First couple days ... now scared

[Sazerac]

Thanks for checking in, Andrew, and congratulations on your quit !

Things will get easier and better.  Some of the changes are gradual but, soon you will look back to see how far you have come and how much better you feel.

You quit smoking !  Remember, rewards.

 

 

[Sazerac]

How are you doing @AndrewAsh ?

[AndrewAsh]

On 2/25/2020 at 10:17 AM, Sazerac said:

How are you doing @AndrewAsh ?

Hey all checking in ....

still cranking , recently past the 1 month of being smoke free. 
overall feeling good , tendencies to be a bit tired at times, but that seems to be the norm post quitting. 
sleeping habits are getting much much better. Still waking up certain nights and having a hard time sleeping, but other nights are just fine. 
 

moving forward  

[Sazerac]

21 minutes ago, AndrewAsh said:

Hey all checking in ....

still cranking , recently past the 1 month of being smoke free. 
overall feeling good , tendencies to be a bit tired at times, but that seems to be the norm post quitting. 
sleeping habits are getting much much better. Still waking up certain nights and having a hard time sleeping, but other nights are just fine. 
 

moving forward  

 

Great to hear from you, Andrew !

Congratulations on your quit.

 

Everything you mention is totally normal and short-lived.

 

All I can offer about insomnia is to stop screen time early, meditation, exercise...chamomile tea...

then, I thought that caffeine might be contributing to your sleep issues.

Possible Changes In Caffeine Tolerance

[Runfree]

This is great, Andrew!  

[jillar]

Congratulations on over a month quit Andrew! And I'm glad you're sleeping better now

[Doreensfree]

Way to go Andrew .....your doing great ....you ll soon be back to having good sleeps ....!!!!

[johnny5]

Congratulations on 1 month smoke free Andrew!

[AndrewAsh]

On 3/7/2020 at 10:33 AM, Sazerac said:

 

Great to hear from you, Andrew !

Congratulations on your quit.

 

Everything you mention is totally normal and short-lived.

 

All I can offer about insomnia is to stop screen time early, meditation, exercise...chamomile tea...

then, I thought that caffeine might be contributing to your sleep issues.

Possible Changes In Caffeine Tolerance

luckily , I am not a heavy caffeine consumer. I rarely drink coffee , when i do it’s usually the latte or machiatto kinda drinks, yes yes i know it’s embarasssing lol 

 

I stay away from energy drinks as well and outside of maybe a cola at lunch at times, soda consumption is very low ...

 

I can only imagine what a monster or red bull would do to me at the present time ... yikes 

 

but I think the caffeine stuff is spot on ; I took a pre workout the other day before the gym , loads of caffeine obviously and it was messing with my heart rate , breathing , etc ... not doing that again lol 

Edited March 10, 2020 by AndrewAsh

[Angeleek]

Hi Andrew! Welcome to the forum and congrats on a great quit! I am new here myself and quit 52 days ago! I've smoked for too long and know it's time to be done with it!! Keep breathing!!!

Edited March 10, 2020 by Angeleek

[Angeleek]

Forgot to mention that I had similar issues as you did my first go-round with nicotine gum and patches....and yes caffeine will keep you up for days right after stopping nicotine.  Unfortunately they don't include that on the label.

[AndrewAsh]

So guys / gals , honest question for you all. 
 

have you found your anxiety levels increased after quitting smoking. I was never a big worry wart per se in the past , obviously there were things that stressed me out but it seems that smoking kinda hid some of that ... 

 

nowadays I find myself freaking out about things. Anxiety seems to be elevated at times , kinda feeling anxiety attacks , brief but they come and go... maybe it’s just the extensive nature of the corona virus and coverage but it has me kinda going crazy to be honest. Obviously thinking of the worse case scenarios and it’s throwing my body off. Haven’t really had this in the past , but like i said, stress was previously comforted by lighting up a couple cigarettes. 
 

any suggestions?

On 3/10/2020 at 1:17 AM, Angeleek said:

Forgot to mention that I had similar issues as you did my first go-round with nicotine gum and patches....and yes caffeine will keep you up for days right after stopping nicotine.  Unfortunately they don't include that on the label.

Yes !!!

 

learning that the hard way ; caffeine makes me loopy!!! Took a pre workout for the gym the other day and I was bouncing off walls lol ; crazy heart rate , etc. 

 

not taking that again any time soon. 

[MLMR]

Hi Andrew, not sure if this  is of any help to you right now... but my guess would be that its your body and brain re-adjusting. Do you know these magic doors with huge locks, where every piece has to fall in place for the door to open? Your brain is doing something like that now. Finding new ways. And Im not surprised about that bit of anxiety there. It will pass, Im sure. Figure out what you need to get through these moments safe and sound. Its an excellent time for some soul searching!

 

My anxiety spiked somewhere between months 3 - 7, after that it gradually lessened. Im now better off than ever, anxiety-wise. Quitting smoking is a huge deal and Im so glad I did it. 

[Sazerac]

Hello Andrew,

Learn how to calm yourself down.  Deep breathing, meditation or exercise are a few things that can help you learn how to soothe yourself.

 

Often, smoking disguised our feelings, hid them behind the veil of smoke.

Instead of dealing with issues we often just lit up a smoke.  We all did this.

Many new feelings may be surfacing for you,  now that you are not putting nicotine first.

 

Smoking can also keep physical issues hidden.

This is more common that you can imagine.

Please consult your doctor with any issues, physical or emotional.

If you have concerns, keep a log.  This will help you better communicate with your health professional.

 

The whole world is very concerned with COVID-19.

The only thing to do is prepare and keep yourself healthy.

Stress is not useful.  Stress is harmful.

As I mentioned earlier, find techniques to calm yourself.

 

Check out these Resources Regarding Interaction Between Nicotine and Stress by Joel Spitzer, 

[jillar]

Hi Andrew, sorry about the increased anxiety, that happens to a lot of us when quitting. Others feel some depression. Luckily this too is usually only temporary and will pass  but if it's really getting to you I recommend a Dr visit. Not only can he help put your mind at ease but he may be able to prescribe a temporary med to help you past it. And it's so nice to be able to tell your dr you quit smoking

[AndrewAsh]

11 hours ago, jillar said:

Hi Andrew, sorry about the increased anxiety, that happens to a lot of us when quitting. Others feel some depression. Luckily this too is usually only temporary and will pass  but if it's really getting to you I recommend a Dr visit. Not only can he help put your mind at ease but he may be able to prescribe a temporary med to help you past it. And it's so nice to be able to tell your dr you quit smoking

I was actually thinking about doing this is it persists. I am not a fan of prescribed medicine unless it’s absolutely necessary. 
 

luckily when i had the panic / anxiety attack episode a few weeks back which resulted in the hospital visit, then ran all sorts of tests ... blood work, chest x ray , ECG , stress test , etc and all looked good. 
 

But anxiety is a different breed and somewhat new to me ... outta nowhere it strikes and then passes ... 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 13, 2020 by AndrewAsh

[Doreensfree]

If your worried about anything to do with your health Andrew ...best get it checked out ...

Your body is going through some big changes ....

[Angeleek]

Hi Andrew! I hope you are feeling better.  Your anxiety could be directly related to smoking cessation.  I can tell you that panic attacks have no power over you when you know they are based on nothing.  Go get checked by a doctor to rule out anything physical. Then you can tackle the underlying emotional issue. Maybe some talk therapy, exercise, anxiety medicine or herbal tea will help.  My anxiety is way down now after 57 days off the nicotine.  I hope yours gets better too!  Taking productive action really helps if you are a worrier.  Hold on to your quit!!

[AndrewAsh]

On 3/15/2020 at 4:18 AM, Angeleek said:

Hi Andrew! I hope you are feeling better.  Your anxiety could be directly related to smoking cessation.  I can tell you that panic attacks have no power over you when you know they are based on nothing.  Go get checked by a doctor to rule out anything physical. Then you can tackle the underlying emotional issue. Maybe some talk therapy, exercise, anxiety medicine or herbal tea will help.  My anxiety is way down now after 57 days off the nicotine.  I hope yours gets better too!  Taking productive action really helps if you are a worrier.  Hold on to your quit!!

It’s definitely anxiety:

all the symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks. 
literally once i calm myself down everything returns to normal. I never realized how hard anxiety can be on someone until the last few weeks. 
 

with everything going on with Covid-19 it’s really triggering lots of bad thoughts. 
but still finding a way through it ... haven’t touched a cigarette

[Sazerac]

Anxiety can be debilitating.

I am glad you have techniques to calm yourself down.

 

There is a lot of cause to be anxious these days and some also feel impressions of our collective anxiety.

Everyone is terribly concerned, rightly so.

All we can do is keep distance, wash our hands, cover our mouths. Be kind to eachother and ourselves.

 

Congratulations on your quit, @AndrewAsh !  Six weeks !

 

Reward yourself for every crave and trigger conquered. Things will be better by and by.

Appreciate how happy you have made your lungs...your cilia are shaking off all that poisonous tar.

You blood circulation is returning to normal and bring nourishment and oxygen to important body parts. 

Plenty of reason to celebrate.

 

Thank you for checking in.  Your experience is a light in the dark for others.

[Jordan7]

2 hours ago, AndrewAsh said:

It’s definitely anxiety:

all the symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks. 
literally once i calm myself down everything returns to normal. I never realized how hard anxiety can be on someone until the last few weeks. 
 

with everything going on with Covid-19 it’s really triggering lots of bad thoughts. 
but still finding a way through it ... haven’t touched a cigarette

 

You're doing a great job at untangling the general anxiety from nicotine cravings. Andrew.   I'll add that I had a very hard time letting the cigarettes go, but, was very surprised when I realized tht  the times I thought about them the least was when there were real outside problems that took my attention away (such as now).  The more important thoughts seem to make it to the forefront if you just keep going. 

Edited March 20, 2020 by Jordan7

[AndrewAsh]

1 hour ago, Sazerac said:

Anxiety can be debilitating.

I am glad you have techniques to calm yourself down.

 

There is a lot of cause to be anxious these days and some also feel impressions of our collective anxiety.

Everyone is terribly concerned, rightly so.

All we can do is keep distance, wash our hands, cover our mouths. Be kind to eachother and ourselves.

 

Congratulations on your quit, @AndrewAsh !  Six weeks !

 

Reward yourself for every crave and trigger conquered. Things will be better by and by.

Appreciate how happy you have made your lungs...your cilia are shaking off all that poisonous tar.

You blood circulation is returning to normal and bring nourishment and oxygen to important body parts. 

Plenty of reason to celebrate.

 

Thank you for checking in.  Your experience is a light in the dark for others.

you’re not kidding. At times the anxiety seems to be controlling me , literally negative thoughts rolling through the mind 100mph. It’s strange to me as I have never really been a worry wart. Now I simple cough and all of a sudden, i must be sick ... crazy because it comes and goes. For example i was on several conference calls throughout the day, everything was fine ... soon as I have alone time , watching the news or checking social media , thoughts spin out of control. 

[jillar]

I know just how you feel Andrew. I've had anxiety for the last couple of years and finally told my Dr about it who prescribed me a nonhabit forming med that works great and fast. Please talk to your dr about your anxiety. There's no reason you need to suffer when there's something that can help....

[Sazerac]

I agree with Jillar.  Consult your physician.

and

it is never a bad idea to turn telly and devices OFF and limit your exposure to the frenzy of the news.  Radically limit your exposure.

 

Read a book.  Listen to music.  Garden.  Spend time involved in a hobby.  Exercise.  Show yourself kindness.

 

 

 

[AndrewAsh]

Hey all just checking in ... 

still smoke free , going on two months!!!

 

not really having any urges to even have a cigarette. 
 

battling really dry sinus nowadays. Nose feels like is plugged at times but it’s just pressure it seems. I know smoking does a number on our sinuses as well. 
 

Other than that holding strong. Stay safe everyone.