2 days Ex. Will I learn to cope without it?

[7WOODSTOCK]

It's the end of my second day of quitting vaping. I have vaped potent nicotine very heavily for 5 years. I decided to quit 2 days ago as a result of the news broadcasting health concerns over vaping. I guess I lived thinking it was so benign to cigarettes that it doesn't even matter. 

Well, here I am today completely addicted in the throws of withdrawals and I am on my laptop looking for support. I

I tried the patch the first day but took it off after a few hours. Chewed some gum but that irritated my mouth. 

Here is my question.

I keep reaching into my pocket to grab my vape pen for a quick hit of nicotine and I just haven't yet. I am wondering is this pavlovian response is due to a rush of dopamine? This vape provides so much satisfaction for me.

Will I ever feel the feeling I have after a surge of nicotine after a big meal or the calm it provides in a stressful situation?

I need some support.

When will these withdrawals be over? Will I forever live a life without the coping that vaping provides?

I am clearly beginning to crack. How much worse is it going to get?

Thanks

[Mandolinrain]

Awesome, yes...please clean all elements out of your house that have anything tot do with nicotine. Get them far far away when you won't ever see them again. Replace the old reward with a new one Take a walk for instance  Remind yourself it is time to truly find out what exactly, a reward it. What is isn't, was vaping chemicals into your body that were slowly /silently shortening your life.....think on that every time you begin to miss the 'reward' you thought you were getting.

Your doin great!

[PrimeNumberJD]

Keep it up! At 7 days, your system is completely without nicotine! 

Rewarding yourself with the very thing your are trying to quit is not a reward, it is a curse! You'll find ways to reward yourself. Perhaps reframe that, the reward after a meal is that it tasted better or that you don't need to quickly get out of  the restaurant to feed your addiction, you get to sit there and enjoy the ambiance and company! 

[Giulia]

Good for you leaving that vape at home!  If we never got over cravings, there would be no long-term quitters on here.  So let us assure you cravings won't last forever.  Doesn't mean one won't pop up out of the blue here and there, even years down the line.  But part of the education you get here will teach you how to be prepared for them.  /blogs/Giulia-blog/2015/02/23/expectations-timelines-and-the-reality-you-create?sr=search&searchId=c...‌  

The cravings that hung on the longest for me were the "after meal" one and the "reward/take a break" one.  You just have to accept it and push on.  Get up and out after a meal.  Change focus.  As far as the "satisfaction" we get - the reality is we're really only satisfying our nicotine receptors.  When the levels of nicotine start to drop, our receptors start yelling.  Inducing the drug simply satisfies their hunger.  Until it depletes again and the cycle continues.  As Mandolinrain said, you have to starve the receptors to deactivate them.

Eventually you'll find the greatest reward is in no longer being a slave to the substance.  Safe journey home.  And DO throw out those nicotine devices in a place you can't get to them!  This is a powerful addiction and temptation weakens us.

[7WOODSTOCK]

so true and so valuable. They are all gone. Regardless of temptation (and I am sure you all know that feeling), I keep telling myself "There is only one way out." 

Back when I quit smoking tobacco around 18 years ago, my reason for quitting was the smell and taste. 13 years after quitting, I bought my first Juul. No smell, no bad taste, can puff it anywhere. Went from 1 pod a week to 1 pod a day (sometimes more). I never thought I would get addicted to a small vaping device but I am struggling more with this quit then the one 18 years ago but Nicotine is nicotine no matter how you get it in your blood. With Vaping, it was so easy and there aren't enough scary stories (yet!)  that deterred me from puffing. And as I type this, I become aware that this is the addiction talking looking for justification to pick it up again.... which I won't. 

Even if Nicotine added 20 years to your life, I can't be a slave to an addiction so strong.

Thank you all for checking up. It has been really hard the past 24 hrs but I am hanging in there.

[MarilynH]

Good for you you've got this firmly in your grasp YAY for each and every Day WON with many more to come you   Freedom Rocks.....

[Amlatt]

You can do this! I am in the same boat as you and really needed to read this feed today to help me get past this craziness I am having on day 7. I went on a walk after dinner last night and it was delightful. totally trying to mix up my routine, and hanging on tight to NOPE.

ginny DOF 7

[7WOODSTOCK]

My quit date was 8/27. Haven’t touched it since although I almost caved. It

gets easier but it does creep back. It’s out of my system but every now and

then, the urges become very intense. I think it’s important to expect some

unexpected curveballs.

What I have learned is that I was so severely addicted to nicotine that I

became a slave to it. I have taken back that power.

Ride the urges out and keep the mindset that every wave you conquer gets

you closer to freedom.

I never thought the cravings would end.

They Do. They come back but they also go away.

On Tue, Sep 10, 2019 at 2:42 PM Amlatt <communityadmin@becomeanex.org>

[maryfreecig]

I quit almost 6 years ago. I went from hopeless and helpless to free and aware--one day at a time is the surest approach to letting go of what seems so important to you. Nicotine satisfaction is addiction satisfaction. It is no more than that. You came here. So stick with your desire to quit--it's a good one.

[Giulia]

Your response here is so potent and important.  So let me point it up even bigger!

Back when I quit smoking tobacco around 18 years ago, my reason for quitting was the smell and taste. 13 years after quitting, I bought my first Juul. No smell, no bad taste, can puff it anywhere. Went from 1 pod a week to 1 pod a day (sometimes more). I never thought I would get addicted to a small vaping device but I am struggling more with this quit then the one 18 years ago 

 We're finding more and more vaping members here saying exactly what you are.  Vaping is harder to quit than cigarettes.  BECAUSE you can do it anywhere, seemingly has no ill health affects (though that seems to be changing rapidly) and many of the devices contain more nicotine than a simple cigarette.  

Your input here is invaluable.  You stay strong.  Ya hear?!  Every day you don't vape, you kill another nicotine receptor.  CHARGE ON!

[mireya223]

I am currently on day 2 without hitting my vape now. Thanks for posting, it’s comforting to know someone is in the exact same mindset about this as me. It’s been very hard and I haven’t been feeling well from withdrawal but I am starting to become more excited about getting nicotine out of my life for good. You can do this I can do this, we can all do this! I have to remind myself that I am not a slave to the addiction and change always starts with my mindset and how I choose to react to the cravings. Not today nicotine, not tomorrow! Not ever. We got this.