hi all! for those of you who have quit using nicotine, specifically nicotine in addition to other substances, what was your journey like? i am on day 2 into my alcohol sobriety, and i REAAALLLYYY want to quit vaping as well. i just have this extremely strong desire to be addiction-free. alcohol and nicotine are really tied together for me (i know i’m certainly not alone in that), i’ve been abusing them both for a decade and so i just wanna kick BOTH them jerks to the curb. i’m a singer and vaping as constantly as i do is really wrecking my lungs and throat. now some of you may suggest not quitting everything all at once, some of you may feel more open to it - just curious about your thoughts on this.
i’m going on a trip out of state this weekend to visit very close friends in Texas (none of whom use nicotine), and i was thinking that might be a great time to enter nicotine sobriety. we will be attending a hummingbird festival where thousands of hummingbirds rest on the beach during their annual migration - seems like it would be awesome to ritualize this phenomenon with a goodbye to my nicotine addiction. the air, the sea, the vibrant life moving in harmony - would love to be there and meditate on releasing this old stuck energy and attachments. release them into winds of the birds’ majestic flight. “goodbye alcohol, goodbye nicotine, go head into the nothingness from whence you came. i don’t hate you, i don’t love you. you simply no longer have a home in me.”
Stopped drinking first then a year later stopped cigs , was going to the gym and had a choice cigs or gym and gym won be 36 years smoke free this october
Sounds like a great idea @ilovemyself Julia! I quit smoking nicotine and weed together, almost 8 years ago now. Didn’t realize I had a problem with alcohol too back then. Took me another 4 years to quit that as well.
Now I’m a nurse working in a smoke (and vape) free detox facility. Most people being admitted there hate it they can’t smoke. Somehow they don’t see nicotine as a problem, or maybe the opposite, as too big a problem to deal with. Also many say they can’t quit all at the same time. Which is scientifically proven untrue. Chances of successfully becoming abstinent increase significantly when we quit all substances at the same time.
So congrats on your decision, and all success on your sober and smober journey! maybe this thread can be of some help to you:
Many tips and tricks there, as well as some fellow nicotine quitters. And as an aside I’ll be in Texas to othis weekend, though probably not on the beach. Will wave from a distance
Hey @JuliaLuna, I started smoking cigs at age 12. I switched to vaping in 2014.
I tried quitting by using patches, gum, and pills. Nothing stuck longer than a few months.
I found that drinking lead to smoking, and smoking lead to drinking. So in order to quit for good, I’d have to quit both, at the same time.
In 2018 I decided to quit both drinking and nicotine. The first week was rough. Like, stuck on the couch all day and night rough. I knew, from previous quits, that if I could just get through that first week, I’d have a fighting chance. So I forced myself to stay on that couch… By day 6, I felt I turned a corner. By day 10, I could function again.
Every day I felt a little better than before. That gave me hope. The support I got here got me through tough days.
The further I was away from my quit date, the more I felt at peace with quitting, something I’ve never felt before. Each prior quit, it felt unnatural, forced. Not this time, it felt right.
Maybe that’s the difference, the key. Does it feel right? Is this the time?
I support your decision to quit 100% and will help in anyway I can.
@HoofHearted man thank you so much and wow what a story! you did it, that’s AMAZING!! yes, this time DOES feel different for me. so i know it’s my time, and i’m so grateful. yes i’m the same way, nicotine and alcohol go together. i won’t be vaping after Wednesday night. it’ll be my 4th day off alcohol. then i can be free of both of them. Thursday early morn we get on a plane. 4 days in Texas, on the beach with sisters and hummingbirds. i know the energy will support whatever distress i may feel from withdrawals. i will breathe through it and be loved through it by my people, and focus on the amazing grace of this new chapter. that’s my intention, my desire, my plan, all for the most righteous purpose of living in deeper reverence for life itself, my body and the greatness of being free, not beholden to a master of disaster and disease, free to breathe and move in wholeness as i am. i am excited to learn more about who i really am and what i’m capable of through this transition. i’m excited to see how much brighter the world will become as i move deeper into sobriety and freedom from these old crusty addictions. thanks friend.
@Cjp thanks so much for checking in - apparently my sweet lil vision wasn’t enough and i simply wasn’t prepared to go cold turkey. i’m going to try again on Wednesday as it’s the day before my birthday and i’m getting a massage and facial, then going on an overnight away from my baby so i can fully focus. i’m going to throw out all my cartridges and get nicotine gum this time. i’m also going to use a new journal to write down anything and everything about how i’m feeling thru the withdrawals, so it’s a specific place i can go to to channel the frustration and sadness and overwhelm that will surely take place. i truly want to kick this habit! i’d love to enter my 36th year of life, without this junk. today i’m 2 weeks sober and i feel amazing. very much ready to feel way more amazing. nicotine is way harder than alcohol but i know i can do it.
thanks Ray!
