I'm thinking about quitting smoking. People who have quit, how long does it take for the cravings to stop?
I've only been smoking for 2 years, 15-20 a day. Has it done damage already after only a small time? I want to give up for health and the money. But i really like it. How will i quit?
It takes a long long time – it took me about 2 years to give up fully. And then the cravings lasted about another 2 years after that. the worst time for me – when I got the cravings – was when I had access to alcohol – or coffee. But I haven't smoked for nearly ten years now and I was smoking 15-20 a day for about ten years before that. I tried everything to quit, but you know how did it? Sheer mental will power and endurance. Personally, I don't reckon anything else will work. this is what did it for me: someone asked me if I liked the thought of being a slave. I answered, 'no', I did not, and then that person told me that nicotine is like a slave driver – it has control over you – it makes you go out searching for tobacco at all times of the day or night, it makes you crave the nicotine. so do you want to go through your life being the slave of nicotine? If you don't, then tell yourself, everytime I get an urge I will disobey. I will start a rebellion with the voice that is telling me to smoke. Be strong and endure. And for every cigarette that you don't smoke, place some money (whatever it would have cost you) into a jar. by the end of the year, you would have saved enough for a fortnight's vacation in the Bahamas. Reckon about it. Wouldn't you rather have control over IT? Also, about the damage that may have been done. the good news is this: after 10 years, your lungs have the ability to clear themselves up and return to the same condition that they were in before you started smoking. If I were you, I would take that journey to a clean bill of health starting now…
Ok,15-20 cigarettes a day has probably done some damage,so you should probably quit unless you want to get lung cancer or emphysema.
As for how long the cravings are there,I have no idea.my parents smoke and every time they start to quit they end up having at least half of one a day.so,must be kind of persistent.But,it's different for everyone.I suggest whenever you have a craving,you should chew some gum.It's a lot cheaper and helps distract you. A single pack of gum in a gas station can be like, .50 to $1. =]
every cigarette does damage but it is better to stop now, it can only get worse.
my dad just stopped. he threw ashtrays away and refused to smoke, with willpower you can do it that way.
also, if you do more exercise/a sport it should take your mind off it, my dad cycled like mad and its been 2 years now, hes still enjoying cycling, he says he likes the smell but he doesnt want to smoke.
my mum, is trying to give up and tried the nicorette patches and stuff but said theyre discusting with the taste they leave in your mouth or something?
id suggest doing something new to take your mind off it, meet new people, go somewhere? start a new sport? do some kinda project? be inventive 
my advice to anybody reading this, dont try your first cigarette
i smoked 20 a day for 40years i gave up smoking 8 years ago the first 2 weeks were the worst but the benefit to my health was incredible i could breath properly again i had cravings for about a year after, but after that i had no problems and the craving was gone,so best of luck i hope you can beat it.
I have quit for over a year now after smoking 15-20 a day for 14 years.
The toughest time was the first month. But I found it very simple after that because I must of really wanted to stop. I also used the inhalators.
You will crave for the rest of your life just to warn you. BUT the craving gets simpler and simpler. But it doesn't go away.
I believe the whole body recovers. Well I personally believe that the lungs' small hairs that has been damaged with smoke do NOT improve or recover. Don't know why I reckon that – I hope I'm wrong!
It took me about a week to get over it, I smoked for 15 yrs, prior to that. According to all the doctors it didn't do me any damage but everyone is different, so who knows what it may have done to you.
i quit almost a year ago and still crave them
i usually just find something to keep me occupied though
they're not bad cravings anymore
I've quit 2 years and I still get cravings every now and then. You just need willpower and determination
It has been over a year and I still crave them but the craving last about 10 seconds
Never could give up, tried often, would be going nuts after a couple of hours.
Went into hospital a few years ago for a serious op, couldn' t get any cigs except for a couple I cadged outside during the first couple of days.
the recovery from the op a few weeks later was going to be helped by not smoking.
So I did stop, after the couple of cigarettes on the first two days I didn't have any more and it didn't bother me because I didn't have any access to cigarettes, so I just stopped thinking about them and after the first 3 or 4 days I was amazed to find that I didn't even want one.
It wasn't that I was exerting any huge effort of willpower, I wasn't exerting any at all, I was just in a situation where I had no means of access to cigarettes so I had no choice but to accept the situation and once I did that, I found that I stopped thinking about cigarettes.
Once you stop thinking about cigarettes you don't seem to experience any craving, I'm convinced that the craving is a mental thing.
If somebody had offered me one I wouldn't have been interested and when I went outside and there was anyone smoking it didn't bother me, the only emotion I felt in that situation was one of pity for the smokers.
also I could smell cigarette smoke from a distance and it turned me off.
People make much of the nicotine craving effect, but I don't believe it, I reckon it has much more to do with the conditioned Pavlovian type response of automatically reaching for a cigarette whenever you feel like it, most smokers don't even want to smoke and don't enjoy smoking very much, it's a repetitive compulsive psychogical habit.
People have pointed out that when drug addicts are released from prison they will not be under the effects of drugs so there is no chemical compulsion to start using drugs again but many do start using drugs again and this usually happens when they return to their ancient haunts and mix with their former aquaintances, it's a mental addiction, not a physical one.
I once heard a doctor who specializes in treating addictions say, that nicotine was far more addictive than heroin, well I've never used heroin, but I believe him.
I lasted three months and never had the slightest desire to have a cigarette, and in fact I really enjoyed being in the vicinity of people who were smoking, (apart from the smell ), because it reinforced the pleasure I felt at not having any desire to have a cigarette, and then I started to come under a lot of stress, from things that were beyond my control, not health related though.
One day I was going home and I was feeling under pressure from all the stress and I just wanted a small respite, and I decided to have a couple of cigarettes, well, one cigarette and I was hooked.
So the only method I can suggest to you that I know works for certain is to try and get yourself into a situation where you are in a remote location with no means of transport available for about a week, and no means of access to cigarettes, you will be amazed and astonished how quickly you will forget about smoking when you can't get any cigarettes.
A friend of mine once said that his wife had found hypnosis to be very effective.
All this stuff about cutting down gradually, well it might work for some people, but personally I reckon it is just a form of self torture, I reckon it should be an all or nothing approach, it's already hard enough to stop smoking without tormenting yourself whilst you're doing it.
You either smoke or you don't, that's my opinion.
As for all of the holier than though types who like to be critical and judgemental about smokers and their inability to quit, and who like to look down on smokers, I say this to them, try it yourself before you get so self righteous, what things do you fail at ?.
As for the health benefits, they say that within a year your risk of heart disease and stroke falls by about half, or something similar, the figures are pretty huge anyway.
I also noticed that I slept much better and didn't feel so tired during the day.