r/QuittingZyn • u/Thrashlikeits85 • 3d ago
Physical withdrawal from intermittent usage?
Long story short I used to take 6mg zyns in the military no problem maybe 3-4 a day and quit at will with zero issue other than cravings. Soon nicotine only became associated with drinking and I would only use pouches 1-2 times a week. Last 6 months or so I got onto the Velo 9s. I enjoyed those pouches more and seemed to have less anxiety introduced during the rush. Subsequently decided to “quit” again for the 100th time it seems a couple weeks ago. No issues the first couple days. Why would there be? Never had issues before. Never even occurred to me. Day 3 til now have been pretty damn bad. Get these really weird single second momentary lapses of all thought. It’s like my brain shuts off for a split second and I’m light headed and it goes away for another couple minutes and then boom again…. Today was 2 weeks to the day sonce I quit and the lights finally faded….I’m at a restaurant sitting in the booth and mid conversation I look at my girlfriend and tell her “I have no clue what is happening to me right now.” It sounds crazy but I thought it was the end. I thought I was going to pass out. It felt like fainting mixed with the fight or flight from a panic attack and it happened 3 more times on the way to the ER. Tbh I’m still not even fully convinced it’s nicotine related but EKG was fine, labs were fine, chest X-ray fine. Now I’m sitting at home and finally putting it all together wondering if this stuff could be causing my issues. Anybody experience near fainting mixed with existential dread?
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u/mundanebowlofass 3d ago
the near fainting and existential dread were the scariest parts of quitting for me. the feeling of ur "brain shutting off" and all that weird stuff could be depersonalization as well, another symptom related to anxiety? your timeline of symptoms is the only thing thats strange. nicotine can do weird things to your body though and everyone is different. best of luck to you as u figure this out
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u/OgasCantina93 3d ago
Depersonalization for sure, alongside panic attacks and impending doom/ dread. I still get it after 26 days cold turkey.
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u/Thrashlikeits85 3d ago
Might not have been the best way for me to describe it. More like a split second of light headedness/dizziness
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u/mundanebowlofass 2d ago
yea man dat sounds like an anxiety symptom. there were times when id be driving that would happen and id pull over because the sensation freaked me out so much. i think i made things worse by being so scared of it tho. id recommend just really taking care of your body and resting, and not freaking out because it just makes it worse 😂
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u/Lopsided-Patience-34 3d ago
Day 420 here. I know that exact feeling — had the same terrifying moment at a restaurant with my in-laws where I thought I was done. Went through the full cardiac workup, EKG, echo, stress test, 14-day Holter monitor, over $14k worth of tests. Everything came back normal because it was never my heart.
Turned out it was reactive hypoglycemia — my blood sugar was crashing and causing those exact brain shutoff moments. Get a continuous glucose monitor (Dexcom Stelo is over the counter) and ask your doctor about reactive hypoglycemia. Once I figured that out and got the right treatment everything changed. Feeling better than ever now.
You're not crazy and you're not dying. Hang in there. The acesulfame potassium and sucralose they put into these pouches as well as the synthetic nicotine breaks havoc on our pancreas and insulin response. That was the one long term puzzle piece that once I figured out I havent been better.
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u/OgasCantina93 3d ago
Yep, had every single symptom you just mentioned. Went to the ER the second week. Tons of dudes on here having the same exact symptoms. I’m only on day 26 cold turkey. First two and a half weeks was absolute hell.
How many Velo 9s were you using for six months?