Experiences kicking nicotine addictions |
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dougmcauliffe
Forum Senior Member Joined: February 23 2019 Location: US Status: Offline Points: 3895 |
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Posted: January 30 2020 at 17:39 |
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Might be an offbeat topic, but I’m curious if any of you have experience in quitting nicotine addictions or habits. I, like many people my age (18) got hooked on vaping a while ago and after realizing it was just making me feel lethargic and sh*tty, I went cold turkey 10 days ago. Still the cravings and withdrawal have been really awful and honestly haven’t been getting better. So if some of you have stories I could use some motivation. Obviously quitting cigs is harder, but this has been one of the most difficult things I’ve done in my life.
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siLLy puPPy
Special Collaborator PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic Joined: October 05 2013 Location: SFcaUsA Status: Offline Points: 15177 |
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Addictions are mostly subliminal programming. Check out Dr Bruce Lipton on YouTube. He has some methods for reprogramming your subconscious. Great job for quitting! Hope you stay that way :)
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Snicolette
Forum Senior Member Joined: November 02 2018 Location: OR Status: Offline Points: 6036 |
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Best of luck to you for quitting! One thing I found helpful (2+ packs a day smoker, quit in 1986) was to take frequent showers. Somebody said that while the nicotine is leaving your body, you can actually still smell it and it makes you crave the nicotine. I don't know if this is true, but showers are relaxing and it's hard to light up in the shower. I did a gradual let-up until I quit, making certain places and times I smoked not available anymore, like in the car, or indoors, or first thing in the am and also gradually cut back to lower nicotine cigarettes. Again, hang in there, it will get better! And you will feel so much better with time.
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"Into every rain, a little life must fall." ~Tom Rapp
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dougmcauliffe
Forum Senior Member Joined: February 23 2019 Location: US Status: Offline Points: 3895 |
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Interesting, may have to try that. I simply got rid of all my stuff. The thing is, the thought of doing it makes me feel repulsed, but the brain just won’t let up. It’s clear to me that progress isn’t linear, a couple days ago the cravings weren’t bad, but the past two days have been some of the worst. I figure as long as I don’t cave in, we can only go in the right direction. |
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Easy Money
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I quit gradually by not buying packs and only occasionally bumming from others or buying singles from stores that would illegally sell them. I had a new girlfriend who I was hiding my smoking from, so that helped.
Finally, i had not had one in a while and I suppose I lost some of my tolerance because the next time I bummed one while drunk I got very sick and that feeling lasted for a day or two. I never smoked a cigarette again. Unfortunately, my attraction to smoking other things increased, but I am really glad I quit my addiction to nicotine. Edited by Easy Money - January 30 2020 at 21:15 |
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timothy leary
Forum Senior Member Joined: December 29 2005 Location: Lilliwaup, Wa. Status: Offline Points: 5319 |
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After 50 years of smoking lucky strikes 3 years ago on New Years Day I quit cold turkey. The first step I believe is you really need to want to quit. The next step is to stay away from others who smoke during the initial period. The urge goes away with time and the improvement in taste is real.
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dougmcauliffe
Forum Senior Member Joined: February 23 2019 Location: US Status: Offline Points: 3895 |
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I’m now on day 19, cravings very minor and rare. Thanks for sharing your stories. I’ve been trying to fill the hole in my life that quitting nicotine/drugs has left behind currently.
Edited by dougmcauliffe - February 08 2020 at 12:01 |
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Snicolette
Forum Senior Member Joined: November 02 2018 Location: OR Status: Offline Points: 6036 |
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"Into every rain, a little life must fall." ~Tom Rapp
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timothy leary
Forum Senior Member Joined: December 29 2005 Location: Lilliwaup, Wa. Status: Offline Points: 5319 |
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Great job Doug
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twseel
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I quit this past summer after 4 years of increasing usage... Like 'timothy leary' said, it starts with really believing you want to quit. Nicotine really is an afwul, useless, manipulative substance and I could no longer think of excuses to keep using it. Then go cold turkey until the urge disappears, took me three months before it truly was gone, after that you should feel no more urge to start again.
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dougmcauliffe
Forum Senior Member Joined: February 23 2019 Location: US Status: Offline Points: 3895 |
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Well done, totally agree with your sentiments about nicotine. Nicotine does nothing but get you addicted. I’m close to 3 weeks in and the cravings are at the point where they aren’t strong enough to make me want to pick it back up like they were the first 10 days or so. |
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Logan
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Good job -- I hate the control nicotine has had on me and its effect on my brain chemistry. I hate the constant self-"medication".
I quite smoking almost ten years ago then got hooked on nicotine gum. I'm trying to break that habit. I'm giving it two more months. That said, when I went nicotine cold turkey I also found that frequent showers helped greatly. Also frequent heavy exercise (mountain biking was my main activity and I made sure that I rode-hiked to the peaks of mountains every day even in winter in snowy conditions. Had I not lived near mountains obviously my choice of activity would have been different. I also found a lot of sleep helped. What was hardest for me without nicotine was my job which required a lot of focus and a certain kind of creativity. It helped that I mostly worked from home on my computer. Showers did help to get the brain juices working and for relaxation. I found that my mind would find solutions without trying as I showered. When at uni I also found frequent showers helped when trying to compose my papers. It would just come to me as I showered, baths are another good option. I've rather wanted to set up an office where everyone does their work while in the bath/ showering -- we'd be the bathhouse prune crew. Oh, and those super sour Warheads candies helped. If I felt the urge I'd stick one of those in my mouth. |
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UMUR
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I´ve quit a couple of times through the years and started Again, but it´s never been the physical part which has bothered me when I quit. It´s always phychological and especially alcohol tricks my craving like nothing else. I have no problem in my everyday life at Work, at home, or in the weekends, but when I go out with the boys or go to a concert, or go to a football match, that´s when it gets hard. Therefore I have purchased a Little plastic Shell with nicotine ampules, which I use on those occassions, and it Works surprisingly well. After many years I have come to the conclusion that I can´t completely live without it, so I´ve made a compromise with myself.
I don´t use the substitute plastic cigarette often. Only when the craving occurs, so it´s not like I got a new daily habit to deal with. I guess I´m similar to a seasonal alcoholic or something like that. Edited by UMUR - February 09 2020 at 00:42 |
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Davesax1965
Forum Senior Member Joined: May 23 2013 Location: UK Status: Offline Points: 2830 |
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Nicotine is not addictive. It is habituating.
You don't wake up in the middle of the night desperate for nicotine. Nicotine is also a rather important neurotransmitter in the brain, so when you've tuned yourself to expect a level of it, reducing that level produces unpleasant confusion and a vaguely nauseous feeling. Yes, it's "a withdrawal symptom", but don't confuse that with the potentially fatal symptoms you get from withdrawing suddenly from opiates or even alcohol. When stopping smoking, most of the nicotine in your system is metabolised within a couple of hours and then you are completely nicotine free within three or so days. It's a small price to pay if you want to give up smoking. Just do it over a long weekend. I very easily transitioned away from cigarettes a few years ago, giving myself an occasional top up of nicotine from an e cigarette. Before anyone goes on about e cigs, yes, I make my own liquid and it's 100 percent safe, Uninformed Fact Quoters. Eventually, I was completely off cigarettes. Guess what ? I got utterly bored and started smoking again. Why ? Because I like it. You have to die of something, after all. As for "lung cancer risks", smoking is the primary cause of statistics, and whilst there is an elevated risk of cancer, be it throat, tongue, lung, whatever, when you look at the figures, they are somewhat overegged to scare the unknowing. The risks of cancer from drinking or being overweight are actually much higher, believe it or not. The main thing about stopping smoking is that you have to want to do so. If you don't, you're wasting your time. You then stop putting them in your mouth and lighting them. It's that easy. |
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Davesax1965
Forum Senior Member Joined: May 23 2013 Location: UK Status: Offline Points: 2830 |
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The other suggestion for kicking nicotine is..... well, if you absolutely can't, try e-cigarettes.
Despite the current Moral Panic, e-cigarettes are safe. I used to make my own liquid, the components of which are FDA regulated food additives for flavouring, nicotine (see "neurotransmitter" above), vegetable glycerine (see "in lots of food") and / or polyethylene glycol, which is used in both eye and neurosurgery. You get a nicotine hit, and might find you prefer the cleaner taste to cigarettes, which taste like a burning haystack after you get used to vaping. However. There's a lot of fiddling about. Poly glycol tends to dry your throat out, you have to charge batteries up and get new atomisers (I make my own coils and wicks too, sad bunny). Which leads us to another alternative - pipes or cigars. Shock horror but hear me out. Amongst pipe smokers (I've been smoking a pipe for 17-18 years) the old saying is "cigarettes are an addiction, cigars are a hobby but pipes are a religion". It's probably true. I mainly gave up cigarettes (I smoke 5 a day, max, now) as I really didn't like them any more. Cigarettes are full of the cheapest, dryest, floor scrapings of tobacco you can find. You tend to smoke a cigarette for a nicotine injection. And a lot of people inhale. Inhalation brings a much heightened risk of lung cancer. I used to smoke cigars, but it gets quite expensive, especially if you smoke Cuban cigars, which I did. However, you're smoking quality, and not quantity. Smoking actually becomes enjoyable again, especially with a pipe. Most pipe smokers I know only smoke a bowl or two a day, they smoke quality, handmade, natural tobaccos, the flavour and taste is fantastic and there's nothing quite like a contemplative moment with a pipe. Or half an hour, for that matter. The cancer risks, compared to smoking, are thought to be less, though there's no conclusive study due to small sample size - only 2% of smokers in the US smoke a pipe. Pipe tobacco, in general, also contains much less nicotine than cigarette tobacco. So your one bowl a day effectively weans you off cigarettes as well. You might be worried that you look like some crusty old frat, gentlemen, I am indeed a crusty old frat. And I don' geef no sheet what other people think I look like, as I sit here smoking the finest tobacco known to man. Quality, not quantity. And if you're worried about your street cred, may I remind you all that we're on a prog rock forum ? ;-) EDIT: this is not to say pipe smoking carries no risk. All tobacco smoking carries risks, the same as drinking alcohol carries cancer risks. The Surgeon General etc etc. "Healthier alternatives if you just can't give up" rather than "You SHOULD smoke a pipe". Edited by Davesax1965 - February 09 2020 at 03:30 |
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micky
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: October 02 2005 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 46833 |
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hah.. advice for kicking the habit is like a****les.. all have them.
but the Big Mick is the biggest of all and has the best advice of all. get yourself married... and marry a smoking hot Morman... but don't.. DO NOT fall prey to the redheaded variety.. you might stop smoking.. but you will still burn in hell.
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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timothy leary
Forum Senior Member Joined: December 29 2005 Location: Lilliwaup, Wa. Status: Offline Points: 5319 |
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Nicotine is addictive. Use the same willpower to smoke not to smoke.
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Blacksword
Prog Reviewer Joined: June 22 2004 Location: England Status: Offline Points: 16130 |
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I quit cigarettes in September last year. I used gum.
It was my fourth attempt, and I find it tough. I wasn't even a heavy smoker (around 7 - 10 a day) but the habit is tough for me to break. I'm quite a weak character, anyway, with an addictive personality. Smoking was 'my thing' The ritual of withdrawing from a situation and having five minutes of 'me time' was my way of coping with anxiety. I have found I am eating a lot more and putting on weight. I feel pretty miserable to be frank, but I know it was worth doing after 30 years. Taking it up in the first place is the only significant regret I have in life, and I would appeal to any young person to never take it up. At best it's a waste of money, and at worst it'll knock at least 20 years off your life expectancy. I'm glad it's become a pariah's pursuit, and, I believe, on track to be completely banned. |
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ExittheLemming
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I was a very heavy smoker (30 to 40 a day, maybe more at the weekend) but finally quit smoking 8 years ago (I'm 57) and 'cold turkey' was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life so I can empathize with those who are finding it tough. My mood swings were on the cusp of bi-polar and I gained a lot of weight. There is no real secret to quitting but what I found pivotal in the end was simply 'dropping' every single one of my acquaintances who smoked. Yes, that sounds a tad extreme but desperate measures etc. The vast majority of said acquaintances never sought out my company afterwards so maybe we were just bonded by slavery. Best cure for a lot of addictions is thinning out the herd...One of the best incentives of all is that it's an instant 'massive' pay rise.
Edited by ExittheLemming - February 10 2020 at 03:10 |
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moshkito
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Dang Dave ... I can smell that all the way here ... is it anything like a Cuban Cigar? BTW, I quit smogging 3 and a half months ago, after likely 10 years of it (had quit before) ... and my quitting was easy ... I'm done! Sometimes, your will is all you gotta confront ... and since I don't do fights with my will, or argue with it ... we're good friends!!!!! ... I just quit ... it was no big deal!
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