This is so hard

[Sis71]

I am starting my quit again today. I am so frustrated that I cant make it through a normal day. The only way I feel this will work is if I dont leave my house. EVER!! I want this so much but my mind gets the best of me and I feel like a complete failure. I am very disappointed in myself and I am very sorry for restarting my quit date.

 

Sissy 

[maryfreecig]

Because this is an addiction, it's not as though you can just shut off all thoughts of your smoking. Craves are dealt with one at a time--one day at a time. This is the process of relearning life--eventually not smoking becomes natural. 

Learn to reroute your attention to short tasks, fun stuff. Tiny sips of water and keep talking. Ex is here for you 365!

[Redhead101]

Good luck you can do this ,I can tell you about my experience  but everyone  different, I set my quit date ahead mean  while I read alot on here just read read read until my quit day way here ,,the first three days are the roughest but got threw them ,I smoked 20 something  years was a chain smoker,,I so wanted  to quit that horrible  addiction,, you learned  so much on here just read ,soak everything in got to be willing to give it your all no matter what you face it's not easy by know means ,,I found myself one day was so stressed so first thing I use to do is go get me a smoke but now I got up thought abt the situation got busy done dishes or take a walk keep busy took me some deep breathing exercises it helped, I didn't  want to start all over again  from the beginning  ,,I send you prayers  you'll get threw this thire alot  of people  who have great advices here, just ask questions  ,,good luck sis,71

[Roj]

It is hard, but trust me if I can do it anyone can, I was the queen of excuses until I recently got diagnosed with COPD at 57...then no more excuses...smoke or die!!! The biggest thing for me was reading Allan Carr’s book quitting is easy...you CAN DO THIS,,,

[YoungAtHeart]

SO happy to hear you also found it helpful.  I know it was an important part of my success!

[Cjchavez]

Hey Sissy,

look we can tell you anything and everything under the sun, but you will quit when you’re ready to.  I’m on day five with no smoking, but it took me years to finally get to this point in my quit.  I’ve made up my mind and I’m completely committed to my quit.  I’ve heard it all and I’m telling you from my experience, you’ll quit when you’re ready and not before.  There is some good advice on this site.  But quitting has to be you’re personal journey.  I use toothpicks to take the edge off.  What are you going to do?  It’s harder when emotions get involved but I will never go back to cigarettes.  When you’re ready you won’t either.  If you need some support you have all of us here for you.

[Cjchavez]

I restarted several times as well.  Trust me you’re not the only one.

[kindofodd]

I saw someone mention serial quitters. I quit for 18 months once and 26 months another time. There were years in between and I'm now on day 9 of my third and FINAL quit. The good news is it gets easier every time you try.

Identify why you had to have THAT cigarette. Why was that one (or those 5) more necessary than all the rest? Plan plan plan. I love the list of 100 things to do besides smoke but even better I like the super simplified "DELAY, DISTRACT, DRINK WATER, DEEP BREATHING, DISCUSS" even more. 

If you can put it off for a while and find something else to do, even the strong urges go away quickly. Sure they come back. Do it again. Works like a charm and more and more efficiently as time goes by.

[elvan]

I was a serial quitter, I had so many failed quits that I cannot count that high.  I wanted to quit but I kept giving in to the craves.  I made a plan and I identified my triggers and then planned what to do instead of smoking.  I knew the triggers were not going to just stop, I had to learn to deal with them and I had to believe what I was being told, that it would get better, it would get easier.  I stayed very close to this site and came here every morning and every evening at the beginning.  I read blogs and comments, I commented, I asked for advice and I TOOK it.  It did get easier, for me it wasn't just one day at a time, it was one FEELING at a time.  I had to learn that it was okay to be sad or angry, to FEEL.  I didn't learn that back when I should have, I started smoking instead.  I have over 5 1/2 years of freedom now and I can tell you that it was worth every difficult day and every difficult feeling to quit.  It is the best thing I ever did for myself.

Ellen