9 days smoke free :-)
Hi fellow quitters. I'm 42 years old and am once again attempting to quit smoking.....hopefully for good this time. It has now been 9 days since my last cigarette and so far so good - apart from wanting to kill my family members slowly LOL. If anyone out there in Quit land can give me some really useful tips as to how to STAY QUIT and reduce the cravings it would be appreciated. I am currently using the Nicabate patches and they really do take the edge off the cravings. Thanks in advance.
9 days is fantastic and you have shown yourself just how strong you are. Congratulations. There are still tough days to come but you don't want to ever go through this again so grin and bear it. I found fast walking to be of huge benefit when a craving strikes. I also use the meditation app Headspace which I think helps. It calms me down and I think it helps build resilience. As everyone will tell you, there is no better thing than coming to this site. And it definitely gets easier - not smooth sailing entirely (at almost 12 weeks) but the cravings are weaker and the time between them is longer. Good luck.
I loved reading your message as I can completely relate to this!! I have to admit I asked my husband to hang up the boxing bag under the deck so that every time I wanted to throttle a family member I could just picture them on the boxing bag and it also helped to get a little huffy puffy while punching it :-)
Good luck - it is a definitely a challenge and has it's moments but it slowly gets easier..
Thanks for your replies Fullofhope and Michduncan. It is now 13 days and still off the ciggies - the death threats are getting less and less LOL. I actually did a 50km charity walk on Saturday. Apart from my feet and legs being sore, it was nice that it didn't feel like my lungs were going to come out my mouth when I went up a small hill ;-). I am going to download the app you suggested to help get me through the agitation periods and the punching bag sounds like an AMAZING idea. Thanks for your tips - I love this site already.
I observed myself smoking last month. I noticed my heart rate increase. It occured to me to go for a walk instead to get that same huffin, puffin affect.