not feeling like dying or wanting to dy because of the way we are feeling is *priceless*
.. This is much better than alright swimm!
.. This is much better than alright swimm!
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H&R Moderators: VerbalTruist
Help me quit smoking
- Thread starter Swimmingdancer
- Start date
Septonn
Bluelighter
Just a little support from someone who has quit smoking 10 months ago.. It gets easier, and once it does, you'll be so proud of what you have achieved. It really is worth the pains you guys are going through atm!
nolys
Bluelight Crew
Get a strong ass e cig flavour. Menthol even if your not a menthol smoker seems to work best for most people. I made the switch 4 weeks and 2 days ago, the only tobacco I've smoked has been in the occasional spliff once a week or so
How are you doing swimm... just set the crave seek and destroy mechanism for cigarettes and i'm rolling.. man i must be getting to be a pro at this shit.. hope you are doing well
Swimmingdancer
Bluelight Crew
I'm doing ok. Still feel crazy after I eat, that's the hardest time for me. But surprisingly well considering! 
Remember that a crave is a manipulation to drive the conscious brain into finding a way to get what the unconscious wants, to smoke, but conscious thought can crush a crave, come up with a thought pattern that works for you and you can shut them right down.. you're doing great, so that means i'm doing great, but I kinda have a feeling you might be a little competitive, so i'm doing better
aliencowstorm
Bluelighter
The one thing I never got heavily into. I don't get why nicotine isn't considered a more serious drug than it really is. I'm all for people having their choice, but for a open and blatent lie that went on for so long that nicotine wasn't addictive.?.?
Swimmingdancer
Bluelight Crew
I think nicotine is considered a serious drug, and the tobacco companies are under attack for misrepresenting cigarettes as being safe and non-addictive. But it's a big business, now the government derives a lot of revenue from taxation, the tobacco companies are rich and powerful, the powerful pharmaceutical companies make a ton of money on smoking cessation products... there is a huge complicated economy surrounding tobacco.
However, nicotine and cigarettes are not equal. Cigarettes have other tobacco alkaloids and added chemicals that provide additional effects and synergize with the nicotine. Second, the act of smoking is a big part of the addiction. So cigarettes are more than a simple nicotine delivery system. Cigarettes are more addictive than plain nicotine and are much more harmful. The problem with cigarettes is the adverse health effects of smoking, combined with the fact that they are addictive so people have trouble stopping even though they know about the adverse health effects. Nicotine by itself has very few adverse health effects in comparison with smoking. I would equate it to something along the lines of caffeine. Caffeine is not considered a more "serious drug" because it doesn't have the major adverse health effects that go with smoking cigarettes.
Personally I think nicotine that is not in cigarette form is much less addictive than cigarettes. In addition, I believe that factory cigarettes are more addictive than natural tobacco. There are also complex psychological, social and environmental factors involved (as with any addiction, it's not simply a cause and effect that anyone who takes a drug will have the same outcome).
aliencowstorm
Bluelighter
I totally get the ritual all to well. I didn't know there were other addictive chemicals in cigs other than nicotine.
Swimmingdancer
Bluelight Crew
^Most people don't know that. We're constantly told that nicotine is the sole active ingredient in cigarettes. (Personally I think the info that there is more going on than just nicotine is deliberately hidden for a number of reasons).
Here's a few studies:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19366487
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006291X04025999
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924977X07000442
I believe this is one of the reasons why nicotine replacement doesn't work very well for a lot of people.
In addition to these alkaloids found in tobacco, factory cigarette companies add chemicals to tobacco to make more nicotine be absorbed (and who knows what else). It seems obvious to me that information about additives and their effects would be even more closely guarded because it brings up more liability for the cig companies if they are known to be deliberately making cigarettes more addictive.
Here's a few studies:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19366487
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006291X04025999
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924977X07000442
I believe this is one of the reasons why nicotine replacement doesn't work very well for a lot of people.
In addition to these alkaloids found in tobacco, factory cigarette companies add chemicals to tobacco to make more nicotine be absorbed (and who knows what else). It seems obvious to me that information about additives and their effects would be even more closely guarded because it brings up more liability for the cig companies if they are known to be deliberately making cigarettes more addictive.
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nolys
Bluelight Crew
Nicotine IMO is less addictive than caffeine on its own, since making the switch to e cigs, I find that I actually forget I smoke (vape whatever) sometimes. I use this device now purely out of pleasure and go for hours upon hours without it, then remember “oh yeah I have an e cig I wouldn't mind a a puff of cola cubes or red bull flavour right now” lol
Swimmingdancer
Bluelight Crew
^Yeah I think I'm going to get some nicotine-free e-liquid and use that when I get a craving for a cigarette, it might help satisfy the psychological addiction/oral fixation.
nolys
Bluelight Crew
Why not just get the nicotine e liquid? The ones without nicotine lack any strength taste wise
Swimmingdancer
Bluelight Crew
I already have plenty of nicotine e-liquid. As I said earlier in the thread, I haven't really been using it because the nicotine hurts my mouth (at least I can only assume it's the nicotine - nicotine gum does it too as does both PG and VG based e-liquid), plus I would like to not keep using nicotine. I don't see how nicotine-free liquid would lack flavor, do you mean it lacks "throat hit"?
nolys
Bluelight Crew
Yes throat hit and just generally seems milder than the nicotine infused liquid
the easy time i had doing this really gave me something to think about with addiction?????? WITF.. but who am i to complain8(
Swimmingdancer
Bluelight Crew
Yep, we shouldn't get over-confident, but so far it's been way easier than I expected. Honestly, the hardest part was deciding to stop. It is a very strong psychological addiction. I think it helped to set a date and to do this with you. It was a commitment. I don't want to let you down
I also had a great realization which was that in order to stop smoking you need to stop buying cigarettes. It sounds hilariously simple but it's so true. If anyone reading this is thinking about quitting smoking, mull that idea over in your head.
I really think that having quit drugs with WAY worse withdrawals before is making this easier. I think to myself "this is nothing compared to the hellishness of methadone withdrawal!" I do still get cravings for cigarettes, and it's been hard walking around outside where lots of people are smoking but I just try to remind myself that I don't have to act on cravings and let them have power of my behaviour.
Hmm... I ended up buying some nicotine-free e-liquid earlier today and I actually really like it. I suppose the throat hit might not be quite as intense, but I'm fine with that and it's not non-existent. Flavor is definitely no less strong. I think a lot of it is psychological - if someone had told me this had nicotine in it I wouldn't have suspected otherwise. Maybe different brands are different though. Have you actually tried the exact same e-liquid in a nicotine and no-nicotine version and compared them? What about a blind test?
Zero nicotine liquid still seems to bug my mouth sadly. So it may be the PG and not solely the nicotine that was irritating my mouth. Although it's also hard to tell since my mouth is sore most of the time anyway. Regardless, I don't intend on vaping for a prolonged period of time but it's a nice distraction after meals or when other people are smoking.
Why is your mouth sore most of the time?
This is a cool thread. I'm not going to worry myself endlessly about trying to quit everything at once.....I'm going to focus on kicking opiates for now, but I still read this entire thread because (mostly) the rapport between swimmingdancer and neversickanymore is so amusing!
Honestly you all seem bright and cheerful, its nice. Oh that reminds me I also read the whole thread because its positive. I need all the positive I can get.
This is a cool thread. I'm not going to worry myself endlessly about trying to quit everything at once.....I'm going to focus on kicking opiates for now, but I still read this entire thread because (mostly) the rapport between swimmingdancer and neversickanymore is so amusing!
Honestly you all seem bright and cheerful, its nice. Oh that reminds me I also read the whole thread because its positive. I need all the positive I can get.
Swimmingdancer
Bluelight Crew
Thanks Ozekat . That's what I did, tackle one addiction at a time.
I don't know why my mouth hurts so much. I have seen multiple doctors about it. One said "my medical opinion is that your mouth is fucked up", LOL. I have tried eliminating things that I could possibly have a mild allergy to; I've tried treating any possible vitamin or mineral deficiencies that are known to cause a sore tongue. Certain things do make it worse, like smoking - that's one of the things that helped motivate me about quitting. There's a diagnosis called "burning mouth syndrome" which just means your mouth hurts or burns for no apparent reason (it may be a problem with the nerves or pain processing), but generally for that diagnosis your tongue and mouth are supposed to look normal and healthy, and mine don't. I sure hope it gets better, sometimes it is so severe it's all I can think about.
. That's what I did, tackle one addiction at a time.I don't know why my mouth hurts so much. I have seen multiple doctors about it. One said "my medical opinion is that your mouth is fucked up", LOL. I have tried eliminating things that I could possibly have a mild allergy to; I've tried treating any possible vitamin or mineral deficiencies that are known to cause a sore tongue. Certain things do make it worse, like smoking - that's one of the things that helped motivate me about quitting. There's a diagnosis called "burning mouth syndrome" which just means your mouth hurts or burns for no apparent reason (it may be a problem with the nerves or pain processing), but generally for that diagnosis your tongue and mouth are supposed to look normal and healthy, and mine don't. I sure hope it gets better, sometimes it is so severe it's all I can think about.
Vaya
Bluelight Crew
This may not set you free from nicotine dependency, per se, but electronic cigarettes helped vastly improve my health after smoking for eleven years. I tout their benefits to practically everyone i see these days. I believe they may be a truly viable option in your case!