Smoking

It’s been a while since I’ve been here. I came off benzos in 2012 after 8 years of use. I’m fine now, as I’ve healed. I’m a very ambitious and strong person 💪! I’ve got through a lot in my life! I’m a nurse these days. A psychiatric nurse actually who loves his job.

Anyway, recently trying to stop smoking after 20 years! Well, I did stop once during benzo wd with no problem! I started back a few years later, as life got good again! Lol what a mistake! I’ll be 40 in a couple of months as the sun enters Libra. 😇 Really want to stop smoking! Two unsuccessful attempts recently, and it was rough! Shaky and just bleh feeling! Tired and fatigue! Going for the gum soon! Those attempts were cold turkey! I don’t suggest it! Need to taper the smoking! So tired of puffing!

Anyone here stop??? What did you do? My doctor recommended cutting to five a day, and then two, etc. btw, when I stopped the smoking... cog fog was present! Not like in the benzo wd, but milder.

You’d think after going through benzo wd... smoking would be a slice of cake, but it’s not in its own way! The target is to slip the absence of nicotine pass the brain without it noticing, imo. Only way is to taper it.

Enough babbling... what’s your story on stopping nicotine?

Nicotine addiction is overrated and exaggerated. What makes it so hard to quit smoking is knowing that you can have "just one more". You know it and you can't stop thinking about it. I quit in Aug.2012, just 9 months after quitting clonazepam, when I was nowhere near recovered. But I quit smoking in circumstances where I could not have "just one more". Not even one. None. That was it. No more. And so, I just put it out of my mind, stopped thinking about it, and then it wasn't that hard to quit. I suppose I had some physical withdrawal symptoms for a couple days, but nothing to medicate myself over. A bit of brain fog, a touch of munchies, no big thing. I think you just have to understand that "just one more" never ends. If you can have just one more, you can have just one more after that, and one more after that. It's just one after another after another, day after week after month after year. So you quit, and you cannot have even one more. Just forget it. You don't need vapes or gums or patches or crazy drugs like Chantix or Zyban. This habit is 90% psychological and only 10% physical. You just need to slam the door behind you and never look back. Not even once.

I quit smoking maybe 5 months ago, after my doctor told me my hematocrit was too high. Because I'm an RN I knew exactly why this was so. Smoking did it. I quit that day, but I DID start using an e-cig device (vape).

And weirdly enough I don't especially miss smoking. And my blood count was almost normal a month ago. SO glad I did this. I know by now I am an "addictive personality." DUH!

east

Billy

Congratulations on your freedom from drugs. Sounds like you have an awesome life.

Thanks for the warning on restarting and the cog fog.

I have a friend who swears her Citalopram taper went south after CT of cigs.

I had quit for awhile til the anxiety and akathisia of psych wd hit. I’m cutting back now as I’m afraid to just stop.

 

Redvan- there is no one more. I quit for 7 yrs at one point. Out drinking with friends, I had 1 puff. That’s all it took to get me right back to square one.

 

East and all of you- Congratulations. It’s a tough habit to break. I hate smoking. I hate the smell of it. I hate everything about it. But the cigs call me in the wee hours of the morning when the cortisol crush hits. Do they help in any way? Nah  Just raise my HR and BP. 

 

Lil

I quit in 2011 after 25 years of a pack a day habit.

 

I started up again in 2015.

 

I quit again last year.  I used the patch both times to quit. Last year when I stepped down a dose one day it was like nicotine cold turkey. So I ripped off the patch and stuck with it. I decided to quit smoking when I tried to do the "reduce your xanax dose by 25% the first week" method, which as you well know can cause quite a bit of hell. And smoking made it feel worse. I went back on my regular xanax dose after 2 days and decided to quit smoking first. A month later I started my xanax taper.

 

Yes, the benzo withdrawal gives me cog fog like nicotine withdrawal.

 

I read "Freedom From Nicotine" https://whyquit.com/ffn/index.html. It spoke to me better than that silly Allen Carr book did.

I quit cigs about 5 months ago. Cold turkey after about 3/4 a pack/day for 10 years. I’m still unwell from ssri protracted wd, multiple adverse akathisia reactions, then floxed reaction to antibiotic a year ago. But I am still dealing with some of the effects from quitting nicotine, so for me it has proved to be more of a physiological addiction than a psychological one. I had a bunch of physical symptoms for the first 3 weeks or so then it has been slowly mellowing out since.

 

Overall, it helped the drug induced anxiety quite a bit (which at the time was my worst symptom), but in turn worsened the depression, anhedonia and added in major anger/irritability and food cravings/weight gain. So replace one worst symptom with another is kind of what happened to me so far. Just waiting it out.

 

The reddit page r/quittingsmoking helped me immensely and still does at times. It’s kind of like a Benzo buddies for nicotine. I couldn’t have done it without that.

 

Good luck, OP. I’m glad you’re recovered from this mess and living life!

Here's how I did it with no withdrawl at all. I used vapor cigs. I started with the high nicotine and after a couple of months went to the next nicotine level. Then the next level. I smoked the zero nicotine for quite a while. One day I just didn't buy any more refills. I Put the holder part in a box for maybe later since I didn't know what was going to happen. I can honestly say I never went to open the box. I had no withdrawl . I believe it was because I still smoked the zero nicotine and got to do the ritual of smoking. I tried to help others by telling them how quit and  told  them as long as they never smoke a real cigarette again they can easily stop with no withdrawl. Everyone of them still smoked  both so of course it didn't work.I quit 4 times in all and doing it this way I made it. It's been 8 years.I never thought of smoking ever again and I smoked for 30 years. You can do it. :

I'd love to smoke a cigarette, just three puffs. But will it send be back into acute where I came out of three weeks ago? That is the question my friend.