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Give and get support around quitting

Bbm18
Member

How can I slowly quit without freaking out about quitting?

New here. I have been using e-cigarettes for 2 years with no intent on being addicted, as I see most people now do too. I need advice on how to stay on track on quitting, yet I don’t even know where to start.

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6 Replies
sweetplt
Member

Hi and Welcome to Ex’s...I suggest you start at My EX Plan | BecomeAnEX you will gain knowledge on the quit, and then set a quit date, and learn to prepare.  Also, you make a plan unique to you.  Remember “baby steps”, no freaking out...Keep close to the site for support and to help others.  Read the blogs for help.  We are in this journey together.  You can do this...~ Colleen. 148 DOF 

JACKIE1-25-15
Member

Welcome to EX. You have come to the right place for support.  I believe that Education is the key to successfully quit. Quitting takes planning and preparation go to EX Plan | BecomeAnEX to decide how you are going to go about quitting.  Watch the videos and track your usage of the vape/smoking. To get help on navigating the site go to. Community Help‌.  It is suggested to read Allen Carr's Easyway to Quit Smoking which can be found on pdf on the web.  Another good site to get info is www.whyquit.com.  There are several articles to read.  Nicotine 101 and Freedom From Nicotine My Journey Home.   Make quitting smoking your number one priority. Start by getting rid of anything associated with smoking such as ashtrays, lighter, etc.  You can do this if you make up your mind that you can.  Relearning your thinking that you do not have to smoke is a good beginning. For a while, you will think about smoking but that does not mean you have to act on it.  You can talk yourself out of smoking.  No matter what never ever take another puff.  NOPE.  Take smoking off the table as an option and do something different. 101 Things to Do Instead of Smoke SINAO smoking is not an option.  That is NOPE concept Not one puff ever. Be willing to do the work.  Quitting is the easy part.  Staying quit is work.  Learning to protect your quit will keep on your journey forever freedom. One day at a time.  Never give up, never give in. Hang tough.

YoungAtHeart
Member

Welcome to our community!

The better educated you become, the better you prepare, plan and commit, and the better your support system, the easier this will be.  We can help with all but the commitment, but I have found folks find that easier after they understand their addiction, and get ready for their quit.  Quitting vaping is the same as quitting any other form of nicotine dependence - so just sub "vaping"  for all mentions of "smoking."  I might add you are the fifth person to come to us in the last month of so trying to quit vaping.  You can do a search with the magnifying glass top right to find others.  You might start by reducing the strength of the nicotine in the cartridges over time, ending with one that has little or no nicotine.

The important thing you can do right now is to educate yourself on what nicotine does to your body and mind. To that end, I highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” This is an easy and entertaining read. You can search for it online or at your local library. If you do nothing else to get ready for your quit, please do give this a read.


 You should also read the posts here and perhaps go to the pages of folks who you think might be helpful. You might visit whyquit.com, quitsmoking.com and livewell.com for the good information contained there. @https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/best-of-ex has lots of blogs written by members of this site with their experiences and guidance. Here is a video to inform you further about nicotine addiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpWMgPHn0Lo&feature=youtu.be.

After you have completed the recommended reading, it will be time to make an informed choice of the quit aid, if any, you will use. If you go that route, I personally recommend the aids that don't let the addict control the dose such as the available prescription drugs or the patch. If used properly, gum, lozenges and inhalers are fine, but they need to be used only as a last resort after you have tried to delay and distract.   I have seen folks become addicted to them if they substitute them for every cigarette they used to smoke - just trading one addiction for another.  You need to start out with a plan to reduce use of them over time - which the patch does by decreasing the dose contained in them..  For the gum, you can start by cutting each piece in half, then in quarters, then sub regular gum of the same flavor in between, adding more and more regular gum.  For the lozenge, you need to start subbing a mint in between to begin, increasing the number of them over time.  I do not recommend the e-cigarette for four reasons: 1) the vapor has been compared to the polluted air in Bejing on a bad day, 2) they just provide another nicotine delivery system while continuing the hand to mouth smoking motion,  3) the batteries can spontaneously catch on fire and 4) you can become addicted to that and it has not yet been proven safe .
 

It will be informative if you do the tracking and separation exercises recommended here on the site. As you track each cigarette smoked, note its importance, and what you might do instead. Put each one off just a little to prove that you don't NEED a cigarette just because you think you do.
 

The idea is to change up your routines so the smoking associations are reduced.  Drink your coffee with your OTHER hand in a place different from when you smoked. Maybe switch to tea for a bit.  If you always had that first smoke with your coffee, try putting your tennies on right out of bed, going for a quick walk, then taking your shower and THEN your coffee! Rearrange the furniture in the areas you used to smoke so the view is different. Buy your gas at a different station. Take a different route to work. Take a quick walk at break time where the smokers AREN'T.
 
You need to distract yourself through any craves.  You can take a bite out of a lemon (yup - rind and all), put your head in the freezer and take a deep breath of cold air, do a few jumping jacks, go for a brisk walk or march in place, play a computer game.  Keep a cold bottle of water with you from which to sip. Don't let that smoking thought rattle around in your brain unchallenged. Sometimes you need to quit a minute or an hour at a time.  You will need to be disciplined in the early days to distract yourself when a crave hits.    Get busy!  Here is a link to a list of things to do instead of smoke if you need some fresh ideas:
 https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/Youngatheart.7.4.12-blog/2013/02/25/100-things-to-do-instea...
The conversation in your head in response to the "I want a cigarette" thought needs to be, "Well, since I have decided not to do that anymore, what shall I do instead for the three minutes this crave will last?"  Then DO it.  You will need to put some effort into this in the early days, but it gets easier and easier to do.

Stay close to us here and ask questions when you have them and for support when you need it. We will be with you every step of the way!


 Nancy

maryfreecig
Member

without freaking out...

I'll borrow some wisdom from a 12 Step group: First we come (show up), then we come to (become aware of the true nature of our problem), then we come to believe (which can mean come to believe in smobriety--in any event it means something more spiritual rather than living in the moment wanting just one more hit of nicotine).

Making a start and showing up (decide to quit and do it) is all you should expect of yourself at first in your quit. Let recovery come on its own one day at a time. It takes work to show up, a kind of faith that you've put yourself on the right path. 

No drug or therapy can quit for you if you do not first decide to quit. Start with the decision first, even if you are unsure of what the next step will be. Support options are amazing today (Ex for one), medications (talk to your doc and research), meetings may be available in your area, hospital support programs. 

elvan
Member

You have gotten some amazing advice already.  Read all that you can about this addiction, stay close to the site and read blogs, make your plan and make your commitment.  As far as not freaking out...even if you do freak out, it will pass.  It is not an event, it is a one day at a time, sometimes one moment at a time journey.  You can do this and we all want very much to help you.

Welcome to EX,

Ellen

anaussiemom
Member

I cannot slowly quit.     What ever works for you works!  So many options to quit.  Cold turkey, Chantix, Welbutrin, Nico candy and gum, a Patches.... 



Many blessings