I'm 8 days without a cigarette and very little nicotine replacement. Yesterday I had one 4 mg piece of nicotine gum that I chewed on and off throughout the day and that was it. I'm just hoping that these cravings get to be less often and less powerful because I don't know how much longer I can continue to fight them. If anybody can share their experience and how long Cravings Last . Also when they start going away.
Congratulation Jackie The cravings will go away in 5 or 10 minutes. Living with the cravings is hard sometimes is very hard. With the help of Higher Power you can do it. And always think one is to many and a one thousand is not enough. but the most important is Never Take Another Puff Again. Good Luck.
Welcome to the community!
Using nicotine gum the way you are using it might not be the best way to deal with cravings. You are introducing nicotine into your body the same way you did when you smoked. The gum should be the LAST thing you try when you have done all you can to get past a crave. If you do the reading I suggest in the material linked for you above, you will understand why! The addiction to smoking has two parts - physical and psychological. The craves can come from either (or both). Continuing to introduce nicotine into your body will keep the physical going. Nicotine is out of your body in about three days; then the body starts to adjust to life without it. You also are dealing with the psychological part of it - the associations and triggers. Staying busy and changing up your routines is the way to deal with that.
Everybody's timeline is different.The better you get at distracting yourself and changing up your routines to reduce the associations, the quicker the craves will be reduced. You will notice they start to get further and further apart, and one day you will notice that you got through an entire morning without one....and then half a day....and then a whole day. It WILL happen, but you must be patient.
Please do some reading, and then get back to us with any questions......and get BUSY!
Nancy
I'm on day seven and using the patch which has helped a lot. Honestly when I get a bad craving I come on here and do a few minutes of reading until it passes. I didn't think it would help at first but it really has. I too am waiting for the day that I don't get so many cravings. Most of my friends who are ex smokers said the 1st month is when you have the most cravings.
I had the same question the first time I got on this site. I found this helpful: What To Expect In The First Four Months
I'm there with you Aesposito. I'm on my 8th day and hit a few rough spots. People here on this site have been great. They are understanding, helpful, and have bee where we are. I try to redirect my thoughts the best I can, which usually means coming to this site first and then getting engaged in a task. Doesn't matter what it is as long as it's not smoking. Keep up the good work. I know it's hard, but it's worth having.
-Michelle
Congratulations on 8 days. Invest yourself in Ex for now by reading and blogging. It takes effort to go from smoking to smobriety...but nothing that you cannot do. So please, stick around for support, give your smobriety a chance to come together. It will.
Congratulations on eight days...no one can give you an exact time when the craves will stop but we can all tell you that they will get weaker and weaker and less and less frequent as you get through them without smoking. You need to form new memories/associations with the times when you feel your triggers are most powerful. I can strongly advise you not to fight them...acknowledge that they are there, try to determine WHY and plan for a way to deal with them. No crave ever killed anyone but no one can say that about smoking. This quitting thing is a journey, not an event, it takes TIME...when one day at a time is too long, take it one hour or one minute at a time. Reacting to craves makes them stronger...simply going forward without letting them tear you apart is the best thing you can do. I used the mantra NOPE all the time Not One Puff Ever...I also loved OldBones-Larry saying, "One step and then another will get you to where you want to be." I felt like I was going to lose my mind at one point pretty early in my quit, my husband, who is a recovering alcoholic suggested that I get down on my knees and ask God to remove the mental obsession. I really thought he was crazy but I KNEW I was crazy and I would have done anything. I did that and, much to my great surprise, I really did feel that the weight was lighter. I can't tell you the exact number of days before it happened but I can tell you that I went through a particularly challenging day at work and it wasn't until it was over that I realized I never even THOUGHT about smoking. The truth is...it happens, as jonescarp.aka.dale.Jan_2007 says, "Time is the great healer." I suggest reading a blog that was written by Youngatheart.7.4.12
For Our New Years' Quitters (and community members, too) I think you might find it helpful. Stay close to the site, read, comment, blog, ask for help like you just did...we all want you to succeed and we have all been where you are now. There are no shortcuts in this recovery..."The only way out is through."
Welcome to EX.
Ellen
Aesposito CONGRATS 8 days is GREAT JOB loving YOU....YAHOOOOO keep on keeping on...... i remember when i was craving to use nicotine it was suggested to take 3 deep breathes and to drink lots of water and to blog BEFORE I take that first puff over me... also to stand up and walk in place and the severe craving for ME lasted about 2 minutes....for ME they lasted 21 days....seemed like a life time to ME... it varies with EACH person... I was using nicotine for 38 years and at end of MY using I was sucking on 50!DEATH sticks a day.....also suggested writing a goodbye letter to MY best friend nicotine. Thank you for your honesty and helping me to stay quit with you togther no matter what.
Congratulation but the cravings will stay for a little while. You can go for a walk, drink water. have some gum. hard candy will help you. Do something with your hands. Hope this help. Remember to Take one day at the time. and also the urge will pass whether you smoke or not.
Hey, keep up that fight, it is so worth it! You are heading into the double digits! Be proud of yourself!
Also, you are through hell week, like they say, keep telling yourself you never want to go through that again.
Make yourself a list of what to do when you feel a crave hit, they have a great list here of 101 things to do.
My favorite thing in the beginning, was cinnamon gum! I chewed a lot of it throughout the days, but I chew none of it now!
You can do this! What a great thing you are doing for YOU!
Congratulations on being free for 8 days. You have gone through "hell week". The cravings and urges will be there for a while. There is no definite time clock. You have to go through them as long as you have to. You can make it easier by education yourself about nicotine addiction. You will have triggers urges and withdrawal. (tuw) That happens when you stop using an addictive drug. The idea is to have a plan in place to replace those (tuw). Instead of fighting embrace them, as if riding on a wave. They don't last that long. To be honest I had gotten to the point that I treated them as if I was going through a "cleansing". So Roll with it and not fight it. Fighting adds more stress. You body will begin to go through changes some that feel good and some that don't. You have to make up your mind that no matter what you will not smoke. I am a firm believer that if you educate yourself you have a better change at this. So read read read, stay close. Being here is important to your quit. Commit to the quit by making a vow never to put another cigarette in you hand and the rest is history. Start hereFor Our New Years' Quitters (and community members, too)