@meggers555 Welcome to the Ex and congrats on your desire to quit. That's the first step to begin your journey.
Anxiety about quitting is normal. Many describe it as losing their best friend, We've smoked our way through every event and emotion, so it's only normal that were apprehensive. Approaching your quit one day at a time can help to alleviate the fear. Don't think about forever right now. You'll see those one days will turn into multiple days.
Right now, you're working through the process of your desire to quit and the addiction wanting you to keep it up. You can win that internal battle by educating yourself about nicotine addiction and putting a plan in place with how you'll deal with cravings, identifying your triggers and creating the new associations you'll create instead of smoking.
And you just found an amazing group of quitters the are here to support you on this journey to becoming an Ex. There will be ups and downs, but that is part of the journey. We're here for you, so just reach out anytime we can help or want to share your experience.
This link is a great place to get you started on the right track. https://www.becomeanex.org/guides/?cid=footer_community_linktobex
Here are two posts from the Mayo Clinic that you might find helpful with using NRT to quit vaping.
1. Tips for Using Nicotine Replacement Therapy - EX Community
2. "If I vape, smoke cigars or pipe, or use chewing tobacco, how much nicotine replacement should I use when trying to quit?
Knowing how much nicotine replacement to use when trying to quit vaping, chewing, or smoking cigars or a pipe, is more difficult than when the tobacco user uses cigarettes exclusively. The following are general recommendations when considering quitting these tobacco products and wanting to use nicotine replacement therapy (NRT).
For those who vapes, or uses a pipe or cigar, a good guide to NRT is the following:
If you are a non-daily user of vape, cigars or pipe, try a 2 mg nicotine gum, 2 mg nicotine lozenge, or the nicotine inhaler. While those who vape are aware that different devices or nicotine liquids are advertised as having specific concentrations of nicotine, these labels cannot be relied on to estimate total nicotine exposure, so the general rule of trying the 2 mg nicotine gum, 2 mg nicotine lozenge, or the nicotine inhaler with those who are non-daily users is best. The nicotine gum and nicotine lozenge are available over the counter. You can use 1-2 pieces of the gum or lozenge every 1-2 hours. The nicotine inhaler (available only by prescription) has a maximum daily usage is 16 cartridges per day.
If you vape, or use a cigar or pipe daily, you can also try adding a 14 mg nicotine patch to the 2 mg gum, 2 mg lozenge or nicotine inhaler. Nicotine patches last 24 hours; so, you put it on in the morning, wear them to bed at night, and put a fresh one on the next morning. A general recommendation is to taper down 7 mg on the patches every 4 weeks, and to use the patches for at least 3 months.
For those who chew tobacco, I would suggest dosing NRT as this:
If you are a daily user who uses less than 1 can per week, start with daily use of the 14 mg nicotine patch placing a new one on each day. If you use between 1 and 3 cans per week, start with the 21 mg nicotine patch. If you use more 3 cans/week you could add a 7 mg, 14 mg, or 21 mg patch if you start with the 21 mg patch and have cravings and urges. At all doses, having the 2 mg or 4 mg nicotine gum or lozenge available for cravings will help with urges and cravings.
If you are getting too much nicotine, the symptoms would be dizziness or nauseousness. In this case, you will want to consider stepping down on your patch, gum, or lozenge dosage.
Reference: Nicotine percentage replacement among smokeless tobacco users with nicotine patch - PubMed (nih.gov)...
*Note: These are just examples. Please connect with a physician and the manufacturer of the NRT to ensure you're using the product correctly for your specific case.
EX Community Admin Team
We're here for you, so reach out anytime we can help.
Look forward to celebrating with you on the 10th if not sooner.
Stay busy and stay close.
Barb
