Days Without a Cigarette: 1.78125
Days Without Nicotine: 0
Dollars Saved: -$31.79
There seems to be some disagreement on which part is the hardest. Going into this, it seemed like everybody was basically telling me the same thing: The first twenty-four hours are the hardest. But as I approached my actual quit date, some of my friends who’d quit started being a bit more cautious and telling me the first 48 hours were really the hardest and that sometimes the second day is harder than the first.
Well now, as I approach the end of day two, many of those same people have switched to telling me that the first 72 hours are the hardest. And something tells me that tomorrow they’re gonna change that to the first 96.
And you know what? I’m good with that. It’s a lie I’m enjoying. I mean, I know that at some point it has to get easier than this, because if it didn’t nobody would have ever quit. It would be like perpetual motion machines or something. No human being would endure a lifetime of feeling like I feel right now every few minutes forever. So sure, at some point it’s gonna get easier. But I’m pretty sure that point isn’t tomorrow. But even if the nadir isn’t 24 hours, I wanted to think it was. And if it isn’t 48 hours, I still wanted to think it was. And in a sense, it was. It just isn’t anymore. It’s not exactly a lie even though it isn’t true. Because the hardest 24 hours are the next 24 hours, and that’s really all I need to think about right now.
Noah Quits 
Yeah. This was how I dealt with my hospital recovery. Just 24 more hours of feeling nausea and pain. And then 24 more hours. It was ok that I kept thinking it might get better tomorrow even if it really swung back and forth between terrible and just bad.
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In all honesty, I don’t really remember the first week when I quit. It was 31 years ago, and it probably wasn’t the best week of my life. All I can tell you for sure is that you won’t die, and that it will be more than worth it. Hang in there, bud.
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I love that you’re keeping track of the days by that many decimal places. I did something similar, although a bit more kindergarten-ish. I got a bunch of sheets of graph paper, taped them to the hallway wall, and colored in one square with bright markers for every 15 minutes I went without. It was kinda fun.
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Quitting is different for everyone, but keep one thing in particular in mind. You are giving up smoking cigarettes totally, but gradually reducing your nicotine dose. That might stretch the quitting symptoms out a bit, in time but not in intensity. I quit in the 90’s and I did use the gum. I was an irregular smoker, so the gum was recommended since you can “dose” yourself when needed, not necessarily the same amount every hour. No one can give you a real timeline other than it does get better, take it one day at a time. You tend to live off of stress, and stress can also kick in the cravings more. And keep at it, eventually you’ll find it was well worth the effort.
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