Five days out

[Donnamoryc]

Hello, my name is Donna and I am five days out on quitting. It is a struggle every day. Should I smoke? Should I quit? Should I smoke? Should I quit back-and-forth? I know I should be busier but right now. I just don’t feel like it having a hard time sleeping at night. Any help would be appreciated. 

[biscuit9]

You are 5 days into hell week.  Two more days and you will make a full week without nicotine.  I encourage you to keep going without nic.  Not one single advantage to keeping this addiction, except to squelch the loud yelling voices in your head.  Thing is, smoking is not going to make you feel better.  One puff ALWAYS leads to another and you have to choke the monster OUT.  Smoking will not solve one single problem.  One hour at a time.  Step outside and find something to look at.  Walk it off, put a mint in your mouth, ice cube, jolly rancher.  Do not smoke.

[Barbscloud]

@Donnamoryc Donna, welcome to the Ex and congrats on your quit.   What you're experiencing are normal withdrawal symptoms from nicotine and many chemicals.  You can win that internal battle by educating yourself about nicotine addiction and putting a plan in place with how you'll deal with cravings, identifying your triggers and creating the new associations you'll create instead of smoking. It's not too late!  This comes into play when, for example, you're having cravings in the morning. What can you do instead of smoking? Change up your routine. Go for walk, read material on the Ex, if you drink coffee, for example, drink it in a different place, etc. Be creative.

And you just found an amazing group of quitters here to support you on this journey to becoming an Ex. There will be ups and downs, but that is part of the journey. We're here for you, so just reach out anytime we can help or want to share your experience.

This link is a great place to get you started on the right track. https://www.becomeanex.org/guides/?cid=footer_community_linktobex

Consider taking the Daily Pledge to stay on track one day at a time.

Here are some common withdrawal symptoms (there are more).  

Keep adding up those days with those successes .  It will get easier.  Stay busy and stay close.

Barb

[Donnamoryc]

Thank you so much for the warm welcome and also for that chart that tells me a lot. God is helping me out so much when I get a craving I ask him to take that away.

[Donnamoryc]

Thank you for that interesting post. I appreciate your response. I’m learning a lot on this site and it’s people like you that help. We must help each other.

[ReallyReal]

@Donnamoryc Good for you on making it through the first 5 days of quitting.  For me, as with a lot of people, withdrawal symptoms peaked at 3 days and were fairly intense for awhile but leveled off after the first two weeks or so ( and that was with NRT).  One thing that helped me was a mantra I used every time a craving would come.  I would say to myself, Smoking is simply not an option anymore.  Is there a phrase you could use that is meaningful to you that might displace those thoughts of, Should I smoke?  

You are doing well, almost through the first week--don't give too much head space to those addicted thoughts--displace them, with self talk or activity.  It helps to distance and distract yourself from those thoughts.  You CAN do this and things will get better for you.  Smoking is not the answer and will only lead to more discomfort.  Remember your reasons for wanting to quit--they haven't changed.  Don't let the nicotine addict lie to you about smoking--it is never a good idea.

I wish you the very best and look forward to hearing more about how you are doing as you choose LIfe and Freedom.  Cheers.

[biscuit9]

"God is helping me out so much".  I could not have done this without Him.  I was powerless over this addiction.  I leaned on God hard, to get through this.  You can do that also.  

[Donnamoryc]

I agree, totally as with my alcoholism I would never have quit that without the help of my God he shows me every day a miracle.

[biscuit9 · Accepted solution]

@Donnamoryc  We have a Faith and Spirituality group on this site.  It is a small, private group of Christians and all you have to do, is ask to be added.  You will be approved, if you think it is something you would like to be a part of.  Just go to the groups dropdown menu, and click on "Faith and Spirituality" and ask to be added. 

I ended up quitting alcohol, because it was a trigger for me to want a smoke.  Not something I had planned to do, but I had to do it.  It has been life changing, but I am glad for it.  

[Donnamoryc]

• Thank you so much for replying to my question you gave me some many good ideas. I really appreciate it.