I need help
I quit on Thursday! I don't know how I will go but am determined to keep being a quitter! It's Monday and I have had one smoke, is that bad?
Welcome HJ and congratulation for making one of the best decisions of your life. Not only will you be rewarded with better health and save money but also escape the addiction of nicotine which has controlled us for years.
Good job on 4 days non-smoking. Don't beat yourself up for a slip of one smoke but do realize that if you quit cold turkey, you were free of the stranglehold the nicotine has on you. That is why we have the mantra NOPE. Not One Puff Ever! Had you slipped in 3 months, even one cigarette could set you back to square one. Most nicotine is out of your system in 72 hours, and most nicotine receptors shut down in 21 days.
Please let us know what method you are using to quit. No matter the method chosen it is advisable to read and learn all about this addiction and how the 80% psychological part of the quit is hardest . Once you retrain your mind that smoking is something that you choose not to do, rather than can't do, the journey becomes much, much easier.
Accept and Embrace this journey for it brings amazing results!
I went cold turkey after being sick and slept for over 12 hours. Thought that was a good way to start being a quitter!
Hi HJ. Quitting means not one puff ever. If I had done that just once in the past 4 years + I would not have succeeded. 1 cigarette would lead to another and that would mean being right back where I started. Worse still, cost of a carton has risen from $196 to $289. Go figure.
Don’t beat yourself over the head about it. Once is just a mess up but do keep in mind that if you want to succeed you shouldn’t have anymore smokes. From personal experience, I had successfully stayed off the smoking for over 2 years and just one puff took me back to the beginning and I kept on smoking for the next 10. The second time I quit for over a year and had just one smoke that kept me puffing for over 10 more years. One may ask why would I do somethings like that? and the answer is I wanted to prove to myself that I had my addiction beat but instead learned the hard way NOPE (not one puff ever). Good luck and stay strong.