After a few months of not smoking, how do you avoid the urge to smoke?

[QuittingGirl]

6 hours ago, jillar said:

 

What do you mean by physical? 

The first month or so the cravings I got were in my mouth.  It wasn't a pain, but it was a feeling in my mouth.  Kind of hard to explain, but remember when you would smoke and put the cigarette in your mouth and the smoke would go over your tongue and into your mouth?  Like my mouth and tongue wanted the cigarette again.  Jill am I weird? LOL!!!

[QuittingGirl]

Ohhh and another question, when you all first quit did you put on weight?  I think I put on at least 5 lbs in the 5 1/2 months being quit.  I have been doing a lot of snacking and I do try to eat healthy snacks, (apples, veggies, that sort of thing), but sometimes I eat crackers and chips.  My husband buys them and my willpower isn't very good.  Although maybe it is, because I haven't had a cig in over 5 months. 

[jillar]

@QuittingGirl, yes, you are weird .  I have to say I never had that feeling when i smoked but my tongue had a white coat on it from smoking and when i quit my tongue was sore as it restored itself back to red. 

As far as the weight gain goes most people do gain some weight but lose it again once they're secure in their quit. Don't worry about that for now as your main focus should be on quitting  

[intoxicated yoda]

3 minutes ago, QuittingGirl said:

Ohhh and another question, when you all first quit did you put on weight?  I think I put on at least 5 lbs in the 5 1/2 months being quit.  

i put on 40 lbs in 4 months.  I pulled the pin on the fat grenade and blew the f*** up.  So 5 lbs in 5 1/2 months isn't an issue.  You are doing fantastic in your quit.  

 

I also used to get this tightness in the back of my throat when I was craving along with this feeling in the pit of my stomach like you get when you know you screwed up big time and there was no way to atone for it.  What helped that was putting some sea salt in a glass of warm water and drinking it really helped with that.

[johnny5]

3 hours ago, QuittingGirl said:

Ohhh and another question, when you all first quit did you put on weight?  I think I put on at least 5 lbs in the 5 1/2 months being quit.  I have been doing a lot of snacking and I do try to eat healthy snacks, (apples, veggies, that sort of thing), but sometimes I eat crackers and chips.  My husband buys them and my willpower isn't very good.  Although maybe it is, because I haven't had a cig in over 5 months. 

 

I gained a few pounds after quitting.  It is common for people who are quitting smoking.  Just remember,,,

 

you can always lose weight, you can't lose cancer.

 

The most important thing is to put smoking out of your life.  You are doing great.

 

[Doreensfree]

Yes weight gain here..

Then one day ..i suddenly focused on losing weight ,more than i cared about smoking ..

Keep going and it will all unfold .

Your doing great

 

[sgt.barney]

On 10/30/2023 at 9:49 AM, QuittingGirl said:

...for about 40 years, not counting the 6 years that I quit the first time.  

 

How did you avoid it for those 6 years.

 

Do that.

 

Except longer.

 

EZPZ

[QuittingGirl]

15 hours ago, intoxicated yoda said:

i put on 40 lbs in 4 months.  I pulled the pin on the fat grenade and blew the f*** up.  So 5 lbs in 5 1/2 months isn't an issue.  You are doing fantastic in your quit.  

 

I also used to get this tightness in the back of my throat when I was craving along with this feeling in the pit of my stomach like you get when you know you screwed up big time and there was no way to atone for it.  What helped that was putting some sea salt in a glass of warm water and drinking it really helped with that.

The 5 lbs is on top of about 30-35 lbs that I needed to lose before I quit smoking.

3 hours ago, sgt.barney said:

 

How did you avoid it for those 6 years.

 

Do that.

 

Except longer.

 

EZPZ

The first time it was much easier for me to quit.  I used Chantix and it made me forget to smoke.  This time I did it cold turkey.

[overcome]

@QuittingGirl it cannot be said enough, you are doing great!

What ever it takes not to light up is the correct thing for now.

I does get better.

Edited November 11, 2023 by overcome

[Brioski]

I still get them too QG, it’s frustrating.  I think we just keep going and let the unknown be, and be confident that it will get better. In the beginning it was literal torture some days. Now, not so much so I think it will just become less and less a part of us. You’re doing great gf. 

[QuittingGirl]

18 hours ago, Brioski said:

I still get them too QG, it’s frustrating.  I think we just keep going and let the unknown be, and be confident that it will get better. In the beginning it was literal torture some days. Now, not so much so I think it will just become less and less a part of us. You’re doing great gf. 

Yes, the first couple of months were torture for sure but now it's definitely not as bad thankfully!

[Paul723]

One day you simply accept the fact that you aren't going to smoke again.  The mental struggle will fall away and you will be free.  Come back and tell us when this happens for you, it's magic.

[tocevoD]

I've been demonising it in my head for the last 4 and a bit months. Pitying smokers and seeing how hopelessly addicted they are. You take a step back and see it for what it is.

 

I've had smokers say to me "I'm gonna pack in soon, yeah I think I'll do it after my holiday." Stuff like that. They see you have packed in and think they can just do it by snapping their fingers. Then you look at them and they're trying to cram in every ciggie they can, when they can. 

 

It's a hopeless and fruitless addiction. You gain nothing from it and lose everything. Health, wealth and relationships all badly affected.

[QuittingGirl]

I had a dream last night that I smoked 2 cigarettes!!  When I woke up today I wasn't sure if it was real or not, then I realized it was just a dream, thankfully!  Whew!!!

[Reciprocity]

Many people have smoking dreams long after quitting; sometimes even years after having quit.

That's one thing I've never had ... a smoking dream; not that I sorry about that because I can imagine the thoughts you would have upon waking, still in a half-sleep daze 

[jillar]

Glad it was only a dream @QuittingGirl

[Doreensfree]

I can just imagine how good it felt knowing you hadn’t lost your wonderful Quit

High  Five x

[Brioski]

Oy thankful it was just a dream QT!!

I had one not too long ago where I was disappointed but also relieved and excited to go back….that messed w my head when I woke up.  I don’t remember what I thought other than that was weird. Guess we’re still fragile even months in

[QuittingGirl]

In the dream I really enjoyed smoking the 2 cigarettes, and to be honest I do miss smoking sometimes but I'm glad that I don't smoke anymore! 

[QuittingGirl]

Hi everyone!

 

Ohhh boy can I use a cigarette today!!!  My husband was in a car accident a few hours ago!! THANKFULLY HE IS OK!! THANK GOD!!! The damage is bad to the car but not as bad as I thought it would be when he called me to tell me.  The accident was with the car that I use, a very old car with low mileage.  The car that he uses which is new had a tire leak so he had to use mine until he could get the tire fixed.  Again, THANKFULLY HE IS OK!!!! But, it is very upsetting anyway.  I'm sure the insurance company will total out the car even though it only has 58,000 miles on it, but it's 19 years old.  But, I can go for a cigarette, and my mom who lives downstairs from me smokes, and I could have snuck one of hers (she wouldn't give me one, if I asked), but I chose not to.  Smoking won't make the damage on the car go away, so what's the point!!! I am very happy that I didn't take a cigarette! And, the other night I dreamt that I smoked 2 of them, see previous post!

[jillar]

That sucks @QuittingGirl, thankful that your hubby is ok though. I had the same thing happen to my 13 year old car with only 36,000 or so miles on it. And yes, the insurance Co did total it. I was devastated but as it turned out I purchased a car that was only two years old and looked just like my old SUV and I love it .  Hopefully you'll find that too.

I'm very glad that you realized that giving up your awesome quit wasn't going to do a dang bit of good or change the situation so well done ☺. 

Oh and give your momma a hug for not giving you a cigarette if you asked!

[Brioski]

That is terrible news QG, I’m so sorry….but I’m so glad you’re hubby is ok. That’s definitely a jolt to the system, a big one! Excellent job staying the track

[Reciprocity]

Glad to hear you didn't 'cave to the crave' @QuittingGirl!

 

Sudden unexpected upsets in life can, and usually do, create an extreme craving to smoke. I think the issue is we still feel deep down inside that lighting up a smoke will somehow fix everything in our life that goes wrong but the truth is it won't! The good news is that having been through this experience, your mind won't likely think about having a smoke next time something similar happens.

 

I'm glad hubby was OK! Things can be replaced ... people can't be.

Edited December 13, 2023 by Reciprocity

[QuittingGirl]

3 hours ago, jillar said:

That sucks @QuittingGirl, thankful that your hubby is ok though. I had the same thing happen to my 13 year old car with only 36,000 or so miles on it. And yes, the insurance Co did total it. I was devastated but as it turned out I purchased a car that was only two years old and looked just like my old SUV and I love it .  Hopefully you'll find that too.

I'm very glad that you realized that giving up your awesome quit wasn't going to do a dang bit of good or change the situation so well done ☺. 

Oh and give your momma a hug for not giving you a cigarette if you asked!

So how does it work when they total a car, as I never had that happen to me.  My car is 19 years old but has only 58,000 miles on it and it runs really well.  do you think I would get any money for it?  I do have a $1000 deductible on the collision portion because it's so old, so I feel that I won't get anything at all.

 

Thanks, my mom wouldn't give me even a drag of a cigarette.  She is so good!! 

3 hours ago, Brioski said:

That is terrible news QG, I’m so sorry….but I’m so glad you’re hubby is ok. That’s definitely a jolt to the system, a big one! Excellent job staying the track

Thanks so much Bri!! 

[QuittingGirl]

2 hours ago, Reciprocity said:

Glad to hear you didn't 'cave to the crave' @QuittingGirl!

 

Sudden unexpected upsets in life can, and usually do, create an extreme craving to smoke. I think the issue is we still feel deep down inside that lighting up a smoke will somehow fix everything in our life that goes wrong but the truth is it won't! The good news is that having been through this experience, your mind won't likely think about having a smoke next time something similar happens.

 

I'm glad hubby was OK! Things can be replaced ... people can't be.

Thank you Reciprocity!!  Yup things can for sure be replaced, ppl can't!!  I would so upset and nervous this afternoon.  It was a very stressful day for sure, but I think I'm handling it ok with the smoking, but other than that, I'm very nervous and have been acting crazy!