I quit smoking 3 days ago. I’m not really feeling normal. Is that normal
Reported for forum change.
Moved to General Questions.
And yes, it’s not unusual to feel different, sometimes unpleasantly so when you stop using nicotine.
going “cold turkey” is about the hardest of all. This is why those patches are so popular – proper use of nicotine patches steps people down until they are able to completely stop.
But this works too, it’s just more arduous.
Be sure to remove everything nicotine-inducing from your house and etc. This includes getting rid of cigs or snuff or whatever, throwing out ashtrays, washing your walls, cleaning your house. Try to avoid situations that are triggers, the things that make you reach for a cigarette or whatever.
Good luck, this is a difficult addiction to put down. You can do it.
I quit April 2012, cold turkey, and my SO still puffs away.
It is hard, I won’t lie, but it is worth it.
Hang in there.
Moved to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
If you feel you cannot stand it anymore and just must have a fix grab gum/patch/lozenges/inhaler instead of a cigarette. Do anything you have to to not smoke again.
Good luck, it gets better but it takes a while. Iced water sucked through a straw and remembering to take some time to stop and breathe deeply are useful.
Yes. It is your body realizing that there is no more nicotine.
I went through it when I quit cold turkey. After I hit 6 days or so, the physical feelings of discomfort from lack of nicotine went away and I only had to deal with the psychological ‘smoking reflex’.
I did not try pills, gum, patch at that point and feel that it helped me to really kick both the physical and the psychological addictions to nicotine. I had tried them in an attempt to wean myself gradually, but kept failing.
Yes, it’s normal. The classic image is of short-tempered quitters, but in reality, you can’t feel lots of different weirdness. Some people feel jumpy, or jittery. Some have trouble concentrating. I felt weepy. Seriously - I was constantly blinking away tears and three seconds away from bursting into full on sobbing. For no reason whatsoever. It was like the worst PMS ever, and lasted about a week, with the peak awfulness at day 3 or 4.
(I use the ecig now, begun 6 months after I last quit tobacco. I like nicotine.)
Quit smoking cold turkey? I never got started, it just wouldn’t stay lit.
Mmm… cold smoked turkey…
It’s most definitely normal. All will go back to normal in a couple of months. Here’s my story so far, in case you’re interested.
Good for you! I quit cold turkey 8 years ago. Best thing I’ve ever done for myself. Please, don’t ever convince yourself that…“well, I’ll just take a couple hits off this cig and I’ll get right back to quittin’.” whenever a craving is really strong. Not One Puff Ever! N.O.P.E
It’s really easy to relapse at first. The first 2 weeks are rough. Just accept that and bully your way through it. One day at a time. I promise you, after your body cleans itself of all the poisons in a week or two, you will start feeling better physically. Sense of taste and smells will improve. You may start coughing up yucky brown gunk which is your lungs finally getting healthy enough to expel the crap thats been in there for all the time you were a smoker.
The rest of the addiction is just one big mind fuck. I had a mantra. “no stupid cigarette will ever beat me”.
Change your life habits that revolve around smoking. At least for now. I knew alcohol would break me down, so I avoided it until I was strong in my will to stop.
Cravings will fade slowly. Even after 8 years I may have a fleeting taste to smoke, but it comes and goes in a second.
I was a 2 pack a day smoker for 23 years and had my first child 5 years after quitting. I was unable to have children before and I truly believe because I quit, something in my body repaired itself which allowed me to conceive my son. I can hear him laughing in the other room as I type this.
They have quit meters you can download that track your progress each day and show you how many hours/days you added to your life as you go along and how much money you’ve saved so far.
three days cold turkey is an accomplishment in itself, so don’t give up now. You’re on a roll.
Wellbutrin (bupropion) really helped me finally quit nicotine. Gum and patches didn’t help; they just prolonged the inevitable for me.
Woah there, Colibri. You just indirectly disagreed with TubaDiva’s actions there. She thought it was best suited for GQ, then you moved it to IMHO. Wow, didn’t you feel a little intimidated that you are indirectly disobeying TubaDiva, who’s at a higher position than you? She’s an administrator and you’re a moderator. (Not meant as an insult. I’m only a lousy guest, so I shouldn’t be talking.)
Man, that takes some guts.
I might suggest that Colibri made the right call, but I know TubaDiva better and don’t wish to offend her by junior adminning. You might learn from that because you look like you will get to know the administration better than you planned, too. 
I quit cold turkey and it stuck for about a year and a half.
I couldn’t sleep for a week or two and I was just aggravated/upset/crybaby for that first 1-2 weeks. It really was like nasty PMS + sleep deprivation. It was pretty horrible, but I made it through until I decided I really didn’t want to be a ‘nonsmoker’ anymore. Just wasn’t really ready to quit, unfortunately.
Good luck to you, once you get past the physical part it’s all mental, which is super hard as well but at least you won’t feel like crap. You will just have to keep making the deliberate decision NOT to smoke constantly until you stop thinking about it 24/7 and slowly it becomes less and less of a conscious decision to NOT smoke, until you start realizing how bad us smokers stink and how inconvenient it is to smoke since they don’t let you smoke anywhere anymore…then you just stop thinking about it hardly at all. Then it’s just not turning out like me and giving up because you didn’t care enough and going back to smoking. Don’t do that! I am super bummed because I don’t plan on being a lifelong smoker and I am dreading quitting again!
I second this method. I tried cold turkey a number of times and failed. I was prescribed Wellbutrin for other things and as a side effect I hated cigarettes to the point of not even wanting to smoke. Great side effect! I haven’t smoked in over 8 years.
Stick with it, OP. I quit cold turkey 21 years ago this May, albeit with the help of nicotine gum. I started feeling better after maybe a month. Don’t give up.
Many conga-rats evelynanyanwu we are with you. Please report back, letting us know if you make it one more day, and another day, so forth. I am serious.
Wrigeleys Doublemint gum (with sugar), and go ahead and us nicotine patch or gum if you must.
MissSwitac is right. If every morning you drank a Starbucks and had a cig, then switch to tea or another coffee house. Stay away from that club you used to go to, etc.
It’s about 50% physical and 50% mental.
You have actually already done the hardest period, so you are over the hump. From here on, it’s downhill. A long downhill, mind you, about another 3 weeks to normal. Food will taste better, too.
evelynanyanwu Good luck! I’m only 2 days in, cold turkey too, so I know how you feel. Just push through it. Don’t let anything get to you and give you an ‘excuse’ to relapse. There are no excuses.
Are you going to let those fatcats in the cigarette industry profit from your misery and ultimate likely death? They profited from your misfortune for so long and they are laughing at you. Are you going to give up and give them more of your cash? No way!
Are you going to continue to look and smell terrible? No way!