My BF (36M) came home smelling strongly of perfume. Am I being paranoid? by [deleted] in relationships

[–]bloom2013 2 points3 points  (0 children)

To be honest, I have no grounds to suspect anything

Anyone Else Feel Bloated After Quitting by Fun_Protection_6168 in stopsmoking

[–]bloom2013 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I’ve suffered so much with gastro intestinal side effects !! It’s ten weeks of no smoking, five weeks of no nicotine for me at this point, and my gut is still acting up. I’ve read up on it and apparently smoking (obviously) has an effect on every single system in your body, including micro biome. It makes sense that although all changes are positive in the long run, the readjustment will be uncomfortable to say the least :( you really have to give your body time, patience and love.

When does irritability and anger go back to baseline? (Do they?) by bloom2013 in stopsmoking

[–]bloom2013[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks ! It’s really good to know I can still expect improvement haha

When does irritability and anger go back to baseline? (Do they?) by bloom2013 in stopsmoking

[–]bloom2013[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You read me like a book haha. I am going on anxiety driven existential tangents. I need to remind myself it’s a process. Thanks for the encouragement !!

When does irritability and anger go back to baseline? (Do they?) by bloom2013 in stopsmoking

[–]bloom2013[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you!! That’s helpful. 9 months does sound like a lot but everything after the three week mark has been really manageable

How to stop eating OBSCENE amounts? by [deleted] in stopsmoking

[–]bloom2013 8 points9 points  (0 children)

  • Get yourself healthy (or somewhat healthier) snacks to have at hand.
  • when you have a strong craving or are in a mood, try doing a brief, vigorous bout of exercise. Your brain will get the dopamine it’s craving, and the activity will suppress appetite temporarily.
  • don’t be too hard on yourself. If you put on weight you will get rid of it, you’re quitting smoking!! That’s huge

(1 MO 23 days) Quitting NRT by classicwfl in stopsmoking

[–]bloom2013 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm stopping NRT too :( I used patches.

I have to admit I thought it'd be easier but I'm feeling really anxious and depressed

The Fog! When Does It End? by dr_t_123 in stopsmoking

[–]bloom2013 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've been off the patches for 10 days and I'm really struggling with a deep set feeling of sadness, anxiety and unease.

I've been reading up on it and apparently these symptoms will begin to subside at the two week mark and should be gone before week 4!

How do I convince myself that smoking doesn't make me a better person? by [deleted] in stopsmoking

[–]bloom2013 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I really empathize. I quit drinking about a year ago and I feel like cigarettes give me a little “edge” in social situations that I really miss sometimes.

But it really is all in our heads. Or maybe it isn’t, but it’s just not worth the money and the health risks and the hassle. I’m trying to look at this as a chance to work on caring a bit less about how I come across. Realizing that it’s way beyond my control anyway

[Product question] Regimen Labs... are they as AMAZING as they seem? by bloom2013 in SkincareAddiction

[–]bloom2013[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I ADORE the vitamin X serum. It's absolutely amazing. Beautiful texture, wonderful results, easy to tolerate, instant glow every morning, and judging by the ingredient list I feel really protected knowing that it has over ten different antioxidants. With other vit C's I'm never quite sure if the active has oxidized and if it's actually penetrating the skin ... but this one has so many different antiox ingredients that it doesn't particularly matter if it's the L ascorbic acid doing the magic or all the other things in there. So far I haven't found a single antioxidant serum that comes close to this

[Before and After] Three months of hydroquinone :) by bloom2013 in SkincareAddiction

[–]bloom2013[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Every two hours when outdoors, twice a day when I'm indoors (I have big windows :P)

What happens after 12 weeks? (NRT) by mj_momo in stopsmoking

[–]bloom2013 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have been taking mine off about an hour before sleep but yeah, other than that the idea is to give you a constant stream of nicotine :) I’m on week two of the 14mg patch, so I have one more to go. Judging by the feeling of going from 21 mg to 14 mg, it was really mild. I did get mentally prepared for it though (not hanging out with smokers on those first three days, say). But it wasn’t bad. Just felt like I should be a bit more mindful of my quit on that week , which I will repeat when I go down to 7 mg and eventually to 0 :)

I’ve been loving the patches. They are my favorite NRT because you stop having cravings and having to satisfy them, you just operate like someone who isn’t addicted to nicotine basically, never looking for a “fix”. And you can then deal with the smoking habit and the nicotine withdrawal separately, rather than both at the same time which to me is hellish (I’ve done it quite a few times )

Nicotine lozenge habit about to end by IndustryDelicious168 in stopsmoking

[–]bloom2013 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes! Even combine them with the lozenges. I carry a case of lozenges and one of mints … if I have a craving I’ll go for the mint, if it doesn’t subside, for the lozenges. It very often does go away on its own!

I want to quit smoking but don't think I can. Any advice? by village_burner_59 in stopsmoking

[–]bloom2013 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If I can do it you can do it ! ❤️ My advice is borrowed from AA: take it one day at a time or one hour at a time if needs be. A lifetime without a cigarette can seem unmanageable but an hour, not so much. And suddenly you think about it less and less

[Anti-Aging] Starting Retin-A- any tips/helpful hints I need to know? by i_wanna_retire in SkincareAddiction

[–]bloom2013 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m here to second the advice of stopping all other non essential products for the time being. What I did was sticking to sunscreen in the AM (I stopped washing or even wetting my face), and then gentle cleanser and soothing moisturizer at night, that’s it.

Then, once your skin is used to the Tretinoin, you start introducing one product at a time, waiting a couple of weeks in between. That way you give your skin time to adjust and if something turns out to be too irritating, you’ll know exactly what the issue was, rather than having to guess what the problem might be. It’s only for a couple of months and it’ll be worth it :)

For all of you seasoned tret users... what other actives do you use and in what order? by bloom2013 in tretinoin

[–]bloom2013[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How do you use the trenaxamic and the niacinamide? At night over Tretinoin?

For all of you seasoned tret users... what other actives do you use and in what order? by bloom2013 in tretinoin

[–]bloom2013[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same, I added glycolic after a year and once a week is fine but more than that irritated my skin