So depressed

[thesunwillout]

Hi, I gave up smoking eight weeks ago. Smoked for thirty years. Just recently I have been feeling so so down. I want to have a cig, I am so stressed with life events I don't know why the hell I've done this. Also been doing my fitness pal for four weeks and have lost zero. So fuck'd off. Help. Am very teary and horrible.

Hi OP

Don't give up! Firstly, be kind to yourself and give yourself a bit of positive counselling, a bit of a pep talk. Give yourself a massive pat on the back for deciding to quit smoking, and getting through the eight weeks. After 30 years, this is a massive achievement! The first 6 months is the hardest part, after you get through that, the cravings will gradually disappear and you will find you think less and less of cigarettes.

I would personally put losing weight on the back burner for the time being and focus on taking each day at a time becoming smoke free. You could tell yourself that you are quitting smoking for you, to be healthy and your and your families future, and embrace the fact that you are now a non smoker!

I quit a 20 a day habit that spanned over 20 years in 2009. It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, but I am so proud of what I achieved. I loved smoking and never thought I would ever be able to stop smoking ever, but I was secretly terrified of the damage I was doing to my health, the cost was crippling, and my kids were scared of losing their mum at an early age. I had a constant hacking cough and gradually sounded very gravelly on the phone.

I read the Easyweigh to Stop Smoking by Allan Carr and decided to quit cold turkey without nicotine replacement products. I joined a quitting forum and took vitamin B tablets to take the edge off. I bought huge bags of sugar free lollipops and would have a lollipop when a craving stuck. I downloaded a quitometer on my laptop which showed me how many days I had been smoke free, how many years I had added onto my lifespan and also how much money I had saved. I took each day at a time and gave myself frequent pep talks on how well I was doing.

I had down days, don't get me wrong but somehow managed to persevere without giving in.

I felt so proud when I was filling in a form at my doctors surgery and answered "NO" at the "are you a smoker" question!

You can do this, OP!

Wow, that was such a supportive and thoughtful answer thanks. Lots of advice. I've been quietly pottering away at this, getting on with it.
Yesterday I almost felt like screaming for God's sake why, why am I doing this. Do the cravings get worse before it gets better, as I really haven't had any for the whole time which led me to believe oh this is quite easy really.
Maybe I should look at a quit smoking forum. Did you ever feel very down?

You're absolutely welcome, I am glad I can help in anyway. I totally, totally get where you are coming from.

I'm not going to lie, the first few weeks/months were what I can only describe as like a rollercoaster.

I made the decision once and for all to quit smoking after so many disastrous attempts. We were house hunting and found the house of our dreams. The problem was, it was at the top end of our budget and my DH said that he didn't want to stretch ourselves to the point we would be copper ing up every week. I was heartbroken but sat down and did some sums and was shocked to realise that if I gave up smoking, it would make a massive impact to our budget and we could buy the house without being so overstretched. ( we lived in NZ and the prices of cigarettes were hair raising) so the decision was made and the motivation was there.

I went from feeling giddy with excitement that I was going to do this, finally, once and for all...to feeling lost, like I was grieving something important in my life,, if that makes sense? But I kept reminding myself over and over again of the positives and wrote down a list of positive things to focus on - not just the obvious things like health, money but little things like being able to go somewhere and not constantly feel panicked if I was in a non smoking place or with non smoking friends. There were days in the early days that were totally shit.. I remember my DH coming home from work to find me crying like a baby on the bed because I had put a shit loads of weight on and couldn't fit into anything. (I wasn't paying attention to my diet/weight) I was also quite snappy too. However, I decided that I had come that far (however many weeks) and I am not going to cave in and have to start from scratch again. I had full support from my family, particular my youngest DS who was amazing.

I would 100% recommend joining a quit smoking forum as the support on those forums are brilliant. There were posters on there who were fantastic, everyone cheering everyone on and helping each other.

As I say that was all back in 2009, and for many years, I have not even thought about cigarettes. I still congratulate myself on how well I have done as it is honestly the toughest thing to kick to the curb if you are well and truly addicted as I was.

Hi OP. I'm @ 3 months into stopping, and def had a slump in mood at the 8 / 9 week mark.
Hang in there for sure. I go days and days without thinking about it now, and the low mood blew over in a few days.
I read the stop smoking threads in here and found them really motivating during the evenings when i found it a bit hard going.
Seriously, the crap feeling passes. Keep going!!!

..also, I agree with Andie , I browse the health benefits of being a non-smoker online, and find that is a real motivator.