It's been 24 hours since I took the patch off and I'm starting to feel the effects. I have a slight headache today, been having mild heartburn here n there, was restless when I tried to fall asleep last night, and the cravings are more intense this afternoon. I'm also very irritated - every little things is ticking me off 😞
The symptoms however are Not as bad as they were a couple weeks ago when i tried a cold-turkey quit. I'm drinking lots of water today and plan to get some juice at the store to try and speed up getting this nicotine out of my system. I'm craving a cigarette pretty bad right now. I'm fighting through it. I will NOT Smoke Today.
I try to stay as positive as I can, but there's moments where I fear keeping the quit will be a constant battle my whole life and I wonder if I'm really prepared for that. Then I get so angry at myself for ever starting smoking in the first place. Etc...........I'm sure most of you out there can relate.
Very early in this journey I stated that I would look at this quit much like labor. Afterall - if I could acheive natural childbirth - no pain meds at all - 7 times..........then I can get through Anything. One major part of labor is when you get to the point where you feel like you just can't go on anymore. That's when you know you're in transition - the labor is almost over and is at it's most intense. So every time i get one of those intense cravings over the next day or so, I'll just have to keep reminding myself that this is transition - it is my body transitioning to a nicotine free state, it is my mind transitioning to being a non smoker.
