Adjunct suggestions

[Inquistadora]

Ok, so I had given up on quitting. I only ordered an e-cigarette so that I could tell myself I really had tried everything (patches, gum, drugs, hypnosis, pranayama, acupuncture, cold turkey all turkeys!). As I waited for its arrival, I read the euphoric testimonials of the freshly minted non-smokers over at ECF, and I began to have a little nigging hope, but deep down, I was convinced it couldn't work for me. Still, I told myself I would just try it to see what would happen. The cost was not great compared with what I routinely blew on tobacco, and the money was already spent.

What a surprise! The first day, without even trying, my steady pack and a half habit declined to a pack and the next three days I consumed less every day. The problem is, I'm going to plane out at around 5 a day if the trend keeps up and my goal is zero. Zero, zero, zero!

So, I took myself down to the health food store and asked about quitting smoking aids. I elected to purchase a nice aromatherapy mixture for addiction withdrawal that has calming and balancing scents in it. I am to put it on a cloth and breath in for 5 breaths until the craving passes. I could never have done that 30 times a day but I could do it 5 times, especially this week, having the week off as I do.

They also had some sort of a mouth spray, but it had lobelia in it and I thought I remembered that was a nicotine analog so I passed that over, thinking it shouldn't be combined with the nicotine in the e-cigarettes. Any comments about that?

Does anyone have any other suggestions for what to try? I've already ordered 5 new flavors of eliquid to try to keep my interest up, but realistically, that isn't going to do it. I really want to quit THIS week while I've got some momentum going.

[Inquistadora]

Come on, I KNOW some of you peeps must have ideas!

[Inquistadora]

(taps foot) I'm perfectly willing to retry ineffective methods like accupuncture or hypnosis if anyone can tell me they had success with that in combination with ecigs. Hello? Anyone out there?

[Inquistadora]

This is a quit smoking forum, right? I am not the only person in the universe who is trying to quit smoking, right? Or maybe I am, from the lack of responses so far.

[Wintering]

Hi Inquistadora, and welcome. Sorry for the delay in replying, but I think lots of folks are away for the holiday. Gosh, it sounds like you are on the right track. Attitude is everything. I tried every other method too, but kept failing. But this is working for me. I started out at a regular nic level, then slowly weand my way down. The main "trick" for me is the psychological addiction.

Keep up the great work, and hopefully you'll have more replies soon!

[Samalie0]

I have great concern over your "cutting down" of regular cigarettes (and indeed, this is one of my concerns with any form of Nicotine Replacement, but that's digressing from the topic overall)...

By doing so, you end up putting yourself in a constant state of nicotine withdrawl, which as we all know tends to be rather...uncomfortable.

The longer you go through this constant agony, the more likely I believe you are to going back to smoking/increased nicotine useage.

I'm not saying don't use an e-cig, or other forms of NRT...I'm just stating that the cutting back method is extremely stressful. I honestly wouldn't wish that constant state of nicotine withdrawl on anyone.

THe best thing you can do for yourself, regardless of NRT method, if get off the nicotine as quickly as you are comfortable doing so. Yes, you'll go through withdrawl too...but the difference between this and using NRT/cutting back/etc is that you eventually do get through the withdrawl symptoms.

Best of luck.

[Inquistadora]

I have great concern over your "cutting down" of regular cigarettes (and indeed, this is one of my concerns with any form of Nicotine Replacement, but that's digressing from the topic overall)...

By doing so, you end up putting yourself in a constant state of nicotine withdrawl, which as we all know tends to be rather...uncomfortable.

I do find myself on an emotional roller coaster. I overdid it on lowering my nicotine intake this morning and wound up in a full blown nic fit. Fortunately, I had more tools at my disposal than the last time around, because I had kept up studying calming breathing techniques in case they would come in handy some day. And so, intead of darting outside, I started doing the 3-stage breath. The panic subsided almost immediately and the rest of the symptoms seemed merely interesting. I was almost maniacally pleased with myself, but when the next craving came on an hour later, I caved and I felt quite depressed over it.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your perspective. I assure you my goal is to get off nicotine entirely and not have to carry any junk around with me all the time. It has gone pretty well so far: my daily nicotine intake the last several days has been about half of what I am accustomed to. I can't say I've been symptom-free, LOL, but it hasn't been as bad as it was in the past. I suspect the placebo effect is hard at work.

[Inquistadora]

Hi Inquistadora, and welcome. Sorry for the delay in replying, but I think lots of folks are away for the holiday. Gosh, it sounds like you are on the right track. Attitude is everything. I tried every other method too, but kept failing. But this is working for me. I started out at a regular nic level, then slowly weand my way down. The main "trick" for me is the psychological addiction.

Keep up the great work, and hopefully you'll have more replies soon!

Thanks, Wintering! I sure hear you on the psychological addiction bit. There is no earthly reason for me to keep smoking at this point. More often than not, analogs don't even smell or taste good.

I think olfactory cues might be playing in, too. Since I took up the ecigs on a lark, I didn't do any preparation. I didn't throw away the ashtrays, wash/dry clean all my clothes, etc. I made no plans for what I was going to do on my breaks, so I head out for the smoking areas where there are, gosh, what a surprise, smokers. And this might come as a shock to you, but they are (wait for it) smoking!

So I feel as if I'm making my quit attempt inside out, but I have a good feeling about it.

[Inquistadora]

So I'm concluding that a lot of the classical quit smoking advice applies: get rid of the cues, make new behavior patterns, keep busy, have something to do when the cravings hit, yada yada.

[saraf3m]

What has also worked, for me, is having a liquid to use that has a ton of flavor and little to no nicotine to use during intense moments. Sorta "trick" myself with a strong mint (peppermint ) so that I can use it hard in the moment and then go back to routine as I gradually cut down my overall nicotine. I've also been cutting out other stimulating substances, like coffee, and use things like herbal tea to replace them.

Just last week I finally got all my blankets and laundry washed so there was no smoke residue, not one piece of laundry that had ever seen smoke from its last wash! This was the very last of the cues I had lying around. The ash trays and lighters were day 1 and real easy, but getting the smoke out...took months.

It sounds like you are doing VERY well through your peaks, don't let the valleys drag you down. Depression and flu-like symptoms are to be expected. I had a "cold" for the first few weeks using this - sore throat, head aches, I still have trouble sleeping...So the ecig does not bypass the withdrawal from the smoke and the other 4,000+ toxins a cigarette carries.

My advise/experience thus far - Drink LOTS of water, get lost of rest, be a parent to yourself (stern but loving). Be disciplined, but forgive yourself easily so that you can restart your quit within the next few moments, don't give up on the whole day! Its a mental reset. You have the Desire, working on the Disciple, always keep your eye on the Destination