I am so glad to hear from you. Seems like you have been on my mind a lot for the past couple of weeks and everyday I kept meaning to post and the day would be gone too quickly.

We have a lot happening  in the world and also in our country and that makes it an even more stressful time to quit smoking. That tension probably is related to nicotine withdrawal too. With all this stuff going on I still sometimes think i would like to have a cigarette but I don’t really crave them. Just more of a memory for stress relief I guess.

I did buy this app called Calm for about $50 for one year and have been trying to learn to meditate. The deep breathing exercises seem to help me relax most of all.  The sleep stories help me fall asleep a lot faster too. I haven’t had bedtime stories in several decades (lol) but have found that they are soothing so guess I am going through another childhood at 57 years old. At this point it’s whatever works for me I suppose.

It is good to hear you are still hanging in there with the cessation attempts though. The most important thing is not to stop trying. Any time you stop smoking could end up being your final quit so it is always worth it to keep trying. And also, all the times you have not been smoking gives your heart and lungs a good break from handling the nicotine going through your system. So all of that is a very positive step forward.

Well quit buddy, I am working nights tonight and my break is about over but keep trying to quit, take care of yourself and keep in touch.

HI Jr, nice hearing from you.. meditation is good. I feel nowadays people are more angst than ever, add on to that economic uncertainties and covid and its worse. I think i was way overdoing it with being quit cause i guess it gave me so much time that all this nervousness spilled over to i believe too much things to do. With smoking its hard to admit we took breaks about 20-25 times a day to take a breather, its very hard to quit.. Im glad you dont have cravings and your not missing anything, only reason i consciously bought a pack was because i couldn't take the pain in my neck. Its somewhat better now, i will try to make a plan not to do so much on next attempt at quitting. 

 It's great to see you back here! I hope everything goes well for you!

  Take Care!

Oh thanks. I had deleted my profile and was not able to reinstate it.. (no-one replied to me from delphi forums) so i created a new profile. 

How is it going? i have to be honest i have been miserable the past 3 months, summer isnt really my season to begin with, for some reason and i have been trying to be quit which i have been most of the time like 95% but this past week was just too much and i had so much hypertension i believe it was, trying not to be to hard on myself. But it may have not been the best time to quit, it has to be the right time. Has anyone else felt like that? like going crazy being quit and over busy and stressing? it sucks to say this but after i had a few cigs it calmed me down a lot, that has not always been the case with prior quits.. i have enjoyed being quit it was good from the beginning but not this time. 

Hi. I understand what you try to say  i did that many times before. Wasn't able to handle or cope with heavy withdrawal symptoms, so I decided to buy a pack. I felt such relief, was really glad to do it, such calming feeling... didn't last long though. Very soon everything came right back to me, all the work that's been done, hardest part of quiting etc. Than you had to go through it again. I don't want to sound smartass here, believe me I totally get it. But perhaps, next time, stuck with it even if it's hard, because it is hard and will be, every time. I can tell you, been there just now and still, after 3 weeks, feel like crap most of the time. I did it cold turkey but a lot of people here did it with support, perhsps try that?

I agree with you, Jaka, that cold turkey is maybe not the way to go. I am on day 28 of no smoking quitting via cold turkey and honestly, if I had to do it over, I would have chosen a different way. 

I know everyone is different, but I feel like I made it a lot harder than it needed to be. I think having a plan, and a strategy, along with nrt, may have made the process less horrible. 

It's definitely better than it was a month ago, but I wouldn't say it's close to easy yet and I can't really yet envision when it will seem like that. 

Congratulations on 3 plus weeks, Jaka! 

You are doing great.  It is no easier with NRTs but is does take allot longer.  You will have to ween yourself off of nicotine as well as the smoking.  If you are starting to find it getting a little bit easier, than you will also notice that little bit easier growing more and more every week.  Stay the course and you will soon feel more ease more often.    Change your distractions - find something new.  Different food, drinks, exercise.  Keep changing it up.  You don't need nicotine to beat nicotine.

As a long timer on this site please everyone don't put added pressure tactics on others that find quitting extremely difficult.

Yes we are all different. Some need extra help with NRT's etc.

There is no one way to freedom except -"just don't smoke!". 

Also stop with the American Politics as we are from countries all around the world and this is a Quit Smoking site. We all have our own views but lease refrain from promoting political candidates on this forum. 

Life has been tough with this Covid19 virus and those who have quit during these difficult times need our ongoing support without prejudice. Everyone can quit and this forum must remain the place for comforting support. 

Good luck to all of you. 

"Quitting isn't for Sissies" I quit poisoning myself Sept. 27, 2013

Thanks, Anne.  Since I'm this far out, I don't think I am going to go for NRT, but yeah, I should have had a plan.  I have been wanting to rip my chest out for weeks, and that's finally settling a bit, but after speaking with others, apparently that's anxiety and not just withdrawal.  I guess I couldn't tell  the difference.  I still feel like my anxiety is sky high, I'm still prone to bursting out in tears and I'm just downright depressed, I think, which is why slower but less horrible may not have been a bad thing for me.

But I'm here now, working on the 29th day, and it is a lesser degree of awful. I don't want to go back to the higher degree of awful, so I'm hoping that's enough to keep me on the straight and narrow.  Yesterday, I realized I didn't even think about smoking until about 10:15am or so, and believe it or not, that was huge for me!

Thank you for your encouragement- I really appreciate it!

Excellent - that's how it starts - Forgetting to think about smoking.   This will happen more and more everyday.  Soon, you will only have the odd craving to overcome.  Have some distractions/choices ready.  Box of chocolates, you favourite comedy movies, places to go for walk or run, salts for a long hot bath.  It won't be long now.  Welcome to the otherside.  Good work and congratulations.         

Cheers