Reciprocity

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!

5

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.

3

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 :)

1

2

As Bakon would say ................. cheaters! 0

Mackerel

-4

Well now - at least you all made it an exciting slugfest but thanks to BKP and others, we prevented the "strategic win" (for now anyway :P )

-4 Holy crap - wh'd I miss here :o

-18 Not so fast there ladies :P

You are doing fantastic B57 !! :) Day 3 cold turkey, the nicotine is almost completely washed from your system so you will then only have to focus on the mental aspects of quitting. I choose cold turkey for that same reason. Get it all done at once! It's not for everyone but it was right for me. I'm shocked the session leader told you CT was the least successful method of quitting. From virtually everything I have read, the opposite is true. Cold Turkey quitters have a much higher long term success rate. In the end, it doesn't matter though. What ever method you think is right for you is the right one - as long as you never smoke again, that's the only important thing. Please think about posting some of this stuff on the main board in coming days. Maybe in the quit smoking discussion page. Just start a thread and yammer away about what you are doing and how you're feeling. You'll get lots of other members here responding in support and we quitters love to hear about other peoples quitting experiences. You sound like you've really got a well thought out and workable plan. Stay strong and execute your plan and you'll do just fine :)

Even when it seemed an impossible challenge, you got it done! 4 months smoke free is fabulous Grace. Keep it going :)

NOPE!

Yes, when you think about all the time spend planning your smoking activities, it's truly amazing. What a relief not to have to do that any longer but, it does take time to reprogram yourself and be comfortable in your new lifestyle. All that new spare time :D

That's like ..... this many :o Well Done!!

Orange Roughy

-10

Yes - this quitting thing is certainly not easy, for most anyway. You have to realize it's an addiction, not just "a habit". Then you need to educate yourself about the addiction as best you can. Once you really understand that smoking does nothing good for you and you're only continually feeding the addiction, you can begin your quit with a knowledgeable and a positive attitude. You will still need determination for sure because that first week will be tough, but at least you'll be better prepared to deal with what comes along.