Morning Weedsta....
A little more vocabulary for you.... you're not quitting a "habit".... you're fighting an addiction. It is an ugly fight. That's what FishFL meant when he said "...embrace the suck."
Over the past 26-27 years (adjusting for your 20 month stoppage), you've been putting enough nicotine in your bloodstream on a daily basis to kill a small laboratory rat. During that time, your brain created millions of additional dopamine receptors. Now that the daily drip of poison has stopped, your brain has to rewire itself to shut them down. It is a painful process. The physical elimination of nicotine from your body takes about 72-96 hours. That's the easy part. FAR more difficult is the mental withdrawal and adjustment that you're going to go through (the "suck").
But take heart.... thousands of quitters have done so before you, and if you have integrity and follow the game plan laid out by KTC, you will QUIT too, and wrestle your addiction under control. Read as much as you can on these pages, because there is an awful lot of fantastic advice on beating this addiction into submission. In addition, I don't believe that nicotine withdrawal has ever actually KILLED anyone (based on multiple extensive interweb searches)....it just FEELS like it sometimes.....so remember that when the craves hit (and they WILL hit!!)
Good to see you've already made the first step. Dive in, get to know your fellow April HOF classmates. Exchange numbers with them. Build a web of accountability so thick that if you're not on roll by a certain time, MULTIPLE people will come looking for you (via text, phone calls, etc).... It sounds strange, I know, but over time, they will become like an extended family.
One more thing.... if you're like most of us, the first few days/weeks you're going to be ready to bite folks' head off at the slightest provocation. That's normal. Just don't let those folks be your lovely wife, kids, coworkers, or friends. You want to rage? Come in here and vent all you want. It's therapeutic, and it doesn't damage your relationships like blowing up at them definitely would.
Welcome to the suck. Welcome to getting YOU back.
