Stories & experiences

Not everyone deals with adversary the same way. Not everyone has the same symptoms. I hardly experienced any withdrawal, but should the thought enter my head I quickly dismissed it and found something to occupy myself. Focus on the wonderful changes......how your coughing has subsided, how you might be smelling better, if not with your nose then bodily....lol. Take pride that you are doing this and have made it through the worst. Do you ever want to do it again? Anticipate a smoke free future with all of its benefits and freedom. There is no price on freedom, is there? Think positive

We have a mantra here.....Not One Puff Ever! (NOPE).....One will lead to many more in most cases. Don't ever thing you will be different and don't risk it. Drink water, take deep breaths, make a phone call, play a game, anything to make those few seconds pass. Many suck mints and like to be reminded how much cleaner they feel. Take the savings and reward yourself, both daily, short term and perhaps plan a trip for the future with all the monies saved.
Read our stories, get ideas and impliment what you think will work for you. You know you best. I know that anyone can quit smoking.

Someone told me cigarettes don’t relax you - they are stimulants. It’s the slow breathing in and out, when you smoke a cigarette, that relaxes you. I found if I imitated this slow breath in through the mouth and slow breath out through my mouth ( just a couple of times) it reduced my desire for a cigarette pretty quickly. Also I chewed on many sugar free gum in the first couple of weeks.

RaggBear has a good point. I'd like to just add one little bit more to it. Smoking a cigarette also reduces your oxygen intake for a short time, which also has a calming effect. If you find that concentrating on breathing more slowly isn't sufficient, use a paper bag to breathe in and out of. It'll gradually reduce your oxygen intake with each breath without causing you harm, which can help you calm down. It's a common old method used to calm down people that are panicked and hyperventilating.