Missing Feeling

[DaniDesi]

Ever since I quit, I keep feeling like something is missing from my life. I know it has to be smoking. But I wont realize it right away. I sit down and loot around and I just feel lost, like I'm forgetting something I need to remember. Is this normal during the first week? How long will it take until I feel like nothing is missing anymore?

[Slowonder]

This happened to me too, but it lessened a little each day after the first week or so. Totally normal from what I've experienced and read about. It will improve!

[Barbscloud]

This is very common.   Quitters describe it as feeling they've lost their best friend.  Most of us smoked a long time and through every activity and emotion.   That's why it's so important to create new associations and behaviors to replace the one's that we're associated with smoking.   Be patient--you will find a new normal.

Barb

[sweetplt]

Yes your feelings are very normal...I believe when one quits smoking you go through the stages of grief...

 I am at Acceptance after hard work, plan, and working through my emotions...it takes time...and right now your number one priority is not feeding the addiction...

Gotcha in my thoughts. Colleen 526 DOF 

[Maki]

Oh absolutely . 

I can't tell you when it will end for you . We are all different . I can say like others , it's normal . 

Some things you may want to search are exactly that .. top right magnifying glass . It will lead you to others who have asked the same question . Some of these may help you recognize that the things you are going through are normal . 

Another good one to read in advance would be romancing the cigarette? 

I have grown kids , I relate this feeling a lot to empty nest syndrome . 

Congratulations on your first week behind you and for asking questions . 

One minute , one day , one step at a time . 

[DavesTime]

Exactly--the feeling of missing something, an emptiness, an incompleteness.  I felt this very strongly.  I was addicted to both smoking and to the nicotine gum (which, as a closet smoker, I used heavily).  I felt an emptiness/"missingness" not just from the lack of my habitual use of a cig when I was bored, when I finished a task, when I was stressed, angry, etc , but also from the feeling of chemical deprivation which my brain's neuroreceptors were signaling to me.  These two things made me feel that "something is missing" in a very strong way.  I think the Wellbutrin helped alleviate some of that feeling, but it was still there.  The chemical-induced feeling will eventually go away as the brain relearns what is a normal supply of dopamine.  The habitual associations with having a cigarette will loosen in time as you experience life without relying on smoking.  Press on, you are on the way to freedom!

[maryfreecig]

Very normal--you are getting over an addiction! One day at a time is how you get over things like being foggy, craving, missing something... It's all a part of the quit process--journey. As you stick to your decision and work through the ups and downs, you'll gain more and more confidence. You've worked your quit for several days now and that is a big deal, congratulations on making your quit work. Keep it coming.

[Mandolinrain]

I really cannot add to anything here.. I love sweetplt replay with the graph. I think it's very realistic and applicable to us all. Stay strong, keep posting and stay near to us. Your doing great

[elvan]

It certainly is normal, I don't know anyone who did not feel it.  I would start to leave the house and look all over for my cigarettes and then remember...oh yeah, I don't do that anymore.  I can't remember exactly when I stopped feeling it, it was pretty gradual so I didn't really pay much attention.  This addiction is very powerful and chances are that you associate smoking with just about everything, I know that I did.  It WILL get better, it just takes time.

Hang in there...say NOPE, Not One Puff Ever as often as you need to.  

Ellen