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Thanks for posting this @Minnie Mouse, very helpful!

-13

NOPE!

I am not going to smoke today. NOPE.

Gday a year…… got a ring to it do t it…..congrats

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NOPE

Hope you’re doing great @Pilgrim!

14 years! What an INSPIRATION that is to me! Congratulations.

Well done! So glad you are reaping the rewards of quitting already!!

Hooray for five months!!! What a wonderful start to your forever quit.

Well said @Minnie Mouse! I agree with this. Not only do we need to create new - hopefully healthier - coping strategies, we also need to rewire the reward centers in our brains. For a while after I quit, everything seemed flat. Nothing satisfied. Because I’d scorched all the dopamine receptors in my brain by force-feeding them with nicotine. I thought I’d never feel happy again. But I was wrong. That malaise was temporary. After a while, I started to be able to enjoy things again… the taste of food, the feeling of a cool breeze on a hot day… the fizz of my favorite beverage. Life’s little pleasures. It’s a beautiful part of recovery, actually.

Yeah, my quit wasn’t pretty, either. I was outa my mind for a while, and I still struggle with feelings of loss sometimes. But that struggle (and this forum) help me maintain my commitment to my forever quit. Go thru the misery of withdrawal all over again?! No thank you!!

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NOPE!!

@Gus Congrats on 5 Years Quit! That is so awesome! I completely understand. I also did not believe I was an "addict" until this my final quit when I acknowledged & came to terms with it. I absolutely WAS an active nicotine addict (it lies dormant in us forever). Nicotine doubles the rate in which our liver eliminates caffeine from our bloodstream. When we stop smoking if we don't reduce our coffee intake or should I say any caffeine intake (think soda, etc) the effects or impact doubles in our body. One cup of coffee for instance may make us feel like we had two. It makes perfect sense that you feel different now. I'm so happy you are on the Freedom Trail with me.

N.O.P.E.

We carved out really deep smoking neuro pathways in our brain for years when we smoked. It was easier for many of us to postpone, procrastinate, and avoid people, issues, and situations using smoking as a crutch instead of dealing with our life stuff head on. The new neuro pathways we make when we quit smoking, the healthy recovery ones, just aren't that deeply ingrained in us in the beginning so its easy, even compelling, to want to revert back to our old familiar patterns. It takes time & repetition to rebuild new pathways to replace the old ones (and to stop our addiction from leading us astray). Be kind to yourself (especially with your self-talk). Don't judge the urges you are having; just turn them away. It gets much easier & better with more smoke free time. Every time you say "NO" the concrete foundation you are building becomes stronger & firmer. Patience. It takes time to build new auto "go to habit" responses. It takes time to rebuild US. (Written by me 12-3-21. Nicotine addiction (or any addiction for that matter) physically changes our brain. It takes a while to recover ourselves once our addiction is dormant (but still lying in wait should we ever decide to use our DOC again) so remember to be kind to yourself. Best Wishes.)

I had an ugly quit. Realizing that I was truly an addict almost broke me completely. Me? An addict?! Yeah. Nicotine, my drug of choice. Crap totally rewired my brain. Sometimes I still can’t enjoy my second drug of choice, caffeine because ever since I quit smoking I’m hypersensitive to it. It’s something I can’t overcome. So I do have that reminder of having once been a smoker. That nicotine once controlled my whole life. So thankful that I suffered through the initial wuit and am still wuit 5 years later!

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Thanks everyone! I can’t believe 5 years has passed. It just doesn’t seem like it’s been that long. I remember crying tears of joy when I survived the first year and then it seemed that the more time that passed the less it felt like I had ever even smoked at all. Sometimes I feel like something is missing and I realize it for what it is, but this chic ain’t never going back to those chains. I appreciate each and every one of y’all.

Thanks @DenaliBlues! I meant to log in on my anniversary date but it slipped my mind. HaHa I’m thankful to have come this far and also that you are still with us here. I need to do better. Thanks for support. You have always been solid and sound while helping us all along. I have appreciated your words on many occasions.

How hard or easy it is for you to quit does not predict the long term outcome of your Stay Quit. All quits are NOT the same either whether it be our own quits or others’ quits. In my experience I found that the harder it was for me the more personal work I had to put into it & the firmer I built my foundation. It was a good thing for me although I didn’t feel that way at the time. Education, mindset, commitment & perspective made a huge difference when I quit smoking this time. It helped me understand & overcome the initial “Lizard Brain” most of us have as active addicts which told me many things including that I could not quit cold/smart turkey. I didn’t appreciate & value my first quit (of a year & a half) because it was so easy for me to quit (sorry, but true). This time it was hard. Much, much harder. Chosen meds were removed from my Tool Box one after another. I felt great anxiety just at the thought of quitting without “help”. Chantix (my miracle drug for my easy quit) was stopped on Day 6 (a day before the actual quit day) because of an extreme side affect. The patch was stopped after 11 days due to a severe allergic reaction and then Wellbutrin had to be discontinued on Day 32 also due to an extreme side effect. (I realized much later that I had truly taken smoking as an option off the table from Day One because smoking never entered my mind with my initial setbacks. It really worked!) My point? If you are using a aid & it “fails you” it does not mean you have to return to smoking. Instead piece the different methods together & use your other chosen tools from your “Tool Box” and keep moving ahead smoke free. Your doctor can also be a great resource so I highly encourage you to get your doctor on board with your quit. Mine was with me every step of the way. We never know how much harder it may be for us the “next” time so I encourage you to just hang on & keep building on your smoke free days. Piece your aids together if you have to & don’t return to smoking. It doesn’t matter how “ugly” you do your quit because if you don’t smoke the days count the same. In fact, the harder won it is the more you may appreciate your Stay Quit. No matter how I felt or what happened to me or what I thought I cemented my quit foundation one hard day at a time in the beginning. I appreciated any smoke free time. It was my most precious gift to myself & I treated it as such and hung onto it for dear life. It’s hard when you’re an active nicotine addict. No doubt about it but if you don’t smoke and give yourself time you can regain control of your brain … or at least to the point that the Nic O. Demon is no longer whispering constantly in your ear. (By the way, the reason those whispers are so powerful is because the Nic O. Demon is YOU (your self-talk) and knows all your weaknesses & likes to exploit them fully to try to bring you back to Nico Land.) If you are going through hell with your quit recognize that it’s because of your smoking and what you are going through is the price we pay to rid ourselves of our active addiction. It’s temporary. Focus on the goal … to be smoke free and to achieve peace & gratefulness about it. The when for each of us varies. Don’t smoke & give yourself the gift of time to reach Freedom for yourself. If you have to keep piecing your quit tools together … do it … it all counts. (I wrote this 4-30-19 but it is still relative today. I hope it has something to say to those having difficulty quitting or staying quit. Best Wishes.)