Angeleek

Woohoo thanks @jillar and everyone! So amazing to be smoke-free and nicotine-free! I can't even afford to smoke anymore, so it's a good thing I don't! @Mac#23, you have become a leader on this board...great job staying away from dem smokes! Happy you are in my graduating class and still such a force here. Thank you all for always being here. It's comforting to hang out with familiar folks even if I don't drop in too often lately. Wish more newbies would introduce themselves and take their seats, too. @Doreensfree, I finally spoiled myself last Spring with a trip to Germany and Europe, to spend all that money I saved and treat myself for all the milestones I hadn't yet celebrated, and shake myself up after so many deaths in the fam, particularly my brother. Well, driving those tiny mountain roads in Italy and Switzerland sure shook me up alright haha!!! Super scary, but of course I didnt smoke. The best part -- not fiending for a cigarette during the plane rides! Have an excellent day, everybody!

Hi Quitting Girl, Yes......Hang on to this quit like its your best friend. Smoking is just expensive and will make you feel like you let yourself down. Hold yourself and your quit on a pedestal, especially now in rocky marital waters. You deserve to breathe free and easy. And you will. Hang on through this rollercoaster of emotions....you will be so proud when you come out healthy on the other side despite the marriage troubles. Hope that resolves positively for you. You are almost through the worst of it including the psychological withdrawal part....for me it took 9 months total. You got this...just hang in a little.longer and it will get so much easier. Worse case, when I was in a real pickle and knew I would.blow it, I carried around a clipboard wherever I went, with a piece of paper full of all the reasons I quit....in huge colorful marker handwriting. Kept me focussed in tough times. All the best...

Alright, yay, Darcy! Never quit quitting!!!

Never to late to say Way to Go!! Congrats on 9 years nicotine free, Johnny! Thanks for all your support here!

Congrats on 10 years, Bat!!! Great eay to get healthy... All the best and keep up the great work!!!

Happy New Year, Linda and the Train! We made it to 2024 yoohoo!!! Hope you throw them cancer sticks out again...soon soon!!

Hi tocevoD, oh yes, the thoughts.....they do go!!! I am almost 4 years, and hardly ever think about it now. Been this way for a while now.....congratulations, keep up the great work, stay on your guard.... you got this!!!! I will add that 9 months was a turning point, depression started lifting....i stopped obsessing....yeah....9 months for me...

Hi Lanche, Welcome to the forum. It's a great place to help stay focussed on quitting and staying quit. Great people here. Sorry to hear about your mom's cancer diagnosis. That is so hard. All the best to your family while you navigate this, and esecially for your mom. May she stay strong and prevail! Go easy on yourself....

Happy New Year, Quit Train! Hey Kdad, just checkin in how u r doing...see if you're sick of dem stogies again yet...Hope all is better on your side...

Welcome, Titanif! Congratulations on beating the nicomonster! You don't ever have to smoke again, take joy in that!

Hi Linda, Congrats on an awesome start! I remember those mornings...Maybe a drastic change or new addition to your morning routine will also help. Perhaps a silly cheer, or watching something hilarious to get you laughing....you got this!!

Hi Linda, I think most of us quit several times before finally getting it gone for good. You hold the power to rise above your nicotine addiction. Know you will overcome it. Never give yourself over to it.

Hello! Excellent way to keep your quit, congrats!

Throwing on my 13,500 to woohoo!!!!!

Hey, Kdad, I just logged in after not being here for about a half year or so. I am sorry to hear about your divorce and that you relapsed to smoking because of how this awful life event is affecting you. Noone can blame you for wanting a pick me up, and nicotine is a short term pick me up. Even while you feel bad about restarting, remember that you quit before, and you can quit again. Remember that! Even if you dont yet feel strong enough to quit again, make a decision for yourself how many breaths, and how much money, you are willing to give over to smoking this go-around. Set yourself a limit, and stick to it. Once you have reached that limit, use everything in your arsenal to quit again! And stay on the train, and do your due diligence, smoking education, etc. I am so sorry you are going through a divorce. It's extremely difficult challening phase of life. You can quit again. Make it sooner than later, for breath's sake. All the best and good luck with everything.

Oh yes! Sadly not only does smoking cause at least a "low-level" depression (in my opinion), but quitting smoking REALLY throws you down in the dumps!! I am probably the anomaly who resorted to alcohol to muddle myself through the 5 months of quit-smoking depression that I had to endure to get me to month 9. After that, the "big blues" went away, and the regular, low-level depression, of which I was not even aware, remained. @Brioski know that what u are going through is temporary and will go away! They call it No-Man's-Land. Mine lasted for 5 months. It's your brain crying for nicotine, like the wicked witch of Oz who is melting away... waaaah!!!!. It will get better, but you have to endure it somehow. Exercise might be a good remedy. I was too down in the dumps to exercise, so I drank instead. Try exercise, as drinking usually leads to relapse! You can do this, stay centered with your eyes on the prize!

No no clinical diagnosis as I never sought help because I was fully functional, just a nagging feeling of being less happy than I normally am...or slightly sad at times for no reason. I was that way for so long that I forgot it was even a thing. I am glad that has finally lifted!

Yeah...I think it's amazing how little is still known about how nicotine ruins the developing young mind and damages the psyche. Maybe if we had more concrete info on that, more evidence could be presented to young people about how smoking/vaping harms your cognitive and mental health NOW, as a deterrent. That might help some kids to quit or never start.

Hi Overcome! You will definitely make it through that phase. Just hold steady and try to distract yourself from it. It will get easier and easier, you will see!

Hi DenaliBlues! Thanks for a very thoughtful answer. And congratulations on your first year smoke free! Your first 2 bullets really resonated with me. And I agree that there is no light-bulb moment where the depression or what have you is suddenly gone, but rather one day you realize that damage is no longer there, and you feel whole again!

Haha it would be nice to just blitz it away, right? I actually do sometimes forget I ever smoked. Then I realize I did and think, wow, I'm over the 3 years clean woohoo! Other times I get a quick crave, and I marvel at it as it passes from one brain cell to another and then disappears!

Hey Quit Train Gang! This is not meant to be medical advice but just my opinion based on my experience. I think long-term, regular use of nicotine causes depression! I say this because I became a regular smoker at the age of 14, and I came down with a low-level depression around the age of 21. Not bad enough to stop me from living, but just enough so that I was less happy-go-lucky than usual. I also noted that my best friend in school, who became a regular smoker with me, came down with a much more pronounced depression only a couple years into our smoking careers. Neither of us had any bad events in our lives other than having started smoking as young girls. Fast forward all these years later, and having learned to live with the "background" depression so well that I forgot about it, I can now report that the depression is fully gone now after 3 years of being smoke and nicotine free! I remember going through a really intense period of the blues during months 5 through 9 of quitting smoking -- the "no man's land" phase I guess, where I felt really down and thought, "Gosh, this no nicotine thing is truly depressing!" But that was a short-term phase that can happen when people quit smoking, I've read. The other, nearly life-long, low-level depression that miraculously, recently lifted now that I have been off nicotine for a few years -- I am convinced I acquired it through smoking! Anybody else think smoking / nicotine made them depressed?

Late but still, Happy 7 years off the stogies, Boo! Thanks for all your support and wisdom here on the Train! Wow, much money saved, right! Woohoo never look back!

Congratulations on 8 months, Overcome! Soon you'll be at the 1 year mark! Hold steady that quit and it will just get easier and easier! Just you wait. Fantastic job and you got this!

Congratulations on 2 years quit, Ace! Keep it up. No sweat now!