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What To Expect In The First Four Months

JonesCarpeDiem
154 177 18.1K

You can choose to be anxious and fearful

to quit smoking but, it is not required.

cow.jpg

     Sure, you will have some rough days in first two to three weeks experiencing the physical withdrawal symptoms and beginning to unlearn the habit part of smoking. We all did.

      You will feel "out of it" like something is missing or not right.

      The memories of smoking are strong because they are connected to every emotion and life experience.

       Quitting is a process. After being on this and another site for over 10 years an average of 10 hours a day listening and watching and helping,  I see it as a definable process.

     You can begin to understand what is happening by living smoke free but, you must continue making the choice to not smoke for a period of time in order to unlearn the psychological connections and be successful.  As you live daily without smoking the unlearning process continues as you build new memories that don't include smoking.

     This is the secret of success. You must unlearn the hand to mouth and inhale motions that are connected to the memories and emotions experienced as a smoker.

     Enjoy the process, don't bemoan it. This is the only way to be free and not desire to be a smoker ever again.

     After about 130 days you will not be thinking of you as a smoker or of smoking as often.  Be willing to give yourself that amount of time without giving up on yourselves.

Accept your new path as a non smoker. The only way out is through.

Here Is The Timeline Of What You Can Expect

1st week toughest. (It feels so awkward to make the change initially)

2nd week is better (some are through the worst portion after 2 weeks)

3rd week is mo' better (most are through the worst withdrawal symptoms by the end of the third week)

4th week even better.

      By the beginning of the 5th week, you think you got it licked. BUT

The next three months are the test because you will get urges out of nowhere They can be strong they can last an hour or longer and be spread over 2-3 days, but these are usually far between.

Get up! Get busy. Use the tools that got you this far.

     They typically aren't stronger than anything you've already experienced. It's because they are so unexpected and can catch you off guard that makes them dangerous.

      You've smoked for a long time.

      Promise yourself 130 days from your last puff without giving in and you will rarely think of smoking.

and....laugh when you crave (chuckle in church)

(Please read the no mans land blog that follows which describes the feelings you might  experience at one point or another in those 3+ months after the first month quit)

https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/best-of-ex/blog/2011/05/24/no-mans-land-days-30-to130-appr...

and also, about the two sets of seasons building your new non smoking memories below.

https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/jonescarp.aka.dale.Jan_2007-blog/2013/12/05/the-two-sets-of...

177 Comments
About the Author
Hello, My name is Dale. I was quit 18 months before joining this site and had participated on another site during that time. I learned a lot there and brought it with me. I joined this site the first week of August 2008. I didn't pressure myself to quit. HOW I QUIT I didn't count, I didn't deny myself to get started. When I considered quitting (at a friends request to influence his brother to quit), I simply told myself to wait a little longer. No denial, nothing painful. After 4 weeks I was down to 5 cigarettes from a pack a day. The strength came from proving to myself, I didn't need to smoke because I normally would have smoked. Simple yes? I bought the patch. I forgot to put one on on the 4th day. I needed it the next day but the following week I forgot two days in a row I put one in my wallet with a promise to myself that I would slap it on and wait an hour rather than smoke. It rode in my wallet my first year.There's nothing keeping any of you from doing this. It doesn't cost a dime. This is about unlearning something you've done for a long time. The nicotine isn't the hard part. Disconnecting from the psychological pull, the memories and connected emotions is. :-) Time is the healer.