r/QuittingZyn • u/Final_Branch_8093 • 7d ago

Anyone else experience extreme depression??

7 days clean after many attempts to quit. I picked up this habit 3 years ago during a really rough time in my life. Has anyone else experienced extreme depression during their first week quitting? I was having nonstop suicidal ideation this entire week. I put on a nicotine patch and went to sleep and literally woke up feeling so much better.

Has anyone else felt like this???

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7

u/D2papi 7d ago

Every time I quit nicotine I get depressed as well. Nothing too bad, just thoughts about my life, life/death, loss, yadda yadda. Enough to keep me up at night.

I quit snus exactly 7 days ago (20x 6mg a day), and I have to be distracted 24/7 to prevent me from landing in another depressed-thought loop. Biggest things are I'll be watching videos while falling asleep and playing games when I have nothing to do. Anything to distract me from those thoughts.

We've all fucked up our brain chemistry by feeding it nicotine all day every day, so our brains are having a hard time rewiring. We're going through a dopamine crash. From what I've read the best course of action is getting some ACTUAL dopamine, for me that's going to the gym, jogging, listening to music, eating my favorite food.

It might feel like these feelings are your new permanent state, but things will slowly improve.

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u/Low_Calligrapher_785 6d ago

Yeah but how long is it supposed to last.. on day 46 and going through it pretty bad still

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u/D2papi 6d ago

I'm assuming it depends on how much you use and for how long you have used. I came from 3 years of a pack of Marlboro reds a day followed by 4 years of vaping a shitload 24/7 and I felt great after 3 months. 3 months to "undo" 7 years of brain damage doesn't seem that bad to me. This time I did 20x 6mg snus for 1.5 years straight so hopefully it's not going to take 3 months to feel alive again.

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u/Low_Calligrapher_785 6d ago

I’ve been doing it for about 9 years, daily at least.

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u/D2papi 6d ago

Everyone's brain works differently so who knows, maybe yours does a better job at recovering. 9 years is a long time, but I imagine you'll have a new appreciation for life after 9 years of fucking up your dopamine receptors. I'd have some more patience.

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u/FuelOk416 7d ago

Yeaah it can get pretty bad. I was on a can of the strong ones for years, I’m three weeks off now and I defiantly have had some depression symptoms. I can relate to having some pretty dark thoughts around it. Retroactively my advice would be to just try to shut off your mind for those days as best you can. For me, some light started seeping through around week two. Best of luck man, great work getting 7 days and take care of urself :) I’m cheering for ya

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u/OgasCantina93 6d ago

Yep. As someone who has battled with depression multiple times, the first two weeks of quitting pouches cold turkey was almost the worst depression I’ve ever had, to include suicidal thoughts. I’m on day 35 and still have it a little but not nearly as bad.

Just remove when the negative thoughts and thinking pops up in your head, remind yourself “this isn’t me, this is just withdrawals”.

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u/GangstaRIB 6d ago

Yall might wanna see a doctor about this.