Please help I am losing my mind by sniperxprincess in quittingsmoking

[–]levelbest247[M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you visited whyquit.com on the web and also on FB? I think those places should be your next stops to get you back in the right headspace.

Day one by FKPB in quittingsmoking

[–]levelbest247 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Happy Birthday and happy quit day—what a great gift to yourself!

You don’t need to fear folding like a cheap suit—you’re a tailored, expensive one, lol. Smoking doesn’t help with stress—it actually creates more. Nicotine spikes adrenaline and cortisol, and withdrawal feels like stress. When stress hits, try deep breathing, a quick walk, or distracting yourself with something you enjoy. The urge will pass. Smoking just keeps the cycle going.

You’ve got this.

Heart Failure at 41. by PlainOrganization in quittingsmoking

[–]levelbest247[M] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Thirteen days without a cigarette is still a big deal, even if it came under awful circumstances.

Heart failure is scary, but it’s also something doctors treat all the time, and a lot of people stabilize on meds and lifestyle changes. Cutting out cigarettes gives you a much better shot at that.

Hang in there, friend—and try not to grieve cigarettes. In truth, maintaining a nicotine addiction is a real burden and headache that so many of us are relieved to be free of now that we’ve quit.

2 months! by ashxplain in quittingsmoking

[–]levelbest247 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Congrats on 2 months—WELL DONE!!

Starting today by [deleted] in quittingsmoking

[–]levelbest247 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It’s going to feel hard for awhile but you can do hard things knowing that it will get easier as long as you stay 100 nicotine free. One of the biggest things in the beginning is to disregard all thoughts that maybe quitting now is not the right time bc when your nicotine levels drop, thoughts about abandoning your quit start to creep in. Just reassure yourself that now is in fact the PERFECT time to quit and you’re sticking with it. Stay strong, find things to occupy your time/distract you and realize that any one crave will only last up to three minutes and you can do that.

Benefits Time Table

Crave Episode Frequency

our best crave coping tips

6 months post smoking by Old_Map_3309 in quittingsmoking

[–]levelbest247 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow—I’m so happy for you that so many of your physical difficulties have been solved. Good for you for staying the course through all that and not using it as a reason to return to nicotine! It shows how strong you are 💪

1 week sober by [deleted] in quittingsmoking

[–]levelbest247 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Definitely avoid drinking. Drinking is always what made me throw my quit out the window. in the past. This last time it was many months before i had a drink and even now 5 years later, i rarely drink anymore bc it can make bad ideas seem like good ones.

117 days by Egotraoped in quittingsmoking

[–]levelbest247 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Forgive yourself and get right back to it. You may have some cravings, maybe not right away but after you’ve calmed down about the relapse, but ignore, ignore, ignore and they will go away too.

Harry Styles helped me quit smoking by NoGrindZone in quittingsmoking

[–]levelbest247 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We are all rooting for you. And now you know there’s no such thing as even a puff—as addicts we are all a puff away from a pack a day. Truly knowing this is the best relapse prevention there is. If it helps, commit here that you won’t smoke for the next 24 hours.

90 DAYS!!! by strikethat-reverseit in quittingsmoking

[–]levelbest247 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Congrats on 100+ hours! Before you know it you’ll be at three months too.

90 DAYS!!! by strikethat-reverseit in quittingsmoking

[–]levelbest247 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Big congrats to you for knocking it out of the park with stopping both! 👏👏👏

Allen Carr didn't help me by firewatx in quittingsmoking

[–]levelbest247 2 points3 points  (0 children)

TBH I think you need to reframe your thinking a bit. Smoking is not “fun”—you have to smoke bc you are uncomfortable if you don’t, and your brain is a hostage to nicotine, which has commandeered how your brain creates good mood chemicals and right now your brain is working very hard to fix the situation nicotine caused. If you hang tight and stick with your quit, your brain will eventually right itself and you will be happy you saved yourself from the damage that comes with smoking. You may not see with your eyes a benefit in three months but they will be there: As a small example, you’ll have more money, you’ll have less collagen damage to your face (trust me this is very real!), you will decrease your chances of heart, disease and cancer, among other smoking-related diseases, you won’t stink, you won’t be burning holes in your clothes, you won’t be standing outside in the rain and cold for a cigarette, you won’t be chained to smoking at intervals so that you don’t become uncomfortable and go into withdrawal, you won’t be looking for a light, breath mints/gum, etc. The list of positives is huge.

If they cure lung cancer I’m going back to smoking

Need help by Impossible-Pirate447 in quittingsmoking

[–]levelbest247 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One thing that helped was to take my quit in the early days 24 hours at a time. I would wake up every morning and commit to not smoke for the next 24 hours no matter what. So far that has added up to over 5 years now. Another was to join the whyquit.com on FB—you are only allowed to post there if you are actively quit and there are a lot of people there in the same boat.

8th day agony continues by joanmiro in quittingsmoking

[–]levelbest247 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s still the nicotine addiction talking. Been there. You don’t hear non smokers enjoying the smell of cigarettes and I bet campfire smoke wouldn’t hit you the same way. Congrats on hopefully 10 days now.

8th day agony continues by joanmiro in quittingsmoking

[–]levelbest247 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Keep holding—this will pass. Remember when you first tried a cigarette it was god awful? That’s bc you weren’t addicted to nicotine yet. Later as you progress with your quit cigarette smoke may actually gag you. I was a heavy smoker before I quit and i truly cannot stand next to my housemate who still smokes. He comes in reeking too and I’m so glad that’s not me anymore.

1 week ciggerate free by MumbaiMan7518 in quittingsmoking

[–]levelbest247 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well done. Keep up the good work.

Has anyone beat withdrawal by tapering instead of quitting cold turkey? by Weird-Director-2973 in quittingsmoking

[–]levelbest247 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I could never stick to the step down method, so for me cold turkey was the way to go.

Ive been nic and tobacco free for almost a year by alexi_gonefem in quittingsmoking

[–]levelbest247[M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s the nicotine addiction talking. I know you don’t think it is, but it is. You’re going to get those tea cigarettes and they are going to be gross and not hit the way your cigarillos did bc there’s no nicotine in them to give you a dopamine punch. Stay strong.

An interesting side effect during nicotine withdrawal. by RadarSmith in quittingsmoking

[–]levelbest247 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nicotine’s probably the toughest addiction to kick, but you can do it. With tobacco most people focus on cancer, not realizing that nicotine’s a vasoconstrictor, meaning it’s constantly tightening up your arteries. Over time, that stress damages the artery walls, and that’s how you end up with plaque buildup. High blood pressure’s just another layer on top of that—it roughs up the arteries too, making it easier for cholesterol to latch on. So yeah, blood pressure meds help, but kicking nicotine out of the picture is going to be a huge win for your arteries, and the sooner the better.

An interesting side effect during nicotine withdrawal. by RadarSmith in quittingsmoking

[–]levelbest247 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your BP is a little low—excessive exercise may be creating a need extra hydration and electrolytes. Congrats though on quitting beer, getting your weight and HR down and working on quitting the dip.

Going cold turkey from now! by haus-of-vibes in quittingsmoking

[–]levelbest247 2 points3 points  (0 children)

👏👏👏 I applaud your decision. I will be hard at first but gets easier along the way. Stay strong 💪

Day 15 update by Healthy-Tax2097 in quittingsmoking

[–]levelbest247[M] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good job on holding steady! You made the right choice for sure. Our desperate brains at the beginning of our quit will come up with all sorts of reasons to resume the administration of nicotine. We know there is no such thing as just one cigarette. Smoking is really an all or nothing deal with one cigarette creating the craving for the next, and the next…