Thirty six hours.
That's how long since I've had a smoke... Thursday night, 07 Sep 17, 7:30 PM MDT, I found the longest half-smoked butt and got a couple of drags out of it before deciding to quit altogether.
That was it. Cravings, or at least the mechanical desire to pull a cigarette out of the pack, find a lighter, and take that first drag, ocurred. So I took a half of a Niacin pill, got all flushed and skin-itchy from that.
Hm. Decided maybe that wasn't such a good idea for someone my age.
But I had figured maybe Niacin (nicotinic acid) would give me a substitute for the nicotine withdrawal itself. Drank lots and lots of water, too. Then I got a rush of brains to the head and realized that subtituting nicotinic acid for nicotine was no way to break the addiction. Dummy!
Thirty-six hours into it, now, Saturday~7:30 AM MDT 09 Sep 17.
Yesterday wasn't bad. I busied myself around the house, but because I hadn't emptied any of the ashtrays, everytime my nose passed one, the smell would kick in a Crave. Took care of that right quick and emptied the ashtrays and put them out on the balcony. I knew if I went grocery shopping, I'd succumb to the desire to buy a carton of cigarettes, so I dug into my legendary "72 hour supply" of foodstuffs and powdered milk to sustain myself.
I made a game of anticipating what would trigger that mechanical craving as I diddled around the house, and laughing to myself when the Crave was indeed triggered: "Ha! Gotcha! I knew you'd do that! Out, out, damned Crave!" Got to be quite a game. They usually went away in only a couple of minutes, but they were distracting nontheless.
Couldn't do anything creative --which was of course, when I would smoke the heaviest. Pause to think, light a cigarette, think, solve creative problem, put cigarette down, and continue.
This morning, Saturday, for some reason it was really bad. Every sip of coffee demanded an accompanying cigarette. Got up about 5:30 AM, had a cup of coffee and suddenly I was ready to root around in the trash for a butt longer than an inch to light up. I was even ready to chew on the brown-stained filters.
So, back to lots and lots of water, but no Niacin.
Decided I had better wait on the already-overdue grocery shopping --not sure of my own "strength" in this little project at this point. I am sure to say, "Oh, what the hell," and buy "just one pack," then change my mind right there at the counter and say, "Oh, what the hell," and go ahead and buy a carton anyhow.
I'm weak, weak as water, and I know it.
"A man's got to know his limitations."
So I'll stick it out, right here at home, working on that 72-hour supply. After all, I do know myself pretty well, and it seems every time I say, "Oh, what the hell" about something, I get in trouble.
Then I checked, and sure indeedy, that craving is intensified by the second or third day with a lot of folks who quit smoking.
Thus armed, I go forth to face the day.
But I don't think I'll go shopping yet. I may hit that 72 hours on my emergency food supply, though.
Terry