New Sufferer

[chris2alaska]

I’m 3 weeks and 1 day quit.  Still hanging in there. Is there a Q and A section of the forum?  I’m curious as to how long people have had the anxiety after quitting?

Rick,

The Q&A section is in your quit groups month.  You can ask all the questions in there you want right after you post roll for the day.  This is an accountability forum that you signed up for.  The price of admission is posting your promise not to use nicotine everyday with your quit group.  In my previous post here in your intro, I gave you the link to your quit group.  There are not a lot of rules here, but posting roll every day is one of them.

So, go post up and ask all the questions you want afterward.  I also encourage you to start exchanging phone numbers with other quitters in your group as well as some vets.  This will start to build your accountability and brotherhood network.

Three weeks and a day by yourself is bad ass though.  Nice going.  It would be a lot easier with the support of your brothers in quit that are going through it with you.

Chris

[Rick Howard]

I’m 3 weeks and 1 day quit.  Still hanging in there. Is there a Q and A section of the forum?  I’m curious as to how long people have had the anxiety after quitting? 

[L93bent]

Many of us used tobacco BECAUSE of anxiety.  The anxiety comes on with a vengeance when we quit tobacco.  I highly recommend mindfulness practice and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to address your anxiety.  Changed my life and enabled me to be quit.  Happy to discuss privately if you want to exchange digits.
Big Irv

Mindfulness is my plan to get through this.

Recognize what is going on;
Allow the experience to be there, just as it is;
Investigate with kindness;
Natural awareness, which comes from not identifying
with the experience.

[L93bent]

39 years old and recently diagnosed with adhd. It was always there and it almost ruined my marraige. To finally discover why I am the way I am has opened up a new world of discovery and opportunity.  Nicotine was the crutch that released the dopamine that my brain doesn't produce properly. I have been dipping for at least 15 years and smoked for 10 before that. Nicotine has always been a part of my life. I remember stealing my first cigarette from my dad around 6 years old and I fucking liked it!!!! What 6 year old enjoys a cigarette?
My father always smoked a pipe but always had a pack of cigs for places he couldn't smoke the pipe. He was diagnosed with mouth cancer 15 years ago. It spread through his body and he died a year later. I continued to smoke and eventually started dipping. My rationale was that I would notice mouth cancer before lung cancer. It sounds so fucked up to actually see this in writing.

 I started smoking regularly around 14 years old while working as a dishwasher. I have always been ashamed of it, but could never quit.

Now is the time. I am almost 40 and nicotine has ruled every aspect of  my life since I can remember.  My wife knows I dip, but I have hid it from the kids. I will tell them all tomorrow about my addiction and my plan to never use nicotine again. I dumped my can in the toilet at midnight..... 

Since my adhd diagnosis I have been exploring mindfulness and plan to use some of what I am learning to get through it.

I am hoping the acronym RAIN will be my crutch.

RECOGNIZE what is going on;
ALLOW the experience to be there, just as it is;
INVESTIGATE with kindness;
NATURAL awareness, which comes from not identifying
with the experience.

[Big Irv]

Many of us used tobacco BECAUSE of anxiety.  The anxiety comes on with a vengeance when we quit tobacco.  I highly recommend mindfulness practice and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to address your anxiety.  Changed my life and enabled me to be quit.  Happy to discuss privately if you want to exchange digits.
Big Irv

[chris2alaska]

Quit on 11/18/18.  Dipped for 10+ years.   It’s been and is still a rough 2.5 weeks. 

I tried to quit a few times before.  This is as far as I’ve made it.  The biggest struggle for me has been the anxiety.  It’s been brutal and I hardly feel like myself. Is this common? 

I actually made myself an appointment with a therapist.  Anyone been this far to employ professional help?

Welcome Rick,

You are not alone.  There are many guys that experience anxiety in here.  Some seek professional help, some just ride it out.  Which ever way you choose to go, just make sure it is without nicotine.  If you go to someone and they want to prescribe Nicotine Replacement Therapies, FIND A NEW DOCTOR. 

1 problem + nicotine = 2 problems

What you need to do is get in to the February 2019 Pre-HOF quit group and post your daily promise to not use nicotine today.  Keep that promise for the next 24 hours and then come back here and do it again tomorrow.

Start building you accountability network by exchanging digits(phone numbers) with other quitters and read as much as you can on this site.  The main site has a section on what to expect when quitting and and it talks about anxiety as well.  Everything you are experiencing has been experienced by someone on this site.

My digits are here for the asking, just send me a PM.

Now go post your promise and start getting to know your quit brothers and sisters.

Chris

[sebas05bcs]

Hey Rick - pretty much every search of withdrawal symptoms you can find will tell you anxiety is super common. Dip releases dopamine and seratonin into your brain and by quitting 2.5 weeks ago, you've been depriving yourself of these short artificial bursts and allowing your brain to reset to normal, natural levels.

I have anxiety and see a therapist for it. It helps me identify my thought patterns in an unbiased way to live a more mentally healthy life. It's been a huge help for me and I hope it is for you as well.

Proud to be quit with you man. Keep trucking - most searches say the anxiety should drop off within a few weeks.

Seb

[Rick Howard]

Quit on 11/18/18.  Dipped for 10+ years.   It’s been and is still a rough 2.5 weeks. 

I tried to quit a few times before.  This is as far as I’ve made it.  The biggest struggle for me has been the anxiety.  It’s been brutal and I hardly feel like myself. Is this common? 

I actually made myself an appointment with a therapist.  Anyone been this far to employ professional help?