3 Types of Quit Smoking Cravings

If you are a smoker one of the best things you can do for yourself is to quit smoking.  Many smokers have either thought about quitting or tried to quit within the past year but did not succeed.  Why is this?  It not only hurts the smoker but the people close to him or her.  For most, nicotine has such a strong hold on their life that quitting seems to almost be impossible.  Well it is NOT impossible.  Millions of smokers have quit smoking and stay quit.  You can too.  There are three types of cravings that make quitting smoking difficult and the better you understand them and prepare for them the better your chances of quitting smoking.

The most obvious craving you will experience after you quit smoking is the one associated with nicotine withdrawal.  Nicotine withdrawal will affect you physically as your body adjusts to not having nicotine in it.  This period of time can be quite uncomfortable and many people relapse due to nicotine withdrawal.  Common nicotine withdrawal symptoms include: feeling irritable, difficulty concentrating, depression, headache, anxiety, feeling lightheaded, increase in appetite, and sleep problems.  The feelings associated with nicotine withdrawal will come and go.  You most likely will encounter only a few of these nicotine withdrawal symptoms, typically at different stages in the quit smoking process.  Be reassured they will not last, they typically come and go quickly and you will find that anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks they will subside almost completely.

The next type of craving you may experience after you quit smoking is the cravings associated with habit.  Just think about how many years you have smoked.  There are specific feelings and or time of the day you like to have a cigarette.  For example, I like to smoke while I talk on the phone.  I felt like when I was on the phone it was a great opportunity to go outside and light up.  The longer the conversation the more I got to smoke.  This became a habit for me.  When I quit smoking it was difficult at times because the phone would ring and I would instantly think about grabbing a cigarette.  Other examples of habit cravings include: after having an alcoholic beverage, going to the store where you used buy cigarettes, driving in your car, finishing a meal, getting angry, being bored, and taking a break.  As with nicotine withdrawal cravings, they will come and go.  Just wait them out.  Each day you make it not smoking the easier it will be.  Build yourself up by telling yourself you can do it.

There is one last type of craving you will experience after you quit smoking and that is memories of smoking.  For me this type of craving has lasted the longest.  The nicotine withdrawal cravings and the habit cravings lasted at most 30 days.  However, memories of smoking still creeps up every now and then and reminds me how nice it was to kick back on the back porch and have myself a nice relaxing cigarette.  Dealing with this type of craving is relatively easy compared to the other two.  The key here is not to get caught up in the pleasant memories about smoking.  You quit smoking for a reason, one of which was it was killing you and those close to you.  Simply reminding yourself of the reasons why you quit smoking can pretty much squash this craving.

Previous Page