Try again,
I didn't notice your post the first time around... not until Josie posted to you that your post finally caught my eye. The thing with this addiction is that it DOES take a long time and you WILL experience cravings. We smoked for many years, so it's going to take more than a few months to get over it. It took me about a year and a half before I quit having any cravings or smoking thoughts. That doesn't mean I thought about smoking everyday for that long, but I did get smoking thoughts on a regular basis for that long. But, the longer you go without smoking, the less the cravings are. But right now, you're still on NRT, which means that you're still getting nicotine.
You said that you were getting increased cravings and were almost off the NRT... that seems completely normal to me. Your body was learning to live without the NRT (or at least very little of it) when you went and put more of it back in your system through the gum. Unfortunately sweetie, you're gonna have to just bite the bullet at some point and face the cravings. The ONLY way to become completely free of this addiction is to face the cravings head on and say "NO MATTER WHAT, I DON'T SMOKE!!!!!" When you're ready to do that, we'll of course be right behind you cheering you on as we have been every step of this journey for you and we will continue to be.
Most NRT programs are about 10 week programs. It seems that you've been quit for about 16 weeks... is that right? So it sounds like it's nearing time to quit the gum. I know that quitting the NRT is a scary thought for you, and something you were hoping would just go smoothly and naturally with no increased cravings, but unfortunately this is a tough addiction and the junkie inside you WILL fight back with some pretty intense cravings, but you CAN do this! You CAN be completely nicotine free!
I recommend setting a quit date for the NRT, just as you did the cigarettes. Get some coping mechanisms ready and reward yourself, just as you do with quitting smoking. You're still addicted and will continue to be an active addict (say THAT 10 times fast! LOL) until you quit the NRT. We're ready when you are! :)
Crave the Quit!
[B]My Milage:[/B]
[B]My Quit Date: [/B]6/17/2005
[B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 700
[B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 17,500
[B]Amount Saved:[/B] $2,891.00
[B]Life Gained:[/B]
[B]Days:[/B] 49 [B]Hrs:[/B] 9 [B]Mins:[/B] 11 [B]Seconds:[/B] 48
