Just hang in there - it will get better and soon! After about 2 weeks you will begin feeling much better. Just hang in there - we've all been where you are! It's tough going but well worth the agony! I have been smoke free for 8 months after 36 years of heavy smoking! If I can do it - you can too!

mls is right, it does get easier with some time. Have you spent any time on whyquit.com, it passes time and is pretty brutal in the realities of nicotine addiction and how bad it is. If you're tired let yourself nap, drink lots of liquids, nice teas, water, anything to keep yourself from smoking, this is your quit and hard as it seems today it will become less hard given some time. Hang in there Dear!

You're about 2/3 of the way through the physical detox, so hang on. Remember, no matter how bad it may *feel*, it is all temporary and no harm is being done. Keep in mind that what you are experiencing is healing, and that is a very, very good thing.

Use distractions to keep your focus off how you are feeling. Go for walks, do some exercises, or place yourself into situations where you have not smoked before (example, take a shower).

Reward yourself often, at least once a day. Rewards don't have to cost much, or anything at all. Take a relaxing break with a cup of coffee or tea that you wouldn't normally take; maybe with some special coffee or tea or other beverage. Go window shopping (maybe not the best idea this time of year, lol). Browse a bookstore. Take the scenic route home. Anything that gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling, anything that makes you feel special.

When you smoked the nicotine hijacked your brain's pleasure/reward centers. Now that the nicotine is leaving, your brain is screaming for it's fix. This fix can be achieved, in part, by rewards. They are to your brain like exercise to an atrophied muscle, so use them. They are very important to the healing process.

If you find the need to vent, then vent. Pillows are great for beating and screaming into. :)

Stay strong, stay smart, stay quit.
Shevie
Quit May, 2005

i just got to a week today......7 days & 1 hour....hahahaa......it is easier every day, and has been since about day 4.....the urges only last 30-45 seconds......hell....i can do anything for 45 seconds.....i too, am taking chantix.....and reading these posts....you can do it.

I am nearly 2 days quit and to distract myself I have had a new haircut which I can't afford (!) and eaten lots of chocolate....but if this is whats needed right now so be it - life will only get better!
Keep going.
X

With me, it improved after 2 weeks. It WILL get better. Trust me, and be strong because it is all worth it in the end.

My quit date is Saturday and I am afraid I will feel like you do with Patches and Zyban. Hang in there because you will inspire me if you stay strong.

I found it the easiest thing to do and had no withdrawal whatsoever but "BIG BUT" it took a heart attack to stop me and I would have likely not stopped without it(30 years, 2 packs a day for almost all 30 years) .My withdrawal symptoms have been zero no fidgeting nothing I was sick of smoking anyway .I was just looking for a reason to stop .Good luck and hang in there .

I think it starts to improve when you realize that smoking is not somethig you want to do, but something that has a powerful control over your mind. I would suggest reading Allan Carr's' Easy Way To Stop Smoking' because it really helps touch on the myths we have as smokers and the traps we sometimes fall into when we try to quit. I think practicing being aware of how you feel when you smoke and understanding that your desire to have one is a way to relieve your feeling of stress, but that stress will become so much more if you continue to smoke. Hang in there, it will gradually get easier. I also highly recommend getting out of the house and doing something. I know it's winter, so join a gym or the YMCA is super cheap and totally worth it. Getting your body moving will help alleviate the anxious feelings and help you feel more control over your bodies ability to be happy and content without lighting up. You can do this!!!

Congratulations leosmommy.

Scream, jump up and down. take a walk, dance during the crave, and BREATHE. that worked for me really well. I still do it. You pretend you have a cigarette, put it to your lips and suck it in, then exhale just as if you are smoking. Do about 3 or 4 or 27 if you want. When I'm stressed, I do this and sailed right through.