What Happen When I Quit Smoking
Life as a non-smoker again – Day 1 to Day 3
If you stayed off cigarettes for 24 hours – beautiful! You started out great and are now 10 times more likely to quit smoking! Keep up the great world You should be really proud of yourself! Why not reward yourself with a (non-alcoholic) treat? If you've not already done so, now's the time to tell your friends and family that you've stopped smoking and have just made it through the first day without cigarettes.
Stay cool. In Days 2 and 3, continue noticing how novel and interesting not having to smoke anymore feels, especially in the presence of your past triggers.
Day 4 to Week 3
It tends to get noticeably easier on Day 4 or Day 5. Either way, hang in therel If you drink, you might want to try visiting the pub or bar after not smoking for a week. Notice how novel it feels being able to enjoy your drink while not smoking. Soak it in.
Some ex-smokers get tingling sensations in their arms and legs. Some experience flu-like symptoms including coughing, runny nose and feeling drowsy. Many do not. If these happen to you, remind yourself that this is good – your body is doing repair work and cleansing itself of all the toxins the cigarettes have being putting in all these years. After a couple of days, they will disappear forever.
By the end of the first week, you should have fewer thoughts and less intense uges to smoke, You'll feel much more confident you're going to succeed staying off cigarettes permanently. You may 'forget your cigarettes' when leaving home or the office and then pleasantly realise you don't need them any longer. The nagging worry of not having enough cigarettes has disappeared, You know you don't need them and realise that you're free of them! This is a freedom you've not experienced since you got hooked on cigarettes.
Week 3 Onwards
You've been free of cigarettes for more than 3 weeks now. You feel fine without them and hardly think of smoking. You're just cruising along. You should know, however, that you'll continue getting urges to smoke every now and then. Some of these may turn out to be huge.
Many smokers dream they started smoking again. I had a few. Some of these dreams seemed so vivid and real that it took me some time to affirm that they were only dreams. Though they may be disturbing, don't read into them. They don't mean anything.
If you've never been the top five percent of anything, here's a great chance to do something about it. All you need to do is keep this up. Simply stay the course and, before you know it, you'll be among the five percent of smokers who will stop this year. Behind you will be the 95 percent who tried but failed. This will be quite an achievement – something to be very pleased about!
At various times between the end of Week 1 and the end of Month 2, you may be a little curious as to whether you're 'cured'. If you're considering testing this hypothesis by trying a cigarette – DON'T because it'll very probably re-ignite each of your smoking influences again. If that happens, it's back to cigarette dependency! It's just not worth the trouble.
Help! I'm having a Colossal Cigarette Attack!
Things are going well. You've not smoked for two, three or six months. It's smooth sailing.
One day, out of the blue, you feel sad and empty. It's like there's suddenly a dark, gaping void within you. You have an overwhelming urge to smoke. You wonder if you're really a confirmed smoker after all.
This is when you'll be at your most vulnerable throughout the whole programme. Don't give in, and stay calm. Transform your smoking urge into something frivolous and silly (or do something else that has worked well for you in the past).
The desire to smoke will disappear as suddenly as it occurred. Though these are quite unsettling – enough to unsettle you to smoke again – they do not happen often.
Why do these happen? During the early stages of quitting, you were generally vigilant to overcome everyday situations that triggered the urge to smoke. Here you weren't so ready. You likely came across an unusual trigger, one that you don't come across often in everyday life.
If you've not travelled overseas since quitting, the duty free shop – where you used to love dropping into for your carton of cheap cigarettes – could be a powerful trigger.
Did you frequently smoke and have alcoholic drinks when ever you checked into a hotel? If so, be prepared for another powerful attack when you're about to have a drink in your hotel room. Are you visiting your parent's home, where you used to smoke? Watch out for another attack while in your old room, the porch or balcony if that's where you frequently smoked.
The good thing is that these are conditioned responses. Every time you do not respond to these massive urges, that is, by not smoking, you desensitise yourself to them. Manage them and they stop altogether after one or two encounters.
Oopsl Didn't quite make it!
What if you sneaked in one or more cigarettes anytime during your quit? Things were going smoothly but you let your guard down or something threw you off balance. You gave in and smoked.
Well, I'm sure you tried your best and it was a good try. If at any time during your Quit Smoking Process you slip and smoke one or more cigarettes, take a step back and consider. "Do I want to carry on with my quit?" If you're confident you'll be able to despite this setback, if you're sure you'll succeed, by all means do go on. If, however, you feel you're on shaky ground, it's okay to try afresh in the not-too-distant future.
Hopefully it doesn't come to this. Follow the advice here and it most likely won't. Then, before you know it, you'll be enjoying life as a non-smoker again.
Want to know how I quit smoking easily? I smoke electronic cigarette. You can do it too! Just get your starter kit online and see the wonders it bring!
