Quitting smoking

[Babel-17]

Sorry to sound like a broken record but Allen Carr's advice/method was like a godsend for avoiding that feeling.

2 Get this clear in your mind: there is absolutely nothing to give up. By that I don't mean simply that
you will be better off as a non-smoker (you've known that all your life); nor do I mean that although
there is no rational reason why you smoke, you must get some form of pleasure or crutch from it or
you wouldn't do it. What I mean is, there is no genuine pleasure or crutch in smoking. It is just an
illusion, like banging your head against a wall to make it pleasant when you stop,

3 There is no such thing as a confirmed smoker. You are just one of the millions who have fallen for
this subtle trap. Like millions of other ex-smokers who once thought they couldn't escape, you have
escaped,

5 Don't try not to think about smoking or worry that you are thinking about it constantly. But
whenever you do think about it –whether it be today, tomorrow or the rest of your life think,
'YIPPEE! I'M A NON-SMOKER!'

http://forum.beyond3d.com/showpost.php?p=1827533&postcount=72

Edit: To be clear though, I have to say I kept re-reading the book and watching the videos by Joel for assurance and to to reaffirm in my mind the basic principles. There was a break at work, I was part of a paving crew, and when I went back to work, ten days after I'd stopped smoking, I did feel pretty confident, and like I was set on a new path. My still smoking co-workers were a bit stunned as I stuck with it. Since then, two of them have adopted the Allen Carr method and they've stopped smoking.

 

[Pixel]

LIke any chemical dependency you probably shouldn't cold turkey. Tapering off means less withdrawals. Like any chemical dependency your brain has drastically adapted itself to receive less or more of whatever neurotransmitter the chemical effects.

Drastic changes will knock you and your billions of neurons out of whack.

I wouldn't be surprised if cold turkeying and suffering through withdrawals is unhealthy and damaging for the brain, the neurons and transmitters.

I just googled it: and acute withdrawal from alcohol causes cortical damage

" The effects on the brain are similar to those seen in alcoholics who have been detoxified multiple times but not as severe as in alcoholics who have no history of prior detox. Thus the acute withdrawal syndrome appears to be the most important factor in causing damage or impairment to brain function. The brain regions most sensitive to harm from binge drinking are the amygdala and prefrontal cortex.[18]
People in adolescence who experience multiple withdrawals from binge drinking show impairments of long-term nonverbal memory. Alcoholics who have had two or more alcohol withdrawals show more frontal lobe cognitive dysfunction than alcoholics who have experienced one or no prior withdrawals. Kindling of neurons is the proposed cause of withdrawal related cognitive damage. Kindling from multiple withdrawals leads to accumulating neuroadaptational changes. Kindling may also be the reason for cognitive damage seen in binge drinkers.[19]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_withdrawal_syndrome

Nicotine effects acetylcholine system, and doing some reading right now, it impacts the performance of long term memory & cognitive processing speed. So you risk suffering long term mild impairment to your long term memory & cognitive processing speed. One should do some online cognitive tests on long term memory and processing speed so one doesn't mistakenly chalk it up to getting older having poorer long term memory & processing speed.

 

[Babel-17]

There's a few schools of thought on that. Afaik, cold turkey is the gold standard. Though a very short period of tapering, before just stopping cold, is sometimes said to be ok.

The theory being that people ready to stop are pretty disgusted with their smoking. Tapering down can reinforce the notion that smoking can be controlled, and at an acceptable level. Each allowed cigarette becomes seen as precious, and those few moments of allowed smoking start to become a pleasurable treat.

Smoking goes from a disgusting addiction one can't control, and each cigarette a nagging reminder of the addiction, and ever decreasing enjoyment, to being felt as something to look forward to. Smoking becomes, again, a reward. This reinforces the brainwashing that got people hooked in the first place, and which needs to be broken.

I'm speaking from experience. I used a very short tapering down to boost my confidence in stopping cold turkey. During that I became very aware of the limitations of that, and its pitfalls.

Allen Carr and Joel, the stop smoking guru, go into that and more.

Edit: Speaking of "a reward", nicotine's relationship to dopamine is important in understanding how the tobacco industry so successfully designed its brainwashing and propaganda.

 

[Babel-17]

This is the video to watch

If you are currently a smoker, you're assured it's ok to light up while watching the movie, or reading the book.

If you want to stop, commit to that, and then watch this video and be done with smoking. I watched it several times, and I was reading the books, but after deciding this made perfect sense and that I wanted I stop, I just stopped and it was a beautiful thing. If you can't promise yourself that you'll stop, watch it anyway. I watched it several times as I firmed my resolve and took the plunge.

 

[Babel-17]

The Stop Smoking video library of Joel Spitzer

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCag4hg_fX_NnOb1N4yXA97Q

 

[eastmen]

I have a few friends that would buy the different % of nicotine refills and mix them to get steps inbetween .

I'm sorry for everyone trying to quit , I know how hard it can be as my mother started when she was 8 and stoped when she was 46 and its now been 13 years since she last had one. She says if it wasn't for my niece and nephew she would go buy a pack and smoke.

I enjoy a cigar from time to time but since i'm at maybe 5 or 10 a year I'm not super worried about myself (some years its even less)

 

[liolio]

That will be 3 months tomorrow.

The toughest part => what seems to be a sugar addiction due to inappropriate level of insulin...
I feel like I'm starving for food.

Made an experiment after reading more on the topic and I ate 2 eggs which is decent snack => I don't feel better. Though if I go with either carbohydrate or even fruits... I feel better.

Any experience on the matter? The body will adapt at some point I guess (/ I hope) but I might have put on quite some weight till them.

Edit

Side note, stopping as some unexpected side effects... like all of sudden I turned into a jogger, from 20 minutes I managed almost all of sudden to run 1 hour at a significantly higher pace => the change was 2 fast for my body to adapt to => light tendinitis of both my achille's tendons
=> stop running till the symptoms disappear...

 

[Malo]

I had absolutely crazy dreams in the month from hell when I quit cold turkey.

 

[liolio]

I had absolutely crazy dreams in the month from hell when I quit cold turkey.

No issue on that front, but clearly compared to my previous attempt (using nicotine patch) there are trade off:
pro:
I feel like I really quit and I'm actually a lot less tempted by cigarettes even when having a glass ( or more...).
I feel more cardio benefit
Con: food=> I'm really starving for food (/sugar).

Overall I think that no matter the method one uses and depending to how reactive one's body is to addiction at large (and how long) ultimately it takes time to recondition one's brain and body.

I try to be patient, as it is pretty easy to question the choice to quit, it is a choice that gets you from a stable state to an evolving one (with pro/con), not something the brain like to begin with.

 

[Babel-17]

Blood sugar plummets in many people when first quitting. The most common side effects felt during the first three days can often be traced back to blood sugar issues. Symptoms such as headache, inability to concentrate, dizziness, time perception distortions, and the ubiquitous sweet tooth encountered by many, are often associated with this blood sugar drop. The symptoms of low blood sugar are basically the same symptoms as not having enough oxygen, similar to reactions experienced at high altitudes. The reason being the inadequate supply of sugar and/or oxygen means the brain is getting an incomplete fuel. If you have plenty of one and not enough of the other, your brain cannot function at any form of optimal level. When you quit smoking, oxygen levels are often better than they have been in years, but with a limited supply of sugar it can't properly fuel your brain.
It is not that cigarettes put sugar into your blood stream; it is more of a drug interaction of the stimulant effect of nicotine that affects the blood sugar levels. Cigarettes cause the body to release its own stores of sugar and fat by a drug type of interaction. That is how it basically operated as an appetite suppressant, affecting the satiety centers of your hypothalamus. As far as for the sugar levels, nicotine in fact works much more efficiently than food. If you use food to elevate blood sugar levels, it literally takes up to 20 minutes from the time you chew and swallow the food before it is released to the blood, and thus the brain, for its desired effect of fueling your brain. Cigarettes, by working through a drug interaction cause the body to release its own stores of sugar, but not in 20 minutes but usually in a matter of seconds. In a sense, your body has not had to release sugar on its own in years, you have done it by using nicotine's drug effect!

Click the link for the next four paragraphs.

http://whyquit.com/joel/Joel_03_21_blood_sugar.html

 

[tabs]

Thanks for the helpful and informative post Babel.

I've switched over entirely to vaping and could not be happier. If anyone is considering it and can get hold of one, I highly recommend 'The One Kit' as it's cheap and has good quality components. Not only that but it's very easy to understand and use which is great for someone baffled by all the new terminology that can come with an interest in vaping. Bear in mind I have tried no other vapes so there may be better ones out there at a similar price; but I did do quite a bit of research into it beforehand and I'm happy with what I've got.

The thing is pretty small so it's quite discreet (if you need that, I personally don't) and it doesn't leak when carried loosely in a pocket, no matter the orientation. I do find I have to toot on it more like a pipe than a cig, but that doesn't bother me particularly. I do imagine that a better vape might give me the 'big hit' I'm looking for with less puffing.

Overall I feel just as satisfied vaping as I did smoking and haven't 'needed' a single cigarette since I started using it. It's still a habit, but at least it's not a dirty one any more. FWIW I'd smoked for 20 years until that point.

 

[digitalwanderer]

Congratulations! This October it'll be 2 years for me since I've smoked tobacco. I started vaping at 30mg and I am now down to 3mg and mixing it with 0mg stuff. Vaping is SOOO much better than smoking I can't even begin, I think I've also finally gotten my perfect lil vape setup. (MVP 2.0 with a Gladius, GLORIOUS! I still carry my EVOD though, it's just too convenient/discreet. )

 

[eastmen]

congrats. But it will be even better when you kick your vape habit.

I still enjoy my cigars but I'm down to 12 or so a year mostly in the fall and spring.

 

[digitalwanderer]

I'm not sure I'm going to quit my vape habit. I enjoy it, it's not that bad for me, and it doesn't bother the people around me. I'm just gonna keep going down 'til I'm at zero nicotine, then I'll be happier.

 

[Blazkowicz]

I've had no intent to cut on nicotine but the above postings will make me reconsider it. I did try smoking at 8mg/L but as it made me just drain the liquid and battery at twice the rate, I was risking running out of vaps meaning I will smoke "real" cigs by whatever means.
Also e-cig shops are closed on sundays, after 7 PM and on holidays. (some tobacco shops do sell "organic" liquid that is 90% glycerin and no propylen glycol : uh, I tried that and it doesn't work properly on top of being twice as sticky)

 

[Sigfried1977]

I'm not sure I'm going to quit my vape habit. I enjoy it, it's not that bad for me, and it doesn't bother the people around me. I'm just gonna keep going down 'til I'm at zero nicotine, then I'll be happier.

Same here. Loving my Pipeline Pro Slim + Aspire Nautilus Mini combo. The Mini is probably the best atomizer out there unless you're willing to get into the do it yourself stuff. Hell of a throat kick even at low levels of nicotine and it really brings out the taste of those liquids beautifully.
The only problem is that the vaping habit is getting vastly more expensive than the tobacco ever was for me. I just like new hardware way too much.

 

[eastmen]

well you guys seem to really like your vape. I have an old 510 battery. Is there anything that isn't crazy expensive that hits like a cigar ?

 

[Sigfried1977]

The nautilus mini isn't crazy expensive (roughly 25€ with one replacement coil. The BVC coils are supposed to last pretty long, but as I only got mine yesterday, the verdict is still out) and it hits pretty damn hard. It should fit on a 510 connector, but I don't know whether the output of the 510 batteries is sufficient for powering the thing to an acceptable degree. Probably needs at least a variable voltage battery you can dial up to 4+ volts. Something like a Vision Spinner battery.

I never inhaled cigar smoke, though.

 

[digitalwanderer]

The nautilus mini is a great choice, I got the Gladius because it's a bit of a cheaper knock-off nautilus made by Innokin. (The same company that made my MVP.)

No brand loyalty or nothing, just coincidence. I also liked that it came with 3 spare coils, and the adjustable airflow makes just an AMAZING difference...I don't think I'll be going back to non-adjustable airflow.

As for hitting like a cigar, yeah you can get 'em. Nautilus mini/gladius can pretty much hit like a cigar, it's much better than a standard Ego Evod or something. (My gladius was $20us with the 3 extra heads) But for true cigar hits you're going to have to go cloud chasing, which is something I just don't do. (I like to be a very discreet vaper)

 

[Sigfried1977]

You can actually do that with the Nautilus. At least with the new coils you can. You can use them with 14+ Watts no problem. Problem is you also need a quality power source like a Provari (or in my case: the pipeline pro slim) and some decent rechargeable batteries to hit those kind of power levels. And those things are ludicrously expensive. I really like my pipeline pro slim, but no way in hell is that thing evcen remotely worth 150€. Especially considering it comes without batteries and without a charger.

And steer clear of anything bearing the name "Kanger" that needs dual coil atomizers. Despite 3 revisions of the replacement coils, those things still don't work reliably. (which is a real shame because the rest of the hardware looks really nice and feels like quality)