Lingering desire to smoke

[Charles4511]

So it’s been 9 days and no nicotine. I feel everyday is better than the last but I won’t lie...smoking is still on my mind. I honestly would love to smoke something right now but I’m not letting myself. It’s getting easier to say no to the cravings but what’s scaring me is this desire to smoke...will it ever go away or will I just always have to deny myself nicotine.  

[JACKIE1-25-15]

The answer to your question is yes to both.   will it ever go away or will I just always have to deny myself nicotine.    You are still very early in your quit. Generally those feelings subside (lessen) for some in about 60 days. You will always have to deny yourself nicotine because you are an addict and if you used it again you will be right back where you started but as time passes it becomes easier that you rarely think about smoking.  Time is the answer.  Hold on don't give up.  NOPE not one puff ever will take you to the other side of freedom. 

[Anonymous]

Just my experience . 

I think this is very individual . No one knows anyone's circumstances . It does get easier and it may not resurface ever for some people but I will never say ever because it is not that way for me obviously . That shouldn't scare you though .

Example ,  I have not had a thought in smoking for two years and only once before that that was very difficult . Trigger .

Recently a crisis and my thoughts immediately went to smoking not because of nicotenebut because of choice . The journey to quit and stay quit is unique and individual to us all . 

I think most of us agree it does take a season or two and for me it was a year to work through the triggers that I associated our smoking with . Then things got easier . Simple actually . I had the tools . My observation was as time went on I became comfortable and more confident in myself . 

You have a great quit and I can testify it's worth it to keep going . It will get easier and it may be that it will go away completely for you I can't say personally . I do hope you will let us know your experience . 

[Barbscloud]

@Charles4511 You're going to get many different answers to this.  Beginning your quit, yes you are denying  your body, mind, and emotions the nicotine your are so used too.   I won't say it's easy. You're going through the tough part of quitting, which by the way, is a life long journey.  I can tell you to focus on the positives, but it can take some time to truly appreciate what you've doing for yourself.  After three years, yes I do thing about smoking at times.   It's a serious addiction and it never really leaves us.   All that being said, I still think it's worth the effort after smoking for 50 years and still at times have that desire.

Stay close and keep moving forward. And a big congrats on 9 days.

So proud of what you're doing for yourself.

Barb

[JimTaddeo]

A fantastic question @Charles4511 . There will be, as others have stated, many different answers to this question. It is as individual as addiction can be and also at the same time has an underlying commonality to it. To me the mechanisms underlying our troubles are there BEFORE we even take our first puff. 

IMHO and also IME, in the beginning it useful to "Fake it until you make it" So, for myself, I had to deliberately intervene in dealing with the "crave" by mindfully steering my behavior away from that response onto something constructive in place of my destructive behavior. We have to build a new set of memories and actions that replace the old ways.....

It does become WAY easier and in fact, now, I don't live wanting to smoke or denying myself anything that I HAVE PLACED MY VALUES IN. And I think that point right there is key......I'm denying myself something, it's POISON, and I now have the strong urge to BREATHE DEEPLY and cleanly. When I run onto/into situations that are upsetting in some way I no longer want to escape it or smooth it over using a drug (regardless of where it came from) 

A life long pursuit of alternatives with POSITIVE RAMIFICATIONS for us in place of a long course of addiction with very real NEGATIVE RAMIFICATIONS. It's a journey. Work on this one day at a time, one hour, one minute, as necessary and day by day you will very likely find that the "old ways" fade and the new become exciting and worth MORE than what we already "know"

Hang in there, 9 days IS AWESOME.....hopefully we can revisit and see what you say at 90 days......and 900 days...but you don't need to worry about that now.....take it in small daily chunks first. This is a big change for all of us......

Papa 

[Barbara145]

Congratulations on 9 days.  It took me a long time to not want cigarettes.  So glad I never gave up.  Not smoking is life-changing in so many good ways.  It is a journey.  Continue with the work.  You will be glad.  Have a good day.

[sweetplt]

First, 9 days of Freedom is super ... way to go @Charles4511 ...however, you are still very early in your quit.  That being said, you will think about smoking for sometime longer...next, continue working the program by becoming as knowledgeable as possible on addiction/quitting etc., Lastly, finding more methods, ideas, etc., of things to do other than smoke...You are doing it...hang in there, it takes time to feel good in your quit smoking skin...Colleen 899 DOF 

[MarilynH]

I found for me in the early days and weeks of quitting smoking when I had that craving or urge to smoke I'd tell myself nope that I didn't do that anymore and the longer I was quit the easier it got then after awhile I'd notice in different situations especially stressful times that I'd be thinking how happy I was because I didn't smoke anymore..... @Charles4511 It does take time to relearn life without the smokes BUT it's worth every bit of the cravings and moodswings and lack of sleep to get to that good place in your quit where you realize how much better life is as an EX Smoker Non Smoker or EXer it doesn't matter what you call it as long as you keep moving forward stacking up those precious DOF ~ Days Of Freedom  so each evening you can say YAY for another Day WON .....

[Icefyre]

Congratulations on 9 days! The early days are the hardest because you get the nicotine out of your system. I used to have cravings but they lasted literally a month. If you think of cigarettes as something that is missing from your life they don't go away. The desire is purely psychological at this point. Don't try to repress the desire just acknowledge it and feel joy that you are a non smoker. The desire will disappear as long as you train your mind to realize you don't need cigarettes. They do nothing for you and the nicotine has trained your mind to think you need it. Once you retrain your subconscious mind to realize that cigarettes trained your mind to make you think you need them you will never crave them again. What I've learned is that you need both strength and fear to quit. Strength to start the process, fear to keep you from ever smoking again. If you don't fear cigarettes you will eventually smoke. If you realize that one puff is all it takes to bring you back to a lifetime of addiction you will never touch them again and the cravings will disappear entirely. Whenever I tried willpower alone, I failed miserably because I thought I could be stronger than my addiction. I'm not. I'm weaker and I know it now, which is why I am terrified of them and have stayed clean. Good luck!

[AV5100]

It will fade but never go away completely... I know I had successfully twice. The first time in 1987.. Then life circumstances got very bad... I won't go into that but after 22 years I picked up one cigarette and have been smoking ever since. I quit again in 2018.. It was going very well.. until ... you guessed it.. life circumstance got worse again.. One smoke and am now smoking again. I know I have to quit , for good... but sometimes fear it is already too late.. so , I decided to come back here and give it another chance.  Regardless of when you quit or for how long... The grooves have been carved into the brain.. and one smoke..for whatever reason.. can..before you know it turn into years.