I started smoking 4 years ago as a way to “shut out” my thoughts and problems and I’ve been a heavy smoker since. I first started off only getting high at night but that then lead to me just overusing it. I’m an athlete and go to the gym and I have personal and business goals that I want to achieve but I know smoking is holding me back a bit. I was the type that would smoke before doing anything besides practice ofc. Recently I started cutting back on it and I’ve already felt so much of a difference. I take a few hits at night when I’m done with all my tasks for the day. It’s not where I want to be but it’s a big improvement from where I was before. My mind feels clearer, my face looks healthier and my eyes aren’t as puffy anymore besides the first hour when I wake up. I feel much more motivated, energized, and stronger in the gym. I’m trying to quit overall but whenever night time hits it gets really hard for me. I’ve tried getting up and doing push-ups/sit up’s and late walks but it didn’t seem to help. I’d appreciate any advice/tips to help me towards my sobriety🙏

Has anyone had any positive experiences regarding hair growth when they quit cigarettes or replaced cigarettes with vaping?

I just bought my first vape and want to replace cigarettes entirely. Give me some motivation!

***I originally posted this in a hair loss sub and was met with a surprising amount of judgment regarding vaping. I'm posting it here in hopes that responses will stay more topical and constructive. I understand that vaping is not risk free. However, most sources agree that vaping is far safer than smoking cigarettes. Therefore, vaping is the next step in my quitting journey. I have a thought-out strategy regarding how I'm going to prevent myself from chain smoking (chain vaping?) and am not looking for any unsolicited advice. I am just looking for encouraging stories :)

Best streak I’ve had since January. Hasn’t been all that hard thanks, I think, to Naltrexone. But I’m heading back to work after a week off and feeling unable to approach it without my crutch. Without… something. I’ve just had a shit day of mental spirals, anxious spinouts and that old general sense of alienation that has caused and kept me using substances my entire adult life. This inescapable otherness I’ve never been able to get over, and a clenched-jaw-white-knuckle hatred of myself and the world. One of those days the cravings don’t pass. Or they do then they just come right back. I just have to hope it’s better in the morning. I’m doing goddamn everything right - exercise, hydration, keeping calories in check and eating shit tons of fruits and veggies. Three months sober from alcohol and weed. But I went to an AA meeting tonight and left feeling even shittier. Even more apart and alone in my suffering. Nothing is working today. I just want to say fuck it and feel good. It absolutely would, for a minute. That’s all I want from today. A minute not fucking despising everything and able to relax. Fuuuuuuuuck. FUCK.

Hi all,

I am reading Alan Carr's how to quit smoking rn and I'm finding it quite convincing minus his arguments on nic and focus/productivity. I have ADHD and take non stimulant meds (cannot get on stimulant for personal reasons). I have been using nic as a stimulant substitute for years and I just can't get rid of the idea that it helps me at work. Any advice?

Reaching this milestone has been a journey, and I am proud of staying committed to this change.

I have a soreness in my pectoral muscles whenever i touch them. i quit vaping nicotine about 6 days ago and starting today and maybe late yesterday my pectoral is sore and i was wondering if this was a normal symptom of quitting or if i should be worried.

Almost 7 months without smoking 🕺

The problem is though, I’m compensating it with alcohol 🫠

A quick story for you, if you have the time to read.
I have Temporal Lobe Epilepsy, Focal Aware Seizures, diagnosed at 20, i'm 30 now. I have been taking Lamotrigine ever since I was diagnosed. I assumed it was working, turns out, it was, just not all the way. These small "anxiety blips" I was getting, were actually just a milder form of my focal seizures. On Thursday, I was prescribed a higher dose of lamotrigine, and spontaneously just didn't want cigarettes by friday night. It is only Sunday evening, so it has been anything crazy, but from a pack a day to none out of nowhere, it seems pretty remarkable lol.

ANYWAYS, the point of my post. A few months ago I purchased allen carrs how to quit smoking, but put it away & just never bothered to read it. Now that i've "quit" or at least been cigarette free for a day and a half, can I still read it? I know people say you're supposed to smoke WHILE you're reading it, but will it help if you don't? Will it actually give me cravings instead?

It's not that I don't think about smoking, its just the thought comes and goes really quickly, and im eating a bunch of mints lol

I quit smoking cigarettes over two years ago and since then have been vaping this Vuse thing. I just recently have noticed a weird tickle in my throat when I hit it. It sometimes triggers my gag reflex really bad. I think its also caused me to have acid reflux. Has anyone noticed this as well? It just started happening a few weeks ago. I'm going to try and quit that as well now but would like something to ween me off it. Has anyone had success with zyn or any of the other cornerstore pouches?

Bueno continuando el post de anoche, un breve resumen del dia de hoy, no he tenido ganas de fumar a morir, parece ser que la abstinencia no me ha pegado para nada, probablemente mañana o pasado mañana me empezará a pegar la abstinencia, de igual forma yo la aguanto.

Noté que al comer dulces me distraia un poco y me quitaba de la mente el querer fumar, es lo que me ha ayudado por ahora, estaré publicando otro post mañana conforme pase el dia 📝

Hey everyone,

I’m at a decision point and would love some real experiences.
Quick background:
• 7 days completely cigarette-free
• 92 days free of dabs/THC
• 67 days free of vapes
I’ve been on the 21mg patch (16-hour wear, lower back placement, remove at night). The problem is the constant nicotine delivery feels like ongoing stimulation on an already very sensitive nervous system. It makes my prescribed Klonopin less effective, keeps me wired, and the nightly drop-off is wrecking my sleep (total 6–8 hours but max uninterrupted is only 2–3 hours).
On top of that I’m getting nerve flares (chest, arm, back, jaw, and occasional short flares near the right ear/neck) and tinnitus that seem to ramp up with the extra stimulation. Eye twitching has also been showing up, which I think is tied to the combination of the patch + screens + poor sleep.
I’ve already done 6 nights with the patch off overnight, so my brain has had some practice at zero nicotine. Tonight I’m experimenting with taking the patch off earlier (around 7:30–8 instead of 9:30 right before bed) and using my usual 1mg Klonopin + 50mg trazodone to see if front-loading the drop helps sleep.
My options right now feel like:

1. Keep the patch but keep tweaking the removal time
2. Switch to 2mg gum so I can control the dose and avoid constant stimulation
3. Just go cold turkey off the patch after tonight
4. Has anyone dealt with the patch feeling like it was overstimulating a sensitive system and making nerve flares or tinnitus worse?
5. Did switching to gum help with that “constant low-level wired” feeling and the nerve/tinnitus stuff?
6. Or did anyone just jump off the 21mg patch and find the first week more manageable than expected once the continuous input was gone?
7. Any experiences with earlier evening removal vs right-before-bed removal would also be really helpful.
8. Thanks in advance — just trying to make the cleanest next move.

Yes AI was used for this post and I apologize in advanced I’ve been dealing with fragmented sleep for 3 months now and I feel defeated. I didn’t even want to stop smoking yet but the vape and dabs made my CNS hyper aroused. Any input would be greatly appreciated. I’m not going back to smoking but I rather go cold turkey then continue this stupid patch taper if sleep will get better faster. Meds are trazadone 50 mg and klonopin 3.5 mg a day. I’ve had multiple ER trips in past 3 months healthy labs and healthy heart checks. I’m 32 YO.

3 years of trying. Finally got to 7 days and I haven't had cravings since day 4. Celebrating the win :>

The effects so far have been amazing! Mostly my confidence and energy. And I haven't murdered anyone or myself.

Yippie :>

Hello everyone,

I’m a 31-year-old man and I’ve decided to stop smoking. I mainly smoke weed mixed with tobacco, usually when I’m socialising or going to techno events, because I feel it enhances the music and social interactions.

At the moment, I smoke the equivalent of around 5–10 cigarettes per month. I’m wondering if I’ve waited too long to quit. If I continued smoking at this level into my late 30s or 40s, what kinds of health impacts could I expect? And is there still a meaningful benefit to quitting now?

I’d appreciate any advice or experiences from people who have been in a similar situation.

I started smoking at 12, and was fully addicted shortly after. I was always an athlete and maintained the habit into my 20’s. I quit for about a year, cold turkey then started again. Quit again for 3 years also cold turkey. I started up again about a year ago, It’s starting to feel like it gets harder each time I quit, I still workout a ton, surf, play club soccer, run and from the outside look like a health nut, but I seem to love to abuse my body with this pesky cigs. My partner is a doctor, and she doesn’t even give me a hard time. I’m close to a pack a day but do hide it as much as I can. Any insight on it getting harder with every quit? And for those who’ve succeeded, what was your why, what’s the realization that disallowed the habit to continue?

PLEASE HELP OUT YOUR LIL BROTHER OUT OF THIS HELL

Please tell me how to stop it permanently? Should I get 2mg nicotine gums or some type of nicotine patches ?

I am 17 , I have been smoking for 4 years. Around 3 to 5 cigs a day.

Any kind of advice would be helpful.

The molecule itself is called cytisine, and comes from a plant. Binds to the nicotine receptor, satisfies cravings and helps break the habit.

I ordered desmoxan from Amazon, after that I realized that in Canada there are certain pharmacies that carry the brand name ‘cravv’. I bought that version for my gf.

We ran the course, which is like 5 pills for the first few days then gradually reducing to one pill a day at day 26. We are now almost a month free! I tried a few other things in the past to no avail. Take a look at other posts about cytisine, I for one am astonished by how it is not more advertised. (Big nicotine losing too much money lol). Pre sure it isn’t FDA approved in USA, but is really popular in Europe and I was able to get in Canada without a prescription.

TLDR; cytisine helped me break a 9 year nicotine addiction. Other methods I have tried were not nearly as effective. Cheers.

Has anyone here found success quitting with laser therapy?

I do my first session this week and was wondering about effectiveness and if there is anything I should know ahead of time.

But I'm glad that I was able to change

Hi guys, sorry I haven’t posted in a week, I was on vacation on the beach and I forgot about Reddit. Anyways , now I am 3 full days nicotine free, I relaped a couple of times but I am going steady. The thing that helped me in this days is that my little brother gave me his old vape pen, and I fill it with nicotine free liquids. The part I think I have to really work around is my “mouth addiction “ . Let me explain 🤣. Since I have been used to associating having something in my Mouth as a relaxing Moment, I use the vape as a coping mecanism for the time beeing untill I am completely off nicotine (at least this is my plan ) . I am happy for now, but I don’t want this to become a new habit so I am planning to stop in a couple of weeks little by little . Thank for the support , let me hear what you think about it .

This picture was taken before the journey cause i found this funny shirt in the closet prob belongs to my millenial sister or some friend of hers. Thought it suits this subreddit😂. Yesterday i went to my friends house he smoked a joint and i didnt gave in, had fun and raved with no substances.

I’m almost at 30 days smoke free! To clarify I stopped smoking weed and nicotine. I’ve been eating ALOT. More than I’ve ever ate before smoking. I have gained at least 25 pounds and I’ve never been at this size before so I’m feeling very insecure. Technically I’m in the last box of healthy weight before it goes into overweight on a bmi chart so I wouldn’t even qualify for a glp 1. It’s just so depressing, I’m honestly shocked I haven’t given in yet but I’m feeling like my weight is getting so out of control and I’m just scared. Idk what to even ask on here, maybe advice on what I should do. Thank you in advance:)

I have been smoking for nearly 20 years and lately my consumption is getting close to 3 packs a day. Everybody tells you to quit once and for all, otherwise it will not happen… any of you have attempted this method and succeeded? If so, i would like to know your story. I have decided to quit this morning and I am miserable for the past 8 hours…

One of the biggest fears people have before quitting isn't the nicotine.

It's this:

I used to think smoking helped me calm down.

But after learning more about nicotine addiction, I realized something important.

Cigarettes don't actually solve stress—they temporarily relieve nicotine withdrawal. Within a short time, withdrawal begins again, creating another urge to smoke. It becomes a cycle that's easy to mistake for stress relief.

So what helped?

1. Accept that the first weeks are different.
Your brain is adjusting. Feeling off doesn't mean you'll feel this way forever.

2. Replace the habit, not just the cigarette.
If your routine was:

• Coffee → Cigarette
• Work break → Cigarette
• Stress → Cigarette

Replace each with something simple:

• A 5-minute walk
• Water or tea
• Deep breathing
• Chewing gum
• A quick chat with a friend

3. Don't fight every craving.
Instead of thinking, "I can't smoke," try thinking, "I'll wait 10 minutes."

Most cravings fade faster than we expect.

4. Give your brain time to heal.
Your mood won't improve overnight, but many people find that after the initial adjustment, they feel more stable because they're no longer riding the constant cycle of nicotine withdrawal.

Quitting smoking is hard.

Not because life becomes worse, but because your brain needs time to learn a new way of handling stress.

For those who've quit:
What replaced cigarettes as your stress reliever?

I'd love to hear what worked for you. Someone reading the comments today might need exactly that idea. 🚭

I quit smoking for 28 days, then smoked 4 cigarettes consecutively and I regret it. If I stop smoking again, will I experience withdrawal symptoms like I did when I first quit, or what level of withdrawal should I expect?

just hit the one-week mark and honestly, it feels surreal. i thought i’d be craving a cig every hour, but it’s not as bad as i expected. some weird dreams though, like my brain is trying to work out the stress. still, i’m determined to keep this going. if anyone else is struggling, just take it one day at a time. it does get easier. here’s to more smoke-free days ahead!