r/quittingsmoking

It's been 87 days! This is the longest I've gone. I can't believe it. I smoked since I was really young. I'm 60 now. I absolutely can't go back. Anyway, I thought we could help each other with posting some benefits you've noticed. I love that my hair no longer smells of smoke.

So a bit of background, smoked 20+ years and was hopelessly addicted. I was at my wits end knowing I couldn’t afford to smoke anymore and homelessness beckoned, especially with my alcohol and weed habit.
I ended up deliberately getting myself addicted to quick mist for four years and things really started changing. I saved money, joined AA and moved out of dingy living conditions. I, for my life, couldn’t quit the mist, every time I did I would obsess over that strong minty hit and go nutters over it until I’d cave. The mist is expensive too so it was causing problems for me, I had to quit. So I started using 4mg, and made sure, like the mist, I got nicely addicted to them. They don’t give a strong hit like the mist and it took awhile to stay on them. I was using the gum about a month. I checked out the quit smoke app “smoke free” and signed up to premium. I thought well, hypnotists charge 2-$500, a quit smoking specialist quoted $5000. This offered 24 hour counselling and other perks do I tried it and boom! Spent the money , felt accountable, and haven’t chewed a gum in five days. I feel like I got through the hard bit, anxiety, craving , bad sleep , headache, in about 3days. Last night I slept like a log and woke up, all cleared up I feel fantastic. I know like any drug, if I so much as take one hit again I’ll be on the wagon. So gotta be vigilant

Those thoughts of mine seem a bit odd when writing them out in front of me, but they deeply wired into me and I wonder if some of you have been at similar points in life - if so I would love to hear your thoughts on it.

I've been smoking since i was 15 regulary - at peak time Malb red 1-2 packs a day. With 23-25 years i started to regulate myself more and it came down to 5-10 cigs a day but also started smoking weed on an almost daily basis. with 27 i figured so much of smoking is just routine and therefore i "quit" smoking and supplemented my desire with nicotine pouches. started of with super heavy ones - 15mg - came down to 6mg - 5-10 pouches a day, but of course when drinking alcohol i smoked again - "im just a casual smoker now" i told myself. I am also a regular stoner - never too much, but still almost everyday a little hip-hop ciggy before bedtime. When people asked why i didn't quit, I told them about my "progress" and said "its all a process, ill get to it", and i still believe it is. Moderate "abuse" isnt too bad - or is it?

10 days ago i had a knee operation and holy shit that hurt - I was awake all night and in a lot of pain. My first reaction ofc - grab a pouch, it helps - but obviously it doesnt - nicotine is the worst after such an operation. And i felt it - it became a devils circle and at 4AM i told the medical workers in the hospital that i cant stand it anymore - They gave me morphine - and I could finally sleep. The next morning i woke up and realised how stupid i was, for this annoying addiction i put myself in physical pain. So i did some research and understood that i could lower the possibilty of a re-injury by 20%. The pain the night before gave me a clear signal. Time to say good bye to nicotine. So I kept strong. 4 days passed and i was out of the hospitale. I wanted to smoke sooooo badly. But I built an AI agent who sent me custom motivation messages of why i shouldnt take a pouch or smoke a cig every 30 mins on my phone and it kept me from doing so. (can recommend that btw :D ) So here i am 28, now 12 days away from my last cigarette, 10 days from nicotine in general. and i can feel the urge becoming less. But.. and thats my big question here: It feels kinda pointless. Why?

First of all, I've been smoking for more than 10 years, and never really felt any health issues. Yeah im sportive and i think my genes are not too bad (regenerationwise). Secondly, It "helps" in so many ways to get through life. Focus before an important call, Stress in general, an actual Break after a lot of work, a fight or a discussion, its a feeling of relief. Its hard to describe. But its good - and i miss it. A lot.

And Third, and thats the most unusual one probably. I dont believe Ill become much older than 50 years anyway. The world is about to fall apart - capitalism is at its end stadium, Wars are rising, Social injustice. It feels like we are weeks away from the next "French Revolution" but this time, "The people" are beeing distracted and manipulated so well, that we fight each other instead of those people at the top exploiting humans, Animals, and nature. Climate change is beeing ignored while threatening our food - if the AMOC collapses. Europe will be without food within 1 year. And please, lets not start about the threadt of AI, biochemical weapons, pandemics, etc. etc. etc. - the list is endless and its getting longer every day. And i just dont see how nothing of all those (some more some less) plausible things won't happen.

But I don't think I'm depressed. Just realistic. I can't complain about my life. Beautiful GF, self employed and successful, good health, couldnt wish for more. So i try to be a stoic. Do what you can control, accept the rest and done.

But i just see myself standing at the brink of an apocalypse with 40 years thinking "fuck - I've been struggling to quit nicotine / weed / alcohol for so long now, and I've been good - but what for? should have just enjoyed my life while I had it"

I dont know if all that makes sense. I'm by no means a heavy user but i am addicted none the less to all of those soft substances and i kinda like it - drugs are cool if you dont overdo them - but still i hate myself for this mindset because deep down i know its bad. But yeah i just dont see the point in sticking to it - 10 days in and it feels like months. Im proud of myself - but really what for? I dont know if im conciously manipulating myself or just reasoning with good arguments on both sides...

Now my question. Have you been there too? is it normal? how are you feeling with this and do you think im just a pessimist or what is happening. Sorry for my bad english - would love to read your thoughts.

i smoked for about 10 years and tried patches gum and cold turkey but nothing stuck long term with the cravings hitting hard every time. now im giving vaping a shot to ease off gradually.

recently bought some gear from vpwholesale and hope it will help me cut down without the old routine. did vaping work for quitting in your experience or did it just shift the habit and what tips helped make it stick?

My fiancée quit after years of smoking and vaping.

The thing is that every app we looked at was built for the quitter alone, streak counters, craving timers, savings calculators.

All solo.

But what actually helped her quit was having me around. Knowing I'd pick up when she was struggling. Knowing I wasn't judging her when she slipped...

None of the apps we tried had anything for the support person =/

Is this just us or do others feel like this is a massive gap?

I fail fail fail every single time and I began to realize that it is not just the addiction alone but also—maybe most importantly— the deep psychological realm/territory/archive that keeps an addict in the dreadful loop. I also read somewhere that to find the root desire/cause of an addiction is to look into psychology behind addiction.

Worksheets online seem too vague… can someone please suggest ways to remove addiction from an addict’s life? Does therapy, or even hypnosis actually work?

I just want to take my brain out, reset, reprogram it to just live without addiction….

Please generously share your wisdom…

Thank you!!

Smoked for over a decade. Quit probably eight times before it actually worked. Here is everything I learned the hard way, hopefully this helps at least one person improve their life and health :)

(I owe it to this community - you guys helped change my life!)

1. The craving is lying to you

Every single craving feels like it will last forever. It won't. Cravings peak and pass within 20 minutes every time without exception. The cigarette feels like the solution but the craving would have gone anyway. You literally just need something to do in that window to keep you distracted.

I used an app called Smoked when I quit. It has a Panic Button you tap when a craving hits and it walks you through a guided breathing exercise that gets you through those cravings. Research literally shows using an app improves your chances of quitting for good by 3 times.. why argue with science?

2. Stop fighting it and start replacing it

Willpower is massively overrated and anyone that tells you thats all you need is lying. 97% of people who rely on it alone fail and that is not a personal weakness, it's just how nicotine addiction works. Your brain has been rewired. You need something to replace the habit not just the absence of it.

Go outside for your breaks still. Walk around the block. Listen to a podcast. The break was never about the cigarette. It was always about escaping your desk for five minutes...

3. Protect your first two weeks like they are precious

Because they are. Cancel your plans. Avoid any stress. Be completely selfish about your environment. Watch terrible television without guilt. Your brain is going through genuine withdrawal and it deserves the same respect you would give any other illness. Anyone who gives you a hard time about this during your first two weeks does not need to be in your life, they should respect your journey (smoker friends will be jealous).

4. Remind yourself how objectively strange smoking is

You are setting fire to a small paper tube and inhaling the smoke directly into your lungs. Voluntarily. Can you imagine explaining this behaviour to an alien? Or a golden retriever? It is one of the most bizarre things humans do and we have all just silently agreed to pretend it makes sense.

It does not make sense so keep reminding yourself of that. Looking back at it, I was one of those strange people lighting a paper tube for years.. ew.

5. Track your progress somewhere you can actually see it

The invisible wins are what kill most quit attempts. You cannot see your lungs clearing or feel your blood pressure dropping. But when something shows you that you are 11 days smoke free, have saved £140 and avoided 220 cigarettes it suddenly feels very real and very worth protecting.

That visibility kept me going more than anything else honestly.

The first week is so hard, expect the worst. But remember, you have done hard things before.

Hope you find this useful! Interested to hear what worked for you guys?

Going from a heavy smoker for 6 years to 5 months smoke free. I recently had my birthday and allowed myself the off cigarettes here and there from my friends / strangers packs. Could see it the craving getting out of hand again so I stopped and now reeling it back in. Feels like starting off from scratch, even though I did 5 months of no smoking.
Kind of struggling to see a world where I wont have cravings.

I’ve been taping for a week and using while breathing. Today I have my patch proudly on my arm. Today I break a 36 year habit. Close to two packs today.

I’m 1 week nicotine free, hell yeah.

Thank you everyone for the support 🫶

Ive been vaping for about 6-7 years, about 2 years ago i started actually realizing my addiction and ever since then Ive wanted to quit but it genuinely feels impossible for me. I tried to quit again last week but I couldn’t even function I cried over everything, I was always hot and sweaty, and everything set me off. My friends say it’s not that big of a deal but I don’t want to live like this anymore I feel so miserable and embarrassed. I’m hoping someone could give me some advice to help with the withdrawals/cravings or even just some words of encouragement any and everything is appreciated!!

I’m proud to have made it this far, coupled with a husband who still smokes. However, I can’t seem to break the NRT. I’m using lozenges and when I try to break those I go to hard candy. Regular hard candy can up sneaky calories fast, and sugar free brings up digestive issues. Anyone else?

Correlation doesn’t imply causation and all but I’ve noticed since I largely quit smoking back in December(still smoke occasionally but broke the habit) I’ve been doomscrolling a lot more since then.

It used to be that I would need a dopamine fix, step outside for a smoke and then go back to working or doing something productive but since quitting, I’ve been basically constantly doomscrolling, even while working or cooking, my screen time was already pretty high but it just skyrocketed since quitting smoking.

Did anyone else go through something similar after quitting or might have an explanation as to why? Thank you.

Since I quit a week ago and I lapsed one time, which I thank you guys for the encouragement, I notice that I’ve been feeling more depressed than usual. I have bipolar that I take meds for, for context, and before I quit smoking, were way more under control.

I’m not suicidal or anything like that, so I’m safe.

If any of you guys have experienced this, how long did it take for the depression to go away or at least lessen up? I’ve also been having a lot of brain fog, even more so than usual.

Hi there, I would love to hear from other people how their anxiety was after they quit vaping.

I vaped 1x 600 puff Lost Mary a day (2% Nic). I’d also have it next to my bed and I’d started to wake up in the night and use it a couple of times. I vaped for about 4 years in total.

I found the first week of quitting ok - the cravings were heavy but expected.

However, since week 2 my anxiety has gone through the roof. I’m on day 31 quitting cold turkey now. My anxiety is so high & it’s really concerning me. My sleep is disrupted and I wake up massively anxious and don’t want to face the day.

According to ChatGPT, the acute anxiety phase of quitting lasts for 4-6 weeks. So I’m in this zone right now.

I would love to hear other people’s stories - when did it get better for you? Has ChatGPT got it right?

Please, please, do post your experiences. I’m sure I’m not the only person feeling like this & reassurance would be so helpful for many people.

Thank you. 🙏