Feeling weird.....

[I Got This (T)]

I am 26 days in and I'm feeling weird..... off..... like something's not right. My craves are few and mild, yet I have a sense of something is just not quiet right. I don't feel like a non smoker, but more like a smoker who is trying to quit smoking. I repeat it to myself that I don't smoke and I am a non smoker, and I can honestly say that I am not too worried about slipping, at least not right now. I do think about cigarettes a lot, not really about smoking them or reminiscing about them..... not really thinking anything in particular about them, just thinking about them. Like my brain is constantly on alert, even when I'm not craving or stressed or agitated. I feel I have this big red flashing no smoking sign deep in my brain.... and its constantly there, constantly flashing... no matter what I'm thinking about.... kids, work, vacation, sex, food, scented or unscented hair spray ... doesn't matter..... there is always the big red flashy no smoking sign in the background somewhere. Did anyone else experience the feeling of something being off??? I didn't post an S.O.S. or anything because I really don't feel my quit is in jeopardy.... I have no desire to smoke at the moment, I just feel blah.

[jillar]

Yes, those feelings are all normal and so frustrating! I had them as did many of us. Just power through and one day very soon you will wake up and smoking will not be constantly on your mind, I promise you

[WeegieWoman]

Yes verrrrry normal. For me it was a weird something is missing feeling! I should be doing something! Something I always did and still do on the rare occasion...is say to myself don't let a thought turn into a crave. And just bat away any thoughts of smoking. You are doing a grand job btw, keep up the good work  

[Boo]

17 minutes ago, I Got This (T) said:

I am 26 days in and I'm feeling weird..... off..... like something's not right. My craves are few and mild, yet I have a sense of something is just not quiet right. I don't feel like a non smoker, but more like a smoker who is trying to quit smoking. I repeat it to myself that I don't smoke and I am a non smoker, and I can honestly say that I am not too worried about slipping, at least not right now.

 

That was the last hurdle I cleared in my quit.  It was about eight or nine months in before I really started feeling like a nonsmoker who was permanently done with the cigarettes.  It wasn't a huge issue.  I wasn't struggling with my quit.  There was just a mental block there.  Eventually I was able to flip that switch, but it took some time.

 

Years of addiction and conditioning can take some time to undo.

[Reciprocity]

Like the others have said, I think we all go through that "something's not right" feeling for some period of time. Smoking was tied to everything in our lives and suddenly, it's not! That's a huge change in almost everything we do and feel throughout each day. As for that Red NO SMOKING Warning Sign flashing in the background, I think that's pretty normal too. I know I had to really focus on being a non-smoker for probably the best part of my first year. It didn't seem natural to me and I wasn't yet comfortable with the fact that I was a non-smoker. Now, it's second nature to me and I even have trouble seeing myself as a used-to-be smoker  

[c9jane29]

1 hour ago, I Got This (T) said:

I don't feel like a non smoker, but more like a smoker who is trying to quit smoking. 

26 days in...this is what it is. Maybe an "ex-smoker" on your way to non-smoker. I felt like that too...like Weegie said I would ask myself "what should/would I be doing right now?" Oh yeah, smoking. Bleh...now what?

This might be your time to fake it til you make it! Keep up the positive self talk and just find something else to do!

Congratulations on your almost month free!

[brand.new.ela]

Yeah, it feels weird, smoking used to be always there and suddenly it’s gone. And then all the weird bodily adjustments. But one day not-smoking will become the new normal and your body better than ever. Keep on going, you’re doing great! 

[Boo]

7 hours ago, ShaolinMonk said:

26 days is a lot of days without smoke , usually the cravings goes away within 10 days , maybe you are simply bored

 

Twenty-Six days is relatively early in the process.

 

One might argue that as the nicotine leaves the body, the physical cravings should cease to be an issue.  However, smoking cigarettes is so ingrained in our day-to-day lives that flipping some of the mental switches can take months to fully accomplish.

 

Don't worry about arbitrary timelines.  Trust the process and the results will come in time.

[JB 883]

I am 13 months into the quit and sometimes, like once a week, I just get this weird impulse like "time to smoke". Believe me I have thought about "Well I am doing good, just one won't hurt."

But yeah, things can feel "off".

 

The only advice I can offer is keep temptation at bay best you can.

 

The good part of quitting is our health improves, some things immediately and some things over several weeks or months. The shit part though is we end up having to pay some mental dues, in the form of cravings.

[Sazerac]

On 11/5/2018 at 2:01 PM, I Got This (T) said:

I am 26 days in and I'm feeling weird..... off..... like something's not right. My craves are few and mild, yet I have a sense of something is just not quiet right. I don't feel like a non smoker, but more like a smoker who is trying to quit smoking. I repeat it to myself that I don't smoke and I am a non smoker, and I can honestly say that I am not too worried about slipping, at least not right now. I do think about cigarettes a lot, not really about smoking them or reminiscing about them..... not really thinking anything in particular about them, just thinking about them. Like my brain is constantly on alert, even when I'm not craving or stressed or agitated. I feel I have this big red flashing no smoking sign deep in my brain.... and its constantly there, constantly flashing... no matter what I'm thinking about.... kids, work, vacation, sex, food, scented or unscented hair spray ... doesn't matter..... there is always the big red flashy no smoking sign in the background somewhere. Did anyone else experience the feeling of something being off??? I didn't post an S.O.S. or anything because I really don't feel my quit is in jeopardy.... I have no desire to smoke at the moment, I just feel blah.

 

One month into your quit is not a long time.

Please be kind to yourself, nurture yourself and reward yourself !

The receptors in your brain are being re-fitted one by one with each thought you have that isn't accompanied with a blast of nicotine.

This takes time and I was really fed up with thinking smokey thoughts.

I wasn't going to smoke, I was just weary of fighting the thoughts about not smoking...the issue of addiction etc... etc...etc...

 

You can start replacing smokey thoughts with other thoughts.

I had to make it simple.

I started to replace smokey thoughts with a visual prompt of beauty,

like 'that light on that leaf or, that shadow from my hand, that beautiful cloud'....

I also used aural prompts by putting on a favorite song.

 

Be sure to reward yourself in some way when you replace a thought.

This helps getting your receptors back, working for your rewards.

I guess, my reward was finding something pretty to look at or listen to

but, slowly opening a Satsuma was a sensory reward too.

 

 

Edited November 8, 2018 by Sazerac

[sgt.barney]

Something is most definitely "off".

 

Namely: you quit smoking.

 

 

 

 

EZPZ 

[bakon]

You posted the word weird and the weirdo above appeared.  That's weird.