Please help me quit smoking!

[Someone here]

First of all ,I'm really really sorry for constantly complaining and posting about my smoking addiction. I made almost 4-5 posts in the past about this issue. People have recommend to me to just bite the bullet and quit cold turkey. It never worked. I just now finished half a pack of Marlboro Gold .

I can quit for a day or two or even a week or two .but Quitting "forever" can seem impossible and daunting. I was always told to just tell myself to make it through the day because that's manageable. Then tomorrow i just tell myself to make it through that day also. 

I've read tons of tips, advice, and how-to's online, but non of them seem to work for me.  would love useful insights and read some tales of inspiration.

I know people will recommend to me the Allen Carr book.I've heard of it but have yet to check it out. I will soon.

I also suffer from anxiety and mild depression.  Not sure if it's because the cigarettes or not.  I wouldn't call it depression nesscary but my mood in general is low. remember that. Sometimes the only reason I got out of bed was to smoke. 

I take  some antidepressants (Prozac, Invega , rivotril,and zyprexa). I'm also becoming dependent on them .I can't function well and my mood goes to shit when I don't take them for even just few days .

Please I'm looking for solid advice on how to quit .and if anyone can be my accountability partner ,please PM me .

Thanks. 

 

[Tristan12]

The root cause of addiction lies within your emotional issues, in the sense that the pain you have stored within you makes you more desperate for an escape and for a hit of pleasure, so the real solution to this problem would be solving those issues, but of course that can be difficult and take time.

For now, the fact that you said you've been able to quit for up to a week or two is good. I would recommend for you to come up with a habit that you can replace the smoking with to help minimize your temptation to go back to it, something that replaces the pleasure you get from smoking to some extent, such as maybe watching TV or playing a video game, but is healthier than smoking. Replacing the habit is much easier than just dropping it completely. 

Of course you still might not want to be doing those things long term, but at least those things are healthier than smoking, and it would be easier to quit those things than it would be for smoking. You can let yourself have those escapes until you get your mental health issues resolved because you're always going to need some sort of escape when you have a lot of emotional pain. It's unrealistic to expect yourself not to.

[Asayake]

Lookup Gabor Maté on YouTube, he has a theory about how addiction is rooted in coping with stress and other feelings and how stress, anxiety, depression etc is rooted in repressed feelings/trauma. 

According to Maté trauma is not what happens to us but what happens inside of us as a reaction of an event. A seemingly not traumatic experience can cause trauma, especially to a child. We don't even remember all trauma we have because some of it is stored only in our nervous system memory, from when we were toddlers and unable to form memories.

Stress/anxiety is a natural reaction to uncertainty. Maté says that when we are kids, optimally we need the following: A non stressed, unconditionally loving and emotionally available parent that is always there for us. If the parent fails to meet one of these criteria Maté means that it is not an optimal environment for a kid to grow up in. 

A kid growing up with a stressed parent(e.g. poor and stressed about making ends meet) the parent will pass on this stress to the child and the child will be have an increase likelihood of learning problematic coping behaviours for dealing with the stress. 

If a parent gets angry at the kid for showing negative emotions like anger, fear or sadness(the parent might tell the kid to go to their room because they got angry as a punishment, or tell the kid to man up and stop being a wimp for being scared). The kid will end up repressing these emotions and they will manifest later in life as stress, anxiety, depression. For which addiction is yet again a common coping mechanism.

The way to deal with this seems to be to get in touch with your repressed emotions. Maybe you're like me and are Mr Nice Guy for example. I've been too nice to people, surpressing my anger which has resulted in poor boundaries, letting people run over me and undermining my masculine side. Working on getting back in touch with that has been fruitful for me lately, learning to be better at saying no and standing my ground. What you have to work on might be different depending on where your addiction is rooted. To find the cause of the addiction and anxiety/depression you can for example start doing yoga regulations to help get in touch with your inner self and start becoming your own guide. With time emotions might come up, or memories of some event that was traumatic to you as a child. Then you can start processing that by acknowledging and accepting it as a part of your past and then it will help you release stress & emotions and pass on eventually. This process can help you get more in touch with yourself and empower you to take the next step, which is quitting smoking. That's going to release even more stress that you're using the smoking to surpress but with the yoga and dealing with stuff that's already been brought up you'll be more prepared to deal with it, the withdrawal won't last forever but there'll be a healing process.

On the other side of pain is growth.

 

 

 

[Ulax]

@Someone here  Hey dude, my perspective is that journaling and contemplating about  what the effects of your previous attempts to quit were could be of value to you. Maybe one technique was say 90% unhelpful or even suffering inducing and 10% positive. I'd advise trying to figure out what that the cause of that 10% positive effect was, and then experiment with different ways of applying techniques that deal with that cause.

Also, I've just come across a technique called letting go by David Hawkins. If you haven't already, I think it could be worth your trying it out. My understanding is that what you do is you first notice an emotion, secondly you place awareness on it, and thirdly you only take your awareness off the emotions once that emotion has either transformed or gone away. Personally, I also like setting a timer which helps when the emotion seems to not either transforming or going away.

Finally, it sounds like you're feeling discouraged about your ability to overcome smoking. In my opinion, you've seemingly been doing a lot of sensible and positive actions with regards to your addiction. You are making posts on here, and seem to be open-minded to experiment with different techniques. In my opinion, every failed technique is another step closer to finding out what will work for you. And, if you're strategic about how you approach the issue, i.e. journaling on the effects of different techniques, and thinking about why certain parts of techniques worked or not, then I think you will be significantly increasing the likelihood that you'll overcome your addiction but also you'll likely be cutting down the time it takes you massively.

Edited October 22, 2022 by Ulax

[Someone here]

29 minutes ago, Tristan12 said:

The root cause of addiction lies within your emotional issues, in the sense that the pain you have stored within you makes you more desperate for an escape and for a hit of pleasure, so the real solution to this problem would be solving those issues, but of course that can be difficult and take time.

For now, the fact that you said you've been able to quit for up to a week or two is good. I would recommend for you to come up with a habit that you can replace the smoking with to help minimize your temptation to go back to it, something that replaces the pleasure you get from smoking to some extent, such as maybe watching TV or playing a video game, but is healthier than smoking. Replacing the habit is much easier than just dropping it completely. 

Of course you still might not want to be doing those things long term, but at least those things are healthier than smoking, and it would be easier to quit those things than it would be for smoking. You can let yourself have those escapes until you get your mental health issues resolved because you're always going to need some sort of escape when you have a lot of emotional pain. It's unrealistic to expect yourself not to.

 

28 minutes ago, Asayake said:

Lookup Gabor Maté on YouTube, he has a theory about how addiction is rooted in coping with stress and other feelings and how stress, anxiety, depression etc is rooted in repressed feelings/trauma. 

According to Maté trauma is not what happens to us but what happens inside of us as a reaction of an event. A seemingly not traumatic experience can cause trauma, especially to a child. We don't even remember all trauma we have because some of it is stored only in our nervous system memory, from when we were toddlers and unable to form memories.

Stress/anxiety is a natural reaction to uncertainty. Maté says that when we are kids, optimally we need the following: A non stressed, unconditionally loving and emotionally available parent that is always there for us. If the parent fails to meet one of these criteria Maté means that it is not an optimal environment for a kid to grow up in. 

A kid growing up with a stressed parent(e.g. poor and stressed about making ends meet) the parent will pass on this stress to the child and the child will be have an increase likelihood of learning problematic coping behaviours for dealing with the stress. 

If a parent gets angry at the kid for showing negative emotions like anger, fear or sadness(the parent might tell the kid to go to their room because they got angry as a punishment, or tell the kid to man up and stop being a wimp for being scared). The kid will end up repressing these emotions and they will manifest later in life as stress, anxiety, depression. For which addiction is yet again a common coping mechanism.

The way to deal with this seems to be to get in touch with your repressed emotions. Maybe you're like me and are Mr Nice Guy for example. I've been too nice to people, surpressing my anger which has resulted in poor boundaries, letting people run over me and undermining my masculine side. Working on getting back in touch with that has been fruitful for me lately, learning to be better at saying no and standing my ground. What you have to work on might be different depending on where your addiction is rooted. To find the cause of the addiction and anxiety/depression you can for example start doing yoga regulations to help get in touch with your inner self and start becoming your own guide. With time emotions might come up, or memories of some event that was traumatic to you as a child. Then you can start processing that by acknowledging and accepting it as a part of your past and then it will help you release stress & emotions and pass on eventually. This process can help you get more in touch with yourself and empower you to take the next step, which is quitting smoking. That's going to release even more stress that you're using the smoking to surpress but with the yoga and dealing with stuff that's already been brought up you'll be more prepared to deal with it, the withdrawal won't last forever but there'll be a healing process.

On the other side of pain is growth.

 

 

 

 

8 minutes ago, Ulax said:

@Someone here  Hey dude, my perspective is that journaling and contemplating about  what the effects of your previous attempts to quit were could be of value to you. Maybe one technique was say 90% unhelpful or even suffering inducing and 10% positive. I'd advise trying to figure out what that the cause of that 10% positive effect was, and then experiment with different ways of applying techniques that deal with that cause.

Also, I've just come across a technique called letting go by David Hawkins. If you haven't already, I think it could be worth your trying it out. My understanding is that what you do is you first notice an emotion, secondly you place awareness on it, and thirdly you only take your awareness off the emotions once that emotion has either transformed or gone away. Personally, I also like setting a timer which helps when the emotion seems to not either transforming or going away.

Finally, it sounds like you're feeling discouraged about your ability to overcome smoking. In my opinion, you've seemingly been doing a lot of sensible and positive actions with regards to your addiction. You are making posts on here, and seem to be open-minded to experiment with different techniques. In my opinion, every failed technique is another step closer to finding out what will work for you. And, if you're strategic about how you approach the issue, i.e. journaling on the effects of different techniques, and thinking about why certain parts of techniques worked or not, then I think you will be significantly increasing the likelihood that you'll overcome your addiction but also you'll likely be cutting down the time it takes you massively.

Thank you guys for the advice.  I appreciate it .

@Tristan12 yes I thought a lot about replacing smoking with healthier activities that are also addictive and cause dopamine spikes . But I realized that this  whole lifestyle is what's making me smoke in the first place . Namely, the lifestyle of chasing short term pleasures that feel good at the moment but fucks you up in the long term . So if I binged video games or porn or junk food I would say fuck it ..might as well smoke a cigarette. You know what I mean ?

@Asayake  yes I definitely use smoking as a stress relief. My life is extremely stressful. I suffer everyday. Wether I go to college and having to deal with my stupid professor or not .

Although I don't particularly remember that I was traumatised as a child . I grew up without a father .my mom raised me .and I had a pretty normal and healthy childhood. 

But your point about suppressing emotions like anger is spot on . That's how I feel whenever I blow the smoke .it feels like I'm crushing the entire world with each hit of tobacco. 

I will look Gabor Maté in youtube. Thanks for your advice .

@Ulax

Yeah journaling maybe  helps .do you suggest I open a journal on The journal section and express my experience with how I'm battling the addiction? 

Also I'm familiar with David Hawkins" techniques. I will try to apply it .the problem is I'm lazy and don't  do enough reading and research on what might benefit me .if I replaced all thr time I spent smoking into researching positive skills I would be far more better. 

I was a pack a day smoker for years. And I “quit” more times than I can remember.

Every time I tried to quit and failed, I learned something about how to quit.

I learned that the personal will to quit isnt enough.  Its a chemical addiction. 

I learned that the “nic-fits” last 3 days, so after you pass the third day, things get much easier.

I learned that just about 2 weeks after you quit, a second round of mind games start to hit your brain pressing thoughts like “I can just have one…” which lead to failure

These lessons absolutely helped me quit successfully the last time I tried. Which is the last two weeks  .but I relapsed today very badly. 

 

Following experience I'd had with nearly successful attempts to quit in the past, I allowed myself one last cigarette after lunch..and soon enough I'm back to binging and smoking half a pack a day .

I didn't stop with the commitment. I knew better. I'd been through it before.

 

 

[Ulax]

1 minute ago, Someone here said:

 

@Ulax

Yeah journaling maybe  helps .do you suggest I open a journal on The journal section and express my experience with how I'm battling the addiction? 

Also I'm familiar with David Hawkins" techniques. I will try to apply it .the problem is I'm lazy and don't  do enough reading and research on what might benefit me .if I replaced all thr time I spent smoking into researching positive skills I would be far more better. 

I was a pack a day smoker for years. And I “quit” more times than I can remember.

Every time I tried to quit and failed, I learned something about how to quit.

I learned that the personal will to quit isnt enough.  Its a chemical addiction. 

I learned that the “nic-fits” last 3 days, so after you pass the third day, things get much easier.

I learned that just about 2 weeks after you quit, a second round of mind games start to hit your brain pressing thoughts like “I can just have one…” which lead to failure

These lessons absolutely helped me quit successfully the last time I tried. Which is the last two weeks  .but I relapsed today very badly. 

 

Following experience I'd had with nearly successful attempts to quit in the past, I allowed myself one last cigarette after lunch..and soon enough I'm back to binging and smoking half a pack a day .

I didn't stop with the commitment. I knew better. I'd been through it before.

@Someone here Sure! I think a journal could be useful. Maybe even a general one where you talk about many different aspects of your life you are trying to actualize. I think that way it can really help you feel a real sense of belongingness and community to this site. It might be that you are meeting those needs in a less conscious way currently and this is impacting your results, without you even realising.

Seems like you've done some contemplation too, which I think is really positive. I really like what I see to be your tracking of patterns as well. What I do see is that I think you are making some assumptions. And I thinking questioning them could help you, i.e. how do you know its a chemical addiction, what are the different perspectives on addiction. For example, to my mind, someone like Gabor Mate wouldn't see it as a predominantly chemical addiction but more as a coping mechanism for trauma.

Also, I note you said you are lazy. In my opinion, that's important info. If you're lazy, then I say meet yourself where you are at. If you are lazy then find and experiment with techniques and different perspectives for learning how to be more disciplined, or find techniques for overcoming addictions that require less discipline. Otherwise, to my mind, if you are lazy, and you keep picking techniques that require discipline, then you will be in a cycle of not getting results.

Also, to my mind, the technique of 'just do it' is also a technique. So, if some folks say something akin to, 'bro you have to get more disciplined, just sit your ass down, and do it', then I say treat that as a technique, try it out and see if it helps. If it helps, keep it. If it doesn't, drop it. And perhaps find a different way of addressing discipline, i.e. addressing unconscious cycle through therapy. And do the same test with that too.

Overall, i think getting a growth mindset is key, and effective.

[Tristan12]

16 minutes ago, Someone here said:

@Tristan12 yes I thought a lot about replacing smoking with healthier activities that are also addictive and cause dopamine spikes . But I realized that this  whole lifestyle is what's making me smoke in the first place . Namely, the lifestyle of chasing short term pleasures that feel good at the moment but fucks you up in the long term . So if I binged video games or porn or junk food I would say fuck it ..might as well smoke a cigarette. You know what I mean ?

If you feel like you could get past these instant gratification activities completely then of course that's ideal, but I feel like for someone in your situation just overcoming smoking would be easier for you. Does it feel realistic for you to give up that lifestyle completely and remove that crutch with all the emotional issues you have?

I would try and separate smoking from everything else in your mind. Cigarettes are much worse for your health than porn or video games. I let myself do those things but I would never touch a cigarette, so I wouldn't put them in the same category. 

What if you tried to quit smoking, and then you start to feel really shitty and you crave a cig, and so you say to yourself that you can play video games and watch porn or whatever, but you're not going to smoke, because you have an issue with that and you know that you can't let yourself do that?

It's up to you what you feel like would work best for you but personally I feel like you have to separate smoking from all those other kinds of activities, because then you'd be able to use them as a crutch as you try to quit smoking without being tempted to smoke just because you're watching porn or whatever. Otherwise you're just going to have to take on some kind of more disciplined approach where you cut off all of these pleasures, and that's definitely a harder approach, especially considering that it sounds like you've already been struggling with quitting.

[Asayake]

1 hour ago, Someone here said:

@Asayake  yes I definitely use smoking as a stress relief. My life is extremely stressful. I suffer everyday. Wether I go to college and having to deal with my stupid professor or not .

Although I don't particularly remember that I was traumatised as a child . I grew up without a father .my mom raised me .and I had a pretty normal and healthy childhood. 

But your point about suppressing emotions like anger is spot on . That's how I feel whenever I blow the smoke .it feels like I'm crushing the entire world with each hit of tobacco. 

I will look Gabor Maté in youtube. Thanks for your advice .

Yeah, Gabor Maté's definition of trauma is different than the conventional one. I'm going by his definition, which is that trauma is not necessarily that the child was abused sexually or physically or some other extreme form of abuse, although those are experiences that most certainly would cause trauma too by his definition. But rather his definition of trauma is that there is some aspect of the childs need that weren't met, which leads to surpression of certain emotions, which leads to high stress levels, anxiety and depression. By his definition, trauma could look like for example being told to go to your room when you're not behaving as your parents want you to, being told not to be so emotional and be more rational/be a man when you're showing sadness. Being ridiculed by others for not being brave enough, being yelled at for acting out/not behaving. Being told not to be so lazy. Basically being told you can't be the way you are/express yourself the way you are expressing yourself. Being made to feel shame over expressing your emotions, Being made to feel that your parents love is not unconditional, but on the condition of good behaviour.

A child that is screaming at dinner because he's angry does so as a natural way to cope with the anger he's feeling, expressing the anger by screaming is a natural way for a child to express and process the emotion of anger. In today's society if a child is screaming or not behaving most parents will discipline them, tell them that's wrong to do. Not by punishing the child physically anymore(for the most part), but by being shamed in various ways, for example by being told what they're doing is wrong, being told to sit still and be quiet, being told to go to their room. This makes the kid feel that they're doing something wrong when in fact they're simply authentically expressing their anger. Boys today are being told over and over to sit down and behave in the classroom. And at home as well, the parents don't want their kid to be the one that doesn't behave at school and be forced to deal with the shame of being 'that parent' that can't discipline their child.

Many children today don't get the unconditional love that they need, they feel like they have to behave in a certain way and jump through hoops to make their parents love them. The parents will keep shaming their children for behaviour that doesn't satisfy them, even when the children are adults. This summer I had an emotional breakdown because my parents were dictating so much what I could/couldn't do when I was visiting their place and it made me feel like I had to behave in a certain way in order to please them, I couldn't just relax and be myself. Stress is what happens when we lose touch with our authentic self, so to speak. We can't just relax and be the way we are, instead we have been programmed to jump through hoops and do things in ways that we feel are not in line with who we really are, our emotions are surpressed and stress is the bodys way to try and let out some steam. Today this is considered normal, sadly.

The trauma is passed on in generations according to Maté, a stressed out parent is stressed out mainly because of under the circumstances they were raised, and they will pass on some of those circumstances to their child without realizing it. The child will be able to tell that their parent is stressed and will learn the parents stress coping mechanisms as a way to cope with their own surpressed emotions. Parents who are shaming their children for expressing their emotions likely have some surpressed emotions themselves. And they too have been taught it's not ok to show those emotions. Depressed & anxious parents have higher likelyhood of having depressed and anxious children, stressed parents have a higher likelyhood of having stressed, anxious/neurotic children. It's a cycle that goes on and on until someone breaks it.

Edited October 22, 2022 by Asayake

[Someone here]

36 minutes ago, Ulax said:

@Someone here Sure! I think a journal could be useful. Maybe even a general one where you talk about many different aspects of your life you are trying to actualize. I think that way it can really help you feel a real sense of belongingness and community to this site. It might be that you are meeting those needs in a less conscious way currently and this is impacting your results, without you even realising.

Seems like you've done some contemplation too, which I think is really positive. I really like what I see to be your tracking of patterns as well. What I do see is that I think you are making some assumptions. And I thinking questioning them could help you, i.e. how do you know its a chemical addiction, what are the different perspectives on addiction. For example, to my mind, someone like Gabor Mate wouldn't see it as a predominantly chemical addiction but more as a coping mechanism for trauma.

Also, I note you said you are lazy. In my opinion, that's important info. If you're lazy, then I say meet yourself where you are at. If you are lazy then find and experiment with techniques and different perspectives for learning how to be more disciplined, or find techniques for overcoming addictions that require less discipline. Otherwise, to my mind, if you are lazy, and you keep picking techniques that require discipline, then you will be in a cycle of not getting results.

Also, to my mind, the technique of 'just do it' is also a technique. So, if some folks say something akin to, 'bro you have to get more disciplined, just sit your ass down, and do it', then I say treat that as a technique, try it out and see if it helps. If it helps, keep it. If it doesn't, drop it. And perhaps find a different way of addressing discipline, i.e. addressing unconscious cycle through therapy. And do the same test with that too.

Overall, i think getting a growth mindset is key, and effective.

35 minutes ago, Tristan12 said:

 

 

Thanks for the advice.  I guess I will start  a journal about quitting smoking and describe daily the difficulties I'm going through. 

And well, its a chemical addiction because nicotine/tobacco is one of the most addictive substances out there. Its a physiological dependency. 

Cigarettes are highly addictive. nicotine itself isn't the worst :  it's true. Its mixed with escapism. it's the habits associated with smoking. Most smokers have made cigarettes parts of their daily routines : breaks, relaxation, coffee, parties etc.
Nicotine was not what made me get back to smoking but the muscle memory associated with smoking and the (relative) pleasure you get when you finally lit one. Basically I feel like a junkie.

I'm.lazy because my life is empty of anything exciting. And that's why I have free time to smoke and to spend time on  this forum mentally masturbating about all kinds of shit . It's the lifestyle that needs change.  I guess I will have  to install healthy habits and daily routine to replace the urge for cigarettes.  Maybe  if I take care of my health and start eating healthy and workout..then I will be forced to ditch cigarettes .

38 minutes ago, Tristan12 said:

If you feel like you could get past these instant gratification activities completely then of course that's ideal, but I feel like for someone in your situation just overcoming smoking would be easier for you. Does it feel realistic for you to give up that lifestyle completely and remove that crutch with all the emotional issues you have?

I would try and separate smoking from everything else in your mind. Cigarettes are much worse for your health than porn or video games. I let myself do those things but I would never touch a cigarette, so I wouldn't put them in the same category. 

What if you tried to quit smoking, and then you start to feel really shitty and you crave a cig, and so you say to yourself that you can play video games and watch porn or whatever, but you're not going to smoke, because you have an issue with that and you know that you can't let yourself do that?

It's up to you what you feel like would work best for you but personally I feel like you have to separate smoking from all those other kinds of activities, because then you'd be able to use them as a crutch as you try to quit smoking without being tempted to smoke just because you're watching porn or whatever. Otherwise you're just going to have to take on some kind of more disciplined approach where you cut off all of these pleasures, and that's definitely a harder approach, especially considering that it sounds like you've already been struggling with quitting.

Well to my mind one thing leads to another.  This hedonistic lifestyle of earing sugary and greasy food and watching porn is all in the same category of smoking. It's basically getting a quick fix and the price is your long term welk  being and health. 

I'm also addicted to porn btw .but its not the biggest worry I have. I can manage it in moderation .but it's those mofos(the ciggies) which are the biggest deal.

[BipolarGrowth]

You might want to talk to your psychiatrist/doctor about trying Wellbutrin as an antidepressant. It’s been used for helping people to quit smoking, and it was the only antidepressant that actually helped my depression out of many. It will also likely even out the increased appetite you might be seeing from the zyprexa. I’ve tried Prozac as well btw. Wellbutrin seemed to work far better for me. 

[thepixelmonk]

I quit using this guide if it helps any. Made the whole process super easy.

https://www.reddit.com/r/kratom/comments/78jxxs/quit_smoking_cigarettes_with_kratom_howto_and_why/

Edited October 22, 2022 by thepixelmonk

[The0Self]

I quit a 10-15 cigs per day habit a few years ago. My gf at the time was smoking and I still pulled it off. Can’t tell you much about what I did, but I just made up my mind and stopped. Smoking kills and causes all sorts of health problems, which I didn’t want, so that was that. It was about 4 days of ears ringing and feeling pretty bad, but I’d been through heroin wd so it was basically nothing compared to that (like not even a discernible fraction of a percent of the discomfort). After about 8 days I felt perfectly normal and never looked back, basically. I’ve had a few (as in well under 10 cigs in three years) cigarettes here and there since then, socially, but every time I had one I’d literally feel a mini-wd for 3-4 days after… Now I just don’t do it period.

When I quit, I was doing meditation. If you’re not doing that, you’re missing out, frankly. I recommend either TMI or TWIM to start with.

Next time you’ve made up your mind to relapse, attempt to convince yourself not to, and if your mind fails that and firmly objects to not smoking, then just get a vape instead — the only addictive chemical therein is nicotine, and it’s not going to cause nearly the issues that smoked tobacco does. Smoked tobacco not only has tar, but also has at least one or two addictive harmaline MAOI alkaloids (essentially a “fast-acting and addictive antidepressant with recreational value”), which are actually responsible for >>80% of the discomfort of cig wd… unbeknownst to seemingly just about everyone, to my utter amazement… ?‍♂️

Edited October 23, 2022 by The0Self

[Michael569]

Maybe you could consider an actual addiction treatment managed by a qualified team of specialists, and nurses. In a centre that is not your home. Maybe you need to spend 2 months there. It might be that you need to be in an environment that helps you manage the worst of the chemical withdrawal and that regardless of how conscious you are you may need a short-term pharmacological support to rebalance your neurochemistry an then gradually wean of it. 

I'm not doubting your willpower, I've just seen you raise this topic many times over the past 24 months so maybe this is just stronger than what your willpower can suppress and you actually need a professional help over a longer period of time 

A success rate of those sorts of therapies can be quite high. Obviously, you need to cut away all ties to your previous life as a smoker. All friends, pubs, places and experiences associated with smoking need to go. You may even need to move to a different city once you succeed. Perhaps even a different country. 

My greatest life experiences and transformations came after moving away from my home country and starting a new life in another. 

Edited October 24, 2022 by Michael569

[Leo Gura]

Hasn't Jordan Peterson said that mushrooms are shown to be one of the most effective treatments for smoking?

[Leo Gura]

On 10/22/2022 at 5:36 AM, Someone here said:

I can quit for a day or two or even a week or two .but Quitting "forever" can seem impossible and daunting. I was always told to just tell myself to make it through the day because that's manageable. Then tomorrow i just tell myself to make it through that day also.

More seriously though, there's no way to quit without enduring the pain of withdrawal. Just muster up and decide to take it like a man. Let the craving eat you up inside but never put a cig in your mouth again. After a month it will just go away.

You can do it. Just decide you will do it 100%, zero wiggle room, zero doubt. It's just a mind game.

Edited October 26, 2022 by Leo Gura

[StarStruck]

You need to surround yourself with LOC500-540 people and soak their energy until you are on their LOC. Mind-based treatments are not going to work for ya.

Edited October 26, 2022 by StarStruck

[Shiva99]

On 22/10/2022 at 2:36 PM, Someone here said:

I know people will recommend to me the Allen Carr book.I've heard of it but have yet to check it out. I will soon.

It has helped a ton of people and it will probably help you. So get the book asap.

[museumoftrees]

You could seriously try patches. If quitting cold turkey is the problem then patches will be more appropriate for you. They often come with a kit that's designed to give you a slope in terms of the mg of nicotine you are getting and also a schedule. That way the withdrawals aren't too bad. I tried quitting caffeine cold turkey 5 times so I can't imagine what that will be like for you.

Also, order the Allen Carr book, it will help you.

[Sincerity]

Why do You want to quit?

[Someone here]

On 22/10/2022 at 10:03 PM, BipolarGrowth said:

You might want to talk to your psychiatrist/doctor about trying Wellbutrin as an antidepressant. It’s been used for helping people to quit smoking, and it was the only antidepressant that actually helped my depression out of many. It will also likely even out the increased appetite you might be seeing from the zyprexa. I’ve tried Prozac as well btw. Wellbutrin seemed to work far better for me. 

There is no best antidepressant. It depends on you and what works for you. No research studies have shown that any class of antidepressants works better than other.

Here is my list of what I've tried and they all worked so 

(SSRI’s): fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), escitalopram (Lexapro), citalopram (Celexa), paroxetine (Paxil) and fluvoxamine (Luvox).

On 23/10/2022 at 10:35 PM, The0Self said:

I quit a 10-15 cigs per day habit a few years ago. My gf at the time was smoking and I still pulled it off. Can’t tell you much about what I did, but I just made up my mind and stopped. Smoking kills and causes all sorts of health problems, which I didn’t want, so that was that. It was about 4 days of ears ringing and feeling pretty bad, but I’d been through heroin wd so it was basically nothing compared to that (like not even a discernible fraction of a percent of the discomfort). After about 8 days I felt perfectly normal and never looked back, basically. I’ve had a few (as in well under 10 cigs in three years) cigarettes here and there since then, socially, but every time I had one I’d literally feel a mini-wd for 3-4 days after… Now I just don’t do it period.

When I quit, I was doing meditation. If you’re not doing that, you’re missing out, frankly. I recommend either TMI or TWIM to start with.

Next time you’ve made up your mind to relapse, attempt to convince yourself not to, and if your mind fails that and firmly objects to not smoking, then just get a vape instead — the only addictive chemical therein is nicotine, and it’s not going to cause nearly the issues that smoked tobacco does. Smoked tobacco not only has tar, but also has at least one or two addictive harmaline MAOI alkaloids (essentially a “fast-acting and addictive antidepressant with recreational value”), which are actually responsible for >>80% of the discomfort of cig wd… unbeknownst to seemingly just about everyone, to my utter amazement… ?‍♂️

I'm making excuses because i haven’t decided to quit smoking, I've decided to try to quit smoking. the “try” is actually a backdoor through which my excuses come. As Yoda says “do or don’t do there is no try”. So here’s what i think I should do: make a decision to actually quit smoking, and COMMIT to it. So basically, quit or quit quitting.

On 24/10/2022 at 11:28 AM, Michael569 said:

Maybe you could consider an actual addiction treatment managed by a qualified team of specialists, and nurses. In a centre that is not your home. Maybe you need to spend 2 months there. It might be that you need to be in an environment that helps you manage the worst of the chemical withdrawal and that regardless of how conscious you are you may need a short-term pharmacological support to rebalance your neurochemistry an then gradually wean of it. 

I'm not doubting your willpower, I've just seen you raise this topic many times over the past 24 months so maybe this is just stronger than what your willpower can suppress and you actually need a professional help over a longer period of time 

A success rate of those sorts of therapies can be quite high. Obviously, you need to cut away all ties to your previous life as a smoker. All friends, pubs, places and experiences associated with smoking need to go. You may even need to move to a different city once you succeed. Perhaps even a different country. 

My greatest life experiences and transformations came after moving away from my home country and starting a new life in another. 

What do you think or hope such groups will provide? What can someone say if you’ve quit but then restart poisoning yourself with tobacco smoke? “Hang in there, you can do it, stay strong, good luck!”

One has to be careful that these groups do not become a forum for smokers to support each other in their failure to quit. 

I do believe it's a good idea in theory .but in practice the social pressure will make me go mad and ache for a cigarette. 

On 26/10/2022 at 5:07 PM, Leo Gura said:

More seriously though, there's no way to quit without enduring the pain of withdrawal. Just muster up and decide to take it like a man. Let the craving eat you up inside but never put a cig in your mouth again. After a month it will just go away.

You can do it. Just decide you will do it 100%, zero wiggle room, zero doubt. It's just a mind game.

I think I  must be positive in wanting to quit but accepting also that once the cravings have mostly subsided after day 5, the urge will still prevail and will for months afterwards. Urge and cravings are not the same but can feel similar if i allow the urge to control me .

I always fail at the 2 weeks mark.  Because I don't know what to do without a cigarette in my mouth .I do everything while smoking.  If I'm taking a walk ,I smoked. If I study, I smoke .etc 

On 26/10/2022 at 5:12 PM, StarStruck said:

You need to surround yourself with LOC500-540 people and soak their energy until you are on their LOC. Mind-based treatments are not going to work for ya.

Skeptical about this whole LOC notion. 

On 26/10/2022 at 6:11 PM, Tahuti said:

It is incredibly easy to quit smoking.. 

1.   Shread your bank card on friday evening, order a new one. Sleep in until 12 pm saturday(banks are closee then). Now you can not accese your bank for 48 hours total(banks are closee on sunday.

2.  Throw out product one is addicted to in a place where if you try to go back to grab it, it wouldn't be accessible

3. If coldturkey is hard for you then speak with primary care physician for Welbutrin. Welbutrin is super easy to get off. Welbutrin makes it so anytime you smoke, there is no pleasure or nicotine-buzz present. You then are forced to quit because it becomes like inhaling air. Zero side effects from nicotine will be present. 

4. Takes 72 hours to get over withdrawl hump. After 72 hours you will only face mental impressions if you do an action or see something that reminds you to smoke.

 5.  Your day goes from very fragmented to very continuous. The only difference is you are more awake when using nicotine(nootropic). I went years off it then back on becuse of its wakefullness properties(vaping). It is unhealthy. I can quit at will but need something that can provide the wakefullness and morning clarity that Nicotine provides.

6. I hit my vape 3-5x(has a puff count) every 8 hours(timed with timer on phone). To quit I will increse the puff interval to 16 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, Done(Works every time when I taper vs cold turkey. Increased will power comes from tapering)!

Good tips right there. Thanks. 

On 26/10/2022 at 7:10 PM, Shiva99 said:

It has helped a ton of people and it will probably help you. So get the book asap.

I will buy it soon.  I haven't found a pdf online version. 

On 26/10/2022 at 8:08 PM, museumoftrees said:

You could seriously try patches. If quitting cold turkey is the problem then patches will be more appropriate for you. They often come with a kit that's designed to give you a slope in terms of the mg of nicotine you are getting and also a schedule. That way the withdrawals aren't too bad. I tried quitting caffeine cold turkey 5 times so I can't imagine what that will be like for you.

Also, order the Allen Carr book, it will help you.

I tried vaping but I didn’t like how weak it tastes . I crave for big hits of nicotine smell that comes from regular cigarettes. 

21 hours ago, Sincerity said:

Why do You want to quit?

Because its ruining my heath ,obviously.