Withdrawal Symptoms?

[KrisTx]

What are some of your withdrawal symptoms and how did you cope? 

[Reciprocity]

I had a bunch but everyone is different so you may or may not have the same ones. I found the "brain-fog" the most difficult to deal with because I just couldn't focus on much for the first while. The anxiety of the early quit was tough - just had to keep distracted and power through it. Actually, coming here almost 24-7 was what really helped me keep myself occupied. The beauty about all these quit symptoms is ... they don't last forever. The benefits of quitting WILL last forever and, they just keep adding up the longer you stay smoke free

Edited February 25, 2018 by reciprocity

[Martian5]

Everyone is different to some extent.  I would recommend that you check on some of the videos and written material on this sight about withdrawals.  I too had anxiety and it is tough but it really does start to go away after just a few days.  I was really fatigued and kind of run down with some of the brain fog.  As reciprocity stated it get better and they do not last and once through it you will find again though that it is kind of tough it will be easier than you thought.  I would take slow deep breaths and exhale slowly, as drinking cold water  really helps.  I also had straw around to chew on or suck through.  And once I found this page I came here a lot and did research and  read others stories and made my NOPE pledge.  This site can really help.  Again as said above the quit symptoms do not last forever, what you get in return will amaze you.  

[Reciprocity]

Yes, what M5 said ...... keep well hydrated, get lots of sleep because the early days can be exhausting and the deep breathing really helps with the anxiety you may experience in the early days. Anything but smoking!! Also, be sure to get rid of any smoking materials you may have around. If there are no smokes handy, you can't cave in during a particularly strong craving to smoke.  You have made the commitment so now .......... you are a Non-Smoker! Smoking is off the table for you now

[Doreensfree]

Everyone is different ,I couldn't sleep for a while...was reading the forum 24/7....

Just remember what ever your feeling if temporary....

Be kind to your body..it takes time...you have been feeding it poison for a long time...

[JB 883]

Not nearly as bad as some people act like.

 

You know how you hear of how it is worse to quit cigs than it is heroin or crack or whatever?

The only reason that MIGHT be true is that tobacco is legal and readily available.

 

My own W/D involved feeling dizzy and sleepy a lot during the first few days. I just drudged through it.

Three months in I started getting real serious craves. What kept me off was not wanting to pay $5 a pack for stupid cigarettes.

[Lin-quitting]

Welcome Kris!

 

There seem to be so very many possible quit symptoms and as said above every person will be different in how they experience quitting. I would suggest spending all the time you can spare in reading about the addiction - the stickies found at the top of this Discussions page is an excellent place to start. Education is key for us to be able to succeed at this. You can learn there much about potential symptoms and how to overcome them.

 

But it is very possible to succeed! Withdrawal symptoms are temporary. Living life smoke free is permanent.....and awesome.

[PeaceTrain]

Just now, Lin-quitting said:

 

But it is very possible to succeed! Withdrawal symptoms are temporary. Living life smoke free is permanent.....and awesome.

 

... as evidenced by your enviable quit, Lin. Looks like you're coming up on an important day very soon. 

Looking forward to celebrating your 1-year anniversary with you!

[despair not]

Hi Kris

 

Everyones quit is different

 

What you experience will be tailored by the nicotine demon to you.

 

He will try every trick in the book to keep you smoking

 

Realise and admit you are an addict and then tell yourself that no matter what  _I will Not Take One Puff Ever,

 

The boards are great for reassurance if there is something going on with your body that you are not sure about. If its something strange always consult your Doctor if you are in any doubt..

[JB 883]

Of course the doctor will try to prescribe meds to help you quit.

All's that does is create a different addiction. Do not use quit meds.

 

But yes, that voice in your head wanting to smoke will make you think things like "just one will not hurt". Many a quit have been blown because of "just one".

[Boo]

6 hours ago, KrisTx said:

What are some of your withdrawal symptoms and how did you cope? 

 

Temporary bouts of irritability.  I coped with those by deep breathing and exercise.  Depending on just how irritable I was the exercise might have been a normal walkabout or on the more extreme end push-ups done to failure.  Deep breathing is great because you can do it anywhere.  The breathing method I found most helpful was done on a 4:8 ratio.  Inhale through the nose for a four-count.  Hold for a second and then exhale through the mouth for an eight-count.

 

Obsessive thinking about smoking and quitting.  I stopped fighting the obsessive thoughts and made them work for me.  I watched Joel Spitzer videos.  I read and reread Allen Carr's book.  Read a bunch of articles here at Quit Train.  I even started reading about neuroscience and psychology.  If I was going to obsess anyway, might as well shift my focus in the right direction.

 

You can do a lot of things when beginning the process of quitting.  Or you can do nothing at all.  The only rule is: don't smoke.  Follow that rule and you are good to go.

[c9jane29]

Sleeplessness and anger. They go hand-in-hand anyway so it was double trouble!

I Learned that smoking releases blood sugar so sometimes my crabbies were because low blood sugar (because I was getting that "booster" from smoking). I found I could fix this with chocolate.

Also, each cigarette was a reward to my brain. Dopamine release. I found I could get this same feeling with chocolate.

Your quit is what you want it to be! Think about how much you want this quit, multiply it by everyone in your life that loves you, wrap that love around your quit, stuff it in your heart and keep it there; keep it safe, protect it...there is no cigarette worth you. 

Edited February 26, 2018 by c9jane29

[Octain]

22 hours ago, KrisTx said:

What are some of your withdrawal symptoms and how did you cope? 

 

Sleeplessness, anxiety, irritability, shakes, foggy thoughts, irritability, the feelings of drowning, or claustrophobia,  feelings of emptiness.  Did I mention irritability? 

Taking dog walks helps me a lot. Sex, and showers also helps. Anything that you do that you did that didn’t/don’t involve smoking.

The *easy* way to combat all these negative feelings is to smoke. 

But that IS not an option for me. 

 

 You have to be smarter than the addiction. Reading and researching everything you can about the subject helps. You have to know how to deal with it. It’s an addiction, just like a drug addict.

 

 You pretty much just have to “man up“ and pull the trigger and make the decision to not smoke today. Get through today and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.

 

Withdrawl symptoms will not kill you. They pass, they always pass. 

 

Smoking cigarettes does nothing for me. On the contrary, they take away my money, my health and my time.

[Doreensfree]

Sex, and showers also helps. 

Yep !!!!.....Boo and I swear by it !!!!  Whahaha....

[Octain]

Also, if I might add, try not to focus so much on the negative side effects of quitting and focus more on the positives.

 

For instance, laying down on the pillow at night and not feeling the clatter in your lungs.

 Being able to laugh without the urge to cough. 

 Taking really huge deep breath, again, without that urge to cough. 

 The added energy you’ll get from not smoking. Trust me, it’s there… 

The money you’ll save. Good God…

The time… This was huge for me for some odd reason. It doesn’t seem like much but you spend a ton of time on smoking. Don’t believe me?  Quit… I dare ya.

 

The absolute best thing we can do for ourselves is never start smoking. The second best thing we can do, is quit smoking.

Edited February 26, 2018 by Octain

[Whispers]

2 hours ago, Octain said:

Also, if I might add, try not to focus so much on the negative side effects of quitting and focus more on the positives.

 

 

^, that right there(mindset) is key early on.

[NADA]

The worst symptom in the early part of my quit was the constant feeling of a knot in my stomach.  I thought it was something that would never go away.  But no matter how intense it got I just told it to _u_k off.  It was puny compared to my determination.

 

Pledging and meaning NOPE on a daily basis was how I coped.  The knot eventually got weaker and weaker and finally just withered away.  Now I feel better than ever.  Really!   

 

It's time to stop worrying about the negative effects and think about the benefits.  Start your new life now Kris.  You'll be so glad you did. 

[Giveintowin]

I had most of the unpleasant symptoms but I pretty much knew this would happen so I think it was easier to accept. It was hard but it is the only way through. It’s better than lung cancer or emphysema. 

[LizQuit]

Right now its alot of anger and some real feelings of anxiety. Jumpy feeling. Can't quite explain it just a nervous skin crawling thing. Seems to be an all day nervous feeling. I keep doing the deep breathing and ice water.  I never want to go through this again.  Not gonna smoke but this is hard. Pulled out my reasons to quit and read them over and over. Put my hand to my face and felt the warmth.  Feelings coming back into my feet. No more needles in my feet.  This is good.  BKP You are right. Focus on the good.  

[Martian5]

You are doing good and the right things just keep going the way you are.  I know what you are talking about with the feet, I was the same way though it took about a week for my feeling to totally come back.  Truth be told I had not known how bad the foot feeling thing  was until I  quit.  Keep on going you are doing GREAT!!!

[Reciprocity]

25 minutes ago, LizQuit said:

Right now its alot of anger and some real feelings of anxiety. Jumpy feeling. Can't quite explain it just a nervous skin crawling thing. Seems to be an all day nervous feeling. I keep doing the deep breathing and ice water.  I never want to go through this again.  Not gonna smoke but this is hard. Pulled out my reasons to quit and read them over and over. Put my hand to my face and felt the warmth.  Feelings coming back into my feet. No more needles in my feet.  This is good.  BKP You are right. Focus on the good.  

LizQuit, I think you may have read the recounting I wrote the night before my 1 year quit anniversary. I wrote too about wanting to crawl out of my skin in the early days. It's both the physical and mental withdrawals at their peak trying to convince you to give in to your addiction. It's all normal. I know that doesn't make it any better or easier but you are not alone and we did get through it! You are right too in saying you never want to go through this again! The longer you stay invested, the more reason to stay that way. Yes, the anger, anxiety in the early days is overwhelming at times but it doesn't last. The benefits you will start to notice will last.

 

I bet you don't stink of stale cigarette smoke anymore - right? You're sense of smell is probably already starting to wake up again. You're right! Focus on the positives. The negatives are very short lived

[LizQuit]

Do you know I did not eat today. Once I realized that and got some food in me I felt so much better.  Reciprocity can  you tell me how to find old posts on here?  Still trying to find my way around. Not very computer literate. 

[Reciprocity]

1 minute ago, LizQuit said:

Do you know I did not eat today. Once I realized that and got some food in me I felt so much better.  Reciprocity can  you tell me how to find old posts on here?  Still trying to find my way around. Not very computer literate. 

 

Sure. I'll send you a private message on how to access stuff.

[Sazerac]

On 2/25/2018 at 11:10 AM, KrisTx said:

What are some of your withdrawal symptoms and how did you cope? 

Here is a useful thread about how we coped. 

Your First Days , Nicotine Free

 

Please add your techniques or desperate measures to the thread.

Your experience is invaluable and it is always cool to learn new tricks.

 

S

 

p.s.  I remember a story  (lurking early in my quit)  

about a woman (Marianne?) 

who coped by having a  big beautiful tree CUT DOWN

before understanding it was a very, very wrong thing to do.

 

Addiction is  way bad.

Edited February 27, 2018 by Sazerac

[Giveintowin]

1 hour ago, LizQuit said:

Right now its alot of anger and some real feelings of anxiety. Jumpy feeling. Can't quite explain it just a nervous skin crawling thing. Seems to be an all day nervous feeling. I keep doing the deep breathing and ice water.  I never want to go through this again.  Not gonna smoke but this is hard. Pulled out my reasons to quit and read them over and over. Put my hand to my face and felt the warmth.  Feelings coming back into my feet. No more needles in my feet.  This is good.  BKP You are right. Focus on the good.  

I remember feeling like this. The last quit I had on day 4 I felt such horrible tension. You name it anxiety, anger. This happened on day 4 and I thought to myself I am never putting myself through this again. This was my third withdrawal in 12 months since I relapsed twice. This is withdrawal and if you want to quit this is what we must pass through. Well done in sticking my with it. It will pass and tomorrow will likely be a better day. It doesn’t stay intense for that long.