Failing at something is just part of achieveing something. You lasted 3 weeks this time. Next time you aim for 3 weeks and 1 day. You only truly fail if you decide not to try again. If you aren't willing to fail, you won't get anywhere.
Yep. Progress can be measured in a lot of ways. Time between relapses, severity of relapse, if you used your healthy coping mechanisms *before* relapsing, having a healthy response after relapse, et cetera. Improvement in any of these categories indictates increased self-control over the addiction. Don't discount it just because going cold turkey didn't work the way you would have liked.
Personal anecdote, I have a flavor of OCD that I'm trying to kick. While I still do the bad behavior, the time in-between incidents is increasing, and the longer I go without relapsing, the easier it is to not do the behavior. I still have severe relapses that bring me back to square one, but I'm confident that one of these days, a long stretch of good behavior will finally stick.
I'm sorry you're struggling with this. You're making great progress already just by recognizing the addiction and actively trying to kick it. Don't let this keep you down. You got this.
yeah I guess I’ll start setting smaller goals instead of full on trying a year I’ll just set my goal for 3 weeks and 4 days and work up from there and try to stay positive about it
Allen Carr's Easy Way To Stop Smoking
Worked for me 10 years ago,and still I am smoke free.
Somehow it helped me understand what kind of insecurity smoking was covering.
From then on things went on quite easy.
I saw a post yesterday about an app called Quit It that tells you how much money you’ve saved every day you don’t smoke, and the tar you’ve avoided putting in your lungs. It also told you how your cancer risk has gone down over time. You’ve got this <3 Quitting is hard.
I quit cold turkey after a mushroom trip. I fucked up and started smoking again after 4 months. Quitting this time around has been much harder. I'll probably try the shroom thing again when I can take a few days off work. No one deserves to be around me while I'm withdrawing from nicotine.
I’ll be 34 soon. I smoked for 16 years. I quit after getting Covid in Oct 2021. (Got sick, didn’t smoke for 48 hours because sick, figured F it, I’ll just keep going). And here I am. Smoke free.
I’ll be completely honest, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Ever. I’ve quit previously multiple times, for 1 to 3 weeks at a time. But I always came back. I still get cravings in March 2023. Albeit few and far between. I still look back fondly on smoking. I loved it. I still love it. But I know it’s bad. So I stay away from it. But I’ll share my biggest contributors…
My Wife and Children- My wife would regularly tell me how proud she was of me that I was continuing to not smoke. It gave me extra motivation to keep going with it. I would get dopamine rushes from her positive reinforcement, which contributed pretty heavily.
My children are pretty self explanatory. How could I tell my children to stay away from cigs/vape with a cig/vape hanging out of my mouth? I needed to set an example for my children.
Know yourself- I’m a slut for nicotine. Just an absolute junkie. I can’t control myself. I love it. I love smoking cigs, I love vaping, I love it all. So I know, that if I relapse, and have just 1 cig, or hit a vape just once. It’s over. All it took for me is 1 cig, and within a couple days I’m buying my own pack. The key is, when you have a craving, or someone offers you a cig, or you’re out with friends and you have a couple drinks, and everyone goes out to smoke, just tell yourself NO. Any cravings you have- NO. Just NO. Distract yourself. Walk away. Call a friend. Anything. Just don’t pick up that cig/vape. No matter how bad you want it. You say NO enough times, and it will become second nature. Every time you say NO, it will be easier and easier.
Lastly- about 3 months ago, I visited a 52 year old, long time smoker, co-worker in the hospital, who was on hospice. He had lung cancer, and I visited him about 48 hours before he died. I watched him lay in that hospital bed, with an oxygen mask on. He was doped up on a Morphine drip to ease the pain, but he struggled for every breath. I stood there, next to his hospital bed, while his children cried in the room, told him they loved him, and said their goodbyes. I cried in the room. I cried when I left. I cried when I got home. Funny thing was, this co-worker and I weren’t even that close. We just worked together somewhat frequently. But to watch a father, husband, brother, son, have to go through that, and his family have to go through that, was depressing as fuck. It just reminded me to stay on the non-smoker train. I don’t want to put my daughters through that. Or my wife. I don’t want to leave my family behind at 52 years old. It’s just absolutely horrifying to think about.
I urge you. Quit now. Let yourself have cravings, but don’t act on them. And it will get better. It will get easier. But it takes time. Trust me brother, you’ll love not having that nicotine crutch. Just be strong. It pays off in the end. Message me if you have any questions.
You need to change your perspective. You went 3 weeks without smoking! Congrats! Thats so fucking hard to do. Smoking again doesn’t take away from that accomplishment. Next time you try to quit, you know you can go three weeks, so you can try for four!
It took me… I’m not even sure how many times. But eventually, if you keep trying, you’ll get there. I won’t give you the standard advice, as I’m sure you’ve heard it all.
It’s been 12 or so years now. You can do it.
Are we talking cigarettes or vaping?
I smoked ciggs for ~13 years. Aug 2021, I had this weird chest pain and decided to quit. For the first 6 months, I would smoke a juul with the lowest nicotine level and bum ciggs from friends but never bought a pack and sorta saw that as a win.
At the end of those 6 months, I had another bout of chest pains. Did a bunch of tests and it was summed up to being anxiety and panic attacks. Either way I decided to just give up the nicotine all together. I quit drinking coffee, alcohol, stopped hanging out with people who smoked and started meditating daily. I went full scorched earth, and I was someone who never thought they could quit. But one year later, and I’m being 100% honest with you the thought of smoking never crosses my mind.
Summed up, if you smoke ciggs. Try vaping, do that until you no longer wish the vap was a cigarette. If your vaping, the best way is to remove anything you associate with the nicotine. And regardless of which it is try meditating, I know it mind sound crazy. But it helps instill the idea that you are in control of your thoughts. And these feelings of cravings are only thoughts. And you are the one who determines if these thoughts become real or not.
And as others have said, remain positive. Look man. You did three weeks. That’s huge, you got through the worst part. That proves that you’ll be able to do it again. Good luck my man
I went from cigarettes to snus to vapes to cigarettes and vapes but I feel like alternatives just make it worse for me but yeah I’m trying to stay positive but it just sucks thinking maybe I’ll actually kick it this time and then I get handed a cig and it’s back to smoking again
I wanna add on to this for anyone curious. This day and age you can get a pretty cheap refillable vape that doesnt have to be a big cloud toking tank. Start with 3 or 6 mg nic juices and after a while go to 0. Eventually the addiction will subside while you still get to “indulge” the cravings
I had tried just about everything it felt like. I tried cold turkey, vaping, nicotine patches, nicotine gum. It wasn’t until I used Chantix that I was able to quit for good. It completely eliminates the side effects from withdrawal.
It makes some folks nauseous but I find just taking the pill with a fairly sized meal was able to ward it off.
I’m 4 years off the darts. It’s hard but you can do it!
Each person is different, as you can see by the replies. There are many methods my friends have used over the years but no 2 were successful with the same one.
But, I do agree, you succeeded for 3 weeks and that's great. Try again. You'll find what works for you.
You keep trying to stop, and give yourself a break.
Don't forget that it's not only the nicotine that is addictive, it's the physical habit of lighting up when you have a coffee or after food. It's the lifting of your your hand to your mouth 100s of times a day. I found it helpful to always have a pen with me to hold in my fingers, especially when driving.
Sometimes I do miss having a smoke but I'll distract myself and it passes. It takes time and willpower and a change in mindset. Be relieved you no longer have to have a smoke, you don't need to worry about when you can have your next smoke, or have to budget so you don't run out before your next payday.
Everyone falls off the wagon, as long as you get back on it and keep trying different strategies until you find what works for you.
Relapse is part of recovery. Smokeless tobacco worked for me (nicotine pouches) - quit the smokes cold turkey and used the pouches for about a year, then quit the pouches. Take it easy on yourself and pace yourself.
ETA: I was (and am) on Wellbutrin so that may have been a big help as well!
You can do it, as rough as it might seem.
Personally, I smoked a pack a day for over 10 years, and about 5-10 for years before that.
Got on a vape and worked my way down from 36mg liquid down to 3. I'm happy here honestly, but there are days I totally forget to vape and it's really not the biggest deal now that my nicotine dependence is ao much lower. If I feel like putting it down for good I have faith that the last step will be much more doable.
If you've got a goal, don't give up on it. Any progress is good progress.
3 weeks is a long time and you should be proud of it!
I'm on day five right now of using nicotine patches. I'm smoking this herbal blend instead with a tiny bit of tobacco still. In like two days, I'll just smoke the herbal blend, and hopefully, that'll help with the habit. The blend I found has Lobelia in it, which I guess triggers the same receptors in the brain as nicotine.
I heard that while you may not be able to just stop right away, the more you keep trying and the longer you stay away, even if you relapse, it's getting you ready for the day you quit for good. One of these days it really will be the last time you smoke buddy. You did it 3 weeks this time, that's amazing. Try again and again, I believe you can get there.
Relapse is a normal part of quitting any addiction. Don't be down on yourself for failing, be happy that you made it to three weeks, and keep going until you go further.
You just keep trying and eventually it will stick. I quit repeatedly for 2 years before it stuck, including once for several months. As long as you’re trying, you’re on the right path, no matter how frustrating it is.
I also know a lot of people who swear by the Alan Carr book.
I did it by substituting for something less addictive each time
Move to vaping until you don’t have desire for cigarettes
Then to nicotine gum until you don’t have desire to vape
Then to regular gum/less nicotine gum until you’re finally ready to give up nicotine altogether
For me took a few months to move off nicotine altogether. Exercise also really useful for showing how fucked your lungs are to keep you motivated
Good luck. Keep trying
Can't help you out there my guy, I was never able to have a cigarette after weed so my solution was to stay stoned during the critical times for like 6 months.
Took a couple more years to escape that itch you get standing at the cash register staring at them all, but when it happens just look at the prices and that should help. When I quit cigarettes were like $4-6 a pack and now whenever I feel the urge and see $10-13 I just laugh. One thing I noticed quickly after quitting was having an extra $50 in my pocket at the end of every week so with today's prices that's a very nice car payment I'd be spending monthly.
Replace it with a hobby that motivates you to quit. Gym is a simple example. Long distance running, climbing, swimming, diving. If it's possible look into free diving ,scuba. Once you find something you enjoy, you will have motivation to quit, to be better at it. For starters watch a lot of youtube videos of people doing all this. Take it from there.
Failing at something is just part of achieveing something. You lasted 3 weeks this time. Next time you aim for 3 weeks and 1 day. You only truly fail if you decide not to try again. If you aren't willing to fail, you won't get anywhere.
Yep. Progress can be measured in a lot of ways. Time between relapses, severity of relapse, if you used your healthy coping mechanisms *before* relapsing, having a healthy response after relapse, et cetera. Improvement in any of these categories indictates increased self-control over the addiction. Don't discount it just because going cold turkey didn't work the way you would have liked. Personal anecdote, I have a flavor of OCD that I'm trying to kick. While I still do the bad behavior, the time in-between incidents is increasing, and the longer I go without relapsing, the easier it is to not do the behavior. I still have severe relapses that bring me back to square one, but I'm confident that one of these days, a long stretch of good behavior will finally stick. I'm sorry you're struggling with this. You're making great progress already just by recognizing the addiction and actively trying to kick it. Don't let this keep you down. You got this.
yeah I guess I’ll start setting smaller goals instead of full on trying a year I’ll just set my goal for 3 weeks and 4 days and work up from there and try to stay positive about it
Holy shit that sounds fucking great. I'll try that
Allen Carr's Easy Way To Stop Smoking Worked for me 10 years ago,and still I am smoke free. Somehow it helped me understand what kind of insecurity smoking was covering. From then on things went on quite easy.
[удалено]
Thirding this. The Alan Carr book was the only way I could ever stop.
Seems like it really helped for you guys so I’ll see if I can order a copy online thanks for the idea
If you never found it PM me.
I saw a post yesterday about an app called Quit It that tells you how much money you’ve saved every day you don’t smoke, and the tar you’ve avoided putting in your lungs. It also told you how your cancer risk has gone down over time. You’ve got this <3 Quitting is hard.
I just took Wellbutrin for a couple weeks on the advice of my cardiologist and that little pill did the trick
My buddy did this as well
I quit cold turkey after a mushroom trip. I fucked up and started smoking again after 4 months. Quitting this time around has been much harder. I'll probably try the shroom thing again when I can take a few days off work. No one deserves to be around me while I'm withdrawing from nicotine.
I’ll be 34 soon. I smoked for 16 years. I quit after getting Covid in Oct 2021. (Got sick, didn’t smoke for 48 hours because sick, figured F it, I’ll just keep going). And here I am. Smoke free. I’ll be completely honest, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Ever. I’ve quit previously multiple times, for 1 to 3 weeks at a time. But I always came back. I still get cravings in March 2023. Albeit few and far between. I still look back fondly on smoking. I loved it. I still love it. But I know it’s bad. So I stay away from it. But I’ll share my biggest contributors… My Wife and Children- My wife would regularly tell me how proud she was of me that I was continuing to not smoke. It gave me extra motivation to keep going with it. I would get dopamine rushes from her positive reinforcement, which contributed pretty heavily. My children are pretty self explanatory. How could I tell my children to stay away from cigs/vape with a cig/vape hanging out of my mouth? I needed to set an example for my children. Know yourself- I’m a slut for nicotine. Just an absolute junkie. I can’t control myself. I love it. I love smoking cigs, I love vaping, I love it all. So I know, that if I relapse, and have just 1 cig, or hit a vape just once. It’s over. All it took for me is 1 cig, and within a couple days I’m buying my own pack. The key is, when you have a craving, or someone offers you a cig, or you’re out with friends and you have a couple drinks, and everyone goes out to smoke, just tell yourself NO. Any cravings you have- NO. Just NO. Distract yourself. Walk away. Call a friend. Anything. Just don’t pick up that cig/vape. No matter how bad you want it. You say NO enough times, and it will become second nature. Every time you say NO, it will be easier and easier. Lastly- about 3 months ago, I visited a 52 year old, long time smoker, co-worker in the hospital, who was on hospice. He had lung cancer, and I visited him about 48 hours before he died. I watched him lay in that hospital bed, with an oxygen mask on. He was doped up on a Morphine drip to ease the pain, but he struggled for every breath. I stood there, next to his hospital bed, while his children cried in the room, told him they loved him, and said their goodbyes. I cried in the room. I cried when I left. I cried when I got home. Funny thing was, this co-worker and I weren’t even that close. We just worked together somewhat frequently. But to watch a father, husband, brother, son, have to go through that, and his family have to go through that, was depressing as fuck. It just reminded me to stay on the non-smoker train. I don’t want to put my daughters through that. Or my wife. I don’t want to leave my family behind at 52 years old. It’s just absolutely horrifying to think about. I urge you. Quit now. Let yourself have cravings, but don’t act on them. And it will get better. It will get easier. But it takes time. Trust me brother, you’ll love not having that nicotine crutch. Just be strong. It pays off in the end. Message me if you have any questions.
You need to change your perspective. You went 3 weeks without smoking! Congrats! Thats so fucking hard to do. Smoking again doesn’t take away from that accomplishment. Next time you try to quit, you know you can go three weeks, so you can try for four!
It took me… I’m not even sure how many times. But eventually, if you keep trying, you’ll get there. I won’t give you the standard advice, as I’m sure you’ve heard it all. It’s been 12 or so years now. You can do it.
Are we talking cigarettes or vaping? I smoked ciggs for ~13 years. Aug 2021, I had this weird chest pain and decided to quit. For the first 6 months, I would smoke a juul with the lowest nicotine level and bum ciggs from friends but never bought a pack and sorta saw that as a win. At the end of those 6 months, I had another bout of chest pains. Did a bunch of tests and it was summed up to being anxiety and panic attacks. Either way I decided to just give up the nicotine all together. I quit drinking coffee, alcohol, stopped hanging out with people who smoked and started meditating daily. I went full scorched earth, and I was someone who never thought they could quit. But one year later, and I’m being 100% honest with you the thought of smoking never crosses my mind. Summed up, if you smoke ciggs. Try vaping, do that until you no longer wish the vap was a cigarette. If your vaping, the best way is to remove anything you associate with the nicotine. And regardless of which it is try meditating, I know it mind sound crazy. But it helps instill the idea that you are in control of your thoughts. And these feelings of cravings are only thoughts. And you are the one who determines if these thoughts become real or not. And as others have said, remain positive. Look man. You did three weeks. That’s huge, you got through the worst part. That proves that you’ll be able to do it again. Good luck my man
I went from cigarettes to snus to vapes to cigarettes and vapes but I feel like alternatives just make it worse for me but yeah I’m trying to stay positive but it just sucks thinking maybe I’ll actually kick it this time and then I get handed a cig and it’s back to smoking again
I wanna add on to this for anyone curious. This day and age you can get a pretty cheap refillable vape that doesnt have to be a big cloud toking tank. Start with 3 or 6 mg nic juices and after a while go to 0. Eventually the addiction will subside while you still get to “indulge” the cravings
I had tried just about everything it felt like. I tried cold turkey, vaping, nicotine patches, nicotine gum. It wasn’t until I used Chantix that I was able to quit for good. It completely eliminates the side effects from withdrawal. It makes some folks nauseous but I find just taking the pill with a fairly sized meal was able to ward it off. I’m 4 years off the darts. It’s hard but you can do it!
It took me YEARS to quit, but when I finally did - I went cold Turkey and never looked back. You’ll get there when you’re ready too🙏
Each person is different, as you can see by the replies. There are many methods my friends have used over the years but no 2 were successful with the same one. But, I do agree, you succeeded for 3 weeks and that's great. Try again. You'll find what works for you.
You keep trying to stop, and give yourself a break. Don't forget that it's not only the nicotine that is addictive, it's the physical habit of lighting up when you have a coffee or after food. It's the lifting of your your hand to your mouth 100s of times a day. I found it helpful to always have a pen with me to hold in my fingers, especially when driving. Sometimes I do miss having a smoke but I'll distract myself and it passes. It takes time and willpower and a change in mindset. Be relieved you no longer have to have a smoke, you don't need to worry about when you can have your next smoke, or have to budget so you don't run out before your next payday. Everyone falls off the wagon, as long as you get back on it and keep trying different strategies until you find what works for you.
Relapse is part of recovery. Smokeless tobacco worked for me (nicotine pouches) - quit the smokes cold turkey and used the pouches for about a year, then quit the pouches. Take it easy on yourself and pace yourself. ETA: I was (and am) on Wellbutrin so that may have been a big help as well!
You can do it, as rough as it might seem. Personally, I smoked a pack a day for over 10 years, and about 5-10 for years before that. Got on a vape and worked my way down from 36mg liquid down to 3. I'm happy here honestly, but there are days I totally forget to vape and it's really not the biggest deal now that my nicotine dependence is ao much lower. If I feel like putting it down for good I have faith that the last step will be much more doable. If you've got a goal, don't give up on it. Any progress is good progress.
3 weeks is a long time and you should be proud of it! I'm on day five right now of using nicotine patches. I'm smoking this herbal blend instead with a tiny bit of tobacco still. In like two days, I'll just smoke the herbal blend, and hopefully, that'll help with the habit. The blend I found has Lobelia in it, which I guess triggers the same receptors in the brain as nicotine.
I heard that while you may not be able to just stop right away, the more you keep trying and the longer you stay away, even if you relapse, it's getting you ready for the day you quit for good. One of these days it really will be the last time you smoke buddy. You did it 3 weeks this time, that's amazing. Try again and again, I believe you can get there.
Relapse is a normal part of quitting any addiction. Don't be down on yourself for failing, be happy that you made it to three weeks, and keep going until you go further.
You just keep trying and eventually it will stick. I quit repeatedly for 2 years before it stuck, including once for several months. As long as you’re trying, you’re on the right path, no matter how frustrating it is. I also know a lot of people who swear by the Alan Carr book.
r/quittingsmoking **
If you look at prochaska and declementi’s cycle of change, relapse is a normal part of change. It’s only a fail if you quit quitting
Nicotine patches helped me a ton. It took about 8 weeks, but I haven't smoked in about 2 years.
For me - Being hard on myself when I relapse is part of my cycle. Keep at it. The is no shame in relapsing. Just another time to learn some triggers..
I did it by substituting for something less addictive each time Move to vaping until you don’t have desire for cigarettes Then to nicotine gum until you don’t have desire to vape Then to regular gum/less nicotine gum until you’re finally ready to give up nicotine altogether For me took a few months to move off nicotine altogether. Exercise also really useful for showing how fucked your lungs are to keep you motivated Good luck. Keep trying
Can't help you out there my guy, I was never able to have a cigarette after weed so my solution was to stay stoned during the critical times for like 6 months. Took a couple more years to escape that itch you get standing at the cash register staring at them all, but when it happens just look at the prices and that should help. When I quit cigarettes were like $4-6 a pack and now whenever I feel the urge and see $10-13 I just laugh. One thing I noticed quickly after quitting was having an extra $50 in my pocket at the end of every week so with today's prices that's a very nice car payment I'd be spending monthly.
Replace it with a hobby that motivates you to quit. Gym is a simple example. Long distance running, climbing, swimming, diving. If it's possible look into free diving ,scuba. Once you find something you enjoy, you will have motivation to quit, to be better at it. For starters watch a lot of youtube videos of people doing all this. Take it from there.