Quitting smoking

[Nostradama]

I'm doing it for the last time. I went cold turkey seven days ago and can't use any of the quit smoking "aids" because all of them give me nightmares. The first three days were easy. Day four contained about four hours of absolute misery and so did yesterday. Anyone been through this? How long do the really bad "jitters and I hate everyone" spells last? As in, mine last about four hours, but for how many weeks or months will I be getting them?

[AllieG]

Well done! Smoking is more of a psychological than actual chemical addiction so the physical addiction side of things should be on their way out very soon. The challenge is breaking the associations with smoking, whatever yours might be. Mine was coffee, telephone, after a meal, with alcohol, boredom, nerves. I used hypnosis to break this, but I know this doesn't work for everyone. Some people substitute food for cigs, but obviously this has it's problems. One friend had a glass of water when the urge hit her and this worked. My husband ate oranges! (oranges make cigs taste horrid). The urges will gradually pass within a few minutes (unless you really, really focus on them!). Ten years later and I've not so much as touched a ciggie and other people's smoke doesn't bother me much. Persevere and good luck!

[alas]

Way to go! Smoking is definitely mind over matter... I probably had the urges for a few months. The worst was dwelling on them and trying to power through without doing something different. I set up a timer for "breaks" so when I would normally go for a smoke I'd get up and do something else: wash my hands, do filing instead of computer work, play a quick iPod game, and drank a tonne of water! I gave up coffee and morning news for a while.
Hitting 6 year anniversary on May 10th! Smokers don't bother me, don't even have any urges... drinking, coffee, driving, boredom... all good!!

[The other Pat]

I quit cold turkey about 10 years ago, it was the hardest thing I ever did. The hardest was the first couple of months, but something nobody tells you is that you continue to want a cigarette for a long time. I think that people think that you will be afraid to quit if they tell you that. Personally I would have liked to know that at the time so I didn’t wonder why I couldn’t stop thinking about cigarettes.

Once you are past the urge to smoke with your coffee, when you read the newspaper, whenever you go outside, etc etc, it gets much easier. Honestly it takes about 2 months before you stop automatically reaching for one, it takes 6 months before you stop wanting one all the time and about 2 years before you don't even think about smoking. I remember the day I realized I had not thought about a cigarette for a long time, it was about 2 years after I stopped. That was the day I knew I was free.

I was actually was one of the lucky ones, I throw up when I smoke even one cigarette. I did when I first started smoking and I would if I had one now. It is a big deterrent, I hate throwing up. I was pretty determined to smoke the first time I started, I suffered through it and smoked for about 30 years.

One of the really great things about not smoking is that you don't have to worry if you have enough smokes, what to do when you run out, and last but not least, you can walk out of the house without worrying if you have your smokes. You will be free!

Keep in mind, we are all different, and it may be easier for you, but believe me, it couldn’t be any worse.

By the way, I am one of those people who really liked to smoke. Unfortunately my sister got lung cancer and passed away, it was a huge motivator. I quit about 2 weeks after she died, and it helped me stick to it.

Good luck, it is a hard job to quit, but you can do it.

[The other Pat]

Sorry, I forgot to answer your question. The rage and anger stop happening after about 2 weeks. My inlaws came to stay with us for a few days about a week in. On day 10 when they still still hanging around I told my man that they had better be gone by the time I got home or I would throw them out myself. They were gone when I got home.

I thought no one noticed how angry I was (except the inlaws of course), but at about the one month mark I had a few people say that they were glad I was feeling better.

You can do it!

Pat

[PaulStevens]

I'm doing it for the last time. I went cold turkey seven days ago and can't use any of the quit smoking "aids" because all of them give me nightmares. The first three days were easy. Day four contained about four hours of absolute misery and so did yesterday. Anyone been through this? How long do the really bad "jitters and I hate everyone" spells last? As in, mine last about four hours, but for how many weeks or months will I be getting them?

You are going through what is called "HELL WEEK". It lasts between 5 to 7 days. After that, it gets easier.

"The patch" can give a person serious nightmares, to the point where one believes they are going insane. Don't use it, if you don't have to.

People to chat with about this can be found here http://www.quitsmokingmessageboard.com/

[Nostradama]

Somebody's called it that, and I think the name is fine and dandy. It's been ten days now and I think things are getting better. I think. Many thanks to everyone, but please keep the support coming. A friend told me yesterday that his jitters, crankiness, etc., didn't settle down completely for about three months. I can go with that--just getting a stated length of time that it may take is good enough for me.

[PaulStevens]

Somebody's called it that, and I think the name is fine and dandy. It's been ten days now and I think things are getting better. I think. Many thanks to everyone, but please keep the support coming. A friend told me yesterday that his jitters, crankiness, etc., didn't settle down completely for about three months. I can go with that--just getting a stated length of time that it may take is good enough for me.

It should not take 3 months. He must had been sneaking in a smoke here and there. And that would only prolong the agony. It's like hell week over and over again. Best to get it all done all at once.

My guess is if you are starting to calm down after 10 days, it will only get better from hereon in.

My quit was nasty. I would wake up in the morning raging about nothing. And sometimes get pissed off about the stupidest little things. I know it was the quit causing it. And it hasn't happened since. If you find yourself going off in anger or in tears, just know it's the withdrawals and not you.

[Nostradama]

It should not take 3 months. He must had been sneaking in a smoke here and there. And that would only prolong the agony. It's like hell week over and over again. Best to get it all done all at once.

My guess is if you are starting to calm down after 10 days, it will only get better from hereon in.

My quit was nasty. I would wake up in the morning raging about nothing. And sometimes get pissed off about the stupidest little things. I know it was the quit causing it. And it hasn't happened since. If you find yourself going off in anger or in tears, just know it's the withdrawals and not you.

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if my friend cheated a bit here and there. But I figure what's the point? If I have even one cigarette, that means I'm going to have to go through all the agony again. Which I don't want to do. I'm still having to avoid going out. I've never been bothered by crowds of people before, but I darned near lost it in a supermarket the other day. It's a good thing that a friend had taken me. She finished off my shopping list for me while I sat in the car--it was that bad. But having read some of the "quit stories" on a website, I still think I'm having a pretty easy time of it compared to some people. Except for my four hours of hell every few days.

[All Ages Music Concerts]

Good on you! Keep with it. I went cold turkey 16 months ago and so glad I did. Again good for you Nostradama. Each day is easier and easier!