Worried?
Tell me. Is there something wrong with the "official" literature? I'm on Day 7 and smoking hardly enters my mind. I'm done with it.
So why am I worried? No, not for my current state, but I'm sitting here, early Sunday morning, fresh coffee... and I'm still expecting some hidden demon.
I see official literature talk about weeks, even months of withdrawals - that horrid list of symptoms and issues I need to be concerned about. It's what put me OFF quitting, that nagging feeling I was doomed to fail. "We recommend NRT", "Don't go cold-turkey" ad nauseum.
But I'm discovering that many former smokers (as opposed to medical professionals) say the hardest week is the first week, not the second or third etc. And I'm pretty much done with the first week and not the slightest hint of regression here. This is a 40 year smoker.
Yes. The physical effects are as good as gone. Sleep is coming back to me, I'm not "hungry" anymore and my initial foggy state is clearing. Sure, I've thought about it but listen, I passed half a dozen smokers outside as I exited a venue Friday night and my nose didn't follow... it ran. It smelled horrible.
Cravings? For what?! I'm presumably down to only requiring willpower now and it's... far too easy. So where's the boogey man?
Be careful of the "It was so easy to quit that I can just have one or two and quit again" trap. I've fell for that one a few times. I find it relatively easy at first, then after a few months I find myself smoking again. Quitting is not the hard part. Staying quit is.
Best wishes
Maybe there is no bogeyman for you mate,I think by coming onto this site we realise that we all get different kinds of anxiety and stresses that are associated with our give up journey.The fact that you aren't getting many cravings or can handle the the ones you get easily is awesome.Run with that mate.I am 43 days cold turkey and feeling great but still find inspiration for people who are long term quitters and from early ones.So thanks for sharing and NO MATTER WHAT! buddy just do not smoke.
Thank you for your comments all. I revisited what I wrote and it makes me come off as kind of arrogant but that's not what I intended. It's meant more as a "note to self" because I made many, many excuses for many years NOT to quit and now that I have I'm disappointed, almost angry, that it took so long.
I can only hope in my musings that others might seriously reconsider what reasons they are using NOT to quit.