After quitting smoking "cold turkey" how long until your cravings stop?

Answer 1

Thank goodness, I quit in January and haven't looked back. Not cold turkey though, and here is why. Smoking is a two part addiction. One is behavioral, and the other is physical. It really pays off to break them up and conquer them one at a time. At least with nic replacement, your lungs can start to heal. I guess I'm not such a good poster child for nic replacement therapy, I'm still using it, I haven't gotten the courage up to break off my physical addiction yet. I just wanted to quit smoking.

This doesn't answer your question, though, huh?

I have tried several times to quit and this is my longest without smoking (about 6 months). I still consider smoking but it isn't what I would call a craving. When I quit cold turkey, I was back to it within days. So it's kind of a "how many licks to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop?" type of question. At least for me, the world will never know because I could not quit cold turkey.

I have heard 72 hours to get the nic out of your system but I went longer than that and still was completely bonkers. In fact, the cravings didn't subside, they multiplied. I'm sure this is because while the nicotine might be out of your system, this only serves to really hit you hard that your body is rid of its fix...and that is no where NEAR the amount of time most people need to quit the behaviors and the rituals, the schedule patterns, etc that reinforce smoking so strongly.

Which brings in the behavior factors: With our regular smokes, such as morning, after meals, before bed, after sex, when you leave the house, when you start the car, coffee breaks, etc...we expect the cigarette to come afterward. So when you don't get it, you crave like one of Pavlov's dogs that were conditioned to salivate when the bell rang. (They were fed right after the bell rang and learned to associate bells with food.)

It's surely going to depend on what you do while you are going through that withdrawal. If you set about learning new habits so it isn't such a glaring omission of a smoke, and if you give your body the appropriate nutritional support, maybe even a fast or a detox, you may be able to feel normal again sooner.

It sounds weird but what worked for me was jumbling up all my patterns. You'd think this makes you feel less secure, less comfortable. What it does instead is minimize the pattern of smoking and makes quitting smoking not such a big deal, after all, your whole life is different. I would sleep during the day and wake at night. I ate weird times and found something to do afterward. I stayed out of the bars, I'm still not completely trustworthy I don't think, actually I have quit drinking altogether too.

Best to you. I just prayed for you to get it licked.

Answer 2

I quit 5 years ago and what seemed logical to me was to smoke a cigar once in a while if the cravings got really bad. That way I would not inhale (too strong), but I'd get the whole general smoking experience. That worked well. At first I had a couple a month, now I hardly ever even want a cigar, maybe a few a year (they are nasty). For me, there are no more cravings, it's just mental, mostly. I think the physical addiction is out of your system in a few days actually.

Answer 3

Natural Quit Smoking Magic

Answer 4

Yeah - 3 to 4 days and the cravings ease off a lot.
2 weeks and they should pretty much be done.
I smoked 2 packs a day for 20 years and quit about 2 years ago.
You can do it - It's hard but it's not that hard.

Answer 5

It can be different for different people and all depends on WHAT Triggers you wanting/craving it again...For some people just the smell of smoke is enough to want it again but for others is the look of smoking and some others like the taste etc..

It is ALL IN THE MIND and how strong willed you are at the end of the day. If you can BLOCK IT OUT completely, you can overcome the craving.

Answer 6

I quit smoking on my 30th bday last month, And honestly it was about 4days I was Flippn angry all the time tho I took a water bottle with me and when ever i got a craving I took a drink I found that too help alot. Good luck to you

Answer 7

it never stops but settles in about 3 months it is hard but worth it i wish you good luck every time you want a smoke drink water

Answer 8

well it is about this poor farmer, who had no land and had to work on other peoples land.

he had only one possession of his own in this world - his hand plough, made up of a wooden handle and an iron blade. He lived for free in a small chamber of a farm house owned by somebody else.

one day he thought, "to hell with this earthly life, I am going to live an ascetic life in the forest. He wanted to live in peace and careless and free like an animal, away from all worries of the world.

so he left his plough in his chamber and went to the forest and lived there and found peace of mind. But this lasted for only a few days! the thought of his hand plough was troubling him. Termites might have started on its wooden handle or somebody would have already got his hand on it etc

he finally couldn’t bear no more and returned back to the farm.

after a few months of the same life he again thought about living in the forest and finding peace

so he set out again

but again the thought of his hand plough troubled him and he had to return within a few weeks of living the ascetic life in forest

this thing repeated for 6 more times! every time he had to return to his farm. the 7 th time the poor farmer declared - "I will throw away my only possession and get rid of the problem for good"

he decided to throw the hand plough in the near by river and climbed up on a small hillock on the banks. he was quite clever so he decided he would close his eyes when he threw the plough so that he will not be able to come back and retrieve it again even if he wished to.

so he closed his eyes and swung the hand plough around his head three times and with a loud cry, threw it as far in to the river as he could

he was finally happy and laughing and declared "I WON" and started climbing down the hill

but the king of the land was camping on the same hillock, on the way back to his palace. He had been fighting big wars with many of the neighboring kings and had defeated them all and was coming back victorious

he heard the big cry "I WON" and wondered who it must be. so he asked his soldiers to fetch the man

he saw it was only our poor farmer, still with a great smile on his face, like that smile on the face of a tiger who had secretly swallowed the hunter.

the king said in amusement - "Hey man, I have won the big war on my enemies and added a lot of land to my kingdom. I thought I was the one who was the big winner here and the most happy. May I ask you to explain your loud cry "I WON" and the happy smile on your face?

the farmer who was still very happy and smiling, told the king, "your majesty, I have conquered myself! and that’s why I cried I WON. I am going to the forest, I want nothing any more and I have nothing to worry about"

Answer 9

15. to. 30 days was mine when i stopped smokin use chewing gum it helps on this i did and wintergreen gum works . my honest opion?