It's only Day 2 and I've been crying off and on all day. I was off work today and really wish I hadn't been. Thinking it would've been better to be away from the house, especially since no one else was home.
Letting the dog out was hard since I always smoked on the back porch. I actually wished I could go out there and take nice loooong drag off a cig.
For anyone who had the "weepies", how did you cope? Did it go away after a while?
Thanks Mary! I'm sure tomorrow will be better!
I went through an emotional roller coaster the first couple of months. I also quit right before the 2 yr anniversary of my moms death, what would have been her 71st b-day, what would have been my parents 52nd anniversary, and my first holiday season without my dad and 2nd without my mom, plus my roommates mom who has become my adopted mom had a heart attack and a quadruple bypass all within the first month.
It gets better , just try to distract yourself, clean part of a drawer, write, read, color etc. Simple 5-10 minute tasks to do in place of smoking.
As for the dog, that was a biggie for me too. Mine goes potty out front in an un-fenced area so I or someone has to go out with her. I found by just taking a few steps off the porch or stepping over to the other side helped change up the routine. I would also suck on a breath mint as that takes about the same amount of time as smoking so when that was gone, it was time to go in- it gave my dog plenty of time to do her business and sniff the yard. Once it warms up I have some gardening I want to do too.
Keep blogging and hold tight to your quit.
Tabbie
Quitting smoking can be an emotional roller coaster. The very best thing that you can do, if you feel like crying cry. Breathing always seem to make things better. You know you hear it all the time and never try it. If you try you will see that inhaling and exhaling slow.
https://www.drweil.com/health-wellness/body-mind-spirit/stress-anxiety/breathing-three-exercises/
I wrote this blog a while back....Thought you might like it?
on Jan 22, 2018Quitting is an emotional thing. Many if us found our way through our quits early on by having the experience of so many emotions we didn't know if we were coming or going.
For me....tears were a large part of that. Mixed emotions stored my thoughts. Deep inside I WANTED DESPERATELY to be a non smoker, but I was afraid. Afraid of failure, afraid of fear...is there such a thing? Being afraid of fear itself?
Tears came unannounced over I would say the first 3 months of my quit. Just look at me wrong and I would cry. I was fragile. I was learning how to cope with life without running to smoke first. This was a key turning point for me once I understood what was happening.
Frustration during my early months was induced by anyone who criticized me, looked at me wrong...again...how do you look at someone wrong?... My perception of everything was knocked out of whack.
I learned here on this site, that I would go through many stages as I began my quit journey. Some would bring intense anger, fear, hurt, pain, tears...oh yes plenty of tears, and feelings that I would lose this battle.
ALL which I was told by the wonderful Elders of mine, were 100%normal.
While we all may focused on the same goal...'to become a non smoker and or to remain one'...all of us that began this journey before you understand...
Tears are often a part of it. They're cleansing and remind us of the direction we are in or want to be in. So accept.
Accept that today your working through another day quit. Something may happen to bring on the tears today and if it does, remember this......
AND
This last quote is what I did. I wrote.
God Bless you all and I hope this helps at least one person. If it does, it was worth blogging ~Missy
Thanks Missy. I'm glad I was scrolling through this site. Not necessarily tearful, but very somber today. I know it's going to be okay though. You do write very well.
Hugs,
Michelle
YES YES YES! Perfect! Thank you!!!
Thanks Missy!!! Loved your blog.
I'm typically not a cryer. In fact before I quit smoking, I couldn't remember the last time I had a good "ugly" cry! It had been YEARS! I guess if my emotions led me to feel a cry coming on, I would just go outside and smoke a cigarette! Just used that cigarette to squash out whatever was going to make me cry and most likely replaced that feeling with anger! These days, so many things make me whelm up in tears!! Sometimes just looking into my dogs eyes I lose it because I love her so much Crying is healing and while I still haven't had my good "ugly" cry.. I do see that I am "feeling" emotions again that I guess I'd forgotten about..
I cried for no reason at all in the beginning - perfectly normal - weepy is OK - smoky is not
Yes - normal for sure. As Jackie said - a roller coaster. Basically, hang on - it will get better. I promise!
It was the permanent crying which made me pick up the phone and call the medical insurance company. They have a counseling program (I think they called me three weeks in a row), but honestly did not help much. They were not professional, based on the voice and the questions they were young employees trained on some basics of quitting smoking. But there was one thing, one great thing which came out of this; they gave me the address of this site. Once I went over the "oh, I work on a computer the whole day, the last thing I need is another website", and came here, everything fell into place. So yes, I cried my heart out before I joined, once I did, I found out crying is actually good when quitting smoking You are on the right path CarolinaGal, welcome to the crying club, kidding, it is going to go away!
I've dealt with that myself, that's the hardest part for me so far. Hang in there carolinagal.
And you know what guys? Even now, at 691 DOF, I have days when I want to cry out of nothing! And I know the difference from when I feel depressed. This desire to cry out of nothing comes with a feeling of emptiness in my whole body, and I know it is something I am missing...And I know it is the old, bad "friend" I am missing. But it is part of the journey, it is part of what I had decided to become, someone free of the slavery to nicotine. And if crying from time to time is a price to pay for that, so be it!
it does go away. It kind of appears and disappears for a few months. One thing you will notice is every month it won't stick around as long
I felt loopy for the first week. Like an alien had taken over my life. Stepford quitter? I was committed to quitting, so I did not entertain the idea of smoking, but I was fitful on the inside. On the outside, people who might have taken note of my composure, might have thought I was deeply focused on something VERY serious.
Funny thing happened on my way through quitting, I succeeded in spite of being very spooked at first. Yes, you will feel better--just keep not smoking during these first days.
High five for day two and blogging to say how you feel.