Day Seven - Cravings Still Beating Me Down
I’ve been without tobacco for a full week now… and the cravings are still beating me down! My official review of Chantix is as follows: it helps, but it’s not a magic bullet. At least that’s how it’s working for me. I’ve been told by a number of people that their experience with Chantix involved two steps… taking the pill, followed by suddenly not wanting cigarettes anymore. Sounded like a good plan to ME, but it didn’t work that way when put into practice.
Sure, it helps the process, a lot more than cold turkey does… but the cravings still persist 2 weeks into the program (one week of that being the official non-smoking portion). I read that the full effect takes longer to achieve in some people, lucky me that I’m one of those people. Still - I don’t care. it helps enough, and I have enough willpower to combat what’s left over.
This Past Week
My experiences this week as a non-smoker manifested themselves in a number of unexpected guises.For example, yesterday my partner and I watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which is a bit of a long movie that my partner has never actually seen, followed by an hour of DVD extras. Now normally when a smoker is watching a movie, they are working against the cigarette clock. You need to re-fuel your addiction every hour or two, so timing is important when watching a movie. I didn’t have that consideration to observe this time. I was able to watch the movie in one sitting, no hitting of the pause button for a zip outside to smoke. It was really kinda cool, I can get used to that.
Another instance worth pointing out, one evening I was having terrible cravings for a cigarette, physical need for the drug that was distracting me. Somehow my brain played a switcheroo on me because I looked outside and saw sunshine - and I then had a craving for ice cream. This craving for ice cream in place made me forget I wanted a cigarette. I can handle a craving for ice cream without it ruining my day, now I just have to figure out a way to trick my brain into thinking every craving for a cigarette is actually a craving for ice cream.
So that’s week one as a non-smoker. I hate it and love it at the same time. I don’t remember a time that I’ve been so uncomfortable, yet so excited at the same time.
Originally published at BlueSmoke Studio. You can comment here or there.