I’ve quit smoking 3 weeks ago so the constant withdrawal symptoms are over, but I still get these craving pangs multiple times per day, where my brain tells me it needs a cigarette right fucking now, and it pushes aside all other thoughts.
How do you deal with that, especially since my wife still smokes so there are always cigarettes available?
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Long deep inhale to stretch the lungs, hold, exhale and remember why you quit.
For me it was Chantix. After a week or so you just stop having the urge.
I would concentrate on the “craving” feeling and kind of over pressure my body, sometimes I’d hit myself at the same time. Basically make myself as uncomfortable as I could, as if I was deeply constipated.
I punished my body for bringing it up in other words, part of me likes to think it learned. It sounds stupid but they stopped pretty fast.
Your mind is going to try and trick you into thinking having a cig is the right thing to do somehow. Like you’ll be feeling a pang, and trying to figure out how to “solve” it, and your brain will do a kind of messed up loop-the-loop where the solution to the pang is… to smoke! Wow! And for a second it’ll actually make sense. Until you realize that’s the thing you want to avoid at all costs!
Yeah, so that part of your brain is compromised right now. Best to try to disregard it. You’ve already done all the thinking that’s necessary when you decided to quit. The best you can do right now is ride it out.
As for actual strategies, I chewed so much bubble gum my jaw hurt, fun candies, fisherman’s friend, fidget spinner, got into chewing toothpicks, deep breathing, etc etc.
Also I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the app “iamsober” (dot com) I used that for support getting through the first bit, and eventually deleted it after about a year, when I found I didn’t need it any more.
