stopped for a week ok so far.

[Gem2J]

Hi
i have stopped smoking for a week now, all is going well with the help of nicotine patches.
I have tried before to stop smoking but i always failed.
The problem last time i tried to stop was i couldn't cope with the withdraws.
Anyone found that when you stop smoking you become depressed almost suicidal? cause that's how i always felt. It was horrible, switching between anger, couldn't cope with day to day tasks, depression, suicidal. so i always went back to the smoking.
But so far so good i feel just fine.
I think it's because this time i am replacing tobacco with chocolate!
and chocolate makes you feel good too, so maybe it's working.
I know i quit smoking for improved health and that eating so much chocolate isn't so good for you but only option at the moment. My plan maybe if i stop smoking for good, in a year try to cut out junk food.
How is everyone else finding the withdraw symptoms?

Hi Gem2J, well done on a week of being smoke free .

You won't have been suffering from nicotine withdrawal if you are using patches, as they work by releasing nicotine into the body through your skin - most likely the chocolate munching (or any snacking people do) is because just as hard as giving up the nicotine is giving up the behaviours and habit that go with smoking. The "hand to mouth" habit developed from cigarettes has been replaced with hand to mouth with a substitute substance, chocolate in your case. With some people it's boiled sweets, or crisps, or biscuits, which is why many people put on a load of weight when they give up smoking.

that's why e-cigs have worked so well for many of us here who had tried & failed with other methods - not only are we getting our nicotine hit the same as you with your patches, or others with gum or sprays, but we can still have the familiar hand to mouth habit & something to fiddle with in our hands. So maybe you could try finding something to play with in your hands (they used to sell fake cigs just for that purpose), or think about taking up knitting - anything to keep your hands busy?

The chocolate is because smoking increases your blood sugar levels.

There is a dip when you give up, hence the sudden need for sweet things.

Because your sugar level are low your moods change.

Well done for getting a whole week smoke free [ thanks ]

Well done Gem2J

The patches will be helping with the cravings but it's not only the nicotine your body will be missing - cigarette smoke is a very complex cocktail of at least 6000 different chemicals. Feelings of depression are very common when people quit smoking. This is possibly because a few of the chemicals in cigarette smoke are MAOIs (a type of antidepressant). I'm glad the chocolate is helping, it has a few feel-good chemicals of its own (apart from the sugar). Good luck for week 2!