Smoking!

[Meralia]

I’ve just stopped smoking and I’m finding it really hard. I’ve gone cold turkey. Does it get any easier? The cravings come on so quickly! They do subside though.

There was a very recent thread called something like ‘what’s changed for the better since stopping smoking’ it had lots of really helpful posts but I can’t seem to find it now.

The first three days are very hard but after that it gets much easier.

Yes, it gets easier but you have to find other things to occupy you and try not to keep focusing on whether it's feeling better or not. Easier said than done I know.
Mindfulness exercises can help where you learn to be in the moment rather than looking forward or back.
Everyone I knew who went back to smoking were always obsessing about it and those who succeeded had a more positive mindset.

It's a rollercoaster and I found that even months in some days were hard. After bumbling along quite happily for weeks I suddenly found myself weeping on a saturday morning out of nowhere because it was so difficult. I found boots nicotine chewing gum helpful. Like you I went cold turkey first time and managed for a year. Second time i needed the chewing gum.

Another good way I found to think about it is that although you feel like you're missing out, very quickly you'll realise that you're truly missing out when actually smoking. It's not just the money and health etc. Everything, absolutely everything is better. Even my time is my own again without always having a cigarette on the horizon. Try to remember you're not missing out. Good luck!

It gets easier, but that's when you've got to be careful. Once the bad cravings are gone it's easy to think that you've done it and just one cigarette won't do any harm. I've failed so many times at the 1 month mark before I managed to quit. Good luck, you can do it!