Those strong cravings!!! UGH!

[nosmokegirl]

I am going to make Monday, April 26 my new quit date.  Yep! I slipped! But  I am smarter about quitting since I became a member here. So in this case, since i slipped, it will not stop me from trying to quit again. That in itself is a great thing.  I am not giving up trying! Anyway, the first try was April 1.   I made 8 full days with out any nicotine replacement therapy.  I was fine until day 9.  The craving to want to smoke a cigarette became stronger after the 6th or 7th day. I know the nicotine had to be out of my system, so this had to be the mental craving i was facing.  Approximately how long do you have to go with out smoking before those mental cravings begin to subside? 

[pojo]

There is no specific time limit on the mental cravings---they come and go.  You just have to be strong!  There is no such thing as a "slip" -that is my theory anyway.  You either don't smoke or you set yourself up to fail.  I know I am harsh at times but you can always count on me to tell it like it is-whether you like it or not.  Here's what I tell myself:  There are other people who have never smoked who have to deal with ___________(fill in the blank) and they don't pick up a cigarette in order to deal with it.  The "smoker's way" of dealing with things is a mental habit--we have trained ourselves to deal with EVERYTHING this way.  Now-that we are NON SMOKERS we have to train ourselves to NOT deal with everything by smoking.  I am 52 (gonna be 53 in June) and started smoking at age 13.  Smoked for 39 years -was up to 2 packs a day-and quit 1/1/10-haven't had even 1 puff since--!  Do not set yourself up to fail--do not have an easy way to have a smoke (I do not have any cigarettes around) so I would have to make a deliberate effort to have a cigarette-this would mean getting in the car--going to the store--buying a pack--see what I mean--there is no "accident" here--it would be a deliberate effort on my part--I am not a smoker anymore--You have to stop thinking like a junkie and ya know what--If I can quit--anybody can!  DON'T GIVE UP

[nosmokegirl]

A "slip" is used alot in AA meetings to reference that someone went back out and drank alcohol again.  It does not matter if it is one drink or a full blown all nite drunk.  Please try to stick to the question that is asked.

[Yaya2.6.10]

Yeah, the nicotine was out of your system so you had and will have mental cravings.  It seems how long they last, etc. differs for all of us.  The key is to develope coping skills to deal with them.  I talk to myself and to the craving constantly.  Substitute an activity for smoking like I knew mornings with coffee, crosswords and cigs would be the worst so I started knitting.  I no longer think of jumping outta bed to smoke, but to knit.  I spent a great deal of time being angry that those urges kept appearing and I had to work so hard at them until I realized that I have to retrain my brain after 45 years of smoking.  When the phone rings, I used to be sure where the cigs were - now I start playing solitaire on the computer. 

[pojo]

Sorry if I offended anyone-I did not mean to-I did say I am a blunt-matter of fact kind of person-I know that they use the phrase "slip up" in AA and NA type forums--I was just sayin if there is nothing there to smoke-then the chances of "talking yourself out of it" are better....that's all I was trying to say-that and sharing some info on what works for me after 39 years of smokin...

[ivy2]

Last year, I quit for five months before I went back to it.  My cravings never stopped, but did decrease significantly after about 17 days.  It seemed like forever, but I have that in my mind now (as I'm on day three).  Yaya's right though...everyone is differant.  You just always have to be prepared.

I'm glad you're on for tomorrow!

[Thomas3.20.2010]

As already mentioned in Sheri's blog, a HUGE Determination of how long and how intense those cravings are is about ATTITUDE!  A big influence on attitude is language!  I've never been to AA but don't they use affirmations to retrain thought patterns?  All I know is that I'm on DAY 37 of my QUIT and I did have and do have some cravings but they haven't been as intensely distracting as I hear other people describing them or as they were with my dozens of other quits!  First of all, I never said TRY and I chose to say jitters or fidgets rather than cravings.  From the beginning I used mantras like N.O.P.E. and Smoking is not an option and I choose Health and Life.  If you've read my blogs and comments you've seen these repeated ad naseum not just because they are brilliant ( they are!) but because they rewire the brain!!!!! I'm a language teacher and am adapting what I know about language acquisition and thought process to my QUIT!  Another good one is James' Happy Quit and Tommy's Collateral Kindness!!!  Rewire your brain and those "jitters"  will lose their power - a neurological fact!!!! 

[pojo]

I totally agree with Thomas!