Quitting nicotine

[fingercuffs]

Now the temptation is gonna be seeing people who smoke. I avoided it the last days. Eventually gonna be around smokers again. It's Germany. So many people smoke. A lot.
Just brace the pain and get a reward.
Weaker into stronger.

This is what fucked me over. Friends at my local bar all going out for a smoke and me not.

You WILL grow to hate the smell of it rather than the temptation to get drawn back in again. I'm going to Vegas next month and the smell of smoke in the casinos is really quite nasty to me now.

 

[fingercuffs]

I used the patch and a nicorette vape thing to get me over the 3 month hump. Been about 6 years, cant recall an urge since.

You have to literally WANT to quit. Angrily, want to quit. If there is any voice telling you why you enjoy smoking, you aren’t ready. When you’re fed up wasting that kind of money and slowly killing yourself you’ll make it happen.

Tough but definitely doable. Don’t give up.

That's the spirit!

 

[Berserker13]

 

[fingercuffs]

There is a period of time before you kick that you're going to want to limit exposure to social or societal pressures, when you're still vulnerable and potentially influenced by it. Especially if it's a drinking environment and you're partaking. That makes your goal much harder to achieve. This was an issue for me too. You have to factor that in to your plan. But by the time you do quit, if you've carried out the steps to eliminate from your life and your needs, being around it shouldn't be an issue. And just being honest, a few relapses are expected. I had quit solid for nearly a year before my first relapse. Happened a few more times. Eventually I was really ready to move on. It takes time.

What's funny is I needed to develop a system, draw it all out and it took me years to fully quit for good. When I began this process my wife who smoked as much as I did was like, I'm just gonna quit. I thought no way, it won't work, but she did. She dropped it just like that. So I mean some people can do that. But most can't and need to come up with their own plan.

Your wife's a trooper.

I had a mixed support system, sometimes husband couldn't be more supportive and then flipside we had a row and he went to the shop and bought a pack of Marlboro thinking it would shut me up.

 

[whocares]

I allowed myself to really simmer in a deep hatred and disgust for cigarettes and let that become a groundswell of intention to drive my desire to quit. Like every time I smoked I entrenched the mindset that I hated it and that it was my adversary. That mindset helped carry me along because I was hopelessly addicted and never thought I'd be able to quit.

Any bit of of mental warfare, trickery, you have to use it all. Anything you can do to claw back against the addictions call, use it. I took control of my triggers one at a time. We used to smoke in our apartment (gross). So real easy, we made a rule, no more of that. the simple act of having to go outside, especially in the winter, is going to make you smoke less.

I used to smoke first thing in the morning when I woke up. Starting making myself wait an hour, after breakfast and what have you. Or if I were going out for a few hours I would leave my cigs at home. Little things that let me regain the ability to say no, neutralize triggers and be able to consciously control them.

I also weaned down slowly. I never set a quit date, that concept is counterproductive, you're ready when you're ready, you don't need added arbitrary pressure.

Another thing I would do is smoke half a cigarette (I used only smoke 3/4 before chucking them anyway) but count that as a cigarette. So this saved money and also techically cut my consumption in half (actually less than half). And many more things like that. Every regular habit that I'd attached to smoking over the years, I detached that habit away from associating it with lighting up. Just one at a time so reducing my smoking and gaining more control of my ability to control the when and where was always gradually working towards my goal without creating any steep cliffs that could cause a setback.

The last few months I was only smoking 2-4 of those half cigs a day. When it got down to 1-2 and I hardly had any nicotine left in my system, I switched to nicorette. I only used it for serious cravings so a couple times a day. After a week i didn't need that anymore.

When I relapsed (from being around people smoking and drinking regularly), it was much easier to stop this time. Quit for a while, relapsed again. Quit again. Maybe one more time, but the last time I knew I was done with it. Been nicotine free about 12 years now.

 

[whocares]

Your wife's a trooper.

I had a mixed support system, sometimes husband couldn't be more supportive and then flipside we had a row and he went to the shop and bought a pack of Marlboro thinking it would shut me up.

I wasn't dissuading her, but I definitely called bullshit initially. We smoked together, a lot, for years. I just assumed our addiciton was the same. I knew how hard it was going to be for me and I wanted to quit first, while she was indifferent. So I told her, it's going to be very hard for me if you're around me smoking all the time and she was like ok I'll quit. And I was lol it's not that easy. She was like yeah, I'll quit. So let's just say I was skeptical. But she dropped it like it didn't exist and I was like wtf was that lol.

I've got a weird thing with quitting, (I did this with alcohol too) that when I'm done, I like having a cigarette or some booze in the house, it's kind of a mental fortitude thing. In my mind, I'm not really rock solid if that substance is tempting me at all. Probably not a good idea for most people but its a tool I've used that has helped me. We're all a little different in that regard of what our needs are or how to protect ourselves.

 

[chardog]

I quit for 15 years and went to vaping because I enjoyed it, not sure if the urge ever goes away, i just love to smoke

 

[POWER SLAP WORLD CHAMPION]

TS, RN:

 

[Trabaho]

There is a period of time before you kick that you're going to want to limit exposure to social or societal pressures, when you're still vulnerable and potentially influenced by it. Especially if it's a drinking environment and you're partaking. That makes your goal much harder to achieve. This was an issue for me too. You have to factor that in to your plan. But by the time you do quit, if you've carried out the steps to eliminate from your life and your needs, being around it shouldn't be an issue. And just being honest, a few relapses are expected. I had quit solid for nearly a year before my first relapse. Happened a few more times. Eventually I was really ready to move on. It takes time.

What's funny is I needed to develop a system, draw it all out and it took me years to fully quit for good. When I began this process my wife who smoked as much as I did was like, I'm just gonna quit. I thought no way, it won't work, but she did. She dropped it just like that. So I mean some people can do that. But most can't and need to come up with their own plan.

As for relapsing. I quit thc 4 years ago. After I quit sometimes I still took a puff. It was seeing friends who are smokers. I felt shitty smoking again, like it makes me paranoid. I could smoke right now and not care to smoke again.

So even if I smoked a cig sometimes in the future. I won't run to a store and buy a whole pack.

It takes like 1 whole year to entirely unwire the brain from nicotine.

I guess if due to work / school I'll be exposed to smokers regulary again, just go away from where people stand and smoke. Suffer it. That oh a cig would be so nice, like denying yourself pleasure. Just suck it in. It gets easier. I can't go another 7 years talking bout stopping without doing it.

The key for me was really wanting to quit as opposed to just knowing I should. Maybe that sounds like nonsense but it's the best that I can describe it.

It makes perfect sense

 

[Trabaho]

I quit for 15 years and went to vaping because I enjoyed it, not sure if the urge ever goes away, i just love to smoke

You love it cause it's a drug that hijacks your brains pleasure receptors. It gives you dopamine / pleasure for free. It's a instant feel good button without doing anything for it.

 

[whocares]

As for relapsing. I quit thc 4 years ago. After I quit sometimes I still took a puff. It was seeing friends who are smokers. I felt shitty smoking again, like it makes me paranoid. I could smoke right now and not care to smoke again.

So even if I smoked a cig sometimes in the future. I won't run to a store and buy a whole pack.

It takes like 1 whole year to entirely unwire the brain from nicotine.

I guess if due to work / school I'll be exposed to skokers regulary again, just go away from where people stand and smoke. Suffer it. That oh a cig would be so nice, like denying yourself pleasure. Just suck it in. It gets easier. I can't go another 7 years talking bout stopping without doing it.

It makes perfect sense

I always felt like the industry tells us that nicotine is the hardest part, I've heard the narrative for years nicotine is harder to kick than heroin. but i really found that nicotine was the lesser evil and controlling it from being intertwined with all of your habits is the harder part. Think like an invasive vine that climbs up a tree and strangles its branches. Even cutting that vine and untangling from the trees limbs takes work. To me, the nicotine, would be if you were fertilizing the vines to make them stronger.

I think that urge we get when we see it, the nostalgia or whatever, is something different than both nicotine or habit. Its touching that sensory pleasure nerve that you associate with lighting up. That thing definitely takes the longest to go away. Thats the one where you just have to learn how to grin and bear it. Eventually even seeing people smoke will do nothing for you.

 

[chardog]

You love it cause it's a drug that hijacks your brains pleasure receptors. It gives you dopamine / pleasure for free. It's a instant feel good button without doing anything for it.

well, I do love the smell of it, even after quitting for so very long, in fact, I do smoke cigarettes every time I travel international, it's like a guilty pleasure, but as long as I'm in america, I'll hardly ever touch cigarettes no matter the stress levels. I did quit entirely for a very long time (zero nicotine of any kind), probably my wife set me off smoking again, however, I couldnt ever hate smoking, I just got sick of that shit one day, and stopped in my early twenties..... around my fourth child, I started again....

 

[fingercuffs]

I wasn't dissuading her, but I definitely called bullshit initially. We smoked together, a lot, for years. I just assumed our addiciton was the same. I knew how hard it was going to be for me and I wanted to quit first, while she was indifferent. So I told her, it's going to be very hard for me if you're around me smoking all the time and she was like ok I'll quit. And I was lol it's not that easy. She was like yeah, I'll quit. So let's just say I was skeptical. But she dropped it like it didn't exist and I was like wtf was that lol.

I've got a weird thing with quitting, (I did this with alcohol too) that when I'm done, I like having a cigarette or some booze in the house, it's kind of a mental fortitude thing. In my mind, I'm not really rock solid if that substance is tempting me at all. Probably not a good idea for most people but its a tool I've used that has helped me. We're all a little different in that regard of what our needs are or how to protect ourselves.

Yeah I didn't really have the need for having a pack of cigarettes because there was a shop a 3 minute walk away.
I slipped up at work a couple of times and asked someone for a cigarette after a tumultuous trip in the UK before flying back but that was 4ish years ago now, I have literally no need for them anymore and it's such a relief not being bound to it. Going outside in the pouring rain with an umbrella to satisfy an addiction is pretty pitiful thinking back on it. Husband never smoked so I didn't smoke indoors.

 

[Simple Southerner]

Quitting nicotine ain't shit a year later and I'm still struggling without bud & liq

 

[Trabaho]

I quit for 15 years and went to vaping because I enjoyed it, not sure if the urge ever goes away, i just love to smoke

I can both vape and smoke. Just gotta be close in nicotine amount. Actually I went for only vaping cause I sort of overdosed on cigs. During gaming, another guilty pleasure I touch less these days, cigs helped me focus. One evening I smoked non stop cigs gaming. I counted 17 cigs in 4 hours. I just suddenly felt bad and started making coffe, thinking maybe I just need a coffe. Than I just got a bad episode as in the whole evening I was panicking. Went outside for a walk and just thought I was gonna get a heart attack. Basically just too much nicotine. Cortisol / stress went up. Basically a panic attack. Was really nasty. With vapes of only 0.3% nicotine I could puff between games and not get sick. Nicotine increases focus. It was such a habbit to take puffs inbetween gaming.
Most I saw was a friend who finished a whole pack in 1-2 hour while drinking. Really sick. No wonder dude is my age and has chronic artritis.

 

[Trabaho]

Just walked pass a girl who is young and becoming a junky. Walking round asking for money. Was gonna walk up to me and aks for money I turned her down with my eyes. The slight smile look down and shake head as in "no sorry". She is young, pretty and now visibly doing crack or heroin. She started crying. I mean who the fuck overwatches these young girls. She might be 20. Did she flee from the ukraine war and randomly try heroin ? I hate hate drug dealers. Who sell hard drugs. They indirectly murder these kids over some profit. This girl might not have parents to look after her. Naive and some idiot offered her drugs. Another addict or maybe someone targeting them to get customers. Really bad. They don't do this in Dubai.

 

[fingercuffs]

I can both vape and smoke. Just gotta be close in nicotine amount. Actually I went for only vaping cause I sort of overdosed on cigs. During gaming, another guilty pleasure I touch less these days, cigs helped me focus. One evening I smoked non stop cigs gaming. I counted 17 cigs in 4 hours. I just suddenly felt bad and started making coffe, thinking maybe I just need a coffe. Than I just got a bad episode as in the whole evening I was panicking. Went outside for a walk and just thought I was gonna get a heart attack. Basically just too much nicotine. Cortisol / stress went up. Basically a panic attack. Was really nasty. With vapes of only 0.3% nicotine I could puff between games and not get sick. Nicotine increases focus. It was such a habbit to take puffs inbetween gaming.
Most I saw was a friend who finished a whole pack in 1-2 hour while drinking. Really sick. No wonder dude is my age and has chronic artritis.

My chronic hip Arthritis was due to many things, pretty sure smoking wasn't one of them haha.

 

[Axe720]

Is normal. Nicotine is a stimulant, so kicking it can lead to short-term issues with concentration and gym performance. Had the same thing happen to me when I kicked the habit after smoking for about 5 or 6 years.

The good news is after this withdrawal period passed, I got into the best shape of my life. Went from having a poor gas tank to being an absolute gas station when it came to cardio. Also once I got the taste of nicotine out of my mouth, there was like a 6-month period where food tasted absolutely amazing, so enjoy that.

 

[Versez]

I used the patch and a nicorette vape thing to get me over the 3 month hump. Been about 6 years, cant recall an urge since.

You have to literally WANT to quit. Angrily, want to quit. If there is any voice telling you why you enjoy smoking, you aren’t ready. When you’re fed up wasting that kind of money and slowly killing yourself you’ll make it happen.

Tough but definitely doable. Don’t give up.

Man I feel pumped after hearing this. I’m not a smoker but when I’m very drunk I smoke a cig or two.

 

[Trabaho]

Is normal. Nicotine is a stimulant, so kicking it can lead to short-term issues with concentration and gym performance. Had the same thing happen to me when I kicked the habit after smoking for about 5 or 6 years.

The good news is after this withdrawal period passed, I got into the best shape of my life. Went from having a poor gas tank to being an absolute gas station when it came to cardio. Also once I got the taste of nicotine out of my mouth, there was like a 6-month period where food tasted absolutely amazing, so enjoy that.

When did you performance come back to normal ? I am having basic fatigue. How long was your withdrawl ? The loss of energy