hard way to go

[Huehnerschaender]

Hi ^^

Anyone here who managed to quit smoking? I am "clean" since friday and it's getting worse every hour... I am restless... jumping up and down here... cannot sit for longer than 5 mins... hands are shivering... Is this all getting worse than that? Or will it be better soon?

I never thought it would be that hard to "just quit a habit"...

18 years.... I am smoking for 18 years now :fuzzy:

[jdarling]

Yep, quitting smoking is a real mother f'er. The first time I "quit" lasted about 10 days. The first 5 are the absolute worst, you feel like your going to crawl out of your skin. Then I made the mistake of going to the bar and having a drink with friends. As you can guess, I was back to a pack a day in no time.

The second time was about a year later, again cold Turkey and 5 days of absolute hell. All I wanted to do was go get a pack and say f the world. I didn't make the mistake of going to the bar that time (I had quit drinking by then, and in case your curious quitting drinking was MUCH easier). Instead I made the mistake of hanging out with my normal crowd at work outside. Yep back on in less then a month.

Short answer, yes it's hard. LOTS of will power, and it helps if you can stay clear of EVERYTHING that makes you want one. Change your drive into work and all of that jazz. Get your place clean and stay away from friends or co-workers that smoke for as long as possible. Don't be surprised if you slip a few times, just make sure that your hard set to quit.

Damn... Now where did I put that pack... Ah, yeah, thats right in the TRASH!

Seriously, good luck and don't give up.

[Huehnerschaender]

It's my very first try and I hope the last one, too...

I really want it and I just need to know that this "restlessness" stops soon. I am used to be a really calm guy... this shivering and hopping around like a frog is making me nervous *lol*

[Traveler]

Sorry, can't really help you with that. :( I dont smoke, so I cant say first hand what its like. I wish you all the best though. I hope you find some diversion in coding.

[vgo]

I've been smoking for about 20 years and I've never even thought about quitting. :D

[savage]

I never thought it would be that hard to "just quit a habit"...

The hard reality is that it is not just a habit, it is an addiction and your body is now trying to cope without the drug it has become dependent on.

I have never smoked, except for one behind the bike sheds in high school and I hated it. But my wife has been a smoker for about 20 years. She gave up just before my son was born and stayed clean for about 3 years. The first 2-3 weeks of her giving up were HELL! I nearly bought her a packet of cigarettes just to have a "normal" life. Then after that she was fine. Then a few years later after having a couple of social cigarettes she started again. It was that easy. Once an addict always an addict. She eventually cut down to only 3 cigarettes a day and it took her 3 years to eventually stop. She has not smoked now for about 1 year, so she tells me :).

It's very hard Dirk and it may get worse for a few more days before getting better. Hang in there if you can. Substitute cigarettes for water or some other diversion. My wife said that drinking sparkling water helped her a lot. The next thing is to break the social connection with cigarettes. ie when you have alcohol you normally want a cigarette. I've heard this can be very hard as well.

Hang in there!!!