Concerning Hell Week

[Sazerac]

Concerning Hell Week

 

Our friend, Joel Spitzer, just came out with new videos about the concept of Hell Week

and it struck a chord with me. I will include them below.

 

I had a very challenging first few days, first weeks, first month, first year.

 

Never did I think I was going to smoke again but, sometimes I thought I would never be OK again.

 

I feared that I would always be locked in smokey thoughts.

 

This turned out to be false, I listened to those further along in their quits who gave me hope that my new free self would prevail.

 

As I learned more about my Nicotine Addiction and the health disasters from complications caused by smoking,

I saw what real, quantum challenges were all about. 

 

My first week of feeling VERY uncomfortable was nothing in comparison.

 

Nicotine Addiction had made me a spoiled brat, I was whiny at not being able to have my way.

 

This was all it was. 

 

It was not the challenges of facing a fatal disease, of not being able to friggin' BREATHE.

 

I posted a thread about this, Spoiled Brats/Nicotine Addicts

 

So, I just want to say, I am not making light of anyone's challenges or pain.

 

Sure, you may face some difficult moments, days in your quit, months

but, none of this will kill or maim you like smoking will.

 

Make it easier on yourself

by breathing and NOPE-ing your way through any rough bits,

by educating yourself so you understand what you are experiencing.

 

But, YOU MAY NOT have many difficult moments at all !  

 

"Hell Week' is not a given or pre-destined

and

 

The REAL 'Hell' is not quitting and succumbing to  the slow torture of emphysema or other cancers, illnesses created by you.

 

 The Real HELL you create for your families because of your self-inflicted sicknesses and demise.

 

 

Here are Joel's two new videos

 

The Use Of The Term, Hell Week When Quitting Smoking

 

Real "Hell Weeks" In Regard To Smoking

 

[jillar]

Hell week is more than just the three day withdrawal of nicotine. It's the brain fog, the agitation or anxiety. The not knowing what to do with ourselves, the doing everything without a cigarette for a reward, etc. Even people using NRT's experience these in some form or another.  So I respectfully disagree with our use of the term being inaccurate. 

They say it takes only three days to get a habit but three weeks to break a habit. Fittingly we have hell week, heck week and our third week known as wtf week to put a name to these sometimes challenging times.

[Sazerac]

The semantics here are in the use of the word 'hell' and what constitutes 'hell'

and a perspective on what real hell may be like if one continues to smoke.

 

also some people DO NOT experience a hard time quitting so, the construct of anticipating 'hell week'  is not always accurate.

 

Smoking is an addiction not a habit and takes more than three weeks to break.

Does It Take 21 Days To Break The Smoking 'Habit'

 

[jillar]

1 hour ago, Sazerac said:

Smoking is an addiction not a habit and takes more than three weeks to break.

 

Yes it is an addiction as well as a habit. Some of us got in the habit of smoking first thing in the morning, some waited until after breakfast.  Some got in the habit of smoking after mowing the lawn. Or got in the habit of smoking after a meal. These habits take time to break, which is my definition of the first three weeks of quitting.

The addiction of smoking is with us for life and our quits must be protected by not reintroducing nicotine into our body but the habit of smoking is usually broken within these first weeks. 

[Doreensfree]

I think we call it Hell week ,simply because of the upheaval alot of us  go through in the beginning ..

Insomnia .,over sleeping ....angry ,sad.....

Of course ..It's nothing near ....living with Emphysema.....this is HELL....

It's just a saying .....

 

 

[Reciprocity]

1 hour ago, jillar said:

 

Yes it is an addiction as well as a habit. Some of us got in the habit of smoking first thing in the morning, some waited until after breakfast.  Some got in the habit of smoking after mowing the lawn. Or got in the habit of smoking after a meal. These habits take time to break, which is my definition of the first three weeks of quitting.

The addiction of smoking is with us for life and our quits must be protected by not reintroducing nicotine into our body but the habit of smoking is usually broken within these first weeks. 

 

This is an important concept that most (myself included) never realized before quitting, that there are two very different issues we will have to deal with. Addiction to nicotine, which will be with all of us for life and the habitual aspects of smoking. Those habits we developed very early on in our smoking lives are difficult to break and some take a very long time. I would suggest more than the 1st month for many. I feel I was somewhere between 6 weeks and 8 weeks to start getting comfortable with my new "habits" and a full year to complete the process fully.

 

The issue as I see it, looking at my quit in the rear view mirror, is that in the early days and weeks of one's quit it's the combination of breaking the "habits" AND the 1st days of nicotine withdrawal, which can be severe for some, end up being a real trial by fire for many of us quitters. It's only through our own hard work and denying ourselves what our brains are screaming for in those early days that we break through to a place where we start to realize that we can actually handle this quitting thing.

 

The labels of Hell Week, Heck Week & WTF Week are just that ... labels that we put on that difficult period to try and describe what most are feeling during that period of quitting.

[Boo]

Whatever you choose to call 'em, a few weeks of consternation and agitation in return for a lifetime of freedom is one of the best deals going.

[Up In Smoke]

This has been the worst week for me and I am in my third week..First week was not all that bad neither was the second. But this week is the closest I have come to caving in since I started this.

Edited July 28, 2020 by Up In Smoke

[jillar]

9 minutes ago, Up In Smoke said:

This has been the worst week for me and I am in my third week..First week was not all that bad neither was the second. But this week is the closest I have come to caving in since I started this.

 

That's why we call the week you're in wtf week, pretty self explanatory as you're seeing. Hang in there up in smoke, you got this

[Reciprocity]

5 minutes ago, Up In Smoke said:

This has been the worst week for me and I am in my third week..First week was not all that bad neither was the second. But this week is the closest I have come to caving in since I started this.

Quit symptoms and intensities are different for many people. Of course we relate to our own experiences most closely but the one constant in all this is that the more time we put between ourselves and cigarettes, vape, cigars or chewing tobacco, the easier it gets to stay off our chosen delivery device. Just stick with it Up! It's the only road to freedom. It's always your choice of course. All we can do is provide information based on our own experiences and what we have learned in our own quit journey. 

[Doreensfree]

Keep at it ..Up In Smoke ...otherwise all your hard work will have been for nothing ....

I've yet to meet a happy relapser....

It does get better ...we are proof of that ....