Reciprocity

10

Once you quit you will learn ways to deal with life stress, instead of using smoking to hide from life's problems. I went cold turkey too because I wanted the nicotine out of my body as soon as possible - they say it takes 3 days for the nicotine to be gone. That doesn't mean your quit is done in 3 days - no. The mental adjustment is what takes the longest and the most work on your part. As Doreen said. There's 2 kinds of stress. Stress caused by withdrawal and stress from thing that happen in life. You deal with withdrawal stress by quitting and going through the whole quit process. There's only one way to get there and that's to go through it. I used deep breathing exercises to help me relax when I felt anxious and stressed. Some use a cut straw like it was a cigarette and that is pretty much the same thing, breathing in and out. Jillar did something similar too - just pretended she was smoking a cigarette. She called hers Jillars Air Cigarette. It's all the same - deep breaths, hold & exhale. While you're doing that, calm your mind. Think of something that calms you mentally. That's one way to deal with stress from withdrawal. Fear of quitting or not being successful is pointless. It is just keeping you from any hope of attaining your goal. You can't reach your destination if you don't start the journey. There's nothing to fear but fear itself is the way FDR put it I believe.

You hit the nail on the head!

7

Nope!

Frankenstein, Missouri; USA

Six

Congrats DizzyD for finishing week 1 (Hell week). I bet it has seemed like a month but the good news is, it's done now .... finished! That one is the hardest one and you found your way through it. That's a great sign that you will be able to stay in it for the long run. It only gets better from here on so without further delay, let's celebrate your fabulous accomplishment

4

2

Welcome Ankush Everything is possible if you want to achieve it badly enough. Quitting smoking is no different and after all, you are quitting for YOU - not family and friends so much although it will benefit those people as well. There's no question having support is a great tool as you journey through your quit and that's what this place is for. To give other quitters support from people who know exactly what you are going through. Also, a place like this has a lot of very good information about this addiction and educating yourself about this addiction is probably the most important thing to have when quitting. Understand how your addiction works against you - it is NOT your friend. Hope you decide to stick around and let us help you with your quit. I gather you are planning on quitting April 7th based on the quit date you show? Why not quit sooner? Make a plan to quit and just do it. Procrastination is not a good thing. You run the risk of talking yourself out of quitting as the date approaches. Just make a commitment and dive in! There's never a perfect time to quit so just do it so you can be smoke free as soon as possible.

7 months is great Parsley!

2

20!

18

With me the brain fog lasted I would say a couple of weeks and was still there a little for a week or so after that. I have heard people say it could be that your blood-sugar level is lower than when you smoked and that drinking fruit juice can help boost your leves. Not sure if that actually works or not. General crankiness and having a short fuse was probably the longest lasting symptom for me. That lasted off and on for a good 6 months I would say. Now, that wasn't constant or all the time but it did show itself from time to time. I think that was just me being impatient with the whole adjusting to being a non-smoker process. That symptom can vary hugely based on what your personality is to begin with I think. Many say "embrace the suck"and "focus on the positives" which is very true in reality but not everyone is able to do that. It does help though to step back from time to time, take a few deep breaths and think about the big picture - your end goal of having a healthier life and one free from being a slave to your addiction. Those are pretty big prizes so it''s no wonder there's some ugliness involved. Keep going and congrats one your 1st week! There's the worst one done and in the bin!

Dragonville. Virginia; USA

Fixed that for ya

17

Nope!

When you get frustrated and angry, go back to deep breathing. That and calming your mind are the best ways to relax and get "out of the moment". By the way, that's all normal. It will pass - just not as quickly as you'd like

17

16 Watch & post at the same time - we sticks are ambidextrous