I feel like I'm constantly craving a smoke, will these cravings ever end?

I feel like I'm constantly craving a smoke, will these cravings ever end?

Linda Hyder Ferry (Associate Professor, Preventive Medicine and Family Medicine, Loma Linda University School of Medicine) gives expert video advice on: How can I avoid the temptation to smoke?; What can I do with my hands instead of smoking?; How can I relax without cigarettes? and more...

The real nicotine cravings that go on in your brain cyclically, maybe every 20 minutes, every 60 minutes, that just make your stomach queasy and make your throat dry, wanting a cigarette, are temporary and limited. It will go on, after you quit smoking, for 2 to 6 weeks and then it gets better. In fact, for some people, at day 5 to day 7 they start noticing the cravings diminish. But if withdrawal symptoms and craving, craving being one of the nicotine withdrawal symptoms, if that's really what's gotten you trapped, you really need to talk to someone about some medications that control craving. Because nicotine replacement, bupropion and verinicline medications can really stabilize your need to have nicotine to create that sensation that's being set off by craving. Remember that it's not just the chemistry in your brain that makes you have a craving to smoke. So look for other triggers. Figure out, "What am I doing when I have this overwhelming need to smoke" and try and change the environment, what you're doing or what you're thinking. The other thing is, next time you have one of those cravings, force yourself not to smoke and look into your watch for 2-5 minutes. Do something else. Distract yourself. At the end of five minutes, is the craving still there, strong as it was before? I bet it's not.