Hi Cruella,
You've gotten some great advice here. I found the deep breaths particularly helpful early on. Taking that deep breath, holding it for a second or two and letting it out so slowly.
But what really made a difference for me -- what got me off the track of going a three or four days and then relapsing -- was rearranging my attitude. Now I thought I had a really great attitude. I wanted to quit more than anything, and that's what a great attitude is, right?
But I was looking at it the wrong way. I was looking at it as QUITTING smoking rather than BEGINNING my new life. I considered myself deprived of cigarettes instead of FREE from them. I considered my withdrawal symptoms to be cries for what I needed instead of what they really were -- signs that my body was healing.
There is an easier way and it's totally in your control to find it.
Check out this thread by Zep Using Attitude to Reduce Anxiety (I hope I did this right. It's the first time I've tried to link to something else...)
You can do this. YOU CAN DO IT!
YQS,
Jessica aka AMD33
Four weeks, 7 hours, 21 minutes and 58 seconds. 254 cigarettes not smoked, saving $64.84. Life saved: 21 hours, 10 minutes.