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Give and get support around quitting

ajcriddle
Member

What made me decide to quit vaping

One night I had a dream about coughing up blood. I have a dream dictionary and consulted it to learn what it could mean. It said I could need to get something out of me emotionally (let something go) or I could have a serious medical condition. My mind immediately went to vaping. My brother recently had a hospital stay because of his smoking and we thought we were going to lose him. Now I am afraid that I am damaging myself without knowing it. So, this is my motivator. I want to quit vaping before I damage my lungs any more than I already have.

5 Replies
sweetplt
Member

Hi and Welcome to Ex’s ajcriddle 

I am glad you found our site.  Scary dream...glad you are going to quit vaping...

Be sure to read at My EX Plan | BecomeAnEX here you will learn about quitting smoking, just insert vaping...since both are addictions...you will learn about your craves and triggers...and how to prepare for both...also, up in the right hand corner of this page, click on magnifier and type vaping and you will read other blogs and conversations about others quitting vaping. Keep close to the support site for help...now get quitting...~ Colleen 240 DOF 

/blogs/Maggie_quit_8-1-2010-blog/2012/03/19/100-things-to-do-instead-of-smoking?sr=search&searchId=d... 

Strudel
Member

Welcome to the site and congrats deciding to quit! You have found a great place for support! Be sure to stay close. You can do this! 

elvan
Member

Welcome to EX, I am hoping that YoungAtHeart‌ is feeling up to giving you her welcome.  The keys to a successful quit are education about the addiction (this IS an addiction), support from others who are in recovery, and your own commitment to stay away from nicotine, no matter what.  We all want you to succeed, we are all here trying to help in any way we can.  I am glad you did NOT lose your brother due to smoking.  I was afraid I was going to die before I quit...I could not breathe.  It has been over 5 1/2 years since I quit and my only regret is that I did not do it sooner.  Read blogs, stay close to the site, I suggest reading these blogs by JonesCarpeDiem‌ /blogs/jonescarp.aka.dale.Jan_2007-blog/2011/06/26/what-to-expect-in-the-first-four-months and https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/thread/6040-my-welcome-to-new-members-12-years-of-watching .

Glad you are here.

Ellen

YoungAtHeart
Member

Welcome to our community!

Nicotine addiction is nicotine addiction - no matter the delivery device - and how to beat any of them is about the same. Every time you read :"cigarette" in the information I will give you, just sub "vape."   The one thing different I would recommend is that you first start to reduce the nicotine content of the pods.  Start with a lesser amount in, like, one in every four, then three, etc. until you are only using the smallest amount.  That way the physical withdrawal should be more manageable.

 

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

Giulia
Member

Any reason/motivator to quit vaping is a good one.  All reasons to continue are simply excuses.  Sit back, relax and read as much as you can get your eyeballs on.  Education about this addition and our personal relationship with it is what sets us free.  Welcome to the family!