Hi, Mountain1. Welcome to the SSC and congratulations on 83 (now 84) days quit. That is a super accomplishment, even more impressive because you did it on your own. I can honestly say I am in awe. :)
You've gotten a lot of really good advice in this thread and your other two threads.
Smoking, and your subsequent quit, involve a host of issues physiological, psychological, and in that grey, in-between area that is the brain.
Like Butterfly Swimmer said, smokers used smoking to deal with life in lieu of emotions. How many times have you gotten upset with something and had a cig to calm down? Intsead of dealing with the issue, we would run away and get our fix. Now we don't have that crutch. Now we have to face and deal with these issues and we honestly don't know how, so we get frustrated and angry.
Add to that the fact that our body and brain chemistries are in turmoil because something that has been a large part of their makeup (nicotine) for so many years has suddenly been snatched away. The overall result is pretty close to total chaos.
I suspect nobody has ever told you about the importance of rewards. Nicotine hijacked our brains' reward/pleasure centers for so long that without it we are in a continuous state of depression. How deep depends on the person, but we all are there to some degree. Recovery tends to take 12 - 18 months.
When muscles are not used they atrophy. To recover you must exercise them. When you smoked your reward/pleasure centers essentially atrophied. To speed your recovery you must exercise them by giving yourself frequent rewards.
Rewards don't have to cost much, or anything at all. They just have to make you happy, make you smile and feel good inside. It can be something as simple as leaving work early because you've earned a break, or stopping off to feed the ducks on the way home, or a new CD, or a new car. The what and the cost isn't important. The warm, fuzzy is.
One thing to keep in mind, Mountain, is that these feelings you are experiencing, although bothersome, are signs of healing. Embrace them for the wonderful things they truly are.
Keep up the good quit. :)
Shevie
[B]My Milage:[/B]
[B]My Quit Date: [/B] 5/23/2005
[B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 351
[B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B
