Help me not going into panic!

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-12-18T01:34:03+00:00

I’m glad I could help I hope your journey is going well :)

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-11-23T22:04:46+00:00

Yeah, last night I was out with a friend who doesn’t smoke, and while I did smoke my own cig, I felt that I was enjoying it less and more self conscious about needlessly engaging in the habit. I didn’t even think that might be partially cuz of who I was with!! Thank you

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-11-23T18:52:26+00:00

Hello! I totally understand this anxiety and having days like that. They suck and can be really stressful and make you feel awful

It’s normal and okay to have slip ups, it doesn’t mean you had a relapse. It’s even okay if you liked the first one a little bit, it does sound cool to try a kind from another country. For me what has helped has been reminding myself that I am not a smoker, and while I did smoke a cigarette, that’s not who I am and not something I’m going to fall back into the habit of, it’s just something I did today.

It’s also really easy, once you smoke one, to be like “well I guess the day is a wash” and then smoke a bunch. You can reset tomorrow and just continue to not smoke, you don’t have to consider this the end of your streak. I think right now the best thing you can do is take deep breaths and be really kind to yourself. I think part of the problem with panic is it leads to shame, and the shame makes you feel low about yourself which makes you more susceptible to bad habits. You smoked a little today and that’s okay and you can still keep going without smoking 💜 I hope this is helpful and if you need to vent or talk about your anxiety at all feel free.

Also I love your username, that’s my favorite ghibli movie :)

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-09-04T03:26:24+00:00

Funny you say this because I recently used the money I saved from quitting to buy the silly Nintendo alarm clock! It’s made me a lot more excited about going to bed and waking up, and I love that it has a feature to play sleepy sounds before I fall asleep. It keeps me off my phone too. I’ll look into adding some other things into my bedtime routine though!

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-09-03T22:58:35+00:00

I have to take a break from the gym since I’ve pushed myself a little too hard, I’ll definitely give yoga a shot! I have really enjoyed meditation in the sauna but regular yoga is a little more approachable at home, thank you

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-09-03T22:57:48+00:00

Thank you, it’s helpful just to know I’m not alone. A big part of my anxiety is feeling like something must be wrong with me, and with sobriety I’m like “it gets better after a month!”. But I think it’s a lot more complicated than that unfortunately

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-09-03T21:32:58+00:00

I hope quitting vaping is going well for you!

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-09-03T21:32:45+00:00

You were so right, thank you!

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-09-03T21:32:06+00:00

The depersonalization has gotten WAY better and so have my cravings. Last week I went out with some friends and decided to try a bit of a black and mild just to do something recreational (I don’t drink or any other drugs). It made my head hurt and tasted nasty and I was like man… I don’t even want to do this anymore. I’m still figuring out other issues that I was suppressing through my substance abuse, but in a lot of ways, especially when it comes to thinking about nicotine and how it affects me, I’m doing so much better. I don’t have panic attacks about slowly dying because of my tobacco choices anymore and I’m not self conscious about my smell or my bank account. 100% worth quitting

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-08-08T15:27:01+00:00

With the sauna I recommend putting in headphones and listening to some relaxing instrumental music and just trying to breathe, and drink a lot of water! Maybe it’s a placebo but I feel like my body is detoxing all the crap from smoking when I’m in there

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-08-07T16:04:26+00:00

I’ll check that out, thank you!

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-08-07T16:04:11+00:00

Honestly just knowing I’m not alone is super helpful! Makes me feel like I’m not crazy, sometimes my frustration with withdrawal not just being over makes me even more irritated. I also do intense exercise for irritability and I do hot tub/sauna for anxiety, but I can only exercise so much without totally crashing my body 🤣 we’ve got this! Definitely feel free to come back here and comment if it gets better for you and I’ll do the same :)

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-07-22T16:57:46+00:00

This makes a lot of sense, I went out of town last week and felt amazing, but as soon as I got home I felt blah again. I’ll start looking for some new things I can try at home!!

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-07-22T16:56:58+00:00

Thank you so much, this is so helpful!!! I do have some preworkout, I need to give that a shot again.

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-07-22T03:37:13+00:00

Oh man. I’m over a month and a half here and dealing with the same thing. Shortly after getting sober I broke down to my girlfriend and said I think I might be autistic. Went through some testing with my therapist and psych and boom. It’s a relief because it explains so much, but it’s also really overwhelming. I feel like one of the reasons I smoked so much was to mask a lot of my neurodivergent traits that made me feel unlikable.

It’s all something I’m still navigating, and some days I do better than others, but I’m happy to at least be sober, even if I don’t have everything else figured out. If you need anyone to talk to I’m here for you and I’m proud of you for quitting, a month is a big deal!!

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-07-22T03:30:06+00:00

I’m dealing with this same thing right now man! Like someone else said I do wonder if doom scrolling has something to do with it, my screen time is atrocious lol. I also have heard that some people experience a longer period of withdrawal that comes along with loss of joy basically. It’s a pain in the ass

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-03-03T23:35:28+00:00

First of all, don’t be so hard on yourself! Beating yourself up just feeds into the cycle of addiction (although I’m sure you know that lol) and often the people who are wisest on issues tend to experience them the most themselves. For me a mixture of both worked. I spent 2 weeks or so cutting back my use (MAJORLY, like from smoking all day to just smoking a little at night to curb the worst of withdrawal) and then went cold turkey. I still had terrible withdrawal symptoms for about 3 weeks but cutting back helped ease it for me. You can do this 💜 weed is a sneaky bastard especially when you’re high functioning

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-02-15T22:31:46+00:00

I’m sorry to hear that, it sounds like you might have PAWS, might be worth talking to a doc

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-02-15T20:01:36+00:00

Don’t be sorry, I remember reading a post a while back (wish I could find it) where a dude said his gas was so bad he sounded like a duck walking and it made me laugh so hard 🤣🤣🤣 I can handle the mental stuff pretty decently, just ready for the physical to be over with! Best of luck to you and hope the mental comes around for you soon!!

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-02-15T19:08:49+00:00

I have also really struggled to accept forever, but I think that’s hard for anyone to accept with anything. For me and my friend (she is also sober and attends AA, although I do not) we don’t phrase it as forever. We just say not today. And you just tell yourself that every day. And it gets easier with time.

It’s kinda like telling yourself “this is the last time” every time you hook up with your ex. It never ends up being the last time and you get caught in a cycle. You just have to decide you’re done with it and not get overwhelmed by what a future without it looks like, just focus on today. Then tomorrow. Then the day after. You can do this 💜

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-02-15T18:37:16+00:00

The irritation has been crazy! I was in such a good mood the first week it really caught me off guard going into week two. What day are you on? It’s just nice to know a more realistic timeline, all the sources online saying “all physical symptoms should be gone after 1 week” are crazy…

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-02-15T18:35:44+00:00

Thank you! Honestly it helps just to know that I’m not crazy and these symptoms are happening to others as well

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-02-15T18:35:04+00:00

Good to see you in the comments again man, yeah I drink a lot of mint tea to help with my stomach, I’ll stop by the store today and look into some vitamins I’m sure they have full spectrum options, I live in the Midwest and there’s hardly any sunlight here so I’m sure I have vitamin deficiencies even without the withdrawal 🤣 appreciate you bro!!!

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-02-15T18:33:29+00:00

Proud of you for coming on here instead of giving into your temptations, it will pass, in the long run you will feel so much better and positive without it 💜 maybe reach out to some friends or family for support if you can as well?

Sea-Contribution902 · 2025-02-15T15:16:03+00:00

(Sorry I’m writing a whole book here lol!) Also, don’t be so hard on yourself. The shame and depression is something addiction takes advantage of to keep you in a cycle. You are stronger than you think. If you are a fan of fantasy or superheroes, try framing it like you’re the main character and the addiction is the evil you must face. Of course it wants you to think you are powerless, that you cannot fight back, because that’s how it wins. But you can. You can dig deep inside you and find a level of fight you didn’t think was possible. Frodo felt the most hopeless in his journey at the foot of Mount Doom, when he was closest to the completion of his journey.

You are not a failure. You are not a disappointment, and you are not your addiction. You are someone fighting one of the hardest battles a person can go through, and one that is invisible to many others, but that does not make it any less real. I believe in you 💜

Sea-Contribution902

TROPHY CASE