ROUGH non-smoking day today!

[Th1onein]

I don't know what it is, but today has been ROUGH. I have eaten sunflower seeds, raisinets, beef jerky, and half a box of Ike & Mike's, trying not to smoke. Oh, and I've "smoked" four twizzlers today.

It's the tenth day. How many more days like today?

[Uben]

1. Four thousand two hundred and fifty seven........

.....give or take a few hours.

Good luck!

[Th1onein]

2. Thanks for the idiotic answer

Go the fuck away.

[Olney Blue]

3. It will get better, I promise.

[amdezurik]

4. day 6 here...

I really really want to smash that little voice in my head telling me i could smoke "just one"...

[monmouth]

5. Don't know if you saw the great thread yesterday on this very thing.

Some DUer explained the "urge"...give it a face of some sort in your mind. Concentrate on this enemy "urge" and watch it fade. Each time it goes away faster and doesn't come back for longer and longer periods of time. I swear, it works. I'm also going through this for the umpteenth time but think I found a great aid here. Also, wint-o-green mints. I use them all of the time and that helps also.

[Mira]

22. That URGE is the monkey on your back.I would say by the time

the "monkey" is out of the White House you will feel wonderful and accomplished and honestly, since you are saving your life right now, just realize it is supposed to be hard or everybody would be able to quit.
When it gets really tough, take a drinking straw cut to the length of a cigarette and hide somewhere while you smoke the sucker hard until the air drawn in makes you light headed and you start to laugh.

Keep the straw in your pocket.

I quit 10 years ago, and lost two brothers to cigarettes. Every day gets better, DO NOT take a puff.
You are in charge and you do not give yourself permission for that.

Good luck - but then - luck has nothing to do with it if you make up your mind.

[monmouth]

23. Good words, many thanks. My time to quit has definitely come...n/t

[WildClarySage]

29. That straw trick worked great for me!

Great suggestion- and WTG 1 on quitting. There's nothing better for you or for the people you love thank quitting.

[Mnemosyne]

6. I lasted 5 months once, but most days I try, day three

finds me curled up in a ball, sobbing.

Hang in there! 10 days is a great accomplishment! Sorry for your hard day. :hug:

[librechik]

7. the cravings decrease after the 3rd or fourth day.

but there are times even now when I feel like I could enjoy a smoke (quit since 92)

I switched to pot. It really really helps.

Or chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate.

Cheers!

[efilon]

8. Some days are worse than others.

I finally quit 15 months ago. It was hard but I always remembered what my sis (a former smoker also) said, "That urge will go away whether you have a cig or not." Read somewhere too, that the urge only lasts about 10 seconds. Which I think is a bunch of bunk. Anyway, when I'm tempted, and I still am sometimes, I get up and do something. Go look out the window, rinse out and clean sinks.

Good Luck! You can do it. If you do end up having one, don't beat yourself up too bad. But do throw away the rest of the pack, soaked up with water! I didn't believe I would ever quit but I finally did and I feel so much better, it's amazing.

[billybob537]

9. I used welbutrin

10 yrs ago, it made me forget to smoke. Also I was pissed at big tobacco for manipulating levels of addictive substances in thier products. Still smoke free.

[MO_Dem]

10. It WILL get easier

It's difficult to realize now, but those rough days will grow shorter and milder and further between from now on! Truly!

I had luck nibbling on things like pickles and apples during those rough cravings. And I got hooked on drinking water. After 3 years of no smokes, I still keep a glass or bottle of water to sip on all day long.

Also, keep a running tally of how much you're saving by not buying cigarettes!

Hang in there!

[enlightenment]

11. Okay - when the urge hits, try

doing about 30 seconds to a minute of the most vigourous exercise you can do . . . run in place as fast as you can, pulling your knees up toward your chest, pumping your arms . . . jumping jacks as fast as you can . . . something.

You need to distract yourself AND give your lungs a workout - which (if they're anything like mine were) will hate it. I know you're still recovering from the illness, so don't overdo it, but give it a shot. When nothing else seemed to help me and I was seconds away from grabbing the car keys and heading to the nearest convenience store for a pack, that brief spurt of exercise got me through it.

I also used the patches for about 10 days - but I'm not sure I needed them (but it's a thought). I didn't like the gum, and I've known several people who get hooked on it, so I can't recommend that.

Another thing to try is aversion therapy. Do you have an ashtray in the house or in your car that's still dirty? The dirtier the better, with lots of that black crud stuck to it. Put about a teaspoon of water in it and rub it with your fingers. Now smell your fingers. Remind yourself that nasty stench is your breath and skin and clothes when you smoke.

Hang in there to all of you. You can do it.

[Speck Tater]

12. 85 days for me. Before long you won't even think about smoking any more.

Unless somebody reminds me, I often go all day without even the thought of a cigarette.

It is worth the wait, because soon, it will be easier, and you will be healthier and financially better off.

[oldtime dfl_er]

13. It does get easier

It IS horrid for about three weeks, then the urges really fade. I quit for a long time and then stupidly started again. Have set my new quit date for Dec 31. I hope by Inauguration Day to be solidly smoke free. Congrats to you on your supreme effort!!! and hang in there.

[nebenaube]

14. many...

carrots are great... they feel like stoogies! If you are on day ten you only have a few more days to go and then it's all psychological.

I weaned myself down and if I had a really hard day then I went ahead and had a puff. For you at day ten, I believe it will taste like shit, make you feel ill and make it all easier; really, but don't do more than a puff. Myself, I live somewhere where there is a city wide ban on public smoking and I have been able to completely avoid smelling it (which really helps). Smoke free since June 27, 2008.

[patrice]

15. Hang on Th1onein! It will change and it will be worth it!

:hi:

[Voice for Peace]

16. visit cognitivequitting.com

very good and helpful program, guaranteed

[Warpy]

17. If you've been nicotine free for over 72 hours

the drug is out of your system and the physical withdrawal should be over.

What you're fighting now is the psychological habit.

Remember those whole licorice roots? I tell ya, they can help.

They've helped a good dozen of my friends and coworkers.

[wtmusic]

18. The two-week mark is a bitch.

Hang tough my friend. :thumbsup:

[endless october]

19. congrats on quitting!

please think about reading Allen Carr's book "the easy way to stop smoking." i'm close to six months smoke free, and that's how i did it. it was easier than quitting by the willpower method.

good luck, you can do it!

[Th1onein]

27. I just read the entire thing.

Helps, maybe a little. Not sure why it helps others. I'm suffering almost constant cravings now.

[Jane Austin]

20. Did you try the Rock Rose?

It really takes the edge off, and you can take four drops as often as you need it.

[Th1onein]

26. I don't know where to get it.

n/t

[Jane Austin]

28. Any health food store.

Shoot. We even sell it at our store for car sickness and thunderstorm anxiety in dogs. :)

Remember, once you quit and have gotten through this rough patch, you will never have to quit again!

Just keep telling yourself that. You'll never have to go through this again. If you fall off the wagon, you're going to have to quite again. :(

Best of luck with this.

[blue cat]

21. no cig today

but i'm very aggitated about it. smoked last one last night after deciding to quit again, then found out that my hours were cut from 36 to 32 hrs, along with the rn that works next to me.

[Kceres]

24. Red hots!

I swear by them and I've been off of smokes for 20 years. Put them where you usually smoke: in the car, by the TV, etc. Really, they were the only thing that helped. Don't know why. I promise it will be better in just a couple of days, regardless. Good luck to you. Stay strong.

[Mira]

30. Red Hots - sure enough - I had forgotten about them. I kept them in

scrubbed ashtrays, even the car ash tray.

[applegrove]

25. Have I told you to join the quitnet.com? I found them really helpfull both times I quit.

This time I am 6 months quit and it gets much much easier than day ten. You can do it. Oh and try buying a box of staws. I used those or popsicles to help me quit. I would also go for a walk every time I had a crave. And I was on Champix.