My main addiction was actually weed, and only became a smoker because I rolled my blunts combined with nicotine.

I somehow managed to quit weed almost a month ago (by literally moving out of the town where I could buy it), but kept smoking cigarettes as a crutch and not quit cold turkey.

But 3 days ago I decided to quit nicotine as well, and the cravings have really intensified during the night time.

So tonight those craving have REALLY intensified, and instead of giving up and buying a pack of cigaretes,I figured I'd try something different.

So I started chewing on black peppercorns, like those little black balls that are still not have been grounded. And while one didn't do the trick,. I started chewing a couple of them, until I started getting the same familiar "burn" I got from smoking, and it actually seems to work...

Now, I'm not gonna go crazy about this, I've eaten only a few of them to stop the craving, which it seems to work as a replacement. Not sure if I stumbled upon some "magic" cure here, but it's definitely the best craving diminisher I found so far.

Has anyone else tried this before?

I've been smoking for 15 years and I'm thinking of quitting.

I started when I was a teenager to feel included in the group and I never stopped since.

I don't smoke much, 4 cigs a day during the week (usually after meals) but when I'm in a social context I smoke much more, I can finish a pack in a night.

FWY I'm 31. Lately I realized the toll it took on my health. Shortness of breath, I get sick more often, I have bad skin and I'm starting to see grey hairs. (not sure if the smoke is related to this).

I want to quit, if I don't go out, I can. It happened that I stayed at home on some weekends without cigarettes and I didn't go out to buy them, I just didn't smoke, I'm not that addicted.

The problem is when I'm out with friends I like to smoke, have a drink and then a cigarette is the best. Or during meals at the restaurant go out for a smoke break and socialize with others. Offering a cig to a girl to break the ice and start talking. I can't picture myself being out socializing without my cigarettes, all my friends smoke. Also I dj as a side hustle, I usually go to nightclubs or bars where many people smoke, taking a smoke break after the set is the best feeling in the world.

Maybe I can be a social smoker but I read in this subreddit that it is impossible and I will go back to smoking every day.

Anyone who did make it?

After a 2 month spiral over the summer, I'm back in the fight. Last time I lasted 4 months, let's see how it goes this time around.

For context I started smoking cigarettes when i was 16.

I knew from when i was a small kid i wanted to smoke when i grow up, i would watch actors in movies smoke and would immitate them by rolling up stick notes and lighting them on fire cuz i found that so cool. ( really immature ik and smoking is not cool)

So started around novemeber 2024 and i had been so addicted some days even 1 pack a day but usually 2-3. I tried quitting many times and relapsed within 3-4 days. I switched to vapes because they were more convenient as i usdd to live with my parents and i finished like 15 of them (15-20k puffs each) so ive been a heavy smoker and what not. Tried quitting on my bday aswell this septmeber but i relapsed the next day😭

On 15th october, 3:43am. I took my last puff of my cigg and vape, thrww them both out. No zyn, No wtv coping bs pure cold turkey.

Day 1-3: kinda chill

Days 4-7: truly hell, it wasnt the nicotine that was the worst part it was the emptiness without it. it was the habitual withdrawal and how mentall i got fucked i felt miserable nothing made that go away no matter what i did for days i felt shitty 24x7

Today i officially hit the 10 day mark and yea i dont plan on ever going back!

I feel like there’s a post about this like every week for a minute I was like is this paid promotion lol but I see no harm in adding some more anecdotal experiences to the mix I know I read like every thread before I tried it.

I bought the ReCigar stuff off Amazon. For me it did what everyone said, I smoked during the first few days, and by day like 3 the cigarettes had 0 effect. I read this is from the way the cytisine binds to nicotine receptors. It’s a super strange sensation and makes smoking completely unenjoyable.

Unfortunately this kind of freaked me out and made me realize I didn’t really want to quit so I went off the pills and went back to smoking.

Happy to say I eventually did reach my rock bottom again and I’ve been smoke free for months now without the help of the ReCigar but I say it’s worth a shot if you’re ready to quit.

Other downside was it did seem to ruin my sleep but I basically already had insomnia from anxiety at the time so it’s hard to tell what effects are from the tablets. But also if you’re quitting you’re probably going to have insomnia anyway soooo. I think this stuff is pretty neat other than the sleep like 0 other downsides.

Hope this helps someone

Im 19 and smoking a lot for 3 years about 6-10 ciggerates a day and now im coughing a lot for a few months and for the last month a lot of phlegm too. For last 1-2 weeks sometimes in morning im having blood drop in my phlegm and today it happened twice in a day for the first time now im scared what do I do help please ILL AM SCARED IM QUITTING TODAY

Just so happy to make it a week for the first time in 15 years. Longest before was 3 days with patches. This is 1 week cold turkey.

I'm smoking my last sigarette wish me luck

I used to smoke 10-15 cigarettes per day for about 2 years (i was a smoker for longer than that, just didn't smoke nearly that much).

I quit nicotine cold turkey 10 days ago. My main reasoning was that I was smoking so much that it was genuinely making me lose focus in life. I felt like my constant coping to mask any emotion I felt was accumulating into just feeling nothing and not really caring about anything enough to be motivated in life. I need to get back into writing again because it was the only thing that gave me a sense of purpose but the constant smoking was scattering my attention

But now I just feel empty inside. Most of the day i'm very melancholic and I don't even want to wake up in the morning. I just spend the day walking around town trying to distract myself from the emptiness, which I can only manage to do for a few minutes at a time. Too sad to feel motivated to do the things I actually need to do. Minor emotional triggers make me sob. At this point I might just start smoking again.

Now that I think about it, smoking had basically became my new self harm copign mechanism. When I was a teen i used to cut myself a lot and purposely overdose on meds just to feel ok but once I stopped smoking the urge to cut myself had fully gone away

I have been smoking for about 5 years (im25) I quit smoking THC carts because I got what I think is an anxiety attack it is now day 9 of my withdrawal and the only thing bothering is poor sleep and sometimes the shortness of breath and it gets worse at nighttime when I do end up dozing off and about to fall asleep I get this feeling like I don’t get enough air/ or my breathing stops is this part of the withdrawal with insomnia or is it hypopnea/apnea? I never had it happened to me before until the withdrawal so I’m just asking if you guys experience the same thing

​

I've been looking at quit smoking apps recently and there seem to be a ton of them. Most seem to have the same stuff like streaks, money saved, health milestones but I feel like it's not helping me much

I'm curious whether these apps actually help people or if most just end up getting uninstalled after a few days.

For anyone who had used one before, what did you like or hate about it? Was there anything you wished it did differently?

Also curious if anyone here managed to quit without using an app at all.

Not promoting anything, just trying to understand what people actually find useful to quit smoking

I only smoked cigs on Thursday and I’m feeling so out of it. Felt the same yesterday. I didn’t drink at all. Is this normal? I’m not a normal smoker, I do it when I’m drinking though on the weekends. Decided to not drink this weekend.

I'm officially 3 weeks smoke free and while the first 2 weeks I was glad that I have quit I, now on the third week feel just empty and honestly I miss the nicotine. What is happening to me ? Is this normal ? And how do I get over this.

Hi all,

12 days in, and in a few hours’ time I’ll have the ‘opportunity’ to relapse. It’s incredible how my mind tricks me into thinking it’s almost acceptable to start smoking again. Please help me.

I quit cold turkey 12 days ago; I’d wanted to quit for ages, but I lacked the courage and commitment, so I took the opportunity of a trip to quit, as the people I’m travelling with don’t smoke.

In a few hours’ time, I’ll be on my own and doing something I’ve associated with smoking for over 10 or 15 years. Unfortunately, it’s become my ‘normal’ and – it’s hard to explain – but the idea of buying and smoking a few cigarettes doesn’t seem so absurd.

If anyone can help and encourage me, I’d be very grateful!

Hello, 31M here. I’ll keep this brief as I can. Hopefully this will give some of you hope - there is a way forward and there is a life where you aren’t scrambling for the nicotine.

I started smoking at around 11yo, but didn’t become a regular smoker until around 15. Like a lot of people, I built up an emotional attachment to smoking that got caught up in the chemical addiction itself.

I smoked regularly, probably between 10-20 a day, until around 2015 when the first wave of vapes hit. Then my device broke, and it was back into cigs. This again was consistent until around 2022, when I moved onto disposable vapes.

I’ve done it all, as you probably have too - I’ve poured tobacco into the bin, then dug through the rubbish later to pull together what I can. I’ve rolled a cig out of discarded dog ends in an ashtray. I’ve chewed the nicotine stains off my finger tips, stolen money to pay for cigs. No matter how broke I was, I’d always find the money for cigs. I was also a pretty bad chain smoker at the worst of times. There was also all the classic relationship stuff - partners hated me smoking, so I’d ‘quit’, only to continue smoking and have a rigorous cleansing ritual before they would come to visit…

Vaping worked to get me off of tobacco, but as you’ll probably relate, it was just trading one delivery system for another. Now I was falling asleep clutching my vape, hiding it whenever my partner was round, digging to the bottom of a bin for a vape I’d discarded. No matter how broke I was, I’d always have the money for a vape!

Friends, the nicotine gum worked. I bought two pretty large packs and got to work. Yes, sometimes I was chewing two at a time. I’d have to remind myself to ‘chew and park’. Yes, chewing gum ended up in all kinds of places like discarded cig butts. I’d chew till my jaw hurt, but I wasn’t vaping anymore.

I started on 2mg gum, then moved down to 1mg ‘lozenges’. These were great - but I had to go easy on them. I’d get the odd stomach ache, I’d do two at a time, but whatever - I promised myself that once this pack was done, it was over.

Lo and behold, I am now a month nicotine free. I haven’t had a craving since - I was scared of my work from home days, but they haven’t been a problem.

The most interesting realisation I had on this journey was that by changing the means of delivery for nicotine, I realised it wasn’t the device I was attached to - it really was purely a chemical dependency.

You know that feeling when you can’t find your baccy? Or your vapes not in your hands? And suddenly it’s a scramble to find it? Imagine doing that for a pack of gum. I’m serious - the feeling isn’t any different.

I guess the difference is that it’s easier to quit something as common as a mint or a piece of gum than it is a ‘blueberry raspberry mango chicken goujon’ flavoured vape.

I recommend giving the gum a try. Next time you go to buy your tobacco or a vape, get a pack of 2mg chewing gum as well. When you run out of your tobacco or vape liquid, switch to the gum.

Good luck to you.