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1. addicta

   

   7 posts
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   15 Jun 2020
   14 Jun 2020

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   Hello, I have been smoking for 8 years at different intensities. I smoked solo tobacco for around 2-3 years but mostly I smoked joints with mixed tobacco, a decent number of them a day. Past 3 months I have been reducing the amount of joints to one a day, each time smaller and particularly each time with less tobacco. Past 2 months I consumed around 25g of tobacco total. Last Friday I stopped smoking. I'm not entirely sure if I want to stop smoking weed, but I want for sure to not touch tobacco again, it's the most useless thing there is.
   
   Past few months I felt crappy overall with the reduction, but since I don't really stop solo tobacco I don't exactly have particular cravings for a cigarrete and well I never really connected a joint with the tobacco in it, so I don't have a major problem with cravings yet. What I do have is feeling tired and foggy all the time.
   
   I wonder if smoking weed, one pure joint a day will affect my state of being, or compromise many of the benefits I could have with this. I am receptive to looking to new consumption methods. And more importantly I wonder when the nicotine withdrawal will end and when will I feel any benefits if I will. If there's anyone out there in a similar situation as me, I'd love to hear your story. Any advice?
   
   
2. brieffree

   

   1477 posts
   Registered:
   28 Nov 2017
   15 Jun 2020

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   Hi There
   
   We are experience Smoke free users, we do not have any info abut weed, you should be looking foe N A Meetings your local area!
    All the Best
3. efram, quit coach

   

   235 posts
   Registered:
   29 Nov 2017
   15 Jun 2020

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   Hi addicta,
   
   Congratulations on your success in cutting down over the past three months and eliminating tobacco entirely since last Friday! 
   
   Nicotine withdrawal is hard to predict -- everyone's different -- but for most people the first week is when withdrawals are at their peak (especially around days 3-5). Each following week should be a bit better, and for most people withdrawal symptoms are pretty much gone after the first month. 
   
   For now, when you're feeling tired, it can help to know that fatigue is normal and shows that you're healing. If possible this is a good time to get as much extra rest as you can. 
   
   It's also hard to predict how long it will take before you see benefits from quitting. It can depend on factors such as how much you smoked, how many years you smoked, etc. Some have found big improvements in as little as a week, but for others the changes can be more subtle and take longer to be felt. 
   
   Finally, smoking anything can cause damage to the lungs. As brieffree mentioned, there is support out there if you'd like to make changes, and as you mentioned it could also be worth exploring other consumption methods. 
   
   Hope this helps,
   Efram
4. addicta

   

   7 posts
   Registered:
   15 Jun 2020
   15 Jun 2020 in reply to efram, quit coach

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   I will be using a convection vaporizer to consume weed, and instead of daily use I will use it ocasionally, and maybe pure joints never more than once a week or at special occasions. 
   
   I've always known nicotine to be an absolute waste but mixing in tobacco was convenient so I did it. By the time I noticed I was smoking more than recreatively, I could feel it being an addiction and it was obviously due to nicotine. It's been awful, and reducing the intake feels like I've been on withdrawal for months. I'm pretty certain I'll never touch it again, just hope this all goes away ASAP. For 8 years of smoke, I didn't expect it to be this hard, when I see people with over 30-40 years of smoke managing to stop cold turkey.
   
   Regarding smoking weed, I really don't miss it or feel that I need it, I enjoy it, like you'd enjoy a glass of wine, and I've come to realize my addiction was purely nicotine because as I reduced the intake, I stopped wanting to smoke as much. To be sure I won't be touching weed as well for at least a week so I can feel myself a little better and see if I notice any changes.
   
   It was never really my intention to become a nicotine addict, and I've always known it wasn't worth it, and the convenience of using tobacco to reduce the cost of weed is costing me much more now. I was extremely stupid, I sure have learnt my lesson and I'm glad I had the time alone to actually look inwards and evaluate my habits. Most people don't get to have that, and without that, they just keep doing what they already do.

   Last modified on 15 Jun 2020 14:41 by addicta
5. treepeo1

   

   255 posts
   Registered:
   06 Feb 2020
   16 Jun 2020

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   Hi addicta,
   
   I am so impressed with your level of self-insight.  You took a good, hard look at your life and your habits and decided it was time to make some changes.  You are right.  There are a lot of people who don't make the effort to evaluate their lives and changes that they should make.  So they do not have a chance to grow.
   
   I smoked for over 45 years.  I decided I wanted to change my life and ultimately, I quit cold turkey.  It was really hard, I'm not going to lie.  But when I was tempted to give in, I would remind myself that if I did cave, nothing would change, and I would be right back where I started.  Now I have been a non-smoker for over 3 years, and quitting changed my life for the better.  I breathe so much easier now.  I don't have to skulk around looking for a place to light up, and I no longer worry that I reek of smoke.  And trust me, once you quit, you can smell a smoker from a mile away.  That includes people who smoke weed.  Even if someone is not actively smoking or toking, the smell clings to their clothes.
   
   I have been battling metastatic breast cancer for over a year now, and I can't imagine doing that while being a smoker.  In fact, I would feel like an idiot, knowing people were trying to save my life while I was actively killing myself.  I am so glad I quit smoking when I did.
   
   Hang in there, addicta.  The fog will clear and you will start to feel better.  It takes time for your body to adjust to not being bombarded with chemicals.  You are making really positive changes in your life, and you should be proud of yourself!
6. addicta

   

   7 posts
   Registered:
   15 Jun 2020
   17 Jun 2020

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   Getting close to one week. Still no intention of ever touching nicotine again. 
   
   I've been having a hard time sleeping though, I wake up multiple times a night, this never happened before. Feel tired, heavy head, lack of concentration. Miss feeling high, but I'll wait a few more days, kinda eager for my next high, I won't combust, will be using the vape. I cannot find any scientific article claiming any health issues arise from that so I'll invest on it. Some of you like a glass of wine to boost your mood, I like weed :). I'll keep it to the special occasion or maybe weekends though, I found that the need to smoke it came from mixing tobacco, as now I'm not really eager to smoke it, save a few seconds in my head whenever I see or hear people talking about it. I think not smoking cigarretes by themselves, and the couple months reducing to zero helped with not feeling much cravings anymore. 
   
   I'm kinda impatient towards feeling better from this nicotine crap. I wish I had stopped sooner, it really sucks. It's hard to describe the kind of 'bad' feeling overall that I do have, but it's irritating to be in this state, I can't pinpoint exactly why I feel bad, but I do, it's like a state of emotional or motivational deprivation.
   
   I should be thankful that I'm making this decision being so young. I know a lot of you guys didn't have the community back when you were my age, nor the information and it should have been much harder. I'm sorry to hear that you have cancer, unfortunately the major factor in having it is still by far pure luck, it must have been devastating to find out you have it after going through your journey, but I guess that's how life goes. I sincerely hope you do get better and find a way to be comfortable and achieve happiness during the process as you win your battle. I am no doctor and although I have experience in the area, I'm in no way qualified to give any recommendation, but I've heard people in your situation due use CBD/THC products, like Rick Simpson Oil, I'm sure I'm pretty dumb in suggesting this because you surely looked through everything, but well, maybe it's in some way relevant, no false hopes or anything, who knows...
   
   I really wish I could fast forward to a time when I feel good again, but then again, maybe the journey is about learning to feel good, getting new habits and enjoying new things. I start having that small glimpse of a life where I can find new small things to enjoy, without being constantly compromised by an addiction. It's weird I know, but I am pretty certain by now, that nicotine, probably as any other addiction completely sucks the life out of you.
   
   I realized that it all circles about one thing and that's saciating the addiction, the need. All these moments you come to enjoy as if they were something good by themselves, that's completely false, an illusion. It's a lie our mind tells us. Smoking a joint(cigarrete) after eating or after coffee, we come to be fooled by the idea as if that was a good experience, but it isn't, it's so simple that the actual 'good experience' is satiating the addiction, there's no more to it and this contaminates our lives everywhere. We fool our entire system to believe we know what good experiences are but in truth we're just fulfilling our need for nicotine and we associate lots and lots of different experiences with it. In truth all these experiences are not good, and any crappy experience can be good if you fulfill your single need when doing it. It's all fake.
   
   To realize that and think that maybe I'll be again able to enjoy small things, that actually have a meaning to whatever my brain really likes, gives me quite some motivation. I miss that. Miss having to fulfill actual desires in my brain, instead of just feeding it nicotine and pretending that's all it needs, because that gave me the false rush I needed. Such a lie, true deception, makes me feel sick towards all the companies that sell that substance. I'm pretty sure they're completely aware they're ruining so many lives.
   
   It's been nice to have you around here, it gives some meaning to my journey and hopefully will help me keeping motivated towards it. Thank y'all.
   
   
   

   Last modified on 17 Jun 2020 15:44 by addicta
7. brieffree

   

   1477 posts
   Registered:
   28 Nov 2017
   18 Jun 2020

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   Hi addicta
   
   Congrats in all the effort you did and you are making, Regarding the Millon dollar question?
   
   Do you want to be free! of all bad habits?
   Do you want to see your family in 50 years?
   Do you want to clime stars until the top in one shot.?
   Do you like to save your Money for something else very important like your future?
   
   Do not let your addiction control your live, no excuses, as addicts we know how to find our destructive choice!
   May be, you can chose something else Healthy for you, instead of destructive behavior!
   
   I hope it helps you to built confidence in yourself!
   
   I use to smoke like a chimney! 3 pks a day! I was suffocating my self without care, smokes were part of me! until one day, I realize something was wrong! Then I made the rights choice, my life change for ever, I applied that rule in my life in all areas.
   
   When I am so overstress, I just find something heaty, Candy, mint, fruits, carrots, etc. Changing your behavior, thinking only how to built your day ahead! Different, the is what you have inside of you! since you born, you born pure! No bad habits! Only love, Love your self, not your addiction!
   Believe in you!
   
   Have a wonderful smoke free day!
   
8. addicta

   

   7 posts
   Registered:
   15 Jun 2020
   18 Jun 2020 in reply to brieffree

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   Hello brieffree.
   I don't believe smoking or not to be the main factor in seeing my family in 50 years, nor to my success because I'm kinda successful, so money is really not a problem. Does it give me a better chance at all that, maybe, are these realistic motives For Me, not really. I agree that saving money is a major plus and so is being free. It's not being free of bad habits, it's being free. There is no word to add to that, freedom is freedom, and it implies a complete ability to explore without compromise.
   
   Like I said above, I found that any addiction will compromise that, simply because it gives you an easy route to achieve a state of satisfaction, you have an addiction, and getting some sort of reward just means satiating that addiction. Realizing that made me understand that I wanted something more for my life, I want to discover it, I don't want to have such a simple cheat, I want to find reward through discovery and exploration.
   
   Stress is always there, I mean in my line of work at lçeast,  I am stressed all the time. Drugs help, in this case nicotine, but I find that a stable response to stress always goes through having a solid philosophy. Understanding, in a realistic manner, your role in this world, or the lack of it, and making peace with the constantly present ambiguity is by far a much stronger approach than any drug. That's how I deal with a stressful life, ..., most of the time. 
   
   So where did my addiction fit into all this? Everywhere. Whenever I was lacking the energy to be more, there it goes, just cheat and smoke. Get the fast reward from completing the addiction cycle and think no more. It's too easy. In being too easy, it eats up everything else.
   
   Were I not interested deeply in self-improvement, it'd be hard to justify this journey of mine. I find your arguments to be truthful, but lacking, particularly because they don't include the present, and the present is what we live wherever, whenever. It's hard tricking the mind into seeing the benefits of a possible future, but understanding how it affects your present, how it compromises it, and how to see a change in it every day, has been key on this decision of mine.
   
   In the end, I suppose we agree more than the words make it seem, maybe we just word things differently. Either way, thank you for your words, enjoy a wonderful smoke free day yourself! Tomorrow is my first week 100% smoke free(yeah still a newbie in this) and I have no intention of ever doing it again. 
9. brieffree

   

   1477 posts
   Registered:
   28 Nov 2017
   23 Jun 2020

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   Hi Addiccta
   
   I respect all you post, and I found that you are truly, deeply self conscious, Respect to my addiction and I repeat only my Problem is I din not want to quit at all, I had to quit or else!
   
   So, I had to make the right choice, Then the problem started and with help I am smoke free! more than 5 years!
   No more smoke into my lungs forever!
   No matter what!
   As you say exploring is not bad, as far you can control that!
   Respect drugs, nothing good come from it!
   I f you are free good for you! No matter what!
   
   All the best
     
10. addicta

    

    7 posts
    Registered:
    15 Jun 2020
    10 Jul 2020

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    1 month in. Not missing smoking at all. I don't think I'll smoke again. I can say after the second week, there were no more cravings really. Staying out of places and away from people that smoked has also been a major help(at least I believe so).
    
    I suppose I was a bit afraid on the first days, as to what would happen if I left the habit, what about all these things I used to do, the excuse smoking is to avoid so many things, to deal with people, even to go out to an extent( please notice I wasn't smoking pure tobacco). I realized that dropping an habit, is only as big a deal as you make it, and it seems daunting at first, but in truth, it's a process we all should get used to. A small attitude, a drop of a stupid habit has been responsible for a lot of personal growth(or at least a feeling of).
    
    I also made sure to have a pack available for the first two weeks. Having it but not touching it gave me a sense of nothing much going on, if I needed it I had it, I didn't have to consider not having it, fearing needing it and having to get it, nor anything of such kind. After two weeks I gave it away, because I was pretty sure I did not want it anymore. I think that making a big deal out of this can make it appear to be something bigger than it is. Not sure whether I'm right or wrong. 
    
    Major change I felt so far was smell and taste come back gradually. I wonder if I'll be feeling any further changes down the line, what do you guys think?
11. brieffree

    

    1477 posts
    Registered:
    28 Nov 2017
    11 Jul 2020

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    Hi Adiccta
    
    Congrats in 1 Months Free!
    
    I remember when I was quitting the first week was to get rid off all smokes I had, ashtrays, etc...
    It was a bit hard but I did it, No matter what! 
    Because, I know my addiction and I knew what I want and why I had to quit!!
    I think, that the answer to have a pack near you? is a to me risky! unless, you have complete control over it!
    Beside, I remember to get rid off all that remain me smokes...
    
    Personally, is enough when you go out and feel all the smoke from an other people. 
    
    I have nothing with all the people who smoke, is me who have to be aware of it! is me who choose NOT  to smoke and BRIEF PURE AIR!
    
    No matter what, Congrats in 1 Month free!
    You are doing it, That is all!!
    
    Big Congrats! Lest try to keep it, for an other month! Freedom is yours! 
    
    
    
    
12. treepeo1

    

    255 posts
    Registered:
    06 Feb 2020
    14 Jul 2020 in reply to addicta

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    Hi addicta,
    
    A HUGE CONGRATS on your first month smoke free!  Well done!
    
    I remember that when I first quit, I also kept all my cigarettes, and in plain view.  I kept looking at them and saying, "I am choosing to quit".  And I finally gave them to my sister after 3 weeks or so.  That strategy would not work for everyone, but it worked for me.  On some level, it made me feel empowered, and that was important.
    
    You said that your smell and taste were coming back, which is great, but do you notice any changes in your breathing?  I ask because I remember what happened to me.  One day I had to climb a bunch of stairs at the subway and then run for the streetcar.  I was lucky to get a seat, and once I sat down, it hit me.  My heart was not pounding from the exertion like it usually did.  The difference in my breathing hit me like a ton of bricks, and suddenly I was elated.  That was a huge benefit of quitting for me.
    
    The other thing is not having to deal with cravings.  I wasted so much time thinking about smoking.  When could I have my next smoke, where could I have it?  I could not make it through a dinner with my friends without going outside to have a cigarette.  But those days are long over, and am I ever glad.  I was always to embarrassed, and now I don't have to worry about it.  You will enjoy the same freedom.
13. efram, quit coach

    

    235 posts
    Registered:
    29 Nov 2017
    14 Jul 2020

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    Hi addicta!
    
    .... or should I say "non-addicta"? Along with the changes in smell and taste it seems that you're also redefining who you are as a person independent of cigarettes. I'd imagine that this offers tremendous opportunities for personal growth, which may ultimately be your biggest benefit. 
    
    Congratulations!  
    
    
14. addicta

    

    7 posts
    Registered:
    15 Jun 2020
    28 Aug 2020

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    77 days smoke free and never going back!
    
    Without a doubt one of the best decisions in my life, don't regret it for a bit. Been able to finally explore myself and realize what I like without compromising every moment that would provide me the groundwork for exploration by simply tricking my brain into a positive reward by smoking. I don't know if smoking would kill me, but I know it would suck the life and willness to grow and that's much worse.
15. brieffree

    

    1477 posts
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    28 Nov 2017
    28 Aug 2020

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    Hi adiccta 
    
    Congratulations in 77 days smoke free! you did it, 
16. brieffree

    

    1477 posts
    Registered:
    28 Nov 2017
    30 Aug 2020

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    Hi there
    
    Dose anyone have a problem with the the website? we can not see the comments, only this!
17. addicta

    

    7 posts
    Registered:
    15 Jun 2020
    07 Apr 2021

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    It's been sometimes now since I stopped. I have no intention to start and I see no reason to ever do it.
    
    I realize now that moving back from my social life was a very important step to not fall victim to other people's vices. 
    
    As for improvements, I'm not an healthy person, lost weight and got healthier in every way. Quitting has made me follow much more healthy habits as well as eating better.
    
    I don't have much to say, but I'll try to come back when it's 1 year off. 
    
    Regardless, don't even think twice before stopping, there is no reasonable way I'd ever convince me to go back smoking.
    
    
18. jenna lee, quit coach

    

    265 posts
    Registered:
    28 Jun 2018
    08 Apr 2021 in reply to addicta

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    addicta,
    
    Congratulations on remaining smoke-free!
    
    You are doing some great reflecting on your quit experience to determine what you did that went well, so you can continue with your quit journey. Staying away from other smokers and making other healthy changes are not easy things to do; you should be really proud of all your accomplishments.
    
    Jenna Lee
19. anuraag_jassal

    

    1 posts
    Registered:
    11 Apr 2021
    11 Apr 2021

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    Hi,
    Just enrolled in the program. I hope i do this. 
    Thanks 
    Anuraag
20. lesleyaf

    

    37 posts
    Registered:
    23 Nov 2020
    12 Apr 2021 in reply to anuraag_jassal

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    Hi Anuraag,
    Welcome to our group and congratulations on making the move to quit smoking!
    The community is definitely a great support.  Whenever I get  a strong urge to quit, I log in and read all the inspirational stories in this forum.  
    Good luck! You can do this :-)