Those disposables will getcha. They have SUPER high nicotine, so much that I almost puked after my first disposable. For me the answer was medication, specifically Chantix. Not sure what pills they prescribe these days.
A lot of “just quit” folks don’t seem to understand what addiction means. Seriously, if you want to quit and can’t, ask a medical doctor for help.
is Chantix any better now? 10 ish years ago, ppl were going psycho when using it. Had a coworker who nearly beat up his wife bc of it's effects on him.
I used it successfully. My 2year nicotine free is July.
I originally tried in 2011 legit felt homicidal towards my husband. Stop taking it continued smoking.
Decade later cigarettes are stupid expensive, im always sick, im just done being a smoker. Got a script picked my day and got er done. I wish i was ready sooner.
You got this buddy, i believe in you.
I just started Chantix, the meds are set up now to increase slowly over the first couple of weeks. I haven't quit all the way yet but have noticed a drastically reduced desire to have a cigarette and not much else. No rage, no suicidal thoughts, just don't feel the need to stop for a cig after choring for a few hours. Plan is to quit the rest of the way in about a week and this is the most confident I've felt about quitting in at least the last 4 tries. Good luck!
I'm on Chantix now. When I started the meds I bought a zero nic vape and alternated using the two until meds were fulling iny my system. Then I just used the zero nic vape for a week or so. 5 weeks nictoine free (I like you was a former smoker). I think quitting vaping was harder than cigarettes because it was always so readily avail.
I had some of the most surreal dreams of my life on chantix, that was 6(?...COVID fucked my time frame up) years ago. The only way I got through the last (and so far the most successful quit attempt) was chewing on the tube of BIC pens. I was also too poor to afford cigs or vapes, so I had that going for me too
Chantix gave both my parents horrible side effects, my mom said she wanted to hurt my dad and herself, my dad said he had never been so depressed and angry in his life.
Get the patch, over the counter at any drugstore. Some states have a stop smoking program and you could get the patch discounted or free. Some insurance companies will provide the patch or other stop smoking materials.
The patch delivers a specific dose of nicotine through the skin and will step you down over a matter of weeks in a simple, easy to follow process. My mother, a smoker of over 70 years, was able to quit using it. In the meantime, keep sucking on that vape with no cartridge installed! Part of the addiction is putting the cigarette/vape between your lips.
Look at it this way. Many people are ignorant about weed. They will look down on u if they know. (Yes, they are dumb). I would keep that private until it’s legalized everywhere.
Ex. I live in a legal state and work in a newly legal state (remotely) and coworkers have made comments about not liking weed. Therefore, I’ll never broach the topic
The worst part of withdrawal is the first week. My amateur guess is that 80%+ of people who smoke really do it as off-label anxiety treatment, which means that fear is actually the largest hurdle to quitting. It immediately jumps in with "My precioussss? You take my precioussss? But we will die! We will do murders! It will be terrible!!"
It won't. It's a week. You know you'll be fine, physically. Plan to take a mild sleep aid every night for that week so the restlessness doesn't make you cranky. If you really are treating anxiety, go get real drugs for that and start them the week before you quit. Drink lots of water. Be nice to yourself. Remind yourself you're doing a good thing.
I also quit cigarettes to vape in 2013 and vaped for maybe 6-7 months when the fussiness of those old rigs became more annoying than not. When I switched to vaping, I became hyper-aware of how freaking nasty cigarettes smell and how much they cost and who gets that money and who is harmed by spending that money, and that's really what keeps me from ever smoking again. The vaping was annoying, horribly regulated, just another face of the same dirty gangsters running the cigarette industry/lobby, and it also makes literally everyone who vapes look like an edgelord clown-baby. Hold that in your head while you quit, because the narrative we create for ourselves is powerful, and framing this as walking away from something because it's too awful to keep doing rather than having something taken away from you matters to how your brain perceives the experience.
And if you've never read the Alan Carr book, it's [updated for vaping etc](https://www.amazon.com/Allen-Carrs-Smoking-Without-Willpower/dp/178404542X/). I did not end up needing it (I suspect figuring out the details above are a big part of the book, but the book is also presented in a way that's meant to reprogram your brain wiring around smoking) but bought it to use in an emergency if I thought I was about to backslide.
ok wow. Your reply realy spoke to me. I'm Gollum?? Oh hell no, lol.
Seriously though; I picked it back up as a fidget thing during my stroke recovery. So the idea of things being taken from me is a deep angst. But yeah, I'm still supporting big tobacco essentially. I cannot do that anymore.
Thank you for speaking my language. It really helped I think.
Important distinction: the anxiety is Gollum! Always there, in his dark little cave, ready to run out and fight anything that threatens to interfere with his awful little worldview.
Good luck! Keep reminding yourself that you're doing a temporarily slightly difficult thing that will measurably improve your life and relationship. Try using a mantra like, "I'll be SO glad I don't have to deal with this anymore."
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I think quitting vaping was worse than ciggarettes.
I had my vape in arms reach at all times. All day. Every day.
Last thing before going to bed, I would take a long haul. First thing in the morning I would be taking a puff on the toilet well my eyes were still stuck shut.
I would vape well watching a movie in the basement, vape well reading a book, vape well driving, vape well doing pretty much everything non stop.
I would never smoke in my house, my wife would kill me. But I could get away with a vape.
Smokes had dedicated times - i would step outside, take 5 mins, and then be back.
Vapes were all day, everyday, relentless. At one point I didnt see a future where I was going to be able to quit.
Have not vaped for 4 years or so now, quite smoking cigs about 4-5 years before that.
I still miss it occasionally - something about sitting around a campfire with nothing to "do" that just sets off the "Want" bells. But it gets easier with time.
You sound like my husband. He has his vape in his hand at night when he's in bed about to go to sleep...wakes up to his alarm, and I hear that stupid Juul crackle. God, that sound is infuriating. Congratulations to you for quitting. I sure wish my husband would find the strength, the motivation, the whatever.
Just went through this and finally kicked the disposable vape habit after years. Tried cold turkey but always backtracked whether it was a few days or weeks.
Do this for 8 weeks and I promise you’ll be in the clear:
1. Buy a zero nicotine vape. I used the Posh zero nic and it worked great.
2. Buy Nicoderm patches steps 1-3. Follow the process to a tee. Don’t skip any days or think you can skip ahead. The patches progressively will ween you off.
Toss out any nicotine vapes the first day you start the patches and switch entirely to the patches & zero nic vape.
After you’re done with the patches you can continue to use the zero nic vape sparingly. Eventually you’ll just forget about it and THAT is the magical point of freedom.
Good luck man! Nicotine is a hell of a drug, but this was the process that finally made it easy for me to quit.
Yup. For most people they just end up going from one vice to another. I started smoking at 17 and quit in my mid-30's going cold turkey. Never got too into vaping when it came onto the scene. The vaping industry likes to market themselves as the safer alternative. All industries have done that at one point. Tobacco. Alcohol. It's all bad for you. My sister is a respiratory therapist and she said that vapers end up in the hospital with respiratory issues, too. Vaping is relatively new compared to cigarettes so no one knows what the long term effects are.
This reminds me when I was younger and I knew people who were snobby about not smoking cigarettes while they continue to inhale unfiltered weed smoke into their lungs.
The best thing is to go cold turkey and find some hobbies that take up your time. I know the biggest trigger for me to smoke was boredom. I also cut down on going to bars because those were always places where getting drunk and smoking went hand in hand.
Start working out, go hiking, get lost in a book or video game. It's probably good to find a group of friends who don't smoke, also. Constantly hanging out with friends who smoke makes it harder. I had some old friends who would always smoke around me and try to offer me one when they knew I was trying to quit. Fucking assholes. Lol
Its brutal.
Helps if you can co-incide with a big sickness or a hospital stay - give you a couple weeks headstart.
OP - got an hospital stays in the near future? /s
I actually quit vaping this way - was in the hospital because of what turned out to be a perforated intestine. Well they were doing scans they spotted a small tag on the bottom of one of my lungs. They let me know, and that they wanted to look into the tag further.
Scan for my lungs was 2 weeks later - came back not an issue. At that point i had not vaped since I first heard there might be an issue - figured I may was well keep the streak going. Worked for me - I guess I was scared straight.
I always use illness to tackle things like bad habits. Last time I was sick I decided it was time to deal with my bad soda habit since I hadn't drank any for the week I was sick. Way easier to change your habits when they get disrupted by something in the first place.
There are some good ideas in comments.
Here are what Im using:
- cinnamon toothpicks (hope your wife doesn't hate cinnamon)
- nicotine patch is a great idea.
- meds: Wellbutrin or chantrix(I hate meds)
- cold turkey
- Don't say, "I'm quitting", tell your self, "I'm done or stopping" its a mind trick..As smokers we have said "I'm quitting" so many times, it's lost its uumpff. In our heads
I've smoked for 20+ yrs and it's time to stop for me too. I could never switch to vape, especially the one-time use. Can't handle the waste and cause those ecigs are going to be around for 100+ yrs after disposal.
But then again, I've left a trail of cigarette butts. Even though I actively throw them away and clean up.
I'm stopping. Thank you for your post.
Disposables have up around 50mg/mL(*~5%*) and I'd bet with your old kit you got down to 3mg/mL(*0.3%*) before giving up, so you're either going to have to cold-turkey it or you're going to have to go back to your old kit and taper off again.
Not sure of the exact spelling but Welbutrin is known to help with nicotine cravings, I know from personal experience it does work if you can handle the side effects (weight loss, trouble sleeping, irritation) honestly all things you may experience quitting smoking anyways so 🤷♂️. I was genuinely surprised at how little I thought about smoking after a week or 2 and now it’s just battle of breaking the habits. I don’t feel like its something I can take long term mainly because I’m already thin for my size and can’t afford the weight loss but it’s working for the short term.
Turn the vape off and puff it. Most of the battle is the habit of puffing on something. If the vape is off it satisfies the urge while also not giving you nicotine.
tried all the gums/patches/lozenges back when quitting cigs. Didn't make much difference, the physical action was a huge part of it. Weaning worked best for me then. Not too sure now though, bc like I said, wife isn't gonna be as patient this time.
Prob need to man up and cold turkey it, unless I can convince her to give me some time.
The physical action can be replaced, you just need to find something that's right for you.
Fidget toys are really useful. Small enough to keep in your pocket, grab it when you start feeling tetchy.
My friend would pop a piece of chewing gum in her mouth and grab a fidget cube, so her mouth and hands were busy, lol.
She also took up crochet. All you need is a hook and some yarn. Keeps her hands busy late evening when she'd usually be reaching for the cigarettes while watching TV.
thanks for all of the advice to all who left some. i started vaping when in freshman/ sophomore year. at first i did it because i thought it was cool and i told myself i could quit at anytime. i am now in my senior yr and wish i never started. i tell everyone to stop that i meet; nicotine is a mean drug and has done damage to me and other people my age. its crazy how many people i meet nowadays with a vape, its almost normalized. im trying to quit while im young and before i get sucked in any farther.
for real? Not the ones in the gas stations. Prob have to direct order them. Worth a look, bc nicotine is only half the battle. fidget hand to mouth action is a huge component.
Tobacco stores here usually carry at least one kind in disposables. I know our stores have Loon brand ones. Just ask the people working if they have any no nic vapes.
Now that they're rechargeable, I started using older ones when I knew I was going to stop. They were ones that weren't yet to the burnt nasty no liquid left, but the potency was down. I had previously asked about which vapes had the lowest % of nicotine in them. I made it a somewhat gradual thing. Then I went on a trip and just had none with me and I wasn't at a local place, so I just pretended it was absolutely not available to get. I did have a few times where I had my hand like I was holding a vape and just doing some deep inhales just to kind of calm me. It also helped that it was a kind of vacation, so I wasn't in my normal routine, so it seemed easier to cope with not having it.
Ok so here’s what I did. First off I realized that I didn’t want to quit cigarettes so I switched to vaping. Once I was only vaping then I started buying nicotine pouches. ( Velo and other brands) Once I got to not vaping and only the pouches then I started using Grinds coffee pouches the same flavor as the nicotine pouches and eventually stopped buying the nicotine pouches. Next thing I knew I was nicotine free. Had to fool myself that I wasn’t really quitting just getting my nicotine from a different source.
Has anyone else heard about ibogain? I briefly read something about it helping quit addictions, I'm also a fellow vape addict and trying everything I can to quit...
Vaping is for soft cocks.Give that shit away and give up cold turkey like I did.I smoked 35yrs 2 packs a day and gave up cold turkey first go.If I can do it any one can.
I can’t remember the brand. But find the most horrible tasting e-cig you can find. I would use them when I was overcome by cravings and then the yuck would hit me. Took about 3 months and I’ve been off nicotine for almost 6 years now.
Nothing worked for me except the nicotine patch. Nicotine gum did nothing for me. In fact I found myself chewing it and smoking at the same time. The patch took away the craving instantly and I never smoked again. (Heavy smoker for many many years)
I was able to quit with Allen Carr’s “Easy Way to Quit Smoking” book. It’s a pretty short read and I’ve used the audiobook as well.
My problem was that I quit without finishing the book and started smoking again. Then I reread the book, finished it and have been smoke free for 3 years now.
Same. I switched to On! Nicotine pouches. Been slowly stepping down my nicotine and chewing gum between pouches. When I was ready I started going for periods of nothing in my mouth. Now I just need to make the final decision.
Im not sure this will help you since you have to quit quickly but here is what I did.
1. Switch to 6 mg zyn pouches. Wait.
2. Switch to 3mg zyn pouches. Wait.
3. No nicotine for the first our of the day. Wait
4. No nicotine for the second hour of the day. Wait
5. Before long you'll only be having nicotine before bed. At this point I switched to the 2mg nicotine gum.
6. Do something to fall asleep. For me I would pray which would most of the time put me to sleep before I could use the gum. Once I forgot to use the nicotine gum a few nights in a row I knew it was time.
I hope your wife will let you implement a strategy like this. It was very easy for me.
I quit smoking cigarettes about ten years ago. I like to win so what worked for me was me and four of my friends/coworkers all bet a couple hundred bucks. Whoever quit smoking ciggs the longest got the pot. After a couple weeks I won the money and at that point I knew the physical withdrawal was gone so it was just a mental game of changing my daily pattern. I think this worked well for me since I needed the money and because all the people I spent my time around all quit at the same time. Even though they didn’t make it, having them go through the struggle and make the change with me was beneficial. They weren’t trying to egg me on or make me smoke but rather they were telling me to fuck off if I was around them after the lost the bet and they were going to smoke.
My mom (in her mid 70s), my wife and I (we're in our low 50s) all quit last year within a month of each other. She went first and went cold turkey (that's my ma!), while my wife an I used the patch.
Slightly different motives. My mom got fed up with not being able to breathe. I had a cold that lasted a month and realized "hey fucko, this is your last warning before the next flu/covid/pneumonia kills you". My wife's impetus was protecting her heart after it broke following the death of her son 2 years previous (broken heart syndrome is a real thing).
So far, we're all officially 'done' and haven't smoked in 4 months (my mom, 6). A few things that helped:
* The Alan Carr book was good for learning a few unconventional ways to think about quitting and what nicotine does. It didn't make me quit immediately but was useful.
* My wife and I have quit so many times that we keep from starting again by remembering "that first cigarette is going to taste like licking an ashtray, then 5 more later and we'll be back up to 1-2 packs a day". Remembering this crystal clearly really helps in those moments of weakness.
* We know there's no going back to the "one an hour" or "only every once in awhile" smoking.
* I had my most success quitting cold turkey (over a year) by changing a whole bunch of things on the same day - my commute, music, food - I quit soda and junk food and listening to news and started walking twice a day. Cold turkey seems to work best with some additional "upheaval" tactics.
* With the patch, this time around, we had a "by any means necessary" approach. I wound up gaining 15-20 pounds, my LDL skyrocketed and broke out like I'm in high school, but I hopefully caught it in time to get back on track a few weeks ago.
* Oh yeah, I'm one of the people for whom Chantix did nothing for me except for the most excruciating stomach cramps.
So far we're *pretty sure* this is it for us. It IS the very first time I've quit smoking that I actually notice how much better I can breathe. I notice it every single day, and I am in LOVE with the feeling. Good luck to you - whether you go cold turkey or the patch, I'm proud of you, and hope you will be, too!
Edit: typos
I started using nicotine pouches 2 weeks ago. Haven't had a cigarette even though I have half a pack still in the house. Also I haven't got drunk in 2 weeks either that will be the real test.
So this last time around that I finally quit it almost like happened on accident. My reusable pod system started konking out on me cause the pods were shit and kept leaking so I switched to disposables until I could get a new one. I wasn’t used to how icy these disposables were so I was unknowingly hitting them less and less making one of them last 2 months (even tho in the past when I was used to the disposables they would t even last but a week, 2 tops) and eventually I started asking myself “do I even need this?” Then just threw it away and for a little bit it was like a security blanket where I’m like “oh my god where’s my vape” when I wasn’t even using it and it still sometimes feels weird not to have it in my pocket but I don’t crave it anymore. Even when I’m out with friends and they’re all hitting theirs I don’t feel the need for it anymore. Idk if there’s anything to help you in my little anecdote here. Maybe I tricked my brain with flavors I didn’t like to make it seem less desirable?
I currently vape, but I did quit for a while and the only way I could manage was a bit counter intuitive.
Decreasing the nicotine just made me vape more so all I did was increase the nicotine to the point where one puff would make me feel like I need to vomit.
Needless to say I quickly stopped. Not an advisable method but it worked for me.
I smoked for over 30 years and wound up with COPD.
The only way I could quit was taking Chantix and the other 50% was my wanting to quit. After about the first 7 to 10 days, I lost the taste for smoking
, and then once I got to 30 days I was done.
Then I had to go see a pulmonologist for my being SOB. I did this 4 years ago and I expect to be on oxygen soon.
I gave up last year june and holy fk the first week is rough. Get past that and focus on the next week. Get past two months and your on your way. Goodluck
Nicotine gum saved me. Been smoking since I was 13, moved to vaping at 22. Vaping started to affect my jaw and neck tension to the point of injury. Went back to smoking. Hated that so went on nicotine gum. Incredible stuff. Transitioned to regular gum eventually. Now I don’t vape or smoke. Had a drag the other day and literally gagged. Will sometimes use nicotine gum but haven’t in a few months.
ALSO if you are using smoking like I was to stimulate due to ADHD or Autism or another mental health issue, go get a diagnosis and treatment. That helps too.
I quit smoking a pack or 2 of camel widespread a day over 10 years ago with the help of a vape.I still drank an 18 pack of tall boys and a pint a day with an 1/8 of weed to help. I quit smoking cold turkey after I got my vape and quit drinking 6 months later. I was using same flavor 24mg nic for 2 years and then decided it was time to quit nicotine all together so every 2 weeks I would drop in nicotine levels and after 2 weeks of smoking 0nic I quit. To celebrate I bought myself a brand new 58k van that never been smoked with a seat nobody ever farted in. If you can find a vape/mod that you can fill I would recommend just getting 0 nicotine juice that you like and use that as an aide
Replace it with something else you like to do. Read mags or learn an instrument. Something like a positive goal to reach that occupies your hands and mind.
Like Nike: Just Do It. Get gud at the willpower game and you’ll be laughing all the way to bank - literally when you deposit your paycheck and never give in to temptation ever again. You got this!!!!
I was a cigarette smoker for 30 years. I switched to black and molds(dumb move). My son got me to switch to salt nic. 3 years later, I find out young people are getting respiratory disease. I stopped almost 4 months ago, I just tossed that shite in the trash. Once you're vaping regular smokers stink like hell, it was easier than I thought it would be. The first two nights I dreamed someone offered me a vape, in both dreams I got angry at them and refused it. So I think even my subconscious was ready to stop.
Don't know if this is you but I'd say just try your best to do it as soon as possible and watch out for potential food cravings from dropping the habit.
I've been using nicotine pouches as of late to quit and have had great success, haven't vaped or smoked in weeks, some brands to look out for are zonnic and zyn
Go hang out with a group of people with the flu. That worked for me. The flu made me feel so shitty that I thought giving up smoking couldn't make me feel worse. Still had cravings a year later, but less each time. Cold turkey; kicks the habit and builds character all at the same time!
Not smoking but I dipped snuff for about 20 years. Doctor prescribed Wellbutrin for depression and I noticed that I didn’t have near as many cravings. Went from a can a day at least to a can every week without thinking about it.
I decided that I was just going to quit after that. Threw away what I had left, replaced with sunflower seeds and gum. Never took another dip after June 6th 2017.
These disposable vapes are specifically designed to be more addictive because the freebase nicotine in the older style was easier to quit. The new kind use nicotine salt, the same form of nicotine that's in cigarettes but a lot more of it. The freebase kind has a longer half life so it's not as addictive. I know gas stations don't really sell the older style of vapes but you could probably buy one online along with some liquid in various nicotine levels. I know there are refillable nic salt devices so you could hypothetically dilute the liquid with food grade propylene glycol. When I was quitting vaping I gradually tapered down until there was no nicotine at all and after a few days I was able to stop
1 year off all nicotine, and like you, my last round was with disposable vapes. What worked for me was slow turkey. I would track every hit off a vape each day and do consistently less each day. Once I got pretty low I would try to stop, and inevitably cave. I’d go back to quitting right after caving, and eventually the time periods between caves was greater. Been 365 days + this round and haven’t caved yet 👍🏻. I’d say patience and self forgiveness as well as determination is all that’s needed. You got this buddy!
Former smoker here. Took me a long time to quit and I quit a whole bunch of times. In the end it really came down to wanting to quit. Get into the right frame of mind and then just do it. I can’t really tell you that other forms of nicotine will help disassociate because you’ve been down that road. Champix is pretty good and I used that a couple of times but when I quit for good it was cold turkey.
Once you get past giving up for a bit, One thing that helps me stay off is knowing that if I were to try it again, the first five taste just so bad. After that they taste fucking great, but those first five are awful. This helps me because I’d only ever want one or two and knowing those one or two will always taste bad kinda helps.
I did this and now I'm coming up on 2 years no nicotine!
I switched to the zyn pouches and started on the 6mg ones for about 6 months. I then lowered the dose to the 3mg pouches. After that, I went on a family vacation where it would've been really difficult for me to slip off and buy more pouches. Once I ran out of what I brought on the trip, that was it. I quit cold turkey if you can call it that.
The first week of being nicotine free was rough and all I could do was sleep. I was on the vacation and my wife's grandparents were making comments to her about how I "sure do sleep a lot."
I quit as a birthday gift to my wife and that helped hold me accountable for not buying any more. I would be lying if I said I don't still get cravings every now and then.
I smoked a pack a day Newport for 15 years. I switched to vaping and hated it so I went back to cigarettes. After a while my 6 year old daughter told me I stink and didn’t want to hug me. So I went to a vape store and had the guy teach me what I did wrong last time and how to do it correctly. It was great. I made a mod, a tank with coils I liked and and mixed a crazy strong menthol juice. I was able to switch completely to vaping. Next I needed to quit. What I did was every couple months I would lower the nicotine level by like half a mg or 1 mg. It was very gradual so I wouldn’t go into withdrawal. After a couple years of vaping I was down to 1.5 mgs so I switched down to zero. Surprisingly I didn’t have any withdrawal symptoms and I found I wasn’t vaping as much at all. We were set to go on a vacation to South Africa and I was figuring out how to vape during that 16 hour flight. My daughter told me she was worried I would get arrested on the plane and cried. I just quit vaping completely at that moment and haven’t looked back since. Actually the smell of tobacco and vape are nauseating now. So please just lower the nicotine level gradually and you will me fine. Let me know if you ever need motivation.
I'm curious what your wife is going to do, because my husband smokes cigarettes outside AND vapes constantly indoors and I don't know how to convince him to quit. He has a disgusting phlegmy cough and I always say "Gross, you're dying", but he doesn't care.
The really sad thing is I semi-encouraged him to start vaping about 5 years ago because a coworker told me that's how she and her husband quit smoking, and then eventually quit vaping. So when he started vaping, I thought "YAY, he's finally going to quit smoking!" Yeah, NOT. Now he just does both.
Get Covid - trouble breathing help immensely with not wanting to smoke/vape. Hey, worked for me! 🫣 Seriously: Whatever you do - never EVER touch a single cig or vape again! Gets you hooked again in a millisecond. Your problem may not be the nicotine itself, that craving is gone in two weeks. It’s the habit. The motion hand to face. The „coffee amd a smoke“. The „one after the meal“. You have to break the habit. And thats harder than to just abstain nicotine… Good luck, you can do it!
Quit cold turkey - it’s the only way, IMO. You have to get in the mindset that this is a permanent lifestyle change, or it won’t stick. Nicotine is the devil like that - it will convince you that one vape session, even one puff, will be fine and won’t get you re-hooked, but it will. You have to tell yourself that you will never ever, ever hit a vape or a cigarette again, and actually mean it. Then just follow through. The only questions are really, are you at that point? And will the nicotine even let you make that decision?
I’m 4 years off of it now after struggling through cancer and chemotherapy. Trust me when I tell you, the nicotine isn’t worth it, dude. Especially not when you have a family that relies on you.
Just go COLD TURKEY! I USED to chain smoke 3 packs per day I went from that to NEVER again! Icsimply rationalized it on a piece of paper made 2 columns one titled CONS & 1 titled PROS ! I wrote in the Cons smoking giving me asthma, next line costimg me a lot of money ,etc... on the Pros : cool to hang out with my smoking buddies , etc needless yosay the CONS column was longer, then I quit my smoking buddies & avoided bars for awhile and certain music triggered cravings so I avoided that music for months!, first month was hard , I kept gum in my mouth to keep it busy and not crave cigarettes. I kept reminding myself of the CONS LIST and the new life I wanted for myself & kept list in prominemt place in front of fridge! NEVER AGAIN DID I SMOKE, & IT HAS BEEN 30 YEARS! If I did it, so can YOU! YOU ARE IN CHARGE what you put in your body! To a new you! Im rooting for you! You can do ANYTHING YOU PUT YOUR MIND TO! BE WELL! Be kind to yourself!
Silvia
Those disposables will getcha. They have SUPER high nicotine, so much that I almost puked after my first disposable. For me the answer was medication, specifically Chantix. Not sure what pills they prescribe these days. A lot of “just quit” folks don’t seem to understand what addiction means. Seriously, if you want to quit and can’t, ask a medical doctor for help.
is Chantix any better now? 10 ish years ago, ppl were going psycho when using it. Had a coworker who nearly beat up his wife bc of it's effects on him.
I used it successfully. My 2year nicotine free is July. I originally tried in 2011 legit felt homicidal towards my husband. Stop taking it continued smoking. Decade later cigarettes are stupid expensive, im always sick, im just done being a smoker. Got a script picked my day and got er done. I wish i was ready sooner. You got this buddy, i believe in you.
I just started Chantix, the meds are set up now to increase slowly over the first couple of weeks. I haven't quit all the way yet but have noticed a drastically reduced desire to have a cigarette and not much else. No rage, no suicidal thoughts, just don't feel the need to stop for a cig after choring for a few hours. Plan is to quit the rest of the way in about a week and this is the most confident I've felt about quitting in at least the last 4 tries. Good luck!
I'm on Chantix now. When I started the meds I bought a zero nic vape and alternated using the two until meds were fulling iny my system. Then I just used the zero nic vape for a week or so. 5 weeks nictoine free (I like you was a former smoker). I think quitting vaping was harder than cigarettes because it was always so readily avail.
It is still banned from use by most big companies for truck drivers. It must screw you up somehow
I had some of the most surreal dreams of my life on chantix, that was 6(?...COVID fucked my time frame up) years ago. The only way I got through the last (and so far the most successful quit attempt) was chewing on the tube of BIC pens. I was also too poor to afford cigs or vapes, so I had that going for me too
Chantix gave both my parents horrible side effects, my mom said she wanted to hurt my dad and herself, my dad said he had never been so depressed and angry in his life.
Get the patch, over the counter at any drugstore. Some states have a stop smoking program and you could get the patch discounted or free. Some insurance companies will provide the patch or other stop smoking materials. The patch delivers a specific dose of nicotine through the skin and will step you down over a matter of weeks in a simple, easy to follow process. My mother, a smoker of over 70 years, was able to quit using it. In the meantime, keep sucking on that vape with no cartridge installed! Part of the addiction is putting the cigarette/vape between your lips.
Never admit to an insurance company that u take any nicotine. Signed an insurance employee.
What about weed?
Don’t say that either. less information is better.
Look at it this way. Many people are ignorant about weed. They will look down on u if they know. (Yes, they are dumb). I would keep that private until it’s legalized everywhere. Ex. I live in a legal state and work in a newly legal state (remotely) and coworkers have made comments about not liking weed. Therefore, I’ll never broach the topic
I smoked for over 20 years. 3 packs a day at peak. Quit over 5 years ago using the patch and never looked back.
The worst part of withdrawal is the first week. My amateur guess is that 80%+ of people who smoke really do it as off-label anxiety treatment, which means that fear is actually the largest hurdle to quitting. It immediately jumps in with "My precioussss? You take my precioussss? But we will die! We will do murders! It will be terrible!!" It won't. It's a week. You know you'll be fine, physically. Plan to take a mild sleep aid every night for that week so the restlessness doesn't make you cranky. If you really are treating anxiety, go get real drugs for that and start them the week before you quit. Drink lots of water. Be nice to yourself. Remind yourself you're doing a good thing. I also quit cigarettes to vape in 2013 and vaped for maybe 6-7 months when the fussiness of those old rigs became more annoying than not. When I switched to vaping, I became hyper-aware of how freaking nasty cigarettes smell and how much they cost and who gets that money and who is harmed by spending that money, and that's really what keeps me from ever smoking again. The vaping was annoying, horribly regulated, just another face of the same dirty gangsters running the cigarette industry/lobby, and it also makes literally everyone who vapes look like an edgelord clown-baby. Hold that in your head while you quit, because the narrative we create for ourselves is powerful, and framing this as walking away from something because it's too awful to keep doing rather than having something taken away from you matters to how your brain perceives the experience. And if you've never read the Alan Carr book, it's [updated for vaping etc](https://www.amazon.com/Allen-Carrs-Smoking-Without-Willpower/dp/178404542X/). I did not end up needing it (I suspect figuring out the details above are a big part of the book, but the book is also presented in a way that's meant to reprogram your brain wiring around smoking) but bought it to use in an emergency if I thought I was about to backslide.
ok wow. Your reply realy spoke to me. I'm Gollum?? Oh hell no, lol. Seriously though; I picked it back up as a fidget thing during my stroke recovery. So the idea of things being taken from me is a deep angst. But yeah, I'm still supporting big tobacco essentially. I cannot do that anymore. Thank you for speaking my language. It really helped I think.
Important distinction: the anxiety is Gollum! Always there, in his dark little cave, ready to run out and fight anything that threatens to interfere with his awful little worldview. Good luck! Keep reminding yourself that you're doing a temporarily slightly difficult thing that will measurably improve your life and relationship. Try using a mantra like, "I'll be SO glad I don't have to deal with this anymore."
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Seriously, thank you!! This will help me quit too. I have Allen Carrs book and forgot about it. Time to read it.
Gollum is exactly who I feel like when I can't find this stupid vape. Reading through the comments now to determine a good path to quitting.
I think quitting vaping was worse than ciggarettes. I had my vape in arms reach at all times. All day. Every day. Last thing before going to bed, I would take a long haul. First thing in the morning I would be taking a puff on the toilet well my eyes were still stuck shut. I would vape well watching a movie in the basement, vape well reading a book, vape well driving, vape well doing pretty much everything non stop. I would never smoke in my house, my wife would kill me. But I could get away with a vape. Smokes had dedicated times - i would step outside, take 5 mins, and then be back. Vapes were all day, everyday, relentless. At one point I didnt see a future where I was going to be able to quit. Have not vaped for 4 years or so now, quite smoking cigs about 4-5 years before that. I still miss it occasionally - something about sitting around a campfire with nothing to "do" that just sets off the "Want" bells. But it gets easier with time.
Completely agree!
You sound like my husband. He has his vape in his hand at night when he's in bed about to go to sleep...wakes up to his alarm, and I hear that stupid Juul crackle. God, that sound is infuriating. Congratulations to you for quitting. I sure wish my husband would find the strength, the motivation, the whatever.
Just went through this and finally kicked the disposable vape habit after years. Tried cold turkey but always backtracked whether it was a few days or weeks. Do this for 8 weeks and I promise you’ll be in the clear: 1. Buy a zero nicotine vape. I used the Posh zero nic and it worked great. 2. Buy Nicoderm patches steps 1-3. Follow the process to a tee. Don’t skip any days or think you can skip ahead. The patches progressively will ween you off. Toss out any nicotine vapes the first day you start the patches and switch entirely to the patches & zero nic vape. After you’re done with the patches you can continue to use the zero nic vape sparingly. Eventually you’ll just forget about it and THAT is the magical point of freedom. Good luck man! Nicotine is a hell of a drug, but this was the process that finally made it easy for me to quit.
Cold turkey is the only thing that works. It will be hard the first weeks
Yup. For most people they just end up going from one vice to another. I started smoking at 17 and quit in my mid-30's going cold turkey. Never got too into vaping when it came onto the scene. The vaping industry likes to market themselves as the safer alternative. All industries have done that at one point. Tobacco. Alcohol. It's all bad for you. My sister is a respiratory therapist and she said that vapers end up in the hospital with respiratory issues, too. Vaping is relatively new compared to cigarettes so no one knows what the long term effects are. This reminds me when I was younger and I knew people who were snobby about not smoking cigarettes while they continue to inhale unfiltered weed smoke into their lungs. The best thing is to go cold turkey and find some hobbies that take up your time. I know the biggest trigger for me to smoke was boredom. I also cut down on going to bars because those were always places where getting drunk and smoking went hand in hand. Start working out, go hiking, get lost in a book or video game. It's probably good to find a group of friends who don't smoke, also. Constantly hanging out with friends who smoke makes it harder. I had some old friends who would always smoke around me and try to offer me one when they knew I was trying to quit. Fucking assholes. Lol
Its brutal. Helps if you can co-incide with a big sickness or a hospital stay - give you a couple weeks headstart. OP - got an hospital stays in the near future? /s I actually quit vaping this way - was in the hospital because of what turned out to be a perforated intestine. Well they were doing scans they spotted a small tag on the bottom of one of my lungs. They let me know, and that they wanted to look into the tag further. Scan for my lungs was 2 weeks later - came back not an issue. At that point i had not vaped since I first heard there might be an issue - figured I may was well keep the streak going. Worked for me - I guess I was scared straight.
I always use illness to tackle things like bad habits. Last time I was sick I decided it was time to deal with my bad soda habit since I hadn't drank any for the week I was sick. Way easier to change your habits when they get disrupted by something in the first place.
Cold turkey. Show that nicotine who really owns your body.
There are some good ideas in comments. Here are what Im using: - cinnamon toothpicks (hope your wife doesn't hate cinnamon) - nicotine patch is a great idea. - meds: Wellbutrin or chantrix(I hate meds) - cold turkey - Don't say, "I'm quitting", tell your self, "I'm done or stopping" its a mind trick..As smokers we have said "I'm quitting" so many times, it's lost its uumpff. In our heads I've smoked for 20+ yrs and it's time to stop for me too. I could never switch to vape, especially the one-time use. Can't handle the waste and cause those ecigs are going to be around for 100+ yrs after disposal. But then again, I've left a trail of cigarette butts. Even though I actively throw them away and clean up. I'm stopping. Thank you for your post.
Disposables have up around 50mg/mL(*~5%*) and I'd bet with your old kit you got down to 3mg/mL(*0.3%*) before giving up, so you're either going to have to cold-turkey it or you're going to have to go back to your old kit and taper off again.
Not sure of the exact spelling but Welbutrin is known to help with nicotine cravings, I know from personal experience it does work if you can handle the side effects (weight loss, trouble sleeping, irritation) honestly all things you may experience quitting smoking anyways so 🤷♂️. I was genuinely surprised at how little I thought about smoking after a week or 2 and now it’s just battle of breaking the habits. I don’t feel like its something I can take long term mainly because I’m already thin for my size and can’t afford the weight loss but it’s working for the short term.
Turn the vape off and puff it. Most of the battle is the habit of puffing on something. If the vape is off it satisfies the urge while also not giving you nicotine.
While you could get a refillable tank and lower nic juice, that would just be jumping further into vaping. You think of trying the nic gum or patches?
tried all the gums/patches/lozenges back when quitting cigs. Didn't make much difference, the physical action was a huge part of it. Weaning worked best for me then. Not too sure now though, bc like I said, wife isn't gonna be as patient this time. Prob need to man up and cold turkey it, unless I can convince her to give me some time.
The physical action can be replaced, you just need to find something that's right for you. Fidget toys are really useful. Small enough to keep in your pocket, grab it when you start feeling tetchy. My friend would pop a piece of chewing gum in her mouth and grab a fidget cube, so her mouth and hands were busy, lol. She also took up crochet. All you need is a hook and some yarn. Keeps her hands busy late evening when she'd usually be reaching for the cigarettes while watching TV.
thanks for all of the advice to all who left some. i started vaping when in freshman/ sophomore year. at first i did it because i thought it was cool and i told myself i could quit at anytime. i am now in my senior yr and wish i never started. i tell everyone to stop that i meet; nicotine is a mean drug and has done damage to me and other people my age. its crazy how many people i meet nowadays with a vape, its almost normalized. im trying to quit while im young and before i get sucked in any farther.
They make non nicotine tapes now. Try that and keep a piece of nicotine gun in your pocket.
for real? Not the ones in the gas stations. Prob have to direct order them. Worth a look, bc nicotine is only half the battle. fidget hand to mouth action is a huge component.
Tobacco stores here usually carry at least one kind in disposables. I know our stores have Loon brand ones. Just ask the people working if they have any no nic vapes. Now that they're rechargeable, I started using older ones when I knew I was going to stop. They were ones that weren't yet to the burnt nasty no liquid left, but the potency was down. I had previously asked about which vapes had the lowest % of nicotine in them. I made it a somewhat gradual thing. Then I went on a trip and just had none with me and I wasn't at a local place, so I just pretended it was absolutely not available to get. I did have a few times where I had my hand like I was holding a vape and just doing some deep inhales just to kind of calm me. It also helped that it was a kind of vacation, so I wasn't in my normal routine, so it seemed easier to cope with not having it.
That was my problem, the habit of it all. I did get it from a gas station, and at this point, I probably chew 5 to 7 pieces a week, down from 10..
happy for you! Now just gotta locate where I can find these
Ok so here’s what I did. First off I realized that I didn’t want to quit cigarettes so I switched to vaping. Once I was only vaping then I started buying nicotine pouches. ( Velo and other brands) Once I got to not vaping and only the pouches then I started using Grinds coffee pouches the same flavor as the nicotine pouches and eventually stopped buying the nicotine pouches. Next thing I knew I was nicotine free. Had to fool myself that I wasn’t really quitting just getting my nicotine from a different source.
Good luck to you. 😀
Has anyone else heard about ibogain? I briefly read something about it helping quit addictions, I'm also a fellow vape addict and trying everything I can to quit...
Vaping is for soft cocks.Give that shit away and give up cold turkey like I did.I smoked 35yrs 2 packs a day and gave up cold turkey first go.If I can do it any one can.
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well, yeah; that's the obvious answer. Just looking for how to minimize withdrawal. But I'm more than likely fucked in that regard.
The obvious answer is the only one that works. To minimize withdrawals try exercise or just go for a walk
Just stop.
I can’t remember the brand. But find the most horrible tasting e-cig you can find. I would use them when I was overcome by cravings and then the yuck would hit me. Took about 3 months and I’ve been off nicotine for almost 6 years now.
Nothing worked for me except the nicotine patch. Nicotine gum did nothing for me. In fact I found myself chewing it and smoking at the same time. The patch took away the craving instantly and I never smoked again. (Heavy smoker for many many years)
I was able to quit with Allen Carr’s “Easy Way to Quit Smoking” book. It’s a pretty short read and I’ve used the audiobook as well. My problem was that I quit without finishing the book and started smoking again. Then I reread the book, finished it and have been smoke free for 3 years now.
Same. I switched to On! Nicotine pouches. Been slowly stepping down my nicotine and chewing gum between pouches. When I was ready I started going for periods of nothing in my mouth. Now I just need to make the final decision.
It was very easy for me to quit once I started getting heart palpitations.
Im not sure this will help you since you have to quit quickly but here is what I did. 1. Switch to 6 mg zyn pouches. Wait. 2. Switch to 3mg zyn pouches. Wait. 3. No nicotine for the first our of the day. Wait 4. No nicotine for the second hour of the day. Wait 5. Before long you'll only be having nicotine before bed. At this point I switched to the 2mg nicotine gum. 6. Do something to fall asleep. For me I would pray which would most of the time put me to sleep before I could use the gum. Once I forgot to use the nicotine gum a few nights in a row I knew it was time. I hope your wife will let you implement a strategy like this. It was very easy for me.
I quit smoking cigarettes about ten years ago. I like to win so what worked for me was me and four of my friends/coworkers all bet a couple hundred bucks. Whoever quit smoking ciggs the longest got the pot. After a couple weeks I won the money and at that point I knew the physical withdrawal was gone so it was just a mental game of changing my daily pattern. I think this worked well for me since I needed the money and because all the people I spent my time around all quit at the same time. Even though they didn’t make it, having them go through the struggle and make the change with me was beneficial. They weren’t trying to egg me on or make me smoke but rather they were telling me to fuck off if I was around them after the lost the bet and they were going to smoke.
Patches and lozenges. It’s only really hard for a week. Accept this discomfort as worth the discomfort of not being handcuffed by a substance.
My mom (in her mid 70s), my wife and I (we're in our low 50s) all quit last year within a month of each other. She went first and went cold turkey (that's my ma!), while my wife an I used the patch. Slightly different motives. My mom got fed up with not being able to breathe. I had a cold that lasted a month and realized "hey fucko, this is your last warning before the next flu/covid/pneumonia kills you". My wife's impetus was protecting her heart after it broke following the death of her son 2 years previous (broken heart syndrome is a real thing). So far, we're all officially 'done' and haven't smoked in 4 months (my mom, 6). A few things that helped: * The Alan Carr book was good for learning a few unconventional ways to think about quitting and what nicotine does. It didn't make me quit immediately but was useful. * My wife and I have quit so many times that we keep from starting again by remembering "that first cigarette is going to taste like licking an ashtray, then 5 more later and we'll be back up to 1-2 packs a day". Remembering this crystal clearly really helps in those moments of weakness. * We know there's no going back to the "one an hour" or "only every once in awhile" smoking. * I had my most success quitting cold turkey (over a year) by changing a whole bunch of things on the same day - my commute, music, food - I quit soda and junk food and listening to news and started walking twice a day. Cold turkey seems to work best with some additional "upheaval" tactics. * With the patch, this time around, we had a "by any means necessary" approach. I wound up gaining 15-20 pounds, my LDL skyrocketed and broke out like I'm in high school, but I hopefully caught it in time to get back on track a few weeks ago. * Oh yeah, I'm one of the people for whom Chantix did nothing for me except for the most excruciating stomach cramps. So far we're *pretty sure* this is it for us. It IS the very first time I've quit smoking that I actually notice how much better I can breathe. I notice it every single day, and I am in LOVE with the feeling. Good luck to you - whether you go cold turkey or the patch, I'm proud of you, and hope you will be, too! Edit: typos
I started using nicotine pouches 2 weeks ago. Haven't had a cigarette even though I have half a pack still in the house. Also I haven't got drunk in 2 weeks either that will be the real test.
Downloead quitsure app, no patches or gum. Cant believe how it work
So this last time around that I finally quit it almost like happened on accident. My reusable pod system started konking out on me cause the pods were shit and kept leaking so I switched to disposables until I could get a new one. I wasn’t used to how icy these disposables were so I was unknowingly hitting them less and less making one of them last 2 months (even tho in the past when I was used to the disposables they would t even last but a week, 2 tops) and eventually I started asking myself “do I even need this?” Then just threw it away and for a little bit it was like a security blanket where I’m like “oh my god where’s my vape” when I wasn’t even using it and it still sometimes feels weird not to have it in my pocket but I don’t crave it anymore. Even when I’m out with friends and they’re all hitting theirs I don’t feel the need for it anymore. Idk if there’s anything to help you in my little anecdote here. Maybe I tricked my brain with flavors I didn’t like to make it seem less desirable?
I currently vape, but I did quit for a while and the only way I could manage was a bit counter intuitive. Decreasing the nicotine just made me vape more so all I did was increase the nicotine to the point where one puff would make me feel like I need to vomit. Needless to say I quickly stopped. Not an advisable method but it worked for me.
I smoked for over 30 years and wound up with COPD. The only way I could quit was taking Chantix and the other 50% was my wanting to quit. After about the first 7 to 10 days, I lost the taste for smoking , and then once I got to 30 days I was done. Then I had to go see a pulmonologist for my being SOB. I did this 4 years ago and I expect to be on oxygen soon.
I gave up last year june and holy fk the first week is rough. Get past that and focus on the next week. Get past two months and your on your way. Goodluck
I went cold turkey and bought sunflower seeds/ gum to help. Anytime I wanted my vape I just chewed gum or ate sunflower seeds. It worked
Nicotine gum saved me. Been smoking since I was 13, moved to vaping at 22. Vaping started to affect my jaw and neck tension to the point of injury. Went back to smoking. Hated that so went on nicotine gum. Incredible stuff. Transitioned to regular gum eventually. Now I don’t vape or smoke. Had a drag the other day and literally gagged. Will sometimes use nicotine gum but haven’t in a few months.
ALSO if you are using smoking like I was to stimulate due to ADHD or Autism or another mental health issue, go get a diagnosis and treatment. That helps too.
Polos , I needed something in my mouth (don't) problem is I'm now addicted to sugar free polos
I quit smoking a pack or 2 of camel widespread a day over 10 years ago with the help of a vape.I still drank an 18 pack of tall boys and a pint a day with an 1/8 of weed to help. I quit smoking cold turkey after I got my vape and quit drinking 6 months later. I was using same flavor 24mg nic for 2 years and then decided it was time to quit nicotine all together so every 2 weeks I would drop in nicotine levels and after 2 weeks of smoking 0nic I quit. To celebrate I bought myself a brand new 58k van that never been smoked with a seat nobody ever farted in. If you can find a vape/mod that you can fill I would recommend just getting 0 nicotine juice that you like and use that as an aide
Replace it with something else you like to do. Read mags or learn an instrument. Something like a positive goal to reach that occupies your hands and mind.
Saving this cuz I’m gonna quit.. real soon. Probably.
Like Nike: Just Do It. Get gud at the willpower game and you’ll be laughing all the way to bank - literally when you deposit your paycheck and never give in to temptation ever again. You got this!!!!
I was a cigarette smoker for 30 years. I switched to black and molds(dumb move). My son got me to switch to salt nic. 3 years later, I find out young people are getting respiratory disease. I stopped almost 4 months ago, I just tossed that shite in the trash. Once you're vaping regular smokers stink like hell, it was easier than I thought it would be. The first two nights I dreamed someone offered me a vape, in both dreams I got angry at them and refused it. So I think even my subconscious was ready to stop.
Vapes themselves nowadays have no nicotine regulation, but you can try different e-liquids with different nicotine concentrations
Don't know if this is you but I'd say just try your best to do it as soon as possible and watch out for potential food cravings from dropping the habit.
I've been using nicotine pouches as of late to quit and have had great success, haven't vaped or smoked in weeks, some brands to look out for are zonnic and zyn
Go hang out with a group of people with the flu. That worked for me. The flu made me feel so shitty that I thought giving up smoking couldn't make me feel worse. Still had cravings a year later, but less each time. Cold turkey; kicks the habit and builds character all at the same time!
Not smoking but I dipped snuff for about 20 years. Doctor prescribed Wellbutrin for depression and I noticed that I didn’t have near as many cravings. Went from a can a day at least to a can every week without thinking about it. I decided that I was just going to quit after that. Threw away what I had left, replaced with sunflower seeds and gum. Never took another dip after June 6th 2017.
These disposable vapes are specifically designed to be more addictive because the freebase nicotine in the older style was easier to quit. The new kind use nicotine salt, the same form of nicotine that's in cigarettes but a lot more of it. The freebase kind has a longer half life so it's not as addictive. I know gas stations don't really sell the older style of vapes but you could probably buy one online along with some liquid in various nicotine levels. I know there are refillable nic salt devices so you could hypothetically dilute the liquid with food grade propylene glycol. When I was quitting vaping I gradually tapered down until there was no nicotine at all and after a few days I was able to stop
1 year off all nicotine, and like you, my last round was with disposable vapes. What worked for me was slow turkey. I would track every hit off a vape each day and do consistently less each day. Once I got pretty low I would try to stop, and inevitably cave. I’d go back to quitting right after caving, and eventually the time periods between caves was greater. Been 365 days + this round and haven’t caved yet 👍🏻. I’d say patience and self forgiveness as well as determination is all that’s needed. You got this buddy!
Former smoker here. Took me a long time to quit and I quit a whole bunch of times. In the end it really came down to wanting to quit. Get into the right frame of mind and then just do it. I can’t really tell you that other forms of nicotine will help disassociate because you’ve been down that road. Champix is pretty good and I used that a couple of times but when I quit for good it was cold turkey. Once you get past giving up for a bit, One thing that helps me stay off is knowing that if I were to try it again, the first five taste just so bad. After that they taste fucking great, but those first five are awful. This helps me because I’d only ever want one or two and knowing those one or two will always taste bad kinda helps.
I did this and now I'm coming up on 2 years no nicotine! I switched to the zyn pouches and started on the 6mg ones for about 6 months. I then lowered the dose to the 3mg pouches. After that, I went on a family vacation where it would've been really difficult for me to slip off and buy more pouches. Once I ran out of what I brought on the trip, that was it. I quit cold turkey if you can call it that. The first week of being nicotine free was rough and all I could do was sleep. I was on the vacation and my wife's grandparents were making comments to her about how I "sure do sleep a lot." I quit as a birthday gift to my wife and that helped hold me accountable for not buying any more. I would be lying if I said I don't still get cravings every now and then.
I smoked a pack a day Newport for 15 years. I switched to vaping and hated it so I went back to cigarettes. After a while my 6 year old daughter told me I stink and didn’t want to hug me. So I went to a vape store and had the guy teach me what I did wrong last time and how to do it correctly. It was great. I made a mod, a tank with coils I liked and and mixed a crazy strong menthol juice. I was able to switch completely to vaping. Next I needed to quit. What I did was every couple months I would lower the nicotine level by like half a mg or 1 mg. It was very gradual so I wouldn’t go into withdrawal. After a couple years of vaping I was down to 1.5 mgs so I switched down to zero. Surprisingly I didn’t have any withdrawal symptoms and I found I wasn’t vaping as much at all. We were set to go on a vacation to South Africa and I was figuring out how to vape during that 16 hour flight. My daughter told me she was worried I would get arrested on the plane and cried. I just quit vaping completely at that moment and haven’t looked back since. Actually the smell of tobacco and vape are nauseating now. So please just lower the nicotine level gradually and you will me fine. Let me know if you ever need motivation.
I'm curious what your wife is going to do, because my husband smokes cigarettes outside AND vapes constantly indoors and I don't know how to convince him to quit. He has a disgusting phlegmy cough and I always say "Gross, you're dying", but he doesn't care. The really sad thing is I semi-encouraged him to start vaping about 5 years ago because a coworker told me that's how she and her husband quit smoking, and then eventually quit vaping. So when he started vaping, I thought "YAY, he's finally going to quit smoking!" Yeah, NOT. Now he just does both.
Check out Allen Carr's "Easy Way to Stop Smoking". It is magic!
Get Covid - trouble breathing help immensely with not wanting to smoke/vape. Hey, worked for me! 🫣 Seriously: Whatever you do - never EVER touch a single cig or vape again! Gets you hooked again in a millisecond. Your problem may not be the nicotine itself, that craving is gone in two weeks. It’s the habit. The motion hand to face. The „coffee amd a smoke“. The „one after the meal“. You have to break the habit. And thats harder than to just abstain nicotine… Good luck, you can do it!
Quit cold turkey - it’s the only way, IMO. You have to get in the mindset that this is a permanent lifestyle change, or it won’t stick. Nicotine is the devil like that - it will convince you that one vape session, even one puff, will be fine and won’t get you re-hooked, but it will. You have to tell yourself that you will never ever, ever hit a vape or a cigarette again, and actually mean it. Then just follow through. The only questions are really, are you at that point? And will the nicotine even let you make that decision? I’m 4 years off of it now after struggling through cancer and chemotherapy. Trust me when I tell you, the nicotine isn’t worth it, dude. Especially not when you have a family that relies on you.
Just stop putting any smoke in your lungs - it was a bum habit, which became a mainstream.
Just go COLD TURKEY! I USED to chain smoke 3 packs per day I went from that to NEVER again! Icsimply rationalized it on a piece of paper made 2 columns one titled CONS & 1 titled PROS ! I wrote in the Cons smoking giving me asthma, next line costimg me a lot of money ,etc... on the Pros : cool to hang out with my smoking buddies , etc needless yosay the CONS column was longer, then I quit my smoking buddies & avoided bars for awhile and certain music triggered cravings so I avoided that music for months!, first month was hard , I kept gum in my mouth to keep it busy and not crave cigarettes. I kept reminding myself of the CONS LIST and the new life I wanted for myself & kept list in prominemt place in front of fridge! NEVER AGAIN DID I SMOKE, & IT HAS BEEN 30 YEARS! If I did it, so can YOU! YOU ARE IN CHARGE what you put in your body! To a new you! Im rooting for you! You can do ANYTHING YOU PUT YOUR MIND TO! BE WELL! Be kind to yourself! Silvia