It will happen.  It takes time but, it will happen.  Keep up the good fight and you will get there, but only if you do not smoke.  Not one puff.   

Cheers!

It can be hard at first. Your mind will say "I need a cigarette" even though the rational brain says no. It feels very powerful at first, like you cannot get over it but it becomes easier with time. I'm 5.5 months along, and when the thoughts come, they are much easier to dismiss.

Because of how the nicotine molecule works, it stimulated the same part of the brain that is responsible to learn how to perform basic life tasks like eating or drinking, fight or flight etc. Over time, that part of the brain perceives a Nicotine hit as important as seeking food. This unconscious part of your brain is going through withdrawal and it tries to get you to do the same thing you did before to get the hit it is used to ( cigarettes, cigars, vaping, chewing, however you brain got the fix)  

But this knowledge can give you ammunition. You understand these thoughts and realize what they are. You really don't NEED cigarettes to live, you have been indoctrinated into this not only by using nicotine but also by what see and hear in our culture.

When it was so hard at first, I used a line on myself. I would think, ok I really want a cigarette now ,I cant cope without them, but see if I can wait 20 minutes. After all I can always smoke in 20 minutes. If it wasn't getting better I would wait another 20 minutes, and so one. Usually in 20 minutes it subsided to a lever that I did not need tp pry yourself off the door handle. On some evenings when I was itching for one I thought, ok, I can always start smoking. again tomorrow, lets see if I can go to sleep early and see what happens in the morning. It worked for me. Somehow the reassurance that I can always start smoking again if i wanted to, so why. not. wait a. day? a month? a year?

I am 5.5 months in. It is much easier BUT, I sill have to be careful, the only key to beating the addiction completely is to never take another puff again. Keep at it. This poisonous drug to kill you , maim you, take you health away from you, destroying your quality of life.

Keep posting here, it helps.

Today marks one month into my quit. Not my first quit, unfortunately, but I intend to make it my last -- one day at a time!  I'm glad you turned to this forum for support -- it has helped me so much during the first horrible weeks of quitting. For me, it has been so helpful to constantly remind myself that I am not my own worst enemy, i.e. a weak person who took up a bad habit and hasn't been strong enough to resist doing it even though I know how bad it is for me. The enemy is the power of the drug we all became addicted to: nicotine. I remind myself that my addiction to nicotine resulted in my brain creating more receptors / pleasure centers that tell me I need the drug in order to be happy or relieve stress. The good news is, the longer I go without nicotine, those receptors go away. Yes, the brain physically changes!! This is awesome for those of us in the early stages who can't conceive of life without smoking. I also lean heavily on the success of all the ex-smokers on this forum. Bless you all! As I mentioned, I've quit before. I recognize that what brought me back, every time, was the decision just to have a puff. So I really take to heart the "NOPE" pledge. Finally -- I want you to know that my quit has already become easier. You CAN do this thing!

That is such a pleasure to hear! I am almost 6 moths in. Things have changed a lot, Im getting a lot more done, I have more energy and I realized I never really enjoyed smoking at all, I was just addicted to nicotine, and fell pray to tobacco companies ploys to make smoking seem like the bad/cool thing to do. Another factor is my smoking friends, we lolled each-other into a comfortable denial. I still have the same friends and I do not preach, it doesn't help anyways. I just chose to stop. Do I get cravings sometimes? yes. Not when I see someone smoking interestedly enough. My brain all of a sudden is triggered, but it's not really me, it's an instinct what was formed during the age of 15 to 48, in that part of the brain you were talking about. So I just get over it and it goes away.

Well done!

Would love to hear how your quit is progressing, I am in my 21 st day and having survived NYE am lookin forward to a smoke free year.

Happy New Year, 

Blessings to you

Anthony