When does it subside?

Blog Post created by TurboRose on Oct 11, 2017

Like • Show 2 Likes2
Comment • 14

For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been dealing with some mind chatter urging me to smoke. It’s not an oral thing. It’s not about hand to mouth movement. It’s a matter of fact type of statement I’m hearing; “Why don’t you go on and have a smoke? You’ll feel normal” or “Why don’t you have a smoke so things will go back to normal and you’ll know what to do?”

I had problems motivating myself to “do things” while I was smoking. I know my normal isn’t something I really want to return to. I want a new normal. I want to get up off the couch and do things. I want more life in my life. I know smoking isn’t going to help me create the life I’ve been telling myself I want and can have “If I would just stop smoking.”

I am 100+ days into my quit and I’m battling this mind chatter. I’ve been an ex-smoker 0.7% of the amount of time I smoked. I figure I have to give my body and brain a chance to recognize I’m no longer smoking.

I was prepared for the discomfort in the initial days of my quit. I wasn’t prepared for this. The last time I stopped, it was the mind chatter I couldn’t handle and eventually gave into. Sometimes distraction works. There are many things I need to tend to. Being active and engaged is an issue I had before I stopped smoking. I’m wondering if this mind chatter is a gift; If I need to keep busy in order to stop the chatter then I just might become the active engaged person I say I want to be. It doesn’t matter how I get there as long as I arrive safe and sound. I’ve taken advantage of the unseasonably warm weather. I started walking. I’m averaging about 1.5 miles a day. It’s what goes on when I’m home that I really need to address.

When does it subside? Does it ever subside? Is mind chatter the ex-smokers kryptonite?

Outcomes

14 Comments

TW517 Oct 11, 2017 3:01 PM
Exactly 135 days. I'm kidding, of course. But I'm at 149 days today, and the last serious crave, mind chatter, or whatever you want to call it, was on day 135. I hope yours subsides sooner than that. If it makes you feels any better (or more normal), I was seriously thinking of giving up my quit around the 100 day mark. I'd had a good run of barely thinking about cigarettes from about days 85 to 90. I thought I finally had it beat, and then just like you, I had a lot of mind chatter, craves, and reaching for phantom cigarettes every day again. I felt beaten, like it was never going to go away. I feel your pain Michele . I wish I could make it stop for you now, but it will stop.
1 person found this helpful
Like • Show 1 Like1
Actions
- TurboRose @ TW517 on Oct 11, 2017 3:28 PM
  Thanks TW517. I haven't reached for the phantom cigarette but I know what you're talking about. These thoughts are accompanied with a sensation of pressure like a balloon being blown up. I don't want to turn to smoking to "relieve" the pressure. I'm sure there's another way. I've got an idea. I'll see what happens.
  Like • Show 2 Likes2
  Actions
JACKIE1-25-15 Oct 11, 2017 3:12 PM
Yes it does subside but there is no day time or hour. When the chatter in your head starts respond with a hell no talk back. I really got fierce and told the chatter that no matter what you say you are wasting your time so go somewhere else. Literally. Self talk. That I was not going to smoke so. BE GONE! I hollered at it and told it to be gone. You can not baby that nicotine addict in us. You have to let it know that you mean business and NOPE you will not smoke. It left. Keep a no matter what attitude and you will get through it. Stay close, be mindful, do not give in to the addiction. Stay free.
1 person found this helpful
Like • Show 2 Likes2
Actions
- TurboRose @ JACKIE1-25-15 on Oct 11, 2017 3:30 PM
  thanks JACKIE1-25-15 good idea. I don't know if I've talked back to it. Cool
  Like • Show 0 Likes0
  Actions
roller831 Oct 11, 2017 4:18 PM
I reached for a phantom cigarette on Day 3 and laughed after thanking my lucky stars there were no smokes around! I think we will all have to deal with the mind chatter from time to time. I don't see it as something that will go away indefinitely, but something that may not occur as often. We should be vigilant and keep our quit precious. Dropping our guard or thinking we can handle one puff "just to see" is when we put ourselves at the greatest risk. Talking down the mind chatter by saying NOPE or SINAO or I don't do that anymore has helped me more than anything!

Keep your WHY close by....why you quit in the first place. It is on your Quit Plan and profile if you have forgotten. I read yours today on your profile. It says, "What keeps me motivated to quit?Years of self-loathing because I smoked" Remember that. You are worth a lot more to yourself as an ex-smoker.
Like • Show 0 Likes0
Actions
maryfreecig Oct 11, 2017 4:18 PM
No, mind chatter is not an ex smoker's kryptonite. Great blog. You talked so much about what you honor about your quit, seems that is where your head and heart are. Getting tired of relearning life all the time can get under one's skin for sure. I usually dip into comedy at that point as laughter has proven to life my spirits again and again.
Keep doing what you are doing, because it is working!
1 person found this helpful
Like • Show 0 Likes0
Actions
JonesCarpeDiem Oct 11, 2017 4:43 PM
Nancy had her hardest day at 111. I had mine in the 50's and again right after I passed a hundred.
The first 4 months is when I see people drop off the radar.
What To Expect In The First Four Months
Like • Show 1 Like1
Actions
- JonesCarpeDiem @ JonesCarpeDiem on Oct 11, 2017 9:54 PM
  Let me tell you what I did when I had those difficult days after I hit 100. I did some research and there was a medical study online that said most people who got through 16 weeks/Yes, 4 Months, had the best chance of success. That meant I had a couple more weeks to go and I believed in that enough to pull myself through those next two weeks. And when I hit day 127, I was driving up a mountain road to a job I had smoked on 4+ months earlier and I reached for a pack on the seat of my truck that wasn't there. Something clicked and I laughed and have never considered smoking again.
  Like • Show 0 Likes0
  Actions
crazymama_Lori Oct 11, 2017 7:29 PM
I had that little whisper too around 135 days. went away, came back again around 195. I've noticed now it only appears when I'm super tired or overwhelmed with work. Otherwise I just let it land for a touch, and smack the heck out of it like a pesky mosquito
Like • Show 0 Likes0
Actions
elvan Oct 11, 2017 7:46 PM
TurboRose I SO wish I could give you an exact date, just like everyone else here but, the fact is, there is no number of days that is the "magic" number. I lost quits over that "chatter" as you call it, I called it white knuckling my quits and when I came to this site and did all of the reading...I felt like there really was hope. I knew that I did not want to smoke again...EVER, I did not want to obsess over cigarettes. I felt like it was never going to stop and then I had a stressful day and realized that I never even THOUGHT about smoking. Once I knew that I could get through a day, I knew I could start stacking days. I think my real NML time ended in the 120's and although there have certainly been challenges along the way, it DOES get easier, seriously. There will always be good days and bad days but the "chatter" stops. We WIN.

I think that 100 day anniversary carries a lot of weight with it and perhaps we expect more than we should. I remember direct messaging someone who was almost exactly at the same point as I was an we were at about day 112 or so and I asked her if it was me or if it seemed like the clock stopped. She laughed and said she felt the same way. I am thrilled to say that I have kept in touch with her and that she, too, has over 3 years and 8+ months.

I am really proud of you, Michelle, hang in there. You CAN DO this.
Love,
Ellen
Like • Show 0 Likes0
Actions
MarilynH Oct 11, 2017 7:52 PM
It really does subside but you are doing super fantastic and before long each day should start getting easier and with less of the mind chatter which I remember too but it did subside somewhere around the 3 month mark.
Like • Show 0 Likes0
Actions
Thomas3.20.2010 Oct 11, 2017 9:06 PM
I get it! You're tired of being between what you left because you definitely don't want that and what you are seeking - a New Normal with it's own Comfort Zone! And you are so close!
Just hang in there a bit longer! All those Fantastic things we've been promising you about your Quit Journey are just now coming around! It's 100% worth it!
1 person found this helpful
Like • Show 4 Likes4
Actions
Thomas3.20.2010 Oct 11, 2017 9:59 PM
Knowledge is Power - Know your ENEMY!
Like • Show 0 Likes0
Actions
NewMe Oct 12, 2017 9:01 AM
you already have a lot of good advice here. I will also assure you - the chatter will stop, and the date that happens probably varies a bit for each person. But you might also notice that we all caution newbies to maintain vigilance. I think after many of us smoked for a large percentage of the years we've been alive (I smoked for 44 years), there might be quite a few years where your brain remembers turning to a cigarette for comfort in difficult times. There will come a time for you when in the midst of a stressful situation, your brain tries to sneak in a thought of smoking to relieve some anxiety. But with a good deal of time as an Ex, as crazymama_Lori says, your next thought will be to swat it away and deal with the situation in a much healthier way. Meanwhile, rest assured that the more time you accumulate as an ex-smoker, the less frequently you will experience even fleeting thoughts of smoking. And the new normal will be that you go through most days and most situations without ever thinking about smoking at all.
Like • Show 0 Likes0
Actions

When does it subside?

Outcomes

Related Content

Recommended Content