4 days and fading

The obvious answer is DON'T SMOKE! You have made it past the physical withdrawals. You are not home free" yet, but things will NOW START TO GET BETTER, but ONLY if you don't smoke! Not one! If you give in now, you will need to start again, you will question yourself if you can do it again, you will feel like absolute CRAP - and be mad at yourself to boot! You know I am right. That is why you posted right now. Do something positive for yourself tomorrow- ANYTHING out of the ordinary :go shopping, take a walk in the middle of the day, buy yourself a nice mocha/milkshake/ treat of some kind, etc. Be good to yourself tomorrow for getting through these first few days. REWARD your good behavior. As of tomorrow THINGS WILL GET BETTER. It will get better each day you don't smoke. EACH DAY. You are almost there! Really. Hang in there. Make a list of why you want to tough it out- what is the payoff? You can do it.

Hi Meg, Congratulations on 3 days of not smoking. For many people the first 5-6 are pretty bad, but each day even then, is a little better than the day before. If you really are having problems, and since you have asma anyway, you might want to talk this over with your Doctor. I went to my Dr. for sinus prob. during my first 30 days and he was very nice and extremely helpful. He was very aware of the withdrawals we go through. Dr's like it when we do good things for ourselves!! Other than that, if you are not using an NRT, you might try one. Patch, gum, lozenge. Some of the other stuff like Chantrix, your Dr. would have to perscrib. Have you thought about talking to your Dr.?

Meg, I have to agree with Cindy, it really does get better, the first 3 days sound pretty bad, you don't want to go there again I'm sure, don't smoke now, make this your last quit and you will never have to..

You can do this, change your routine if you can.....try holding a straw while you are driving to work tomorrow, on your break stay away from smokers and take a short walk, or make a phone call to your support friend, do anything you have to just don't smoke...


When you get home from work and want to smoke, go for a walk, drink a cold glass of water, take a shower, wash somthing, just do whatever it takes...hang in there you can do it...

I smoked for over 35 years, I haven't had a cigarette since June 3, you do not want to smoke as long as I did....it wasn't easy for me either, the rewards are so awesome....I'm pulling for you, I believe you can do this...

Let me know if I can help you.....

Hey Meg, you can call on me anytime you need too.

The good part is, you are through the worst physically. Each day will get better and better from here on out. Of course you may have days where you don't think that, but really, it will get better each day.

I always have to chuckle when us smokers talk about "it feels like I'm dying" when describing a quit. The quit will not kill us. Smoking will.

I had a horrible first 4-5 days. Thankfully I was lucky enough to be able to sleep through most of them. Most people aren't that lucky. I don't know how I would have managed had I not been able to do that, but I'm sure I would have managed. I cried a lot, screamed, yelled, and even had a bit of panic but it all passed quickly and it is like, wow, I would never want to become a smoker again and go through all that again.

Would you really want to go through what you have gone through again? Because if you start smoking again, you'll just hit that point again where you want to quit and then have to go through all the hard stuff again.

Drink a lot of water, chew a lot of gum, suck on a lot of candy, "smoke" through cut straws, read, get support, sleep and know that the crappy feelings will pass.

hi meg, first of all let me give u a thumbs up on ur decission to quit and welcome to ex........ i have abused myself for about 25-30yrs. as it is rite now ur ahead of this battle. u have ur entire life ahead of u......this is day 5 for me day 3 i was climbing walls... this morning i was grinding my teeth as the time got closer for me to go to work... everybody smokes randomly @ work chain smokers @ that.....i`m actualy amazed i`ve made it this far and i just know u will be amazed too........as u continue to count day after day that u haven`t smoked ....meg it`s not easy at all but u need to do this now if u dont it`ll get harder,do all the exersizes on the ex plan get as many friends as u can get on this site which is what i think makes it so great is that it`s not about who`s got a hot car or who`s got guns or any of the senseless thing out there.it about our lives ..yours mine and everybody on this site ..... i care and so do many others i`ve told so many people how needy i was going to be and they reached out to me the support here is great and it make a hell of a big difference ..........stay strong dont quit quitting it does get easier give me a shout when ever u need to GOOD LUCK ON UR NEW JOURNEY

hey by the way ur not fading the cigs are everyday ur smoke free the further away they fade from u..........

Meg it does get easier. You just have to be patient and find other things to do that will occupy your mind. You also need to change your mindset, quitting isn't something you are doing TO you but FOR you. It's not going to be easy but freedom never does come easy!!
Lots of luck!! =)
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My quit began Two Months, Twenty Four Days, 7 Hours and 46 Minutes ago, while extending my life expectancy 10 Days and 8 Hours, by avoiding the use of 2986 smokes that would have cost me $561.91.

Meg It will get easier your through the worst of it . Deep breathing really helps . Just battle this addiction one craving at a time one day at a time or even hour or minuet by minute .

Meg, I don't know if this helps but it sure helped me. I've been smoke free for 8 days now. Not too long I know, but just long enough to remember that, just a few days ago, I felt the exact same way. My asthma has been getting so bad I'm using my emergency inhaler every single night just to stop coughing to sleep. And, for me driving is one of my worst triggers too. I tried getting some regular, fun-flavored gum and would have two pieces sitting in my car where I used to keep my cigs. That way, every time I instinctively reached for them, I'd get some gum instead. But, that almost didn't work one day, so I decided I had to get over my mental thing about driving. So, for the next three days I played a game kind of. I love music and used to enjoy finding great songs on my radio before I started smoking. That stopped because I was more worried about grabbing my cigs while driving than enjoying some music. Anyway, I decided I had to find at least two songs to sing to, really belt it out and get my frustration out, every morning on the way to work. And, whenever I felt jittery at work, I just went to the restroom and jumped up and down and did whatever I needed to do to help get that nervous energy out. I even went outside once and just yelled and stomped around. I gave myself permission to be frustrated (but not to give up!). It's not a cure all of course, but it's helped me with the worst of it. I know everyone's quit is different, but maybe this will help you think of something personally-tailored for you. Take it just a few minutes at a time if a day is too long to think about. Good luck Meg! You can do it!!

That is great Michel. You found solutions for every problems you had. Its all about determination.