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Give and get support around quitting

Lesliex
Member

Day 3 Question

I'm on day 3 and have a question. When do you start enjoying your day rather than just surviving your day? The past 2 nights, I've gone to bed at 7:30 just to get the day over with. I'm already getting tired of not enjoying anything.

17 Replies

I call them:

Week 1  Hell Week

Week 2  Heck Week

Week 3  Hallelujah Week!

It's not written in stone but it's pretty close! Two things you should know - what you expect is how it will be and when you make the effort to become a Happy Quitter the struggle is less!

/blogs/Thomas3.20.2010-blog/2016/01/16/how-i-became-a-happy-quitter?sr=search&searchId=048c4040-c9bb...‌ Just try it - what do you have to lose?

freeneasy
Member

It gets better! We know what you're going through now. It's uncomfortable, to say the least. Remember, you are going through a huge change.Your body is cleansing itself of all the toxins in cigarette smoke. Nicotine receptors in your brain are being starved and will go dormant.  You won't regret quitting. It's hard now but well worth it.

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shashort
Member

Lesliex  Welcome to the community. Way to go on getting into day 3 of your quit. I so remember those days like it was yesterday. It's not easy but is doable.  Do you have a quit tool box kit to help you through your craves and tough times?  I always carried a bottle of ice cold water with a straw and took big swigs when I craved. Water is good for you and flushes the toxins out of your body.  I also had mints, cinnimon disk and gum for tough moments.  Find things to keep you busy when you have a crave mine was walking and now exercise has become my new addiction.  Make a list of reasons to quit and read them frequently, house work kept my mind busy, adult coloring books, soak in a tub with some relaxing music and candles and relax another favorite go too. YOu can do this and it will get easier with time.  Read lots of blogs to help you see how others handled it. Stay close to this site. Blog help if you need it and we will come running.

Bree19
Member

Lesliex

A huge welcome to our community.  I'm so glad you found us.  

I think each one of us remembers days 1,2 and 3 the best because they truly are the worst.  The rest of week 1 has its grim moments but NOTHING like the first three days.  It's like the comments above - take one day at a time, pledge every morning not to smoke that day, and if a day is too long then pledge for an hour, then the next hour.  Baby steps.  You can SO do this.  Although nicotine takes 3-4 days to be cleared out, your body is still adjusting to life without cigarettes.  Thomas's Hell Week and Heck Week is exactly how it felt to me but I only heard that phrase in my 3rd week.  But, even if we sound like a broken record, it's worth repeating - IT DOES GET BETTER EVERY DAY. 

My own experience was that those first 3 days I could have ripped faces off strangers, then from day 4 I started crying and that lasted about a day.  Then I just sort of moved through that fog someone above mentioned.  I felt stupid.  Numb.  I felt I'd lost my ability to reason or speak in straight sentences.  Things happened in slow motion.  I was not functioning well at all but every day, I promise you, was better than the previous day.  And I slept every chance I got.

Please do the reading suggested, get educated about the addiction - that's what it is, not just a bad habit.  Get your toolkit together for the tough times when a crave hits.  Everyone's different but my craves lasted maybe a minute every time in the beginning.  They very soon turned from craves into thoughts - thoughts I could just dismiss and continue with my day.  Even now 175 days into my quit, I'll get a thought of 'a cigarette would be nice now' and all I do is dismiss the thought.   You will learn what your triggers are and find ways to deal with the triggers.  Mine are definitely linked to rewarding myself after a job well done as well as after a meal.  For both of those triggers I make sure I have something already planned to do right after the 'job well done' or the meal - something I enjoy - phoning a friend, having a shower - whatever works.

I look forward to getting to know you better.

Blessings

Bree.

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Sootie
Member

You probably won't like the answer but...............................

I'm guessing you smoked for longer than 3 days? So it's going to take awhile (as it did for ALL of us) to get over the addiction. You really are needing to learn to live your life AND enjoy your life....without cigarettes! That takes time.

But I PROMISE you....it will come. And it will be GREAT and then get better and better. I am coming up on 8 years quit and I can tell you it is one of the BEST things I ever did...for myself and for everyone in my life.

Was it easy? No. Did it take awhile to feel "normal" ------yes! Was it worth it? YES! YES! YES!

Stay strong.

Dani_2017
Member

Lesliex I just quit about a month ago. 

For me, the third day was the absolute worst. But I was also really tired the first two weeks, and if I didn't get 8-9 hours of sleep a night I was really really dragging. 

At my month mark, I still go to bed a little earlier that I used to. TW517 Tom is ahead of me, he's at 103 days today, and he mentioned that he goes to sleep a little earlier as well.

At this point I'm not as tired during the day anymore. If you don't drink caffeine, I think it will be a little harder. (I love my coffee)

The best thing that you can do for yourself at this point is to get as much sleep as you need. Try not to push yourself too hard. Remember to eat healthy. 

These feelings will definitely pass with time. You can do this! The first two weeks are by far the hardest. 

elvan
Member

Look at you NOW!  Look at how far you have come already!

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WDWfan
Member

So glad for this post! Day 3 was my absolute worst day! I felt like I was going insane! Then it got better! Today is just day 10 for me and I'm still having some intense feelings at my trigger times, and I'm staying insanely busy not to give in to that old habit. I'm so glad that I found this site and I'm really thankful for everyone's post that I'm reading and knowing that the crazy feelings I'm having are to be expected! I just want to feel "normal" - like me again - but smoke free! Be strong friend!