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Unstanding Cravings


16 years ago 0 8760 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Thanks for the bump! Danielle _____________________ The SSC Support Team
16 years ago 0 517 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
[color=Purple]BUMP ! I gained SO much knowledge from all of these posts. Thanks... Jean [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]4/4/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 52 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,300 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $533.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 5 [B]Hrs:[/B] 21 [B]Mins:[/B] 6 [B]Seconds:[/B] 57
16 years ago 0 49 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Tryagain and mjbsuns, Mercy is absolutely correct. The reason you don't feel like a 100+ day non-smoker is because you are still using the NRT. It wasn't until AFTER I stopped using my NRT for a week or two that this quit started getting easier (I used the patch for 8 weeks). If you've not had a cigarette for over 100 days it should be hard but short to get past the nicotine withdrawal. Bear down and get through a week with no gum then you'll begin to feel free. Be stubborn, you won't regret it. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]1/21/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 123 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,599 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $738.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 17 [B]Hrs:[/B] 9 [B]Mins:[/B] 44 [B]Seconds:[/B] 2
  • Quit Meter

    $263,186.60

    Amount Saved

  • Quit Meter

    Days: 8452 Hours: 18

    Minutes: 2 Seconds: 58

    Life Gained

  • Quit Meter

    45377

    Smoke Free Days

  • Quit Meter

    453,770

    Cigarettes Not Smoked

16 years ago 0 44 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Yeah i'm a little past the 100 day mark myself and for some reason the cravings have been pretty darn bad the past few days but I didnt cave in . I've also been off chantix for about 3 weeks so maybe its my brain thinking its not getting the chantix anymore and now wants the nicotine feeling again. But instead of going to the store to buy smokes I got a pack of nic gum instead to help me get through this kind of hard stretch of cravings... which I thought would be gone if i've made it this far but I guess not :( But I will not give in especially after making it this far I would really be hating myself if I did. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]2/5/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 104 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,560 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $1,040.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 10 [B]Hrs:[/B] 23 [B]Mins:[/B] 32 [B]Seconds:[/B] 32
  • Quit Meter

    $20,167.88

    Amount Saved

  • Quit Meter

    Days: 431 Hours: 23

    Minutes: 2 Seconds: 33

    Life Gained

  • Quit Meter

    2925

    Smoke Free Days

  • Quit Meter

    40,950

    Cigarettes Not Smoked

16 years ago 0 1000 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hey Tryagain, Just keep the candy handy. I have a sore mouth and have gaine 14 puonds in 60 days but I am smoke free. I know I will have to deal with the weight gain soon but have to be comfortable with the quit first. Hang in there my ears hurt and my neck hurts and I went to the doctors today to find out why. As if I didn't know it was from chewing gum and sucking on hard candy all day. Keep the quit you are doing great and one day we won't need the gum and other things. This is a hard journey and I have almost fallen so many times but we have to keep on moving forward. Keep your quit and try to find the positves in it. :) [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]3/21/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 58 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,160 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $377.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 8 [B]Hrs:[/B] 7 [B]Mins:[/B] 1 [B]Seconds:[/B] 40
16 years ago 0 1543 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Tryagain, Were you a 2 pack a day smoker? Just curious. We are about the same into the quit...and you have saved almost double the cigarettes and money as I have. If that is the case, that would mean, at two packs a day you were next to never "not" smoking. Are you feeling you have to replace smoking with something else? If you smoked 30 to 40 cigarettes a day, are you feeling that you must be chewing or sucking candy with the equal amount of time? If so, tryagain, you are torturing yourself...not freeing yourself. I do understand that we try and find something else to do ....especially in the begining,...but there also comes a time you have to sort of let go......flow with each event and not feel you must be replacing cigarettes with something else. Show your mind there is nothing to fear by simply doing "nothing" I've been there. In past quits I felt that all day I had to replace my smoke times with a permenant new thing. But that is not what non smokers do......they just live life without shackles. For example..... if you feel you canot sit outside and hear the birds sing and enjoy a cup of coffee/tea without something to replace a cigarette you are missing the good part. Freedom! You have to show yourself you can sit....hear the birds...enjoy the weather without candy, gum, food or someother permenant replacement. Otherwise....you may not be doing something harmful by smoking....but you are still complusive to do something.... like suck hard candies till your mouth bleeds. Gosh... I hope I am explaining myself right. I feel so bad for the suffering you are going through. Tell me what is bothering you the most. Mercy [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]1/21/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 117 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,340 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $522.99 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 15 [B]Hrs:[/B] 10 [B]Mins:[/B] 47 [B]Seconds:[/B] 45
16 years ago 0 519 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Yesterday, with NRT and without NRT, I was trying to distract from the cravings so hard, that at the end of the day when I brushed my teeth, I was spitting out blood for a good five minutes. All that chewing, and gum and hard candy, had caused tiny little abrasions all over the inside of my mouth! My jaws were so tired that I had an earache! That's not the first time excessive chewing has given me an earache though. It's like being on a very hard, very long journey. You're in the middle, you can't go on, yet you have no strength to go back either, so you lay down and die right where you are. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]1/27/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 111 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 3,330 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $1,110.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 14 [B]Hrs:[/B] 15 [B]Mins:[/B] 12 [B]Seconds:[/B] 17
16 years ago 0 2830 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Try again, I didn't notice your post the first time around... not until Josie posted to you that your post finally caught my eye. The thing with this addiction is that it DOES take a long time and you WILL experience cravings. We smoked for many years, so it's going to take more than a few months to get over it. It took me about a year and a half before I quit having any cravings or smoking thoughts. That doesn't mean I thought about smoking everyday for that long, but I did get smoking thoughts on a regular basis for that long. But, the longer you go without smoking, the less the cravings are. But right now, you're still on NRT, which means that you're still getting nicotine. You said that you were getting increased cravings and were almost off the NRT... that seems completely normal to me. Your body was learning to live without the NRT (or at least very little of it) when you went and put more of it back in your system through the gum. Unfortunately sweetie, you're gonna have to just bite the bullet at some point and face the cravings. The ONLY way to become completely free of this addiction is to face the cravings head on and say "NO MATTER WHAT, I DON'T SMOKE!!!!!" When you're ready to do that, we'll of course be right behind you cheering you on as we have been every step of this journey for you and we will continue to be. Most NRT programs are about 10 week programs. It seems that you've been quit for about 16 weeks... is that right? So it sounds like it's nearing time to quit the gum. I know that quitting the NRT is a scary thought for you, and something you were hoping would just go smoothly and naturally with no increased cravings, but unfortunately this is a tough addiction and the junkie inside you WILL fight back with some pretty intense cravings, but you CAN do this! You CAN be completely nicotine free! I recommend setting a quit date for the NRT, just as you did the cigarettes. Get some coping mechanisms ready and reward yourself, just as you do with quitting smoking. You're still addicted and will continue to be an active addict (say THAT 10 times fast! LOL) until you quit the NRT. We're ready when you are! :) Crave the Quit! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]6/17/2005 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 700 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 17,500 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $2,891.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 49 [B]Hrs:[/B] 9 [B]Mins:[/B] 11 [B]Seconds:[/B] 48
16 years ago 0 8760 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Tryagain, This time frame will be different for everyone. It may take some time yet as nicotine is still in your system. Hang in there. Danielle ____________________ The SSC Support Team
16 years ago 0 3207 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
I like that Mercy..so simply and clearly put...and definitely what I experience....less and less often as time goes by..but still happens. Especially with some of the really ingrained ones. Thanks for summing it up with those great examples -aloha [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]3/22/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 57 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,280 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $387.60 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 7 [B]Hrs:[/B] 23 [B]Mins:[/B] 24 [B]Seconds:[/B] 8

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