Still having bad cravings 6 weeks in...........

Bridget75

I am off the durty smokes 6 weeks now and I am still getting really bad cravings, today is pretty bad, i am imagining myself just buying one pack and smoking them in my place and no-one will know, only me but then i cop on and realise that i really dont want to smoke! is anyone else getting bad cravings?? or advise on when they might ease or stop ?? Thanks

readyletsgo

I'm off them about 2 months now Bridget75. I was a 20/30 a day man and cant beleive i am still off them now. I still get cravings everyday too but i find if i just remind myself how mank/rank it is to smoke and drink some water and it will pass each time. Sounds stupid but you really just have to stick with it fight on.

Well done too!!! 6 weeks! The worst is over!

NavanEPS

Bridget please stay off them you will only regret it and not enjoy them at all

I also had bad cravings like you and it seems really really unfair but hey I smoked 20 a day for 25 years - it is tough.

Mine were quite intense around that time, so hold in there. It will ease off.
Then for a while you will only get one a day (I promise) and then amazingly days will go by and you won't have even a little one - I promise that too

Off them 4 months and had a craving yesterday - but hadn't had one in maybe a week or so, so the way I see one little craving every week is WORTH IT. Just remond yourself of why you gave them up in first place - health, wealth, stinking like an ashtray, tobacco stained skin, the control they had over you. DON'T DO IT! STAY FREE

Bridget75

Thanks so much, this site really is great for the support, i think i might just go home and go to bed, one way of not giving in

royston_vasey

hello bridget,

it is all psychological now. i am off them about 16 weeks now but still get cravings - normally once a day - but it really is all in the mind and u just have to be strong for that 30 seconds or so and then the temptation will pass. easier said than done i know but it's just ur mind playing tricks on ya.

best of luck.

NavanEPS

Just don't smoke - they are yuk
Enjoy your smoke free weekend and be strong.

BO-JANGLES

Keep up the good work. I olso graved like mad so I took it a day at a time and the cravings did go. Take a glass of water every time you crave and they will get easier. I am of the 4 years now and I never even think of them and certainly never crave them. I know it may seem hard but put up with the cravings and you will win the fight...Good luck.
Bo-JANGLES

Subtle Troll

I'm off a month now, I get the cravings less frequently now, just keep at it, it does get easier.

Arthurdaly

I was the same boat as you OP on many occassion over the years, and the scary thing I finally succumbed to my urges and it was usually under the influence.

Im off them since Jan 1st and the reason I am still off them is Alan Carrs book. If you are still struggling but still off them I would give the easy way book a bash, price of a packet or fags or two and it will give you a totally different outlook!

That book thought me to pity people that smoke rather than envy and that was the key for me.

Orion

The cravings will come and go. They will actually get stronger believe it or not. Then they'll weaken again. They'll creep up on you and try to catch you off guard. It's for that reason I don't consider myself a non-smoker - I'm a smoker who has decided not to smoke. That's after nearly 11 months.

Getting to 6 weeks does mean the hardest part is over. But your addiction will keep trying to trip you up. Be strong. Every craving only lasts a couple of minutes. Find something to get through it. For me - I kept some oranges on my desk. When I got a craving I peeled on. When it was peeled the craving had passed - and I had an orange to eat too.

Keep coming back here for support. This forum and keeping an honest log really helped me quit. And every now and again when I get a craving I have a read back on my log and remind myself how bad it was in the first few weeks. It ain't easy but it is worth it.

Br4tPr1nc3

im off them 5 months or so now...
and i still get cravings every couple of days.

not as much cravings, but more of a hmmmm wouldnt one be nice.
sort of like when ya used to remember to have a smoke, and youd get that feelin of wanting one just before ya lit up.

then it passes a min later.
if you really wana stay off them, you wont be bothered by it.

Bridget75

From what i can see its completely different for eveyone who gives up, i think its easy to say the cravings wont bother you if you dont let them........ easy for some not for others. I went back to the Alan Carr book last night and that seemed to help a bit, it reminded me of why i stopped in the first place Part of the book talks about the fact that the longer you smoke the harder it is to give up, i gave up about 10 years ago for 2 years, and i really dont remember it being this difficult, but i am determined to stay off them this time. Thanks for all the support

Bridget75

Will try the oranges !! thanks for the advice, you are right about this site, its really great to be able to vent cos i think the clan and friends have had about enough of me moaning at this stage.

neilr4

Hi all,

I'm off them since 2nd of march last! Sometimes get cravings but just use them to remind myself that I DON'T HAVE TO smoke anymore. I've been on and off them many times, my longest stint was 5 years! Read the Allen Carr book and as he says you're only addicted to your last cigarette, which I hold true!

The biggest mistake I made in the past was to think "I'm off them, I'm a non-smoker!" then I'm at a party and take one because I think it'll do no harm but I always ended up back on them. Sometimes it took 2 months but it would eventually trap me again! Now I see myself as a smoke-aholic, as long as I refuse the "one fag" I'll be fine!

I put on about 2 stone in weight in the first 3 months due to a combination of eating more (I used to smoke inatead of eating) and my metabolism slowing down because of not smoking anymore! Sure getting heavier didn't make me feel great about myself but in the past 2 months it has slowly started to come off and I don't exercise at all!!

I see "giving up smoking" as having 2 stages. The first stage, the initial stopping and the internal strife (which is like being at war with everything haha), getting past the first week and finally things settling down with a new routine of NOT smoking at regular intervals i.e. in the car, popping outside at work, after meals. When the new routine was established and became normal then stage 2 kicked in and I found this worse than stage 1. Because I had stopped and had a new routine I totally forgot about smoking but when a craving would start instead of thinking of lighting up I'd just have this huge irritation that I couldn't shake off and it used to drive me crazy.......... for some strange reason it would always be worse at the weekends and would be present not for a couple of minutes at a time but for hours, non-bloody-stop!

I read Allen Carr's book and although he says that the easiest thing to do is just stop, I don't think so........... It is hard work and if it was easy to stop less people would smoke but the rewards are enormous! No longer being a slave to a concoction of poisons and not having a crave to satisfy nor smelling like an ashtray!

They are my rewards.

I don't have the cravings as often or as intense anymore but remembering what they felt like to get through is what keeps me off them now. I do pity smokers as I remember how I felt everytime I lit up........a mixture of satisfaction having fed the monster and disgust at the feeling of being defeated and choked!

A lot of people stop but end up smoking again because they simply forget why they stopped in the first place...........it's an on-going battle but it does get easier and is well worth the effort!!

Remember, stay away from "just the 1"...........

I hope this helps some people

NavanEPS

neilr4 - that is a great post with great words of wisdom - I am going through what you describe in the stages - I am off them 5 months yesterday but used to smoke 20 a day for the last 25 years. It is really tough but so worth it

Resist "just the 1"........... remember how difficult it has been to give up; do you want to go through that again!?!?!

Good luck to everyone

Orion

"just the 1" is just like going for "just 1 pint". There's no such thing

For some reason the last week for me has been filled with cravings. Bit of stress going on in my personal life which may be the cause of them. I've had to be very vigilant - especially as I know there are some in a wardrobe upstairs! They're her stash for the odd 'herbal smoke' But I've been successful so far and the cravings are receding again.

25 more sleeps to a full year.

Sasquatch76

Macros42 wrote: »

25 more sleeps to a full year.

Wow, seriously impressive and inspiring!

Mangud2010

Hey just take up doin something like exercise or work or something to give ya a routine...thats how I quit(by working out)...its all in the mind...just think about the minds brilliance that u really can achieve whatever u truly want:D. I was on 20 a day for a few months!? But coming off them I feel much stronger as a person than I ever did..u can do it bridget;)

That_Guy

I'm off 6 weeks today myself. I don't have cravings as such but I keep having dreams that I'm smoking. Anyone else ever have the same dreams?