It would have been better if he'd taken more than two days nicotine free.
i've just accidentally gotten back into smoking like a smoker and it's got to stop, but 2-3 days of smoking like a smoker is enough to train my body back into the habit.
Is he a coffee drinker?
Sorry to keep bringing up poop but cigarettes do help you go, and focus, etc. so he is physically changing and it takes some getting use to.
Vitamin supplements can help, some people drink orange juice when they would go for a smoke break.

Good luck. Lapsing is not so bad, then he can try some other method fresh.

Tough habit to break, but well worth it. Our hopes are with him.

And on a different front, congrats on bagging yourself a hopefully soon to be official non-smoker.

I wish him luck, but take it 10 minutes at a time. It takes smokers an average of between 6 and 10 attempts to quit the habit for good - especially when you kind of throw yourself into it without planning and preparation. Each time you quit, you learn a little bit more about the obstacles your body's going to throw at you, and the difficult areas you'll encounter in changing your habits.

I'm not saying he won't make it this time, because some people do manage it on the first try. What I'm saying instead is not to be terribly disappointed if he doesn't make it a long time. Instead, focus on the positive about what he learned from the attempt, let him know it takes most people a few tries - it doesn't mean he's unable to quit and he shouldn't be upset with himself about it. If he doesn't make it, he can set another date to make a quit attempt, and prepare for it a bit by doing some advance planning, reading, research, etc. There are a lot of things a person can do to make quitting easier if you do some research.

But in case he powers through - yes, he's not going to be his normal self for a little while. It does NOT mean he'll be like that forever, but it is awfully hard to make this change and it sends your moods haywire for a while. Don't worry, he'll return to normal. In the meantime, it does require a little extra patience from you. But you'll laugh about it later when he's smoke-free.

Thanks, everyone. I used to smoke too but I was one of those annoying smokers that could quit fairly easily - or at least I quit before I was at the pack-a-day stage so it wasn't very traumatic for me.

He has tried to quit before, just not since he's known me. He's very self aware about it all, thinks he knows what his obstacles are, etc. He's grown so much lately that I think he does have a chance. Example: being "on stage" at our wedding forced him/us to deal with his social anxiety and he's taken away a lot of tools from that experience. I'm hoping these tools will be helpful as we've talked about how he uses smoking and smoke breaks to deal with his anxiety. He's been planning this for a while, but just keeping it as a bit of a surprise for me.

I have also told him that I met and married him as a smoker, and I will still love him if he remains one. But I hope he doesn't.

I was an anxiety smoker too. Best wishes. It totally can be overcome!

Oh, for me, exercise really helped because it helped reduce my anxiety. So if you want to help out, you could maybe offer to go for a walk or run with him in the evenings or just do anything physical. It takes a lot of edge off.

Best of luck!

Good luck to him! I've been trying forever.
Watch out with the patches, though. You ABSOLUTELY can't cheat and sneak a few puffs with one on, it's super-dangerous.
I had to give them up since they made my heart race in a scary way, but before that started they did wonders.

The patch served me well, but the bottom line is that you finally have to want it badly enough.

Word to the wise: tell him not to sleep with the patch on. I had some crazy fucked up dreams trying that, and I quickly found out that it's a common side effect.

I think half the success he's having with the patch so far is knowing he can't sneak any cigs and if he takes it off he has to wait several hours to have one.

Oh, and he did sleep with the patch on last night, precisely because of the side effects. He never ever remembers his dreams and was hoping to get some good ones. Didn't.

So far so good, guys!