Day 1 - Actually OK
Today actually went by fairly smoothly with the whole not smoking thing. It's now been 26 hours since my last cigarette and I'm doing just fine. However, I discovered on MARTA this morning that I can smell a smoker at 50 paces and have random cravings regardless of the nicotine patch. I figure that random irritation at work (so very normal) caused most of the later in the day cravings, but I was able to combat those effectively with judicious use of bottled water and toothpics.
My key is replacement of the addiction. I'm still taking all of the same breaks and going to the same places, but just replacing the cigarette with a toothpick. I'm even hanging out with my smoking buddies just fine. The real test (as always) will come when I'm drinking in a bar. These days it really doesn't occur that often, so I'm not extremely worried.
I did forget about one of the more fun aspects of the nicotine patch that were not mentioned earlier. Sleeping issues including insomnia and really vivid dreams do happen frequently when wearing the patch overnight. Last night I got the insomnia. I couldn't fall asleep until about 2:30 which means that I hit the snooze button way too much this morning, only 3.5 hours later. I think I did quite well today with not much sleep. I do look forward to the vivid dreams though. For me, they are actually one of the perks of quitting smoking. Normally, I rarely remember my dreams and I've had some really great (read: fantastic sex) dreams in the past as a result of the quitting experience.
All in all on the smoking front, Day 1 has been a success.
My key is replacement of the addiction. I'm still taking all of the same breaks and going to the same places, but just replacing the cigarette with a toothpick. I'm even hanging out with my smoking buddies just fine. The real test (as always) will come when I'm drinking in a bar. These days it really doesn't occur that often, so I'm not extremely worried.
I did forget about one of the more fun aspects of the nicotine patch that were not mentioned earlier. Sleeping issues including insomnia and really vivid dreams do happen frequently when wearing the patch overnight. Last night I got the insomnia. I couldn't fall asleep until about 2:30 which means that I hit the snooze button way too much this morning, only 3.5 hours later. I think I did quite well today with not much sleep. I do look forward to the vivid dreams though. For me, they are actually one of the perks of quitting smoking. Normally, I rarely remember my dreams and I've had some really great (read: fantastic sex) dreams in the past as a result of the quitting experience.
All in all on the smoking front, Day 1 has been a success.