ADDicted

Thank you all for this great advice! I will definitely watch those videos and also re-read the Carr (it's been a long time since I checked it out).

Hi everyone! I’m Tara, and I’m very grateful to have found this community, which I’m really hoping to make my dream of quitting a reality. I think I really need a support group and accountability; right now I’m the only smoker I know in my immediate family/friend group. I’m 31 and work from home most of the time (I’m a college instructor). I started smoking cigarettes about 14 years ago, in college. I’ve vaguely flirted with the idea of quitting in the past, but never really committed. A year ago, I tried the Patch for a week and didn’t notice any improvement. Last month, I purchased a newer model of e-cig (Joy eTech AIO, 12mg) and have been trying to transition to it, with little success. I’ve read a lot of cessation self-help guides and tried the basic behavioral stuff: switching the space where I work, drinking water/chewing gum, telling friends/family I’m quitting, etc., but it just hasn’t helped. At this point I’d be overjoyed if I could just switch to the e-cig full time and then wean myself off that. I feel that the main obstacle to quitting for me is my ADD. Getting diagnosed and on Adderall (currently instant release, 20MG, 2-3 times a day) in 2008 completely changed my life for the better; but it has made my attachment to cigarettes 1000x worse. If I try to ignore the cravings (or am in somewhere like an airplane or meeting), I start getting horribly twitchy, to the point that I can no longer concentrate on anything except getting to smoke. Sometimes it’s so bad that when I finally do get to smoke, I’ll smoke 2. Even thinking about the prospect of not smoking can trigger enough anxiety to make me feel the need to have one! The strange thing is that when I don’t take my medication, I don’t feel the urge to smoke. Currently, I take Adderall about 4-5 times a week, with 2 days off to let my body and mind relax – I can’t and don’t try to get any work done on those days. I have tried various ADD medications (Vyvanse, XR Adderall) that have not been as effective and have not curbed smoking urges, and I’ve also tried Wellbutrin, which interacted very poorly with the amphetamines and turned me into a non-smoking, unmotivated, miserable slug for a few months before I stopped. Right now I smoke 7-9 Camel Turkish Silvers a day. I’ve been trying my best for a couple months now, but am feeling really discouraged and almost ready to give up. I’m not at a point where I want to stop taking ADD medication — that would be a truly last resort. Any advice, encouragement, or commiseration you all can offer would be a huge help to me!