Recovery 16 days of not smoking cigarettes

[Ragnarok-isinsight]

I love this thread, I myself am trying to get off the cigarette train. I started smoking 4months ago and it's been a daily thing, averaging 3-4 a day most of the time but recently I've even gone so high as half a pack.

I've tapered and gotten off alcohol 5-6 times now, for some reason I have no will power however with cigarettes. I started smoking as a way to relieve anxiety and urges to drink, so to me it's was a lesser of two evils at the time since alcohol has always been a demon on my back.

Currently I'm 3ish weeks sober from alcohol and I'd like to wait cigarettes before the cold new England weather beats me to a pulp just so I can smoke a little cancer stick. I'm fighting the urge to smoke when my last one was 4 hours ago. I usually make a good taper schedule and can stick to it no matter how slow I take it, but man I love the feeling of cigarettes.

Keep me posted on your quitting progress guys. I'd love the support.

 

[SebastianSkip]

Thank you all for replies. I read them the other day but I was on my phone and not logged in. I’ve been meaning to come back and reply.
First tho...

This has been by far the worst day of my quit. I want to scream. The entire day has been one big craving, I was nearly out the door to buy cigarettes. Thankfully I checked my hair and saw ... my skin is clear even toned and I looked at my gums which still are a bit crusty and miscolored on the bottom but look so much better (on top they’re smooth and bright fleshy pink). It slowed me down a bit, it wasn’t long before I was almost out the door again but I hugged my dog and looked at my quit smoking phone app which says my gum circulation and texture should be 40% to ‘normal’. I don’t know what normal is but it’s obviously A LOT better.

I love my dog.
I love my dog more than even seems possible.

I brought him home a year ago, I had wanted a dog so much for so long! I was so excited. It was stressful and I was often nervous and second guessed myself. I was even delusional because I remember thinking he was kinda ugly (insane! My boy aughta be in pictures, he’s so fine).
So I know it can be rough at first and I know there’s absolutely no way to know anything about a dog the first 48 hrs (atleast)
but
I’m losing my mind. I brought home a second dog. I met a dog and I wasn’t sure but they said I could do a two week trial

Sh*t, I’m feeling so guilty because I can’t handle this and as I’m writing realize I wasn’t full-on from start. I’ve been so stressed I forgot and downplayed this part.

I am NOT ready for this.

I’m not ready to cope with the stress of a new dog this early in my quit. I need to tell the adoption person tomorrow. She knows it’s stressful and she knows I’m stressed because I called her today. I never called her with my first-ever dog and I wouldn’t have otherwise.

I don’t know why I’m feeling so bad about this, I didn’t even adopt this dog, this is specifically a trial. On top of all that this dog will totally get adopted. She’s really cute, playful, looks like a mix of popular breeds.

I don’t know if I want to tell her about my quitting smoking because I don’t want her to know I smoked in-house with puppers. If she asked I’d want to lie but it’s a legitimate reason and I don’t want her to think I’m a flake. She won’t think I’m a flake if it doesn’t work out but as much as I want to make it about this dog it’s about me and it is about not being emotionally ready. I should just tell her why because if I’m ready in 6 months she could legitimately ask why I’m ready then. If I’m not honest about not being ready and try to say it’s not a ‘good fit’ then I look like a flake who didn’t take the time to see if it was (there’s no obvious behavior/trait in either dog that’d signal a poor fit).

...

Does/did anyone else hide their smoking? I was embarrassed for years and managed to hide smoking a pack a day from most people. People would express shock when they found out. I know people hide illicit drug and alcohol use but I wonder how many hide smoking. It’s an awful feeling, hiding. I’m embarrassed to say I quit because it acknowledges I smoked to someone who didn’t know.

I meant to come back and respond to the great replies and share some general stuff about quitting for others quitting but I feel like I’m gonna pass out now, it’s so late and I barely slept last night too.

Thank you. Thanks for being here so this forum is here and sharing your thoughts and encouragement.
Wishing everyone wonderful deep restful sleep if you are or should be sleeping (hope it comes soon) and a bright easy day for the rest. Let’s be free.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Isn't it crazy how addictive cigarettes are, especially for something that doesn't even really get you "high", per se? I mean, I've struggled with everything from alcohol to opioids to amphetamines over the years, but those darn cancer sticks are the one thing that I simply have not been able to completely beat yet!

This is mere speculation, but I really believe that the tobacco companies are putting something in their cigarettes that is much more addictive than the nicotine itself. I have gone on two-week "binges" of 21mg nicotine patches for lucid dreaming purposes and had no problem stopping cold turkey, but I can't smoke one cig without wanting another one 20 minutes later!

They put many chemicals in. MAOI's are in tobacco which make nicotine addictive (it is not on its own, allegedly).

The major cigarette companies also add in freebase nicotine, which gets through the BBB quicker than naturally-occurring nicotine hcl, and by boosting the total nicotine level they are making it more addictive as well.

It's not speculation. The major cigarette companies have been doing this for many years now, and they've just now had to recently explain their awful actions via ad campaigns, that are going largely ignored.

Cigarettes are far more habit forming than just straight nicotine. There is a lot of other chemical in cigarettes specifically used to “enhance” it as a delivery mechanism for nicotine. Probably the most obvious example is menthol, which cuts little microabrasions that allow more nicotine/other chemicals to be absorbed than otherwise. But yeah, totally gross. Vaping isn’t much better in all honesty, but I have found it makes transitioning to other forms of nicotine replacement easier.

Menthol also makes nicotine more addictive.

 

[SebastianSkip]

How did the lozenges work? Did they upset your stomach or anything? I would rather try that than gum next time (they also seem a little cheaper).

A couple of weeks ago I started getting an on/off ‘sore throat’. It was a kinda odd sore throat tho, like maybe not my throat (for all my education I am totally clueless idiot about my body, surprised I can even identify where my arm is). I figured it was part of quitting smoking ...

Tonight I decided it’s been acid reflux. I’m lucky to very rarely get heartburn so I didn’t make the connection especially since this is a really mild version.

I’ve been drinking more coffee, my comfort food has been big bowls of pasta with a small can of tomato sauce (entire can) before bed and V8 juice because I’ve been too lazy to buy & cook vegetables. Today I had 3 pastries, I just didn’t give a f*ck and wanted to stuff myself calm (still have dog here, she’s a beautiful dog but I’m losing my mind).

So ... my point is that if you’re prone to heartburn they may give you heartburn. I’m going to change my diet and I think it’ll improve enough, it’s amazing that with the peppermint in lozenge and my diet that I didn’t have raging heartburn day 1.

Pro tip:
Some generic lozenges have sucralose. I can’t stand the taste of sucralose but if you can the generic Target lozenges are almost half the price!

“Pretty much anything is better than smoking a pack a day as I'd gotten in the habit of doing up until transitioning to the vape.”

I did vape briefly and I am super pro vaping as a harm reduction tool but I don’t know how people can distinguish between possible vaping side effects and the quitting process and wish the US had an otc vape option like nicorette. Even so, if I forgot to say before, I’m glad you’re vaping instead of smoking. Pretty much anything IS better. I was ready to be done with even the ritual but I wish vaping had been available 20+ years ago, I wouldn’t have bothered with cigarettes.