12.5 hours so far without a cig

chicpower1

I'm starting to feel the withdrawal now too. I hopped up and did a load of dishes and that got me through the first bad craving, but now the fatigue is setting in. I get soooooooooooooo tired. My lungs are starting to feel "different", only way I know to explain it, and I'm starting to cough and hack a bit. For me the worst part is actually the fatigue. It's all I can do to keep my eyes open. LOL. Trying to use my own stubborness to get through this.

nikkircaddell

i wish i could sleep but im not used to sleeping alone so i keep getting back up.

sbwood888

Stay strong! You can do it. Your lungs will thank you. Your skin will look fresher. Your hair will smell good like shampoo. Your wallet will thank you! It is soooo worth the struggle! :flowerforyou:

nmescalera

Awesome Job!!!! Keep it up. You are doing such a good thing for your body!!!! :flowerforyou:

tamalea

Great job! It's been 6 years for me. It gets easier and you will feel so much healthier.

pmtreasurechest

Good job. I quit a year and a half ago. Go to quitnet.com. It is free and it helps.

Thriceshy

I quit over five-and-a-half years ago. You CAN do this, and what's better? It STOPS being hard. I promise it does. You get to where you never think about them, except to wonder how you could have done that. Every single thing you do without a smoke is a victory that takes you one step closer to being a non-smoker.

Here are some things that really helped me:

Ice water when I had a craving

Sugar free Coffee Nips to suck on (my husband swore by Jolly Ranchers)

A support forum (I used about.com's smoking cessation forum) where people have been right where you are.

A quit meter to keep track of how many I hadn't smoked and the HUGE amount of money I saved (I used this one--it's free if you choose the free version: http://www.silkquit.org/stop-smoking/quit-meter.aspx)

Getting rid of all the smoking accoutrements in the house/car.

Cleaning the house/car/smoking area so that it is now a NON-smoking area.

Deep breathing through cravings while remembering that a craving passes whether I smoke or not, but if I DO smoke, I guarantee the cravings will be even worse next time

And most importantly? I changed how I think about smoking. Rather than viewing smokes as a treat, I realized that NOT smoking is the treat, it's the reward. It's longer life, better life, more money in my pocket, better smells, better tasting food, and an all-around healthier me. Can't get a reward better than that!

What I didn't do? I didn't hang around people who smoked until my quit was secure. I didn't cheat or take even one drag. I didn't pretend to smoke--no sucking on straws or anything that would trigger my brain to expect smoke. I didn't drink alcohol, which makes a lapse likely.

Good luck, and feel free to add me if you want. You CAN do this--I did it, my husband did it, then my sister and mother did it, too. All of us, and we've all been quit for over five years. You can.

Kris

Thriceshy

Stay strong! You can do it. Your lungs will thank you. Your skin will look fresher. Your hair will smell good like shampoo. Your wallet will thank you! It is soooo worth the struggle! :flowerforyou:

Oh, gosh yes, the wallet thanks you! The first year we were quit, we saved enough money for a 10 day vacation to Disney/California Adventure/Legoland/Sea World for us, our son, AND our niece and nephew! The second year, we saved enough for a 17 day vacation to the east coast, and the third, enough for a 21 day vacation to the east coast for us, our son, and our niece and nephew! This was after years of being able to afford nothing more than car camping trips!

Believe it, your wallet will LOVE you!

Kris

shellshell43

You are going to feel lonely and angry and a loss...that is normal...it will pass I PROMISE!!!! even if your BF was in town you would still feel that way- so don't let the feelings of that give you a reason to light up...the feelings would have happened if he was there or not.

I felt like there was nothing left for me...I felt I had nothing to relax, no reward, no peace, no enjoyment...I really felt down the first two days..and tired...and then the 3 day I felt angry..angry that I didn't have any of those things any more..no reward for a job well done...no stress relief...no happy break time..almost as if I had nothing to look forward to ever again....and that made me mad at myself for quitting...but then I thought about all those people who enjoy life without smoking...are they all walking around angry and depressed? No, so I could be like that also...time to think like a non smoker...what would they do to relax etc...

Also the hacking and uncomfortable feeling in your lungs will only last a day or so..that is your lungs clearing out all that tar and gross chemicals from the smoke...believe me- your lungs are healing even though it may not feel like it right now...in a couple days you will notice less shortness of breath and every day after that gets better.

you can do it!!!

halobender

I quit May of '10, so I'm just over a year now.

My case was rather fortunate in that I was just sick of how they tasted. It took me five years to get there, but I found I only smoked just to be doing it by the end and I would have to eat something or have a drink of some sort (whether it was alcohol or soda) to be able to tolerate the taste of cigarettes.

Shortly thereafter I bought a bicycle and began commuting only with that, which made it even harder to have a smoke because I didn't have the lungs for it. This was when I decided to get in shape, obviously, and it made it easier to not have soda as well.

Also, I didn't really notice when it stopped, honestly, but it must have just been in the last eight weeks or so that I finally stopped coughing up that black stuff. It gets pretty far into your lungs. I feel a ton better and breathing is AWESOME now.

nikkircaddell

I'm not coughing up any black stuff and i didn't the last 2 times i quit for 3.5 months. When is that supposed to start? Oh and 24 hrs and 35 minutes without a cigarette now. :happy:

TourThePast

It gets WAY easier, every hour, every day without a cigarette makes it easier.

Really, I promise.

If you give in now, you'll have to do the toughest bit all over again - so be very proud of the hours you've managed so far, just think you'll NEVER have to go through this again. Okay it's a horrible couple of days, but what's a couple of crappy days, compared to the extra lifespan you're giving yourself?

Be strong, you CAN do this! You've done the hardest bit, just hang on in there.

nikkircaddell

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Ocarina

Do not give up. If I can do it you can do it. I feel like I never even smoked... I quit 4/11/2010!

shellshell43

I never actually coughed up black stuff. I just coughed a little more sometimes and had to clear my throat ...it wasn't too much, in fact it was minor..so don't let that worry you.....

Thriceshy

I'm not coughing up any black stuff and i didn't the last 2 times i quit for 3.5 months. When is that supposed to start? Oh and 24 hrs and 35 minutes without a cigarette now. :happy:

24 hours is a victory! No worries on the hacking up a lung front--I never brought up black, though I did have some pretty productive coughing for a couple of weeks. I considered it my body's way of cleaning out the gunk and starting over.

You're doing great--keep it up!

Kris

nikkircaddell

28 hours now without a cigarette. The time seems to go by sooooooooooo slow.

Thriceshy

It'll speed up! Take baths, chew gum, walk, read, clean (cleaning was great for me!), do your nails, exercise, drink ice water, sew or do needlepoint, paint, dance, munch carrots-whatever, you'll get through and it'll be easier. I promise!

Kris

nikkircaddell

Almost 30 hours in and it's getting harder to breathe you would think going that long without smoking would make breathing easier not harder.

LivAppleby

ALLEN CARR'S EASYWAY TO QUIT SMOKING - made my experience completely painless! (He also wrote "Easyweigh to lose weight - a little harder to implement, but interesting reading.)

Keep it up! - Your body is going to love you even more!

nikkircaddell

I'm not really having that hard of a time not smoking just wondering if theres a way to make breathing easier since it seems to have gotten harder since quitting.

pattycake118

Congratulations! I've never smoked, but beating any addiction is a great feat and most defintely something to be proud of.

This is great not only for you but for those around you. If you have kids you're not subjecting them to the second hand smoke. I don't even have asthma and I find it so hard to breath around smokers. Your teeth and hair will thank you. You won't have to stand out in the cold (if you go through chilly winters) just to satisfy your craving. There's so many little things that are going to be better in addition to your health.

Keep up the hard work!