Russ, welcome to the SSC! I also went cold turkey. What worked for me was going through "my program" so I had a plan in place to fight each and every craving that came my way. As Lisa said, I drank tons of iced water. It helped with the cravings, and it helped flush the toxins out of my body. I added my quit meter to my posts from "my profile" so I could see my numbers increase every day. That was probably my biggest motivation! I read almost every posting on this site. I loved the search feature to look up topics that were important to me. I posted alot, especially when I was having cravings. I learned to wait for 5 responses before I did anything, and by that time my cravings was gone. I avoided smokers the first couple weeks as I wasn't strong enough to around them. I cleaned my car, my house, threw out all ashtrays, cigarette lighters, cigarettes, etc. Since I went cold turkey, I wanted to reduce or eliminate as many triggers as I could. Oh, and rewards! I rewarded myself after every passed cravings (small reward), each smoke free day (medium reward), and each smoke free week (larger reward). Flavored coffee became my daily reward (it was a change from regular coffee I used to drink with a cig), along with a nice long walk every night (exercise, and I got to take in the smells that had been blocked by smoke smell the last 20 years!). So, make sure you have a plan in place, read, read, and read, and post as often as you need, if only to vent! Somebody is always here! We're all rooting for your success!
My Milage:
My Quit Date: 8/20/2008
Smoke-Free Days: 282
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 11,280
Amount Saved: $2,256.00
Life Gained:
Days: 42 Hrs: 3 Mins: 27 Seconds: 17
