How long till you where free?

curry_person

Today was my first day off the smokes, it wasn't too bad so far at all did have odd craving, but nothing too unbearable.
but my question is how long after not smoking will the cravings and everything usually be gone? i know its different for everyone but a rule of thumb or your personal experience would be great

gimli2112

I had been off them six weeks and still started smoking one weekend. Off them three and a half years and even now have the odd urge to smoke.
Think your brain needs to kinda rewire itself and once that happens you're pretty much ok but the timeline is probably different for everyone. Mine was obviously longer than six weeks.

premier10

I sometimes get an urge after 7 months but I try to distract myself by occupying my mind with something else

I gave up smoking 32 years ago. I considered myself 'free' after 12 months. It was without doubt the best and worst thing I'd ever done in my life! I kept a calander for 5 months (I gave them up August 1st) and crossed off each day. When I felt weak, I took out the calander and counted each day slowly. That gave me the strength to say NO and keep going. I still have that calander all these years later. It is as important to me as my Marriage Certificate and my childrens Birth Certs. In the past 32 years, I've only had a strong craving on a small number of occasions, like times of stress, deaths in the family mainly. I know that if I took one puff, I'd be hooked again, so it's important to NEVER weaken. I did put on a lot of weight in the aftermath, but lost most of it again without trying.
Good Luck.

Duck's hoop

I wrote a long reply but it was rambling.

It's hard for a long time, but so are many things. If it was easy we'd all be off them!

It gets easier but it's still hard sometimes. Just accept that and carry on!