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10 Ways To Effectively Use This Forum To Stop Using Nicotine ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Learn about Nicotine Addiction ~Watch Joel Spitzer Videos HERE ~ Joel's Daily Quitting Lesson Guide be sure to catch this series, Can You Spare About An Hour And A Half To Save Your Live ~Read Allan Carr's, 'Easy Way To Quit Smoking' ~Browse through Quit Smoking Discussions, pinned QTrain threads and other posts filled with our quitting testimonials. ~Watch Big Tobacco Documentaries ~ Read about what helped us through the first days Your First Days, nicotine Free ~ Understand The Significance of Rewards 2. Know You Are Not Alone In Fighting Nicotine Addiction. 3. Start a thread to Introduce Yourself 4. Fill in your quit date in your profile and keep it current ! ~Add your quit date to our Calendar ~Be sure to find Posting Your Milestones and Celebrations so you can post all of your celebrations (hourly, weekly, monthly, yearly... ) and also give your support to other quitters on their accomplishments. ~This keeps you involved in your quit. 5. Get a Ticker to monitor your Success, (excellent instructions from BKP are Here) 6. Start a Blog to your document your journey and provide a reference for you and others. 7. Start Threads about any Challenges you are facing AND any Successes you are celebrating 8. Post Frequently ~ Post on other's threads to support quitters on their journey ~ Post an SOS if you hit a wall or, if you are close. This function has saved many quits. ~ Post a Pre-Response to your own SOS to remind yourself why you Quit. ~Post in The Lounge for fun and distraction and start new threads about your interests etc. ~Play some Games 9. Commit daily to NOPE. Not One Puff Ever. ~This helps you stay accountable to yourself and reminds you that just One Puff will re-awaken addiction. 10. Commit to the board for One Year HERE. This ensures a solid quit with solid support. Please, QTrain, add what you will to this list !
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Hello darling Nicotine Free creatures, I forgot about a 10-year anniversary. Earlier this summer, remembered in a conversation with Joel Spitzer and an email from our marvelous Doreen and then forgotten completely. Now a compelling reminder... Must never get blasé about my quit as memory of smoking recedes into the past. I ignore my struggle and success at my peril. There are far too many stories of carelessness leading to a resumption of the addiction after a substantial amount of time. No matter how strong my repugnance of tobacco is and my triggers and body memory in remission I remain an addict albeit nicotine free. Not One Puff. Never Ever. That is my anniversary lesson.
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Hello, my darling Nicotine Free Creatures! In days I will be starting my Tenth Year of freedom from nicotine. I will never smoke again. At times, with smoking friends, I think...I used to smoke. Do I want to smoke again? The answer is always a ferocious, NO ! to the virulence of nicotine. I didn't have an easy quit. It took a full year for some serious craves to abate but, I never lost my Resolve. That was the ribbon of truth weaving through my whole quit, I was completely committed. At first committed to what I thought of as an experiment. I gave it a year, a challenge to myself. If after a year, I didn't like the changes...well, I would reconsider the experiment. During that first year (and continuing today), I educated myself about nicotine addiction. The changes to my brain, the science of addictions. The brutality to my lungs, my body. I knew too much after brief study to use denial as an excuse. Either I would continue to be a slave or rejoice in a profound freedom and allow my body to heal. After that first year, I committed to another and another. It is always a NOPE for me. I am very grateful to all the NOPERS here, so many blazed a trail for me and were there for a laugh or a nudge. Often, a blast of useful information from Joel Spitzer, my hero. I wrote about our addiction in my blog here on QTrain and hope quitters will find that useful on their journey. On QTrain, we all know what quitting feels like, especially the early gnarly days, and I am so proud that I can now tell you what quitting for almost a decade feels like. You know it feels good, you know it feels bloody awesome. Keep your quits and nurture yourselves, your beauty is showing. Love, Sazerac
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Nicotine stimulates the reward path in our brain and by replenishing ourselves with nicotine, we were rewarded with Dopamine. Many times a day we went from the panic of, 'I've gotta have a smoke' to 'Ahhh', the brief relief of satisfying addiction. We were jerking our own chain every twenty minutes or so....for years. When quitting nicotine, that dance of our reward system shuts down. It's a shock and we miss the consistent rewarding rush of dopamine. Our brain doesn't understand where all the feel good stuff went so, it is essential to amplify rewards, to jump start our natural pathways for the release of Dopamine. The physical act of rewarding ourselves is crucial for the brain to access Dopamine. It took me a moment to wrap my head around this, The Physical Act of Rewarding Ourselves, Is Crucial For The Brain To Access Dopamine. Our friend, bakon, is a big advocate of rewards, quite rightly, too. Celebrate your first moments, days...your first weeks and months. The first year, the next... This can take the form of exotic holidays, paid with the ducats you were giving to Big Tobacco, to simple gifts to yourself, a new book, a magazine, a film... ooh ! plenty of excellent chocolate passed these lips (dark chocolate, apple, almond, banana, strawberry, salmon, beet, watermelon and pumpkin seeds also stimulate Dopamine). Choose activities that make you feel pampered like the perfect bath, an afternoon nap in freshly laundered sheets, a candle lit dinner. Getting through difficulties and experiencing your triumphs are all opportunities to reward yourself. Keep in mind, you are not spoiling yourself, you are re-training your brain to deliver dopamine as an honest reward. Like quenching your thirst with a long tall cool glass of water. Celebrate as the hours go by, while the body adjusts to the new normal. A normal of being rewarded with dopamine but, naturally, of course, the way it was before we allowed nicotine to control our reward system. I remember the first day that I forgot to think about smoking or not smoking, wow ! this is what being nicotine free feels like ! I was so happy and celebrated by purchasing a small tree, a Sweet Viburnum full of blossoms, a living reminder of my freedom. My continuing reward is the luscious freedom I appreciate every single day. I am in better health and free-er in spirit... Tell me what your rewards have been, my nicotine free friends, what are your rewards now ? S p.s. Along with Dopamine, we can hack into our other happy chemicals to improve the quality of our lives, in addition to aid in quitting smoking/nicotine. All are accessible simply through Meditation; taking time for slow, measured breathing letting thoughts slip away. Exercise and laughter induce the release of Endorphins, Oxytocin flows with orgasm, giving/receiving gifts. Serotonin gets you high when sitting in the sun, hanging with friends and by reflecting on your accomplishments. I would also like to add a link from our friend, Joel Spitzer Using Cigarettes As Rewards
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Please, Take Your LIVES Seriously ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In 'real' life and here on the QTrain, I see people being careless about their lives and their quit, like they have all the time in the world ! 'I'll quit next week, maybe tomorrow, I'll quit again sometime'. Are they not understanding how dangerous smoking is ? It's a friggin' Slow Suicide ! The ramifications are Horrible. This is no joke. Ask our beautiful friend, Doreen ! I, too, used to be casual about quitting, casual about smoking. so, it is no surprise to see others in Denial. I wasn't listening to any kind of Sense, or Logic, or TRUTH, either. Then, suddenly, I 'got it' and thanks to the information here, I educated myself about Nicotine Addiction. After that, there was simply no other choice except to Quit and be Quick about it ! I would no longer live as a Slave, or die as one either ! I wish I could give that Eureka moment to everybody struggling with addiction but, I don't know what happened or why. At a certain point, I listened and Understood and I give this to you, Understand your addiction, and Be Free of it. Your Lives are Precious.
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I quit almost three years ago and have become an advocate of Cold Turkey but, believe me, I support and encourage everybody in their precious quits. Any Quit Is A Good Quit I thought to gather some new information (in a galaxy of Misinformation) and was dismayed after googling around finding numerous instances of 'responsible experts' recommending to NOT quit cold turkey. What kind of idiotic advise is that ? Is this more Big Tobacco poisoning minds ? Big Drug companies pushing product ? Ignorance ? Today, I found a great rap about this from our Friend, Joel Spitzer Quitting Cold Turkey was simple for me. No spending any more dosh on tobacco, vape or NRT. No schedule of tapering off. No teasing the addict that is me. It was clean. It was DONE. It didn't hurt. There were gruesome days, for true but, pffttt... there will always be gruesome days about something or other. Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries, right ? I continue on a new and fascinating adventure. Not One Puff Ever How was/is Cold Turkey for you ?
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You know that huge long list that contains all the chemicals that are in cigarettes ? Here Well, it got me to thinking how some of those chemicals affect us. Amonia ? Amonia was added so when you light up, you essentially 'free base' nicotine. This skyrockets the effect of nicotine, the addiction. Tobacco Facts #4: Smokers are freebasing nicotine! and, y'all are going to love this one ! Tobacco Fact #8: Tobacco companies added pheromones and weight loss substances to cigarettes! His whole blog is amazing, his work, heroic, check it out. The Great Tobacco Plague Dr Frank Ashall's experience of the horrors of tobacco
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Many successful quitters here on QTrain have quit on a whim and just like them, I quit on a whim too. This is what led me to making one of the most important decisions in my life on a whim... It was after a trip to California, where finding a place to smoke was problematic and I was among non smoking friends. For the first time, I started seeing addiction for the slavery that it is and I acknowledged my bondage. When slipping outside for another smoke, I glibly announced, "I'm going out now, to shoot up." On the aeroplane back home, a colossal coughing fit overwhelmed me. I had to stand in the back while attendants tapped my back and brought me water. That was weird, I thought. That was awful. What was that about ? After landing, I didn't rush outside for a smoke before climbing into a jitney. Something had changed. Instead, I thought, why don't you try and quit....you already have 6 or 7 hours clean ? Why not ? Let's quit smoking for a while and see how that feels. I spent the next 72 hours sleeping a lot, drinking whisky and reading all about quitting smoking, all about nicotine addiction. After those days, as nicotine left my body, quitting became a wager with myself, a bargain. 'If you don't feel better in five minutes... maybe you'll feel better tomorrow... if you are not feeling pretty good by next week... or, in a month...see what happens after a year.' You can always go back to smoking. You know what that feels like. The thing was....I was feeling Free. While I was beating a trigger or a crave....I was learning how to be Free. It was intoxicating ! It was empowering ! That was where the whim became a serious enterprise. I realized, I would conquer any obstacle to my freedom from nicotine, it was just a matter of time and choice. Maybe you will quit on a whim. You don't need much. Cool clear Water, the fresh Air you breathe, some Kindness towards yourself, and a Willingness To Be free. and from our friend, Joel Spitzer, here are resources regarding Setting Quit Dates
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Our Nancy asked me to post this from my blog to 'Quit Smoking Discussion'. Thank you Nancy. Lifetime of Addiction I didn't want to hear this but, I am now facing this truth. Nicotine Addiction doesn't go away. You can put it to sleep. You can even put it into deep deep and deeper sleep for years ! but, it will awaken the moment you take one puff. One Puff. This is for your whole life. Mind boggling, huh !? This was the choice you likely didn't even know you were making all those years ago when you started smoking, I didn't understand the ramifications for sure. But, it is the truth. You will always need to be cognizant of your addiction even when smoking is a vague memory, because the moment you take a puff, the moment you take One Bloomin' PUFF, That's it ! It's all over and your enslavement will begin, again. What tenacity ! but, you need to understand, Nicotine is not as tenacious as You and Your Will. You can quit. I know you can. I quit and I am not a special snowflake, I am a Nicotine Addict, just like you. I have great resentment about my Nicotine Addiction. Damn....I didn't know it would be so invasive. I didn't know it was going to be a lifetime relationship. I am so angry about this and it is My Own Damn Fault ! But, my anger, it is a good anger. It is a righteous anger. It is an anger that will fuel my commitment to NOPE. Not One Puff EVER. Copping to the 'forever' part is a cold hard reality of the addiction. At some point, I had to quit fooling myself and accept it. It isn't just for today. It must be forever. If it isn't...I will continue to enslave myself. Some feel their addiction is so strong they cannot quit, This is wrong. You have the power. You always have the power to quit and you always have the power to stay quit. Make the commitment to NOPE ! As our friend, Sarge, says, 'Easy Peasy'. Easy ! not complicated ! This is not Rocket Science. If you make that commitment to NOPE...you will not fail. You Will Not Fail. The simplicity of it ! The Beauty of it ! Not One Puff Ever. Do it. You won't regret it. Love, S
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I have confidence in my quit and estimate my chance of relapse is low still...addiction is a wily condition and I am human. Here are my four maneuvers to avert relapse, ( Think again, Get right with yourself, Contact an ally, Post an SOS ) and a slew of red flags... When you know better yet, are purposefully leading yourself astray ~ think again, get right with yourself, contact an ally, post an SOS ~ If you have tiny tempting smokey thoughts that you are nuturing by not dismissing immediately and aggressively ~ think again, get right with yourself, contact an ally, post an SOS ~ I won't get addicted this time ~ think again, get right with yourself, contact an ally, post an SOS ~ Whenever you start to 'romance smoking' ~ think again, get right with yourself, contact an ally, post an SOS ~ If you seriously entertain the idea that smoking looks attractive or makes you feel carefree and part of the fun ~ think again, get right with yourself, contact an ally, post an SOS ~ If you are having silly thoughts like, my smoking friends are having a great time and I'm missing out ~ think again, get right with yourself, contact an ally, post an SOS ~ If you really wonder, what it would it taste like now, ~ think again, get right with yourself, contact an ally, post an SOS ~ Will I still get that, 'ahhhh' feeling ? ~ think again, get right with yourself, contact an ally, post an SOS ~ When you start to think that you are 'different' and that you can handle just one. ~ think again, get right with yourself, contact an ally, post an SOS ~ Do you think you can quit again without much effort? ~ think again, get right with yourself, contact an ally, post an SOS ~ If you want to give yourself permission for just one, once in a while, just this once ~ think again, get right with yourself, contact an ally, post an SOS ~ If you feel too secure in your quit and start to act cocky ~ think again, get right with yourself, contact an ally, post an SOS ~ If you propose to test your quit ~ think again, get right with yourself, contact an ally, post an SOS ~ Are you starting to believe, you've been quit long enough to handle a puff or two? ~ think again, get right with yourself, contact an ally, post an SOS ~ If you know too much to get addicted again ~ think again, get right with yourself, contact an ally, post an SOS ~ Whever you are doubting your commitment to your quit ~ think again, get right with yourself, contact an ally, post an SOS ~ If you ignore the reality that smoking is a terrifying choice with significant consequences ~ think again, get right with yourself, contact an ally, post an SOS ~ If you are dismissive of the fact that you can Never Take Another Puff, Not One Puff Ever. ~ think again, get right with yourself, contact an ally, post an SOS ~ I forgot the major red flag, I am not an addict ! ~ think again, get right with yourself, contact an ally, post an SOS ~ I'm an adult and I'll do wtf I want ! ~ think again, get right with yourself, contact an ally, post an SOS ~ Have you more red flags to add ? Different manuevers ?
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Hello QTrain, What helped you through your First Week without Nicotine? For me, it was: Watching The Clock and seeing 'craves' lasting a shorter and shorter time. Breathing purposefully. Satsumas. Water Saving the daily money for a pack of smokes. I kept it in a big jam jar and watched it pile up. Jumping Jacks , Dancing Wildly. House Cleaning. Determination and Desire for Freedom. I 'discovered' Joel Spitzer's videos. Daily Quitting Lesson Guide I had a suspicious (show me) attitude but, was quickly chastened and ultimately enlightened. It was during my First Nicotine Free Week, watching Joel, that I started to educate myself about Addiction. Denial was no longer my modus operandi. I started to face reality.
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(filing post in blog) Some quitters may have trouble with the never/ever part in NOPE (Not One Puff Ever) or NTAP (Never Take Another Puff) To tell you the truth, in the nascence of my quit, I bluffed my way through never/ever land. I remember @Cristóbal and @El Bandito qualifying never/ever with the caveat, 'just for today', and that was the truth too, it is about here and now. As days and weeks passed I absorbed the truth about addiction. Once I clearly understood addiction is forever and brain receptors immediately re-connect to addiction after one puff, I embraced never/ever/forever. If addiction was in my brain for the long haul, well, dammit, I was too...and I was going to Win ! Originally posted July 2016 NOPE ~Never/Ever/Forever (including comments) and here is a group discussion 'How Is A Commitment To NOPE Essential For A Successful Quit' and two vids from our friend, Joel Spitzer
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I have read about the acronym, H A L T, in recovery paraphernalia and have used it to a great degree of success in changing my patterns from a nicotine addict to a Free person. Having a Crave ? H. A. L. T. Are you Hungry - Thirsty - need a deep breath of Oxygen ? Angry - Happy - Emotional ? Lonesome - Bored ? Tired ? In many, many instances, when I would reach for a smoke, my poor body was actually trying to alert me that it needed attention in some way. My addiction silenced these natural signals. I still catch myself these days...no, it is no longer a crave, it is my body hollering for water or food or something it really needs ! Now, groovin' in my new freedom, when these signals come up, my first thought may still be, 'Oh cigarette, dammit' However, it is followed immediately by, 'No, not smokes...you're Hungry, baby !' or, you're thirsty or, you need to go sit outside and take a big gulp of oxygen and figure out what your body or spirit requires. The piracy that nicotine practiced is still mind-boggling to me. Allowing nicotine to take over my basic human needs of sustenance and comfort was a grave error on my part. I am grateful my body is so forgiving . I am grateful to be free. Free and learning how to read my body's signals and remembering how to take good care of it. So, next time you have what you assume to be a Nic fit, have a think...what is your body really telling you ? It won't be hard to figure out. For me it has been obvious and I have to wonder, how could I have neglected my body for so long ? It is a miracle it survived. I would like to include our friend, Joel Spitzers' Do You Want A Cigarette....H.A.L.T.
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Lifetime of Addiction I didn't want to hear this but, I am now facing this truth. Nicotine Addiction doesn't go away. You can put it to sleep. You can even put it into deep deep and deeper sleep for years ! but, it will awaken the moment you take one puff. One Puff. This is for your whole life. Mind boggling, huh !? This was the choice you likely didn't even know you were making all those years ago when you started smoking, I didn't understand the ramifications for sure. But, it is the truth. You will always need to be cognizant of your addiction even when smoking is a vague memory, because the moment you take a puff, the moment you take One Bloomin' PUFF, That's it ! It's all over and your enslavement will begin, again. The tenacity ! but, you need to understand, Nicotine is not as tenacious as You and Your Will. You can quit. I know you can. I quit and I am not a special snowflake, I am a Nicotine Addict, just like you. I have great resentment about my Nicotine Addiction. Damn....I didn't know it would be so invasive. I didn't know it was going to be a lifetime relationship. I am so angry about this but, it is a good anger. It is a righteous anger. It is an anger that will fuel my commitment to NOPE. Not One Puff EVER. Copping to the 'forever' part is a cold hard reality of the addiction. At some point, I had to quit fooling myself and accept it. It isn't just for today. It must be forever. If it isn't...I will continue to enslave myself. Some feel their addiction is so strong they cannot quit, This is wrong. You have the power. You always have the power to quit and you always have the power to stay quit. Make the commitment to NOPE ! As our friend, Sarge, says, 'Easy Peasy'. Easy ! not complicated ! This is not Rocket Science. If you make that commitment to NOPE...you will not fail. The simplicity of it ! The Beauty of it ! Not One Puff Ever. Do it. You won't regret it.
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This is an old post of mine that still resonates with me and I thought to stash in in my blog so it is easy for me to locate. Nicotine stimulates the reward path in our brain and by replenishing ourselves with nicotine, we were rewarded with Dopamine. Many times a day we went from the panic of, 'I've gotta have a smoke' to 'Ahhh', the brief relief of satisfying addiction. We were jerking our own chain every twenty minutes or so....for years. When quitting nicotine, that dance of our reward system shuts down. It's a shock and we miss the consistent rewarding rush of dopamine. Our brain doesn't understand where all the feel good stuff went so, it is essential to amplify rewards, to jump start our natural pathways for the release of Dopamine. The physical act of rewarding ourselves is crucial for the brain to access Dopamine. It took me a moment to wrap my head around this, The Physical Act of Rewarding Ourselves, Is Crucial For The Brain To Access Dopamine. Our friend, bakon, is a big advocate of rewards, quite rightly, too. Celebrate your first moments, days...your first weeks and months. The first year, the next... This can take the form of exotic holidays, paid with the ducats you were giving to Big Tobacco, to simple gifts to yourself, a new book, a magazine, a film... ooh ! plenty of excellent chocolate passed these lips (dark chocolate, apple, almond, banana, strawberry, salmon, beet, watermelon and pumpkin seeds also stimulate Dopamine). Choose activities that make you feel pampered like the perfect bath, an afternoon nap in freshly laundered sheets, a candle lit dinner. Getting through difficulties and experiencing your triumphs are all opportunities to reward yourself. Keep in mind, you are not spoiling yourself, you are re-training your brain to deliver dopamine as an honest reward. Like quenching your thirst with a long tall cool glass of water. Celebrate as the hours go by, while the body adjusts to the new normal. A normal of being rewarded with dopamine but, naturally, of course, the way it was before we allowed nicotine to control our reward system. I remember the first day that I forgot to think about smoking or not smoking, wow ! this is what being nicotine free feels like ! I was so happy and celebrated by purchasing a small tree, a Sweet Viburnum full of blossoms, a living reminder of my freedom. My continuing reward is the luscious freedom I appreciate every single day. I am in better health and free-er in spirit... Tell me what your rewards have been, my nicotine free friends, what are your rewards now ? S p.s. Along with Dopamine, we can hack into our other happy chemicals to improve the quality of our lives. All are accessible through Meditation; taking time for slow, measured breathing. letting thoughts slip away. Exercise and laughter induce the release of Endorphins, Oxytocin flows with orgasm, giving/receiving gifts. Serotonin gets you high when sitting in the sun, hanging with friends and by reflecting on your accomplishments.
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