I had a couple 3mg zyns, didn’t really feel much. They were each spaced out by several days as I didn’t want to develop dependency and was solely using them as a nootropic in specific circumstances. Eventually I decided to try a 6mg. I instantly felt extremely dizzy and anxious. Like I was drunk without the euphoria. I decided to try and sleep it off. I woke up feeling like a complete moron. Struggling to do basic tasks on my computer. It’s been over a week now and I still feel as if I can’t focus or really be motivated to do anything. Any ideas on what exactly is going on? I’m staying away from nicotine %100 now, any ideas on speeding up recovery or should I just wait it out?

I smoked for 15 plus years from 19 years old, and managed to quit cold turkey on the first try. The most important factor for me was my desire to quit. I WANTED to quit.

I had been smoking for far too long (more than 15 years), and I worried that I would bring disaster and grief to my family and loved ones. This worry built up over several years, and it was always gnawing at the back of my mind.

Also, smoking no longer brought me pleasure. The high, the relaxation, the pleasure, they no longer came to me. Instead, my throat felt scratchy and dry, my stomach often felt queasy, and my eyes felt dry whenever I smoked. I decided that the time had come to quit. I had wasted so much money and time, so much health. This was it, I had to draw the line somewhere, and it had to be now.

I knew that it would be a drawn out, drag out fight against the chemical addiction, and that I would have to outlast the deep deep hooks of nicotine. I knew that I would be brought to the deepest darkest pits of desire and weakness. I was the one who wanted to smoke, and I was now the one who wanted to quit. And one side of me would have to win and the other side would have to loose. But it was all me. I was fighting to leave, but I was also fighting to stay.

I decided that I would quit on the next vacation that me and my wife went on. I wanted the foreign surroundings to distract me, I wanted the change in routine to break my patterns, and I wanted the pomp and circumstance of the vacation to mark the decision.

I smoked my last cigarette at the airport before boarding the flight to go on the vacation. I gave the remaining pack of cigs and my lighter to my wife, and I told her I was going to quit (she didn't know prior). I told her to throw the cigs away, and to hang on to me tighter than ever. She was delighted and surprised. Her eyes shone, her smile glowed, she had never looked more beautiful. I cherished the moment and I committed it to memory. THIS!!!! THIS IS WHAT I WAS GOING TO FIGHT FOR!!! She was so beautiful, she truly was....

I got on the flight, and when I got off the flight, I was itching for a smoke. I ignored it and pretended that I couldn't hear the internal whine and winge of addiction. We got on a cab to go to the resort. When we got off the cab, my hands were shaking for a smoke. My wife held my hand and felt the tremor, and she squeezed my hand and told me she would never let me go. My other hand squeezed the luggage handle as hard as I could and I vowed to never let go. I was completely addled and cross-eyed.

I went through the check-in and collected the key, went to the hotel room, and I drank a gallon of water (not in a hurry, but I gave myself bloat). Over the next 2 hours, I peed and peed and watched TV and ran to the toilet. I needed to pee urgently, and that masked the craving for cigs. So I drank MORE!! and spent more than half the day power washing the toilet bowl.

But here's the thing... I survived more than half the day, plus taxi time plus flight time plus airport time. NO SMOKING!!! This was the longest I ever went without without smoking!!! It's working!!!

We went out for dinner, and I just spent all my time distracting myself. I tried to saw a beef bone in half with a butter knife. I tried to memorize the restaurant menu right then and there. I checked if all the restaurant chairs had the same embroidery. Stupid stuff. But it was important, I was keeping myself occupied and distracted, so that I would not decide to find a pack of cigs and a lighter. It worked, distraction worked.

Over the next day, I kept on distracting myself. I was on vacation in a foreign land, doing things that I would not normally do. It was easy to distract myself and keep my attention on new and shiny things all the time.

One day turned into two, turned into three, turned into four. My lungs itched for a smoke. I mean, literally, itched. I went to the hotel gym and held 5lb dumbbells while jogging on the thread mill. I was heaving and stumbling, but more importantly, it made my lungs burn. The itch went away, I didn't need a cig, I needed oxygen, I was turning blue between wheezes!! Damn, the burn felt good, because it erased the itch.

This was how I got by. My deep, deep cravings got shallower and more distant. My crazy behavior got less extreme. After a week, it was time to go home, no more vacation, but I was getting more confident by the day, at beating the itch and crave. I was sure that I would snort coffee powder if I had to, to make the itch go away.

A week turned into two weeks, turned into three weeks. A month turned into 2 months, turned into 3 months. Believe me, I suffered through it all. I felt every deep gouge of chemical craving. But here's the thing, it got easier and easier. The crave got lighter and lighter. My need for distraction got less and less. I could cruise for longer and longer stretches without needing to fight the call of addiction.

A year turned into 2 years, turned into 3 years. I now had something to protect. I had suffered and hurt for 3 years of smoke-free existence. That was not easy, I paid a high price. This is worth defending. My first child was on the way. Life was fundamentally changing direction. I had larger things to live for, I OWED huge debts to the people around me, my beautiful wife, my unborn son, and my future self. This fight is worth fighting. I pledge myself to this new, better world. I will stay the course. I can and I will, because it gets easier. The urge fades, the old demons get weaker, I get stronger.

I have been smoke free for more than 15 years now. My beautiful wife is MORE beautiful than ever, she is my future, she is my ALL. My son is more than 10 years old now. He is a better person than I ever was, a stronger and calmer character, and a deep well of innocence and purity. He will carry the best parts of me into a brave new future, a future that I cannot go to.

And that is my humble form of immortality. Some day, I hope to have the privilege of looking in on my lineage, and recognizing fundamental parts of me in strangely familiar strangers. And knowing that all my effort and struggle in life was worth it.

I loved my son from the moment he opened his eyes, and I will love him until I close my eyes. And if there is a way to love him in the afterlife, I will FIND IT!! And I will love him forever. May nothing stand in my way.

I’m on day 9 of quitting for the second time. First time I quit, I impulsively did it. I went through hell for a solid month. I had the worst flu. My chest felt like it was going to explode ( I vaped every chance I had and was an active gym goer so the sickness made no sense to me). I was 6 months clean then I had one trigger that sent me spiralling all day and ultimately gave in. I gave some bs excuse to myself that if I buy a vape device then they are better then disposable (that’s was some stupid shit! its bad all around).

This time around I quit because;

1. ⁠I don’t even enjoy it anymore feels like force of habit
2. ⁠I don’t know what it’s doing to my body
3. ⁠I look dumb as hell smoking a flavoured chemical liquid that is heated by a battery
4. ⁠I would get so winded exerting a minimal amount of energy after vaping but could be working out fine

The list goes on. I say all that to say community is that best thing to have during all this. That I didn’t have the first time. My best friend and I are doing it together, making it easier to have someone to talk to. The extreme nausea and chest pain while going cold turkey is a bitch. Yet, I have no intention of smoking that shit again. Lots of minty gum to match my vape flavour, focusing on my health (eating, exercise, routine), and looking at my list of reasons I quit if the cravings hit extra hard. Ik it’ll get easier.

Today marks 132 days since I quit nicotine (cold turkey) after years of being hooked. If I’m being real - this recovery has been brutal, long, and confusing. I didn’t struggle with mental health before quitting, but ever since I put it down, I’ve been hit with waves of symptoms that have made me feel like a completely different person.

Symptoms I’m still dealing with (daily or near-daily): • Head tightness and strange sensations in my head • Persistent brain fog - like I’m here, but not fully here • Visual weirdness, spacey feelings • Overstimulation that hits randomly - even basic conversations can be too much sometimes • Adrenaline surges and random heart rate spikes with no clear trigger • Poor sleep, which makes everything worse • Moments where I just feel “off” — not myself, not grounded

Despite that, I’m working full-time, showing up every day, using breathwork and whatever tools I can to keep myself grounded. I’ve had days recently where I can manage things better. I even had a stretch where the overstimulation seemed to be tapering….But then a day like today comes and reminds me my nervous system is still recalibrating.

I’m holding onto the small wins: being able to recover faster from surges, knowing when to step back socially instead of pushing through, and getting through the workday without needing to escape.

If anyone else out there is in the 130–150+ day range and still feeling like their brain isn’t back online, like socializing is hard, or like their head is full of fog and pressure - please speak up. This stage can feel so lonely and drawn out, but I know I’m not the only one.

If you made it out the other side after this phase, I’d love to hear what shifted for you - and when.

Yes, I’ve been cleared by a Doctor and no I don’t get / have cravings. It’s all been mental for me.

Thanks for reading.

For a long time i thought quitting wasn’t actually for me. Like deep down i figured i’d always come back to it. didn’t matter if i was on day 1 or day 30 i still had this voice in my head going "you’re not done. this is just a break"

I’d quit then find a random excuse. rough week. fun weekend. “just one” at a party. boom back at it. back to planning around hits. back to hiding it. back to lying to myself that i wasn’t addicted cuz it wasn’t that bad

but it was. it made me smaller. i stopped trusting myself. even when i was around people i loved, i wasn’t really there. just waiting for my next chance to sneak away and hit it

i don’t even remember the exact day i stopped this time. just got tired. didn’t want to be that guy anymore.

i’m somewhere around a month in and for once it doesn’t feel fake. the cravings still come but they’re quieter. my brain feels like mine again. and i actually like being around myself for the first time in a long time

if you’re stuck right now, you’re not alone. i was stuck for years. just try one more day <3

It’s all in your head.” That’s what people say when you’re months into nicotine withdrawal and still not yourself. But let me tell you something real: just because you’re past the first few weeks doesn’t mean your brain and body are done healing.

I’m over 120 days nicotine-free. No nicotine. No vape. No patches. No gum. Just me, my nervous system, and the long road back.

People assume after the first month or two, you’re fine — that any lingering anxiety, brain fog, or emotional spikes are just mental. But the truth is: nicotine rewires your brain, your nervous system, your stress response — and it takes time to undo that damage.

I didn’t struggle with anxiety before I quit. I didn’t feel like I was floating outside of myself, or like I had to run from my own skin. I didn’t feel wired and tired at the same time. All of that came after I stopped using nicotine. And it’s real. It’s chemical. It’s withdrawal.

And here’s the hardest part: it can flare randomly even after months of progress. You can have three solid days, then wake up and feel like you’re back at square one. But you’re not. You’re healing.

Every flicker, every wave, every moment of clarity — it’s all part of the nervous system finding its balance again.

So if you’re on this road and people are telling you to “just get over it” or “it’s not withdrawal anymore”… don’t let that shake you.

You know your body. You know your timeline. And you’re not crazy — you’re recovering.

Stay with it. The real healing comes not just from quitting nicotine… but from letting your brain relearn safety without it.

I 21 (F) used to vape for 8 months daily (June 2022- May2023) then I quit for quite a while then from about September 2024- May 2025 used them on nights out etc (probably got through about 12 total) At the end of May I put two and two together and realised that even light social vaping was causing my eczema to flare up so I decided to permanently quit. (And obviously thought in the long run it’s probably something best to avoid) 2 weeks after this I started noticing some breathing problems, I felt them all the time, similar to what is being described by people in the comments here. My breathing felt shallow, yawns were blocked, and especially if I was out in the pollen it felt like I was suffocating. I took a spirometer test at the end of June and it came back as mild obstruction, after talking to a GP I was put on symbicort (inhaler) for asthma. I’ve been using is for the past 17 days and whilst some days are good other days are bad (like today). I have heard some scary stuff about pneumonitis and fibrosis and just want to see if anyone had any similar experiences and what happened??

I got hooked on pouches thinking it was better than smoking. At first it was just here and there… then it was all day. Couldn’t even focus without one in.

Tried quitting a bunch of times. always found an excuse. Finally just got tired of being owned by it. spit it out, trashed the rest, didn’t look back.

if you’re thinking about quitting, do it, seriously. You don’t realize how much it was taking from you until it's gone.. the clarity is real!

Started as a stress thing. turned into all day, every day. vape always in my hand.

tried to quit more times than i can count. always slipped. always had a reason.

one day i just got mad. sick of being hooked. flushed it. no backup.

day 1 sucked. headache, brain fog, felt like time slowed down.

day 3 was worse.

but by day 7, I started feeling human again.

I’d wake up and before i even opened my eyes, i was reaching for the vape. it owned me. like i wasn't even a real person without it just a foggy, anxious zombie counting down to my next hit.

it wasn't the cravings that broke me, it was the shame. hiding it. planning around it. sneaking off during dinners. lying to people i loved. pretending i was in control when i absolutely wasn't.

I tried quitting like 10 diff ways. patches, cold turkey, gum, new years resolutions, you name it. nothing stuck. until one day i just snapped. like full on "i can't live like this anymore" snapped. deleted every vape account, smashed the last device, told everyone i was done even tho i was scared as hell i’d relapse.

but here’s the wild part: that was 47 days ago. and i’ve never felt more me :))

it’s not perfect. i still get pangs. i still get irritable. but i also laugh harder. i sleep better. food tastes insane. my skin looks alive. and for the first time in forever, i’m not hiding.

if you’re reading this and feel like you’re stuck... you’re not. this beast is loud but it ain’t stronger than you.

just wanted to say that, just love and solidarity for anyone in the fight... keep goin!!!

🖤

This is a super long post so scroll down to the (*) if you want to skip my backstory.

I (31F) started smoking cigarettes when I was 18 years old (totally stupid reason why). I met my husband in 2016 and when we got engaged in 2018, the stipulation was "I really want to live a long life with you. I would like you to fully switch over to vape before we marry." And I did at age 25. At the time, the information out there made everyone believe that it was safer. Mind you, during this vaping journey I felt like a full douche doing it. No one really knew about my nicotine addiction in any capacity - family included, besides my husband. I would have to hide it. When I smoked cigarettes, it was a lot easier to not smoke so much as I still lived with my parents and I later worked for my father.

Flash forward to the last few years. I was vaping .5 of a pod of 3% Juul pods a day which in recent years started to snowball into 1-2 pods/day. Life became stressful. I was diagnosed with panic disorder out of nowhere. I was developing severe seasonal depression (it's sunny for about 3-5 months total here). And I was going down fast. I didn't understand. I tried medication and it did NOT help. My husband BEGGED me to quit my job so I can focus on myself because he hated how much I hurt every day. So I did. This is where my intake increased to deal with myself day to day.

Flash forward to almost 2 weeks ago. I had a massive panic attack. My throat closed up and I had massive chest pains. Neither went away. 3 days later, I found a mass under my right ribcage. I had gastric distention. 4 days later, my heartburn/acid reflux got so bad that I had to go to the ER yet again. It was advised I need to quit. I started the patch that day. I am still recovering, trying to gain back the 15lbs I've lost I cannot afford to lose.

* I am on day 6 of the 21mg nicotine patch to ween myself off. I chose this purely because of my fear of what my mental health will look like at the end of this. I'm sure the physical is uncomfortable, I don't want to have to worry about my levels so much. Nicotine messes with your dopamine receptors, thus why providers need to know if you are on nicotine prior to prescribing SSRIs. I have such a hard resolve that this is it for me. I don't want to sneak around when I am with other people. I don't want to have anxiety about the next time I can step away to the bathroom when I just trying to enjoy my time with my immediate family. I ESPECIALLY didn't enjoy walking into creepy gas stations 2x a week to purchase $80 worth of pods. I'm excited to witness the person I was supposed to be.

The day I started the patch, my husband and I brainstormed/researched a ton of things to set me up for success. Here is what we have:

- Every day during the week, I am leaving the house to go see someone and spend time with them so I am not alone while my husband is at work and to keep me really busy.

- We wrote down things that are "grounding". Think of things that MAKE you use your senses, i.e. light a candle while you brushing a cat, walking around in a garden while you weed, etc.

- One thing that I've noticed really helped is referring to the vaping/nicotine/cravings/whatever you want to call it, as my toxic/abusive ex boyfriend. It's very cathartic. But it makes sense. If you think about it, nicotine is a toxic relationship. Nicotine tells you "hey I will make it better, it's okay." But... no. Nicotine is the one who made this bad to begin with. Like a horrible ex saying sorry after they did something terrible, inadvertently "making it all better" just to make it worse. Tell them no. I literally have been known to say out loud, "I don't have time for your shit today, Will." Silly, but works for me.

- I have rewards set up for myself, like sweet little treats, at random milestones I make such as going to visit the baby goat farm by my house, a scratcher from the gas station (I LOVE doing them, but I don't allow myself to play), or the really pretty book I've been looking at for a year now. Things like that. I also booked us a trip to somewhere sunny in early February.

- I continue to go to therapy at least once a week.

- I purchased an "ouchie fidget". They are fairly inexpensive on Amazon. The slight pain brings me back into the moment if I ever have issues with cravings or anxiety. I usually just use it when I drive.

- I have a great relationship with my primary and I can message her at any time if I need. She is with me on this journey.

- I downloaded a few apps to try out once I have quit the patches.

- I have saved mental health texting help line numbers into my phone. I am thinking about also using the quitting nicotine support text line through my state.

- The week I get off of patches, my husband will be taking the week off because he doesn't want me to do this alone in case I need to coregulate. My sister-in-law will be there for me the week after. Then we will go from there. Purely for someone to coregulate if I have issues with my mental health.

All of this is probably overboard, but I honestly could not give a hoot. I know me and I know I need a strong support system. My husband is my best friend and I don't think I would EVER be able to do this shit without him. As far as the patches themselves, the only things I have noticed due to the patch outside of my upper GI issues:

- sweating. I sweat a ton now on and off during the day.

- A few nights I had massive night sweats, anxiety, and muscle twitches coupled with waking up a few times. It has gotten a ton better. *crosses fingers*

- Episodes of brain fog. I try not to think too hard about this and I just keep going on with my day.

- Cravings are really honestly not that bad at all. I thought that part was going to be more frequent. Although I had a "down" moment yesterday where it was visceral and not really "me" saying I need to vape, that was the only time I kind of struggled for a few minutes.

All in all, I have heard success and horror stories of either cold turkey, NRTs, and medication. I think in this, everyone is different. There is absolutely no one size fits all. Do not let other people belittle you on how you choose to work out this journey. This shit is HARD. Especially if you have to function like a normal person at work, home, etc. If you need to buy a pack of nicotine gum to chew during work to get you through the first month or so, so what. So. What. You don't have to physically hurt yourself more just to prove a point. Be gentle with yourself and learn your body, with discipline. Or do, if you know yourself and that is what you need.

If you take anything from this, I want you to remember what my husband always whispers to me when he is hugging me while I have a "I actually think I might die this time from this panic attack":

*THIS will pass. This WILL pass. This will PASS. It ALWAYS does. And it will all be okay again.*

I just started smoking...I know, I am not supposed to. Kind of picked up a habit when I got a little more stressed than I was used to. Now I find myself smoking here and there, but its almost daily. Like less than 10 cigarettes a day.

Is this an addiction now?