Shanakor

Actually, when I think back on the last years. Yeah, I think I do suffer from anxiety from time to time. And also smoking never helped me. Most of the times I just waited until the anxiety levels go down again. Smoking just additionally took some more energy from me.

Since yesterday I feel high levels of anxiety. I do not know if this is because of the nicotine withdrawal or because of other things that happen right now. However, my brain constantly tells me that a cigarette will calm my mind and help calm my emotions. With a cigarette I could finally sit down and think calmly about my situation. I feel so stressed out right now, because I DO NOT WANT TO SMOKE. But I do not know how I should push through this any longer. (I am in the 7th day of my quit by the way) Can the nicotine withdrawal cause such irrational anxiety levels (because then all I have to do is wait) or is this something else that I should be paying attention to in my life?

Thanks for all of your responses. I will take it seriously and stay on my guard. As it looks now, the trip won't happen anyway :/ Maybe this is a sign from the universe trying to help me :D

I am sooo proud of achieving my goal of nonsmoking for 5 days. :wub: Sometimes the cravings are a shitstorm and very inconvenient, but slowly I can imagine living without cigarettes more and more. I am planning on celebrating the 1 week milestone of nonsmoking by partying very hard with two friends in Vienna. (We live in Austria, but Vienna still is something very special to go to for us) We simultaneously are going to celebrate one week nonsmoking of me, 1000 accomplished tasks on my todo list, his passed exams and her birthday. I am looking forward to this sooo much. However, as smoking is associated with the brains reward center and alcohol is known to lower the inhibition threshold I want to ask you guys if I can do something special to prepare for the night? Obviously my friends know that I am an ex-smoker and won't offer me any cigarettes as they know how hard it is to quit this addiction. Still I know that probably the moment will come, when we all are having tremendous fun and suddenly the cravings hit me. So I think to myself "Can't I just feel like nothing is missing for today, as it is a special day?" I think I am looking for thoughts that tell me how it still is better to go through a party night without smoking than with smoking. All of you have supported me so much already and I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I can't stress enough, how grateful I am for you.

Thank you, I will do. Today I had kind of a long period, where I felt very strange. I felt hugely successful and in control of my life, like I am finally going into the direction my life is supposed to go. Soo cool :wub:

Thank you so much

Thanks for both of your answers :) Something inside of me says no to the pre-SOS post and something came to my mind at "PeaceTrains" answer. I think it is the same thing. PeaceTrain said, that somewhere in my mind I keep smoking still as an option. Thing is, I had already quit 6 months and the process of relapsing was horrible. I once heard that junkies often have the problem that they rather jump from the 2nd floor instead of falling from the 46th floor later on. I know that this is bullshit, that my brain tells me at this stage. But how do I replace this thought? If you give me a mantra, I will hammer it into my brain with all the power that I have got. I WANT to end this smoking bullshit once and for all.

Hello guys, I am planning on now gradually increasing the space in between my posts. So my next post will be when I hit the 5 day mark. Today I am officially in day 4!! Yeay, me :D Yesterday was an amazing day. I went on a hike with my best friend. I think I have not felt that good in years. The whole time I wondered, why quitting suddenly was so easy. I mean, sure there were tough moments, but not that many and not thaaat tough. Now I feel like I am being tormented by cravings for about 3 hours straight. I don't know why, but somehow the 6 minutes rule (apparently this is the average time a craving lasts) doesn't apply today. Am I doing something wrong, like thinking of something I should not be thinking about or is this all part of the process? I think I prematurely celebrated not having significant cravings anymore and that is why it is hitting me twice as hard now. I already went for a walk to clear my head, but my feet are kind of sore from yesterday. Actually, I want to go for a walk again, but I am not sure whether it would be good for my body, as I do not want to over-stress it. In addition to that, some rather scary things are going on in my life right now (I am preparing/executing different challenges right now). Do you think that the intense cravings and the difficult challenges are connected somehow? Not really an SOS, because I think I can push through these cravings, but please help me anyway. I think if something very stressful happened right now, I would break or at least it would be veeeery difficult for me to withstand the urge to smoke. How was your 4th day like?

I am almost 2 days smoke free now. So believe me that you have my upmost respect. I am proud of you and I am happy for all fellow non smokers as they do not have to inhale foul smoke from you ever again.

Hello guys :) I am almost 2 days a non-smoker now. Yesterday was kind of a weird day. I had almost no cravings, respectively only very light cravings. I was confused, because everyone says the 2nd and 3rd day are the hardest. I noticed that it is most difficult in the evenings for me to "never take one puff". Again, I noticed how tremendously the 6 minute timer helps me in going through cravings. When you think about that the craving will subside before you even get to a tobacco shop makes the thought of purchasing cigarette packs funny to me. Also, I always interrupt myself when my thoughts start to spiral around what is ahead of me. I think this keeps me sane. Today I do not feel as well as yesterday. Mostly I am just pissed that I will have to endure the withdrawal symptoms for a bit longer. But most of the time I do not really want a cigarette either. I am a bit angry and frustrated that it feels so hard to concentrate right now. However, I think the 18 hour work shift that lies behind me plays its part in that.

I will post in about two to three hours, then another milestone will be reached.

It is so strange. As I was stating in my first post I was very skeptical about this community affecting me at all. I have no personal connection to you and I do not know you. For all I know your congratulations could have been generated by a bot. Nevertheless, I caught myself thinking like the big quitters on here a couple of times (so it actually does start to influence me) and it is trenendously uplifting to here your encouragements. Thank you very much for that.

Maybe I used the wrong words. I have only stopped for about 8 hours this is one workday.

I know that it is not a very big achievement, but I am glad that I made it through a whole shift at work. It is the first step towards freedom. However, it is such a shit that because I am happy and proud and nicotine is connected to the brains reward center I immediately wanted to smoke a cigarette. I patiently waited my 6 minutes (I always start a timer with 6 minutes) and now the craving has worn off significantly. I am looking forward to living live free and being able to celebrate achievements without slowly commiting suicide. (i.e smoking)

Hello guys. I feel ashamed and weak. Yesterday I joined this forum and introduced myself. I really wanted to quit smoking, so I jumped right in (although I knew that my preparation was faulty at the very least). I did not even make it through one day. The strange thing is, when I look back, it felt really good to have quit smoking. I was already proud and the cravings were not too bad. I am looking for things that my junky brain can easily do when a craving occurs so I can get through the craving. One thought (that cravings typically only last for about 6 minutes) was very helpful to me. I have pre-scheduled a timer to 6 minutes to hit start, whenever I think the craving is too strong. Funny thing is, at the time the timer alarm went off I was almost always surprised, because I had already forgotten the craving and the timer I had started. Maybe I only noticed those things yesterday, but work was crazy. One coworker suddenly started smoking at my side. ... I stayed strong. I was instructed to go to the tobacco shop to get something for them. ... I stayed strong. But when I was outside with a coworker and he smoked one after another, I gave in. The thing is, I had my first day at the new job, so I do not know my coworkers very well and I do not arrogate to tell them when to smoke and when not to. Also I am afraid of publicly announcing that I have quit smoking, because I have done this so many times and always failed. Especially, with the new coworkers the shame would probably be unbearable for me. When I think back, of course the cravings were strong, but what really got me to relapse was the thought of what lies ahead of me. I had once stopped smoking for 6 months, so I know what I have to go through. So, is there any technique to stop myself from thinking about what is coming? I think the quitting process itself is not that bad. Sure, I have the cravings, but at the same time whenever I push through a craving my body somehow rewards me with intense feelings of happiness and proudness. Sure, the body goes havoc, because it is so drastically changing and repairing the damages of smoking, but it feels more like being hungover with glimpses of happiness and freedom, so I can handle that. Again, to be clear. I think my biggest problem is thinking about what lies ahead of me. I think in 90% of my quit attempts this is what had me relapse.