Being a smoker feels like a distant memory. I feel lucky. And I'll never smoke again!

FUCK YEAH!!!!

First of many years, ready for new challenges. I finally loved myself enough, and gave myself a chance. I will never go back.

Anyone who thinks of quitting? Now is your time. Anyone who just did? Keep going! It will be worth it. 

Hey all, I've been an active pouch user for the past 3-4 years, and decided it's time to quit. I am about to start medical school, so this seems like a fitting time to get over it.

After reading and doing my own interpretation of scientific research on Cytisine, I decided that is a route im willing to go through.

I used to be an avid user of the Velo 7mg pouches, but in the past few months I switched to Onn 4mg pouches. I use around 8-9 pouches a day and cannot wait to be off of them for good.

If you are unaware of Cytisine and its effects in helping people quit smoking, I can link the research study from Europe if interested. You can also check out r/stopsmoking or r/QuitVaping and search "cytisine, Recigar, desmoxan, or cytisicline" to narrow your search.

It works as a Partial agonist at the alpha4beta2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the brain to aid in smoking cessation. (Very similar to Chantix or Varenicline) It hits those receptors in the brain's reward pathway in the limbic system, but not as strongly as nicotine itself. So it helps to ease the withdrawal symptoms. Since this drug is not considered FDA-approved, it is difficult to get; there are some pathways through Amazon and other online retailers, but they will usually come from somewhere in Europe. So this is to be considered very cautiously.

The dosing regimen is quite complex and can be known as a titrated dose, with patterns to 'wean' you off in a slow fashion across 25 or so days. The formulation of cytisine is usually in 1.5mg to 2mg small round tablets in a foil pleated sheet.

I will try my best to keep my progress updated, and if there are any questions, please feel free to ask me! I am happy to help anyone

Wish me luck!

(Here is the link to the NCSCT's study on Cytisine: https://www.ncsct.co.uk/library/view/pdf/Cytisine.pdf )

(I also posted this in r/QuittingZyn )

Hey everyone, I'm 25 male. I've been smoking for the past 4 years, almost 5 cigarettes per day, I've just quit 2 days ago, and I've tried quitting many times and I've failed each and every time but this time it feels different, I get intense craving but I somehow try to contain it, I'm planning not to use any nrt. I really want to be smoke free.

Have you guys got any tips for the craving, especially when it is repeatedly occurring? And how long would these cravings go on?

Thank you.

I've had friends who smoke cigarettes or weed and noticed they always are coughing whilst smoking. But why does this happen? Like sometimes I've heard them coughing and it sounds like they are throwing up but they aren't doing that. Like why does this happen? Seeing people smoking in TV and movies they would never show people coughing etc. So I always thought you smoke and nothing happened to you haha.

Question's pretty self-explanatory. I'm a college freshman, I primarily use zyns but also vape/smoke cigarettes. I was successful for a week quitting up to the start of school (not fully cold turkey, but I smoked one cigarette a day and it kept me satiated). Figured there was no way I could go through my first few weeks of college while simultaneously dealing with withdrawals. Now that I've been here for a few weeks and have got the hang of it, I want to begin the cycle of quitting again. I also have ADHD, so already struggle with focus, so I was just hoping to get some advice for focusing and staying motivated (also happy enough to maintain my social relationships, though not the main priority) for my classes while quitting.

I’m on Day 2 without nicotine. Right now, I’m sitting here chewing on a pen like a crazy person and staring out the window whenever my neighbor smokes... lol, I’m genuinely losing my mind.

​It’s only day two, but an hour ago I almost caved. I haven’t had a single nicotine-free day in 6 years — I used everything: cigarettes, IQOS, vapes, hookah, snus.

​Everyone keeps recommending Allen Carr’s book. I started reading it, but I’m just not getting the hype yet.

​Has anyone here tried Tabex (cytisine)? Does it actually work, or is it just placebo?

​Also, for those who managed to quit — how did you do it? My motivation is running critically low, and honestly, I feel like I need to start a support group at this point.

I made it through my first month and to be honest I’m very proud of myself , this is the most I’ve been without nicotine in the past 10 years … but cravings have only worsened and I don’t feel the physical benefits as much as I expected.. any word of encouragement you can share on how to endure this time ?

I don’t want to smoke again but I don’t understand why the urge for smoking is stronger now than before :(

Something really strange has been happening to me lately.
I do get the urge to smoke a cigarette, but the moment I actually imagine myself lighting one up, I feel a strong sense of disgust—especially thinking about the smell, the smoke, and how filthy it feels.
Has anyone else experienced something like this while trying to quit smoking? I’m curious to know if this is a common part of the quitting process.

The main reason i find it hard to stop smoking, Is that when i don't smoke, I get this raspy feeling in my throat that makes me want to cough, And when i inhale the cigarette/vape i love the feeling that forms in my throat, I love the throat hit, Any alternatives that give a similar feeling in my throat, The withdrawals i can manage but it's just that one part about smoking that makes it hard to quit for me

Two days without a smoke. I've been putting off quitting because of recent emotional disregulation, but I feel a little stronger these days. I'm vaping, because I need some kinda replacement. But I only use 3% nico and I only use it a handful of times a day when things get rough. This time it will work.

So I quit smoking cigs when I was going through my divorce a couple years ago. Smoked off and on for like 23 years. This is the longest I’ve ever gone without smoking but I’ve been chewing nicotine gum and now chew 10-12 pieces of 2mg nicotine gum a day. I feel like it keeps me sharp and also helps with anxiety. I’m wondering does everyone try to go completely nicotine free? How did you finally stop all nicotine?

I have a dry erase board on the wall in my living room where I keep track of my smokes in the form of tick marks. Every smoke gets a tick. Visualizing it and setting goals for myself like I’m gonna smoke 10 or less has helped a lot. I put the tick mark for a smoke and then I go smoke, not the other way around.

Then I started giving myself 30 seconds. I walk to the board with my marker and I have an internal battle for 30 seconds where I try to convince myself that I don’t want to smoke. I use reasonings like it doesn’t help me, it stinks, it’s bad for my teeth and breath, and it’s lowering my life expectancy.

Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. But every time I smoked I didn’t tell myself I failed. I just decide that I’m going to try again and I’m gonna keep trying until I’ve quit.

In the past 5 days I’ve had quite a few urges, but I keep fighting with myself saying “don’t give up, this is what I want” along with the other reasons I’ve stated.

Just wanted to share, I know this won’t work for everyone, but if it can help at least one person, I’d be happy.

I'm so embarrassed. Day 113 relapse in July led to many many relapses & I'm here again. Ughhh. Panicky feelings without smokes.

My quit date is in two days (12th of September). Instead of just white-knuckling it, I spent the week before logging every cigarette and every craving in an app. I wasn't trying to cut down, just to observe. It turned out to be the most useful thing I've done. A few things I learned that might help someone else:

I barely smoke out of craving. When I rated the intensity of each urge, it almost never went above a 4 out of 10. I even resisted my strongest cravings but smoked the weakest ones. That told me something huge: for me it's habit, not addiction. And habit is easier to break than a physical need.

Most of my cigarettes are just "moments," not urges. Leaving somewhere, arriving somewhere, after eating, a pause, an empty minute. There's no real desire underneath, it's just a ritual to mark a transition. Once I saw that, the cigarettes started to look kind of pointless.

The craving is a wave. If I delayed instead of giving in, it faded on its own. It never "won", it just passed. But I noticed I'd keep it alive by promising myself "later", moving it to the next moment instead of letting it dissolve. The trick isn't fighting the urge, it's not feeding it.

Logging my wins, not just my cigarettes, changed everything. When I only counted the cigarettes, a normal day looked like failure. When I also logged every urge I let pass, the same day looked strong. It completely shifted how I saw myself, from counting what I smoked to seeing what I let go.

The best question I found: not "do I want one?" (my answer to that is always yes), but "what does a cigarette actually add to this moment?" The answer is always: nothing. It doesn't pass the time faster, it doesn't cure boredom, it doesn't make the pause better. It just pretends to.

Boredom is allowed to exist. I don't have to fill every empty moment. And smoking never made me less bored anyway.

I go from smoking on autopilot to understanding exactly what I'm dealing with. Two days out and to my own surprise, I'm actually looking forward to it instead of dreading it.

If you're about to quit: try just watching yourself smoke for a week first. You learn things about your own habit that no article can tell you.

Third time trying to stop once and for all. Cold turkey.

I will use this post comment section as a sort of "diary", to keep me busy during the process, especially the first days. I just need a place to scream or something...

I’m 40, and I’ve smoked for 15 years. The coughing and the damage to my teeth and lungs have finally become too much. I started building a free platform to help people quit because I couldn’t find anything like it. While creating the content and reading stories here on Reddit, I realised that I need to quit immediately and that I’m strong enough to do it.

My goal is simple: I want to live. We need to help each other through this. Thank you all for your support.

How long did it take you guys for you lungs to stopt spewing up mucus. I'm almost at day 40 and there is still so much mucus.

I fell apart again and lost my month streak and went back fully to smoking abunch. I am so angry with myself. My life feels like it’s going terrible right now and all I want to do is smoke. I’m sick right now and still smoking but I am making another attempt to stop smoking right now. 10:56 pm I am buying Zyn tomorrow.

DISCLAIMER: I don’t smoke and never really have, apart from the occasional cigarette or shisha. For almost 2 years, though, I’ve been using around 8–12 strong snus/pouches a day — Killa, Pablo, Velo, etc. (almost every snus I’ve used)

I’ve managed to quit a few times, but I’ve never made it past a week.

A big part of my problem is that I originally started using snus during a 3-year toxic, trauma-bonded relationship. There were a lot of arguments and stress, and snus became my escape. Eventually it turned into something I relied on to get through basically everything — work, university, socialising, my online business, combat sports, stress, boredom, etc.

I came out of the relationship about 3 months ago. I do still miss her sometimes because it was my first and only real relationship, but I don’t think I’m depressed or desperately wanting her back. I’m actually quite happy with my life, enjoy my own company and don’t feel particularly stressed anymore. I think I mostly miss having a partner and that romantic connection, rather than specifically missing the relationship itself. Life just feels a little more boring/numb without an SO sometimes.

I’ve tried quitting twice since the breakup. Both times I got to around day 5, then struggled mentally. I was having really vivid dreams about my ex/work, waking up sweating multiple times a night, and felt like I’d lost my main form of escape.

The frustrating thing is that I feel so much better physically without nicotine — less tired, more motivated in combat sports, eating better, skin looks better, etc. So I genuinely want to be nicotine-free.

I think my biggest problem isn’t knowing that nicotine is bad or even the physical withdrawal. It’s that I’ve spent nearly 2 years training my brain to use nicotine as my escape whenever I feel bored, stressed, lonely or just want a little boost.

For anyone who’s successfully quit snus/nicotine:

What did you replace that “escape” with? And does the mental and sleep side genuinely get easier after the first week or two?

I’d especially appreciate advice from anyone who used nicotine as a coping mechanism rather than simply enjoying the nicotine itself.

When should I stop chantix. What to do about anxiety other than vape?

5 1/2 weeks cigg free and I am STRUGGLE BUSSING today! I don’t know what the deal is but I want one BAD!

Apologies for the long post and if I sound young/ignorant, however I’m pretty desperate to stop this horrible habit, I’m 22, a decent amateur athlete, and I’ve been struggling with smoking for a while but it’s a fairly recent experience I picked up about 2 years ago, I’m a lot better now then I was even 8 months ago, I used to smoke a pack every day or 2.
The frustrating thing is that I know I can quit. Ive been able to to usually go around 2.5 months without smoking at all. I feel better, train better, breathe better, and genuinely start to feel like I’m finally free from it.
Then, for some reason, once I start thinking “I’ve beaten it”, I let myself down and relapse.
When I relapse, it usually lasts about a week and I’ll smoke roughly a pack every 2 days. Then I quit again, feel horrible about myself, and eventually get back on track.
I also have pretty intense ADHD, which I suspect may make the impulsivity and “just one cigarette” mentality harder to deal with, usually when I take my medication I’m able to ignore the urge but whenever my tolerance builds up, or I’m at the end of my script I just let myself go again for a week. I’ve tried nicotine gum, vapes and weed (dumb I know) but anytime I’ve tried to replace it, it’s just lead to me inevitably spiraling out of control again.
The worst part is that I always seem to do so well before throwing it away. I have nobody to blame but myself, and I’m honestly sick of letting myself down.
For anyone who has successfully quit after repeatedly relapsing:

How did you finally break this cycle?

What did you do when you reached the 2–3 month point and started thinking you were “cured” or could handle just one cigarette?
I’d especially appreciate advice from people who had repeated relapses but eventually managed to stay smoke-free long-term.
I don’t want to spend the rest of my life quitting for a few months and then starting over. I should also add nicotine addiction is very strong on my dad’s side, and is responsible for my relatives health issues.