3 days...nicotine mostly gone

[lml]

This morning I feel a bit flat mentally. And thinking it may be because I am not getting dopamine because nicotine still has the receptors hijacked, but no nicotine. 

 

Bye bye nicotine.

 

and this - quiiting cold turkey - isn't nearly as bad as I feared. So many lies i lived and believed.

Edited May 11, 2018 by lml

[brand.new.ela]

Congratulations! Smoke-free beginnings are often hazy and foggy, but the reward afterwards is worth it. Enjoy the Quit! 

[Sslip]

Congratulations Lml, you're doing fantastically well. I believe in you, keep your guard up and focused on the goal. Love the positive attitude. 

[Suz916]

Yayyyy good for you had the same feeling when it was over , what the heck was I so scared of!??

[Boo]

1 hour ago, lml said:

Bye bye nicotine.

 

Good riddance.

 

1 hour ago, lml said:

and this - quiiting cold turkey - isn't nearly as bad as I feared. So many lies i lived and believed.

 

Funny how that works.  Once we commit to the process and quit telling ourselves we can't...we do.  Day-by-day, we just do it.

 

Congratulations.  Enjoy your newfound freedom.

[lml]

I

1 hour ago, Boo said:

 

Funny how that works.  Once we commit to the process and quit telling ourselves we can't...we do.  Day-by-day, we just do it. 

 

Our minds are a very strange thing. I have a good life. At work, I have always been recognized and appreciated for my intelligence, courage to try new things and honesty. Yet here I was facing this quit: Afraid, Didn't Think I was strong enough to overcome a crave,Thought it would be so much worse than it was. 

 

When saz  kept writing that I was stronger than a crave and could do it ct,  at first I thought she surely didn't Know me..lol. I saw myself as weak and afraid. Once the lies were confronted it was nothing...lol. 

 

This time I wanted to quit ... For me. I was sick of smoking and bored with smoking. I was so ready to atop.

 

But yes, once we commit, we just do it. And I am really enjoying the process of quitting and what we go through.

[Sazerac]

I am so friggin proud of you, sugar  ! 

Confronting the lies of addiction and the lies we carelessly believed about ourselves can lead to tremendous transformations.

Honesty from the inside out, the scouring of doubt, the revelations of our strength and our fortitude...

why the list grows and grows,  the longer we  refuse to relinquish our power to a cigarette. 

All of us are marveling at your journey and learning much.

Thank you Iml, you are a treasure. 

 

[lml]

Here is something wonderful that happened to me a little bit earlier. I had been pondering how long before I experienced dopamine without having nicotine being the conniving theivi g chemical drug. From what I read, it will be 3 to 6 weeks. 

 

I took the day off of work again, to take care of me (feels good to do that)  And I went swimming. I reached a new milestone and while I knew it was an accomplishment, I didn't get the dopamine attagirl. Which is ok for now, because they will come back.

 

As I was floating/meditating in the water, I remembered a time when I was a child that I had reached a swimming milestone and how happy I was at achieving it. I could see myself jumping up and down with joy...It was a major and well deserved dopamine rush...a natural one. And while the dopamine was not generated in my mind today, I was able to remember and share the reward and joy with my younger self - who knew real and free dopamine rewards and feelings, which did not keep you in chains to receive.

[Boo]

5 hours ago, lml said:

Our minds are a very strange thing. I have a good life. At work, I have always been recognized and appreciated for my intelligence, courage to try new things and honesty. Yet here I was facing this quit: Afraid, Didn't Think I was strong enough to overcome a crave,Thought it would be so much worse than it was. 

 

You are not your addiction.  Your addiction is not you.

 

Addiction feeds at the trough of irrational thoughts and unwarranted fears.  Addiction makes otherwise intelligent people do some stupid things.

 

The good news is: you can now use your intelligence, reason, and logic as keys to release yourself from the chains of addiction.  When you see nicotine and cigarettes for what they really are, pull the curtain back and shine that light in there, there's really no going back.

 

Truth is the antidote.

[johnny5]

That is fantastic, lml.  Keep up the great attitude, things will keep getting better the longer you go without nicotine.

[notsmokinjo]

Ah the foggies... they do clear though. Keep up all your great work... someone might be out there reading this and your words about how much easier ti is than you thought are goign to convince them to quit too..

[Reciprocity]

^^^^ Wise words these!

 

People who come here for support themselves often don't realize how they end up supporting others even in their early days.

Once you have realized that your initial fears about quitting were unfounded and you begin to embrace the process, it becomes so much easier to achieve your goal. You are well on your way already L