Today is day 14 of no cigarettes but I have noticed that the last 3 days I have been so emotional. Seems like I'll start crying and just can't stop. Is this a normal side effect?
I am normally not a crier at all, but it seems like I'm wearing my heart on my sleeves lately, I lost my mother to lung cancer 7 years ago and maybe with Mothers Day coming up that may be some of it. Thank you Lois 🙂
Yes it is normal. Cigarettes contain MAOI's, which help to keep your emotions boosted. Those are chemicals that fight depression. When you get rid of those chemicals, your body goes through a different type of withdrawal, which makes you feel sad or depressed. It can strike around 2-3 weeks after you quit.
Hang in there. When this happened to me, it was over in about a week.
Yes, it's normal. You've "divorced" a horrible, horrible partner (cigarettes) and you're totally erasing and rebuilding a part of your life. Plenty to be emotional about, and every emotion is valid...except any of them that tries to convince you smoking is okay.
I think it would help you to search for the Kubler-Ross Grief Process on the internet. All of us have to work our way through the "loss" of our all-consuming "friend". Reading about this scale of grieving can certainly help you understand that you just might be healing, not hurting.
Congrats on 2 weeks, by the way! You know how we ALL say it WILL get better? Well, you should really start noticing good things within the next week. Don't believe me? Stick around, stay smoke-free, and find out for yourself. 😉
I too thought there was something wrong ... why was I so low, depressed and crying... but it is normal. You are getting a divorce from nicodemon... and you think you might miss him. He will go up in flames but we just don't inhale his smoke.
Oh yes, emotions run high crying, angry, tired wow it can be overwhelming I am on day 16 and know exactly were your at. hang in there stay connected to this site. I lost my dad to cancer 5 years ago this July. I am making you a friend we will get through this together.
First off, two weeks smoke free is a small miracle. So relish your progress. Many never get that far.
Feelings of sadness - ooooh, I don't have an answer for that. Except that those feelings are going to come and go and come again. I think quitting makes us more vulnerable, more fragile to our emotions. And so we experience them in a different way. There are many chemical changes taking place in our bodies when we quit. But I think psychologically quitting is hard, plain and simple. And when you have to fight the good fight every day, you get tired and want comfort. You want that pacifier, that thumb you used to suck on, that made you feel happy and comfortable. Quitting takes you out of your comfort zone. It just does. NRTs can help with that, but the reality is, you're like a fish out of water.
Quitting is a metamorphosis. I once watched this ugly creature of a bug crawl out of the water, lie on the bank of the pond in the sun, poke a hole through it's back, get itself out through the hole, dry itself, and within 45 minutes it was airborne. It had turned into a beautiful dragonfly. I don't know what it felt like to that water-breathing creature it was during the transformation to an air-breathing, flying creature. But it reminds me in a way of my own quit. I don't know what the life span of a dragonfly is, but I can liken that 45 minute period while it was becoming an entirely new creature to my smoke-free metamorphosis. It takes time and many strange and wondrous changes are going to take place.
Just keep drying your wings in the sun. They're still wet with the pond water from which you emerged. And yes, of course - Mother's Day and losing your mom to lung cancer 7 years ago are all going to play upon your heart. These are times we become most vulnerable. So protect that beautiful quit of yours with love and continued commitment.
