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Share your quitting journey

Don't go down this road (on giving the addict the keys to the cookie jar)

JonesCarpeDiem
Member
0 7 22
‎04-07-2014 07:28 AM

I got this message in my inbox last night in my facebook quit smoking group.

Question:

Do you have any info on quitting nicotine lozenges...I have quit smoking...it has been 2 1/2 years. Now I am just as addicted to the lozenges...maybe even worse because I can use them anywhere and anytime I want to. Really want to end this addiction!!! I would have never quit smoking without them...but still addicted to nicotine. Thanks for any suggestions you can give me! I have tried a couple times to quit them...but get so upset, hysterical, etc. It seems to get worse after about a week...is this normal?

Answer:

  
   

how many are you using a day? You need to gradually cut down.

  
  
   

I've helped a few people on becomeanex.org get off the gum.

  
  
   

you need to taper down to about 5mg of nicotine a day and then get off of it.

  
  
   

there will be three days of uncomfortableness and another 2-2 1/2 weeks of roller coaster emotions, and the remainder of the physical withdrawal symptoms.

   
    

I use probably 10 to 20 a day...depending on how the day is going. I have tried to cut down...but when I am having a bad day I end up using more. I feel like I can't concentrate at work or even to drive... I have a lot of anxiety even when not trying to quit.

    

Actually the first 3 days weren't that bad...it seems like the longer I go...the worse it gets! The couple times I tried...I never made it past a week.

    

Are there any natural supplements that help? I have tried to research this online but can't find much info... Thanks!

    
     
      

Answer #2

      

did you have anxiety before you quit smoking? if so, did you ever have medication for anxiety?

      

to be continued

     
    
   
  
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About the Author
Hello, My name is Dale. I was quit 18 months before joining this site and had participated on another site during that time. I learned a lot there and brought it with me. I joined this site the first week of August 2008. I didn't pressure myself to quit. HOW I QUIT I didn't count, I didn't deny myself to get started. When I considered quitting (at a friends request to influence his brother to quit), I simply told myself to wait a little longer. No denial, nothing painful. After 4 weeks I was down to 5 cigarettes from a pack a day. The strength came from proving to myself, I didn't need to smoke because I normally would have smoked. Simple yes? I bought the patch. I forgot to put one on on the 4th day. I needed it the next day but the following week I forgot two days in a row I put one in my wallet with a promise to myself that I would slap it on and wait an hour rather than smoke. It rode in my wallet my first year.There's nothing keeping any of you from doing this. It doesn't cost a dime. This is about unlearning something you've done for a long time. The nicotine isn't the hard part. Disconnecting from the psychological pull, the memories and connected emotions is. :-) Time is the healer.