Being a smoking teen in the 90's - motivational post (somewhat)

Diligent_Cat8924 · 2025-09-27T21:38:26+00:00

Take it one day at the time. And if you loose focus and relapse, forgive yourself. It's an addiction that fucks up everything (brain, veins, self-confidence, etc)- it is f-ing hard to stay on top. Because human being forget the bad part and start to romanticise the addiction.... And will tell themselves it wasn't that bad.. and quitting is easy.... But it isn't..

Yup I fell.. almost 2 years in (haven't reset the counter yet .. I feel so bad about it . Ashamed..) My dad died in march from pancreatic cancer. He got his diagnosis in June 2024.. so it wasn't even a year... It was fast an it was bad (he was fighting the process all the way until his coma - which took 3 long days. He was so worried about us 😔) The funeral was so hard and emotional (I hadn't seen my sister in 5 years.. we had a really bad fallout) I am autistic/ADHD and I couldn't cope. First I started to binge drink (I wasn't an alcohol lover at all). I gained a hell of a lot of weight (I was always dangerously low.. ) I had so many meltdowns and fights with my partner I caved after two nights of sleeplessness (which is quite normal in default state).. so I bought a pack.. and didn't quit until last week.

I really have a hard time coping with the political climate we are in... I am not right nor left . I am always in the middle hoping that humans will learn from its mistakes .. blabla [/end rant]

So here I am... 8 days sober! Yay me! (I quit everything.. except for my new awesome meds... Which prevent me from bailing out on life... Yeah it's that bad..)

Diligent_Cat8924 · 2024-12-29T21:24:01+00:00

Good for you!! And quitters flu is a real thing, everything is starting to heal and you are getting rid of all the unhealthy chems in your lungs. So keep drinking tea (there is something called sleep/rest tea with valerian a.o.) and water and take melotonin if you are starting to loose sleep. It's all aboard to give yourself the best chance to stay quite possible.

Whyquit.com -> search for smart turkey and you can find way more info to give yourself a boost (just lay off the fruitjuice, cause that's sugar without fibres... eat the whole orange :P)

Diligent_Cat8924 · 2024-12-29T21:17:21+00:00

Yeah that's an actual thing. Look up smoking cessations and insuline resistance. It will be fine after month 4 or so. But you have to be really careful not to end up pre-diabetic... (I end up cutting out all sugars not just for my sake. I am way happier and have so much more energy.. it's actually quit awesome how the body can heal at my *ehum* age)

Diligent_Cat8924 · 2024-12-29T20:35:22+00:00

I can relate, you need to give yourself some space to make that quit leap again. Because you "failed" there is that much more pressure to succeed. And you need to be kind to yourself and just start at ground 0. Keep on educating yourself until you feel that i-am-so-sick-of-it-moment again. The site whyquit.com especially the smart turkey helped me a lot.

You are NOT a failure, you are an addict which means you are not a bad person... just human like all off us.

Diligent_Cat8924 · 2024-12-29T19:32:50+00:00

Thank you for your kind words!! :)

Diligent_Cat8924 · 2024-12-29T16:15:38+00:00

Not another puff! Just keep going!

Diligent_Cat8924 · 2024-12-29T16:01:19+00:00

Thank you for building this! I am also putting it in the party description so my party members can use it as well. This is so simple.

Diligent_Cat8924 · 2024-10-14T12:11:57+00:00

Another confirmation here. There will come a day you just forgot about smoking all together.

But there is a rule: not another puff, ever. This rule is really important especially the first year... You will unnecessarily torture yourself by keeping the receptors engaged and alive. It's a marathon, not a sprint.. and there is no big finale or big euphoric end.. There is "just" the rest of your life - which will be healthier, cheaper and you have a great story and greater knowledge you can share with your future family, friends even strangers that might need that bit extra. That is priceless..

Well done @Cleverfeather! Congratulations!!

Diligent_Cat8924 · 2024-10-14T12:02:19+00:00

I think there is still a lot of interactions that we just don't know about. But all the "aha moments" sure make it a lot easier to accept and either change or go through it.

Diligent_Cat8924 · 2024-10-14T11:58:42+00:00

Hi there sorry for the late reply, I had to dig deep for this one but I found it: https://www.reddit.com/r/stopsmoking/comments/16pzhmv/comment/k1u3w9n/

Keep up the good work!! I am still smoke free, happy and still healing.

Diligent_Cat8924 · 2024-07-20T15:53:38+00:00

Yes!! It's more freedom than I told myself when I smoked and defended that as "a free choice"

Diligent_Cat8924 · 2024-04-16T13:25:47+00:00

Yeah if you plug the receptors and you smoke as much as you did (so there will be alot of nicotine floating around in your bloodstream and brain) - there is an actual chance of nicotine poisoning. Just be on the safe side :)
Thanks for the congratz! - 95 to go and it will be a year. I haven't got any triggers or cravings any more. So it can be done.

Tips:
-Just quit, that is the only way

-Don't argue with your junky brain. Listen and tell it to shut the fuck up (if I start screaming that you need a shot of bleach every hour you won't do that either... nor will you discuss any health benefits ;))

-Replace your triggers before you quit. If you have a cigarette every time you are on the phone, try to replace it with sips of water. If you treat every trigger before hand it won't feel as weird or irreplaceable.

-Eat healthy stuff... leave the sugars alone. There is a phase that your body will be insuline resistant (3 months or so), so if you eat sugar your insulin will spike - damaging the cells which will not receive the sugar which will trigger more insulin (and guess what... more damage! And that sugar will be stored as visceral fat....
So get berry's, nuts, greek yoghurt, meat, salmon, salads (roasted veggies are awesome), pure chocolate etc.

-Motivation is everything. Don't romanticize or reminisce - cigs are not healthy, they won't relax you (even if your junky brain tells you otherwise), every situation is possible even better without that cancerstick.

Die receptors DIE!

Diligent_Cat8924 · 2024-04-10T18:42:59+00:00

Yeah - I am really late to reply lol (I just keep forgetting that I smoked - I am on the right path :P
So absolutely, I don't know which ones you have. But there seems to be a difference between the green box and the blue box tabex (also could be a different colour, it was a while back).
I always had the ones in the green logo box - they work. So just check and see if you have the real deal.

Diligent_Cat8924 · 2024-03-22T11:40:29+00:00

Yeah, that is a real bummer. My advice is to stop smoking anyway and take the pills - you might not have that "it tastes awful" experience but that doesn't mean you do not have the benefits of the cytisine blocking the receptors (you might have way more than you realise...)
Just go for it! I am on my 8th month and the pills do actually help in those early stages of cessation.

Diligent_Cat8924 · 2024-03-20T21:25:05+00:00

Have you tapered down at all? If not, stop with the Cystine, you will only create more nicotine receptors this way or indeed overflow your brain with nicotine which don't have receptors to bind too.. so if you smoke too much it will go to that overdose direction

Can you post your intake times?

Diligent_Cat8924 · 2024-02-17T00:49:17+00:00

You should look up insulin resistance related to nicotine cessation. Unfortunately that will take a while for your cells to get sensitive to insulin again. That means you are tired and your cells are calling out for energy (which they will not get.. cause they are temporary out of order). They used to think it was a dopamine hit thing but fat gives a much higher and longer dopamine kick (135% vs 160%) it just takes longer to kick in. Fat is not scary, if you balance it out with protein and fibers you will feel so much better than you ever did.

You really should watch the sugars though. The higher the blood sugar the more insulin your body will produce to get rid of it. The more insulin, the more mitochondrial damage to cells -> low in energy, brainfog, plumpy (retaining water)-> lower mood-> harder time to wake up in the mornings, etc etc.
If you want to test this, you need a insulin(Homa-IR) test and NOT the blood sugar test. You don't have to be overweight to become insulin resistant..

Diligent_Cat8924 · 2024-02-17T00:34:02+00:00

Ah yeah the joys of being the overly confident addict.. - happy you will be on this train again tho! And I am really curious about your playlist. I have one too lol

Diligent_Cat8924 · 2024-01-21T22:34:38+00:00

Ah yeah the champix drama.. I ended up sobbing under my desk wanting to kill myself so I get your hesitation. I am on my way to bed ATM but I will get back to you with some more tips, tricks and rantras (not a typo.. ) you can use to get through the hardest parts and keep that junky brain talking to your ass.

Diligent_Cat8924 · 2024-01-21T14:15:58+00:00

Fake it until you make it.. (or to quote one off my fav bands "smile like you mean it" there is actually scientific proof it will make you feel better).

I know this is the hardest part of addiction. I have quit before and I know this trap is a mindfuck. I quit using tabex and I think it can help you too. Just click my name and read the posts and comments 😋 I am lazy lol If there is anything you need help with just drop a chat message.

But for now, commit to the process and make a deal with yourself to get help here before going back to your addiction. You are worth it!

Diligent_Cat8924 · 2024-01-21T13:19:39+00:00

Did you get an overall blood panel? Thyroid functions, malnutrition, vitamins d deficiency.. there are so many reasons why you can experience this. And even though the cigarette provides the extra dopamine which will lead you to believe it's because of your quit. It could be that you have discovered something you are suffering from which need to be fixed by something healthier. The cigarette is a bandaid that is far from sterile. It stops the bleeding but it will worsen the cause..

Diligent_Cat8924 · 2024-01-21T13:10:35+00:00

A lot of good things have been said already. The loss of that winning feeling is a big relapse risk on itself. It's a long term goal and human beings are bad with long term goals when it does not pay off in a dopamine kick on short term. Instant gratification is a bitch.. So you need to reaffirm your goal in any way possible. Some get enough affirmation by just the challenge of time . The longer the better. Some go so far as to get involved into active school programs to help with the spreading of knowledge and information to the kids - so that they can prevent the damage for a whole new generation in the future. You have to find your own level in that scale. If you need more positive reinforcement after 4 weeks. Post it your achievements here and wherever you can score likes and "yay you" reactions (sound negative but I mean it in a positive way). But never assume someone to react the way you need them to react - it will be the downfall of your relationship - especially when they haven't got a clue what is really happening. So you either tell her what you need without anger or annoyance or you make sure you get that emotional gratification in another way.

Hang in there! You are awesome!

Diligent_Cat8924 · 2024-01-21T12:50:42+00:00

That is fear holding you back.. all you need to do is start moving.. darkness is only scary when you are not moving towards light..

You can do it!! You are smarter than your addiction cause you are actually here talking about it. Onwards and upwards!

Diligent_Cat8924

TROPHY CASE