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How Long Do Cigarette Cravings Last?
When I quit smoking, I never expected my cravings to last this long.
I quit smoking just over a year ago, and the hardest part of the experience was resisting the cravings. The urge to smoke a cigarette was sometimes so strong that it took everything in me to get past it.
There were many times that it felt like the cravings would never end. I worried that I’d constantly be thinking about smoking for the rest of my life. Fortunately, that was not the case.
Below is the timeline of my experience with cigarette cravings. Although everyone’s mind and body react slightly differently to quitting smoking, I hope that my experiences can give others a ballpark idea of what to expect.
The First Three Days
During my first three days without cigarettes, my cravings were constant. I woke up thinking about smoking, and I went to bed thinking about smoking.
Shortly after quitting, I began experiencing all kinds of withdrawal symptoms, including headaches and a confused, foggy mind. These symptoms acted as a constant trigger for my cravings. I kept thinking that if I could just have a cigarette, all of these symptoms would disappear.
I was very frustrated when I looked up advice for getting through the cravings. Many websites stated that cravings only lasted a few minutes, and suggested that by distracting myself I could get through them. This didn’t match my experience at all.
My cravings weren’t just a few minutes, they were literally the main thing on my mind for days. Distractions helped a tiny amount for getting through them, but I relied much more heavily on visualization techniques.
Specifically, I tried to visualize what would happen if I gave into my cravings, compared with what would happen if I resisted. I knew that giving in would lead me right back to another painful quitting attempt. Resisting was my only real path forward.
Day 4 to Day 30
After the first few days, my cravings gradually became less constant. Unfortunately, they were still on my mind for the vast majority of my first month without cigarettes.
