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Give and get support around quitting

MusicalHobbit
Member

A hello and misc information

Hey there,

I am here for the first time. You may call me Pippin for now.

on the non-tobacco side, I enjoy cats, cooking, learning and reading, computer programming, and composing music.

one thing I struggle with with tobacco at this point is I notice i am starting to use it for help with withdrawal from sadness caused by withdrawal from a secondary addiction. i hope to use this community to start my being quit from snus journey so i can beat both addictions. I've got my quit date set, and I am nervous.

I have to take a few medications and they help with the sadness, but I am noticing within myself that my tobacco use has increased, not by too much just by at least 1 more than us   ual. So I hope to use this community to get through this innitial phase and continuing on, and i will support others in the best way I know how.

Please note I am totally blind and use a screenreader, so sometimes I don't know unless I look at the text if i am typing in caps. If i do, it's an accident. But I will be as careful as I can.

Thank you for reading, and i look forward to meeting all of you.

Pippin

8 Replies
CommunityAdmin
Community Manager
Community Manager

MusicalHobbit

Welcome! We don't have many people here reporting they use snus but the help received here should be useful none the less. 

Please note that reply by email is not possible on our site currently. You'll need to login to reply. No worries about accidentally posting in CAPS on accident. I do appreciate you making us aware of your blindness. As a heads up we are moving the community to a new platform by the end of the year. Hopefully it will improve accessibility for you after we've moved.

If you cannot locate something by searching please post a question and we'll try to link you to the information directly. Many times answers already exist but we'll do our best to direct you to them if you cannot find them on your own. 

We have some groups for Pet LoversMusic LoversMusiciansCooking Quitters‌. Some of those groups have activity while others are not as active. 

Mark
EX Community Manager

EX Community Admin Team
YoungAtHeart
Member

Welcome to the community!

Glad you are here!  I wouldn't worry if you increase your tobacco use before your quit date.  I almost chain smoked the night before my quit morning, and I was successful on my first and only attempt at quitting.  If it becomes onerous, don't worry about it.  Just try to put each one off a bit.

 

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 easy and entertaining read provided a world of good information about nicotine addiction, most of which I was not aware. I did not know that the stress to smoke again is actually caused by the LAST cigarette you smoked.    You can search for it online or at your local library.


@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 obvious reasons.

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, come here first, then take your shower and THEN your coffee!   The better you get at changing up the routines attached to smoking, the easier this will be.


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,  march in place, play a computer game.  Keep a cold bottle of water with you from which to sip. Maybe get some Fireballs or Sour Patch kids to keep your mouth busy, and some straws cut to lengths to pull air through.  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!    I hope you can get some ideas from this list:
 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

Welcome to our quit family!  Many of us felt "sad" about quitting our addiction to nicotine.  In many ways it was a great friend.  Always there for us when we wanted/needed it.  And in another way we wonder if we'll ever be the same person without it, as it was so much a part of our daily life.  So there's a fear and a sadness that we'll "lose" ourselves, or the self we know.   I can assure you, the only thing in you that will change when you quit is your newfound ability to conquer the world!  And you'll discover that this "friend' is really a rascal and not out for our best good.  Sit back, read, absorb and know that we're all on the same team here and we've got your back.  Glad you've joined us!

Barbscloud
Member

I just answered your other post, so welcome again.  Glad to have you here.  You've come to the right place for support--just reach out if you need encouragement or want to share your journey.

Looking forward to celebrating your quit date.

Barb

indingrl
Member

 pippin

elvan
Member

Welcome to EX, glad you are here. You have gotten great advice so far. This site is supportive, educational, & everything you could hope for. We all understand nicotine addiction no matter what the delivery system.

Ellen

sweetplt
Member

Hello and Welcome to Ex’s Pippin MusicalHobbit 

Glad you found our site.  You have received some great information above me...do the work...and keep close to the support site for help and to encourage other’s on this journey...Happy Tuesday ~ Colleen 624 DOF 

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noetoez
Member

Welcome MusicalHobbit‌! 

I am a recent quitter, a little over a month ago. I carried a ton of anxiety about my quit, before and after. I do not know that much snus, but I imagine the chemical part of the addiction is the same. At the start of my quit, my emotions were a little wild.

We tell ourselves that the nicotine helps us "deal" I told myself that for years. But really, it doesn't. We may feel better for a moment, but then we need it again to feel "better", and again, and so on. It doesn't really actually help us with anything. Nicotine only lies to us and hurts us in the long term.

This group has been great for me. The people here get it, because they have been there. The good, the bad, and the really ugly. When it gets real tough, I come back here. Sometimes to read, sometimes to post. It helps a lot.

Can't wait to celebrate your first day, and all your other milestones!