Yuku free message boards

Good question Christine and congratulations on this wonderful wonderful beginning! There are two different factors overlapping around the 72 hour mark. The first is that our chemical or physiological withdrawal symptoms peak in intensity - that underlying current of anxiety that's often accompanied by other objective chemical withdrawal symptoms ranging from headaches to constipation.

Due to nicotine's half-life being pretty much the same for all of us (about 2 hours) the outside timing (72 hours) of our brain beginning to sense the arrival of nicotine-free oxygen rich blood is fixed by time. Although some chemical adjustment symptoms may persist for up to 10 days to 2 weeks, almost all quitters begin noticing the underlying current of anxiety beginning to ease off with three days.

Christine, meeting, greeting and defeating our psychological nicotine feeding cues or triggers is a second factor that for the "average" quitter seems to also peak at about day three. But encountering the maximum number of psychological crave triggers (an average of about six on day three) is based solely on engaging life and encountering them and having them triggered. What if we hide away in a closet and avoid most of our triggers until day 15? What then? What if we're not the "average" quitter and our weekly feeding cues are vastly different?

Alternatively, what if we put ourselves in a position to encounter as many triggers as possible on day #1 - the withdrawal warrior? I don't know. I think a natural pace - with us holding back on engaging one or two bigger concerns until we feel a bit more confident and ready - might be better than trying to take the lead and risking overload.

For example, why would any new quitter in the peak period of crave reconditioning, and really craving nicotine badly, walk into a drinking establishment where they know they'll be surrounded by scores and scores of smokers, and then drink large quantities of an inhibition diminishing and mind altering substance to the point where their craves defeat their conscious dreams of freedom? Talk about risky behavior! Some pull it off very early in recovery but we see (or don't see) far far more who don't.

Again, congratulations on taking back control of your mind, Christine! It's a wonderful and loving gift being willing to recover "you" for "you!"

Breathe deep, hug hard, live long! John