learn new ways to deal with all life's situations: stress, happy times, sad times and just relaxing times. These were probably all times you relied on smoking as an emotional response to those life situations. Now that's no longer available and was never really necessary in the first place. This is the part that takes time. It's a slow process but as you go through it, your reliance on smoking as a go to for life experiences will be less and less each day from here on in until, after a while, you won't think about smoking right away when life situations arise. That's when you know you really have a handle on this addiction :)

Nope!

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I have also been feeling somewhat messed up with digestion since my quit. Have felt bloated and fat in my tummy most of the time. Not like what you are experiencing but still very different from what I have felt like before quitting. I have ready some things that seem to indicate these things return to normal with time. Hoping that it does as I prefer my former self in this regard. Best of luck on getting your situation fixed :)

Yes kenzie, that's exactly how it felt to me as well early in my quit. One giant never ending urge to smoke. I will absolutely guarantee that that does not last very long. It does truly get better but it's a slow process. Each time you fight off a craving to smoke, you get stronger and the addiction gets weaker. Please do read all you can on the board. The more you educate yourself about this addiction, the better prepared you will be to beat it. Yes, smoking is an addiction, not just a bad habit. That's why quitting is tough. The addiction wants you to feed it and will play mind games ( sneaky one's too) just to try and convince you to give up and feed it. Keep fighting it and you will win. If you want it badly enough and do the hard work in these early days, you too can be free. No more slavery to this ugly addiction! You are so young. I admire you for taking this on because it is your life and the quality of your life that is really on the line here. So many of us leave quitting until we are much older and have already suffered negative, health effects. You are wise beyond your years to tackle this now. Joining a support group is also an important tool for your quit. I'm sure you have others that will support you in your quit but we know exactly what you are going through. You can come here and vent, rage, cry, laugh or just plain say hello. We are here to support each other unconditionally. It's really quite an exceptional thing. Stay close to the board in the early part of your quit especially.

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What these people have already said to you kp! Day 3 will likely be the pinnacle of your discomfort as a Cold Turkey Quitter. I quit cold turkey as well and yes, that first week was pretty eye opening. Anxiety, restlessness and the feeling you want to scream out your frustrations as a result of fighting the withdrawal symptoms. Unfortunately, it's just what we all have to go through to get to the more comfortable time. You will get there too by just not smoking - not even 1 puff. Stay strong in your early quit and you will be rewarded later on. Trust me, this will get easier but the only way through it is ...... to go through it. You'll be fine. It's uncomfortable but it won't kill you. Once you are through it, you'll never have to go through that first week again. Stay close to this board for the next while and post what you are experiencing. We have all been through it and can help you deal with your withdrawal. Stay strong and power through this :)

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