Give and get support around quitting
Hi, first post on here! I have been clean and sober for 2.5 years and nicotine/vaping is the last piece of the puzzle. I quit actually vaping for 2 months and was using lozenges for nicotine cravings and was tapering down. The problem is that the internal rage tornado I felt was impacting my husband and my daily life, the craving to just smoke something was a 10/10 - nothing like I ever felt quitting drugs or alcohol - and I just went and bought a vape because I couldn’t handle the anger anymore. I KNOW there’s freedom on the other side but I’m just so worried that I’ll be angry forever and won’t be able to quit even though I want to just be free and not a slave to smoking/vaping/nicotine anymore. If anyone has any advice on how to deal with the anger from quitting/cravings I would appreciate it so much!
@Sarahw13 Welcome to the Ex and congrats on your desire to quit. Cravings and being emotional are part of nicotine withdrawal. When you quit, you're not only eliminating nicotine, but additional chemicals. Your body is going react to loss and respond in various ways. Some are physical and some are psychological.
There are lots of things you can do for cravings. Quitters choose different options. I used sour patch kid, chewing on straws, keeping busy, walking, video games, etc. The list is endless. For most quitters keeping moving and busy distracts from cravings.
As for the anger, again go for a walk to refocus your thinking and get a boost of lost dopamine which will improve you mood. And deep breathing exercises work great to ride a crave and deal with emotional moments.
Nicotine was designed to give you a temporary high so you need more in a short period of time. That's how you and all of us got addicted. Understanding nicotine addiction gives you the power to overcome it's hold on you. Having a plan with how to cope with cravings and withdrawal symptoms, puts you in control.
This is a great link place to start
https://www.becomeanex.org/guides/?cid=footer_community_linktobex
You reached out, so that must mean you want this for yourself. I found this site by accident almost 5 years ago . We have to give ourselves credit for quitting, but I doubt that I could have done it without the daily support I received here.
So don't give up. Prepare a plan for your quit date. You only have to do this for one day. I know you can do that. Before you know it, you'll be looking back at many of those one days you've accomplished.
Stick around. We'd love to celebrate your milestones with you.
Barb
If you have not read Allen Carr's book, Easyway to quit Smoking, I would recommend it. I read it two weeks in to my quit, and it did help with my attitude and how I looked at becoming nicotine free. I recall having the "mads" for about a week. I was angry cos I wouldn't allow myself to smoke, kinda like a kid that has been grounded for doing something naughty. They aren't allowed to do the naughty thing, so they get mad. Doing what is best for us, rather than doing what the addiction wants, makes us angry for a while. It's a hill you CAN climb. A nicotine free you is waiting on the other side. You can do this. Quit day 213.
I felt-angry too when I quit in 2013 in the fall. I was 54, had quit drinking when I was 27 and gone back to smoking because I couldn't stand having feelings at that time. Before I knew it I'd been sober a long time but smoked up a storm in those decades--hardly better than sobering up. But at 27, I thought quitting drinking was big enough, quitting smoking could wait. I waited, and waited and waited and waited. And I excused myself from worrying about the disaster of nicotine addiction. I've been smober 9.5 years now. How sweet it is!!!
You can manage your quit, even if you are more angry than you'd like to be. Is a few months of anger worth what will follow--acceptance and understanding will come. Anger is ok. Not fun, not fun for your husband. But it will pass. It's not that you need to get your anger under control IMO, it's that you need to reaffirm your comittment to smobriety one day at a time. As you smober up, you'll discover what it is that you need to do for yourself to handle your daily ups and downs. Nothing in life requires nicotine in order to accomplish it.
Give yourself credit for your decision, live up to your expectations of yourself regarding your quit.
Thank you all SO SO SO much!! I really appreciate your understanding, encouraging, and super helpful words! I’ve always been grateful for my AA community and am now so incredibly grateful for this community! It’s really nice to know I’m not alone in the feelings and that the freedom and joy I’m looking for is truly on the other side of all of this. I’m so grateful ❤️