Why oh why couldnt we quit together!! My husband doesnt smoke in the house but obviously is smoking in the cars when I am not in them. Then I go in the car and the smell makes me crazy! When he comes inside after smoking a cigarette, he literally stinks, I hate it!! I ***** and complain every time and lately I think I am driving him to smoke more. Does anyone else have a spouse who is still smoking while you are on your quit? I am going to snap soon!
Congratulations on your decision to quit smoking and your early success!
Try, perhaps, to think about how you would feel if HE had quit and you were still smoking. In my case, I would not be happy, either!
If asking isn't helping, perhaps put some Vicks under your nose before you get in the car(s) to negate the smell. Ask him to keep his window open when he smokes in there. You might also ask him to wear a pulled up hooded sweatshirt when he smokes and to take if off before he comes in the house. That might help with the clothing and hair smell.
You can hope he will follow your example but as we addicts know, bugging him is not going to work.
I'm sorry you missed my usual welcome, so I will set that right. If you are almost three weeks quit, you obviously have figured a lot of this out, but I will let you take what you need and leave the rest!
The most important thing you can do right now is to educate yourself on what nicotine does to your body and mind. To that end, I highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” This is an easy and entertaining read. You can search for a free pdf of it on the net (copyright enforcement won't allow me to post the link here).
You should also read the posts here and perhaps go to the pages of folks who you think might be helpful. You might visit whyquit.com, quitsmokingonline.com and livewell.com for the good information contained there. @https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/best-of-ex has lots of blogs written by members of this site with their experiences and guidance.
The idea is to change up your routines so the smoking associations are reduced. Drink your coffee with your OTHER hand. If you always had that first smoke with your coffee, try putting your tennies on right out of bed, going for a quick walk, then taking your shower and THEN your coffee! Rearrange the furniture in the areas you used to smoke so the view is different. Buy your gas at a different station. Take a different route to work. Take a quick walk at break time where the smokers AREN'T.
You need to distract yourself through any craves. You can take a bite out of a lemon (yup - rind and all), put your head in the freezer and take a deep breath of cold air, do a few jumping jacks, go for a brisk walk or march in place, play a computer game. Don't let that smoking thought rattle around in your brain unchallenged. Sometimes you need to quit a minute or an hour at a time. You will need to be disciplined in the early days to distract yourself when a crave hits. Get busy! Here is a link to a list of things to do instead of smoke if you need some fresh ideas:
https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/Youngatheart.7.4.12-blog/2013/02/25/100-things-to-do-instead-of-smoke
The conversation in your head in response to the "I want a cigarette" thought needs to be, "Well, since I have decided not to do that anymore, what shall I do instead for the three minutes this crave will last?" Then DO it. You will need to put some effort into this in the early days, but it gets easier and easier to do.
Stay close to us here and ask questions when you have them and for support when you need it. We will be with you every step of the way!
Nancy