Just a quick intro about myself. I smoked about a pack a day for two years and then got off the cigs with dip. After about two and half years of dip use, I finally decided to kill the can.
Bring it on day #2
Congrats on a great decision.
What's your plan? What are you doing to handle the craves? I highly encourage you to develop a very explicit plan of steps you can take when you find yourself contemplating quitting vs. using.
There are as many quit plans as quitters on this site. Make it manageable in a the direst of situations.
Here's my plan. As you can see took me about a month to figure it out. I had to go to step #9 once, and thank God never needed step #10 as of yet, but nuts in the drawer sounds better than caving to me... Gets so much better.
End day 28: great day to be quit. I still have craves every day, but for the most part they are pathetic. Even the worst craves I have been having now are beaten in minutes. I have built my own little crave killing battle plan from the knowledge I gained from reading KTC.
1: crave hits
2: recognize it for what it is: lies from the nic bitch
3: get pissed and I mean a focused rage channeling all my frustration at letting myself be a slave, the bs way society lets tobbaco market itself and poison us, the fact that I have to deal with a stupid crave even though there is no way in hell I will ever put that garbage in my body again, and also all my fear at what damage I have done to myself from being a slave, and the fact that if I were to use again I would be killing myself slowly again! Basicaly all the dark side stuff. I am actively training myself to have all this happen in a fraction of a second as soon as I recognize the crave.
4: 9 times out of ten that is the end of the story; crave is gone as soon as it came, and I go about my life. Sometimes however...
5: 'The Suck'! O.k. so I beat down the crave, but now I feel depressed. I know that depression if left unchecked will weaken my resolve to stay quit, I mean what is the point of being quit if everything sucks?
6: recognize "THE SUCK' for what it is: 'the suck' is just another way the nic bitch lies to us.
7: 2nd part of what the suck is: getting the suck means I am WINNING! Nic is getting desperate 'cause her go to lies aren't working anymore so she is pulling out the stops. Also the suck means I am most likely reprogramming my brain, and I won't have the same trigger set me off or at least as bad in the future.
8: winning puts a smile on my face, an I know the suck wont last for long when I am doing a victory lap in my mind.
I don't know if this will help anyone else, but so far it is working for me. Obviously this is only my way of handling craves; the true strength of my quit comes from posting roll and promising not to use daily. If ever there comes a time when I need it I have steps 9 and 10 too:
9: txt or call my quit brothers to smack some sense into me.
10: slam desk drawer on my nuts!
This is not spinal tap mine doesn't go to 11... unless you count going to the emergency room.
