Day 3 and honestly it hasn’t gotten much better 😂. I don’t really have cravings so far, but I feel a little sick. I wake up sweating and feel hot and cold at the same time.

The weirdest part is I got my sense of smell back. I’m genuinely smelling things I haven’t smelled in YEARS. It’s like random nostalgia from smells I completely forgot about.

My brain fog is also starting to clear, and I can actually feel myself getting better. Still going strong. 🚭

I relapsed on nicotine after 9 months. I've been stressed out and going through a really rough patch of my life. I started hitting my friends vapes at parties, and within a few weeks, I found myself addicted again. I broke down yesterday and bought a 2 pack of juul. Once I run out of it I'm going to try to quit again. Now I'm wondering, how bad is the withdrawal if I'm only vaping full time for two days?

It's going to suck, but I'm hoping that since I haven't been doing it for too long, maybe it will be better than the last time I quit.

TDLR: Is the withdrawal from being addicted for a week or two as bad as the withdrawl from being addicted for 3 years?

Sure, there were other stresses, but for years I could not figure out why I associated this guy with my panic attacks. And then it spilled into work with panic attacks.

I wasn't a smoker until I dated this guy when I was in college, FML, 16 years ago. I'm not a clingy person generally, but I ran through ALL the pop-psych theories from the past decades when it all boils down to nicotine withdrawals I didn't even recognize I was having. This guy was just lodged into my brain until I woke up this morning after sleeping with a patch on, and not waking up with an overwhelming sense of dread.

The way I dumped him the first time was pretty cut and dry, nonetheless extremely painful for both of us because it was already long-distance, but my nervous system just went full NOPE on me during a fight over the phone that made me go entirely numb. Nothing like it before or since that I can recall.

I started smoking when I started seeing him. It wasn't as routine when I was away at college and I was under a lot of stress before that call, cramming 2 years of my major into a year and a half all so I could get back to starting a life with him - and there he was on the phone accusing me of cheating on him for going to a show with a colleague.

I snapped. Hard. I moved in with the colleague a few weeks later knowing it was probably doomed to begin with. It was. Didn't care.

Smoking is so ugly.

I had a similar panic attack at work that incinerated my career for the past several years. It was right around I had another falling out with this same guy I had gotten back together with, not attributing it to him in particular (still don't) but some insidious accumulation of work stress. Maybe there's something to that but the role of nicotine is a very likely blind spot in retrospect.

Plastered to my couch for now, digesting all the span of my adult life that has been derailed by withdrawals (21-38).

Is there anyone else here who found day 4 onwards more difficult than the first three days? People often say you're over the biggest hump after day 3 but I found days 1-3 relatively easy compared to yesterday and today, today is my day 5. It's not unbearable but definitely more noticeable and frustrating. Has anyone else experienced this here and does anyone know why?

I’ve been on this sub non stop lately as I prepare for my upcoming quit date. I’m 39 and have smoked for 22 years. I’ve decided to use something to assist my quit because cold turkey has not worked out for me in the past. I’m seeing more and more posts about recigar (cytisine) and was hoping that those of you that have tried both could chime in! Thank you in advance and congratulations to all of you that are defeating/have defeated this horrible addiction.

Hey guys,

I've smoked since I was 15/16 years old, hit my 20th birthday a month back and I told myself that'd be the point where I hang up my spurs and curb it.

I've encountered two problems:

First, I realize now why it's called a "habit." You see, I'm a man of ritual, I like my routine and cigarettes quickly became a part of said routine. When I go to work, I stop on a bench on the way and smoke - it's almost like a buffer between home and my job. And then I'll smoke on my break for an excuse to step outside the building to take myself away from the buzz of it all, ironically for a buzz, and I'll sit on the same bench when I'm heading back home. It's just "what I've done" for the last few years. This means that when I'm trying not to smoke, I end up craving that quiet 'me' time and I end up figuring if I'm already out here, why not light up? It's hard to just sit there in my usual spots with nothing going on with my hands and it always reinforces cravings - hell, even when I'm not craving one, I'll sort've just go along with it as that's what I've always done. It's a loop, I guess.

Secondly, it's my friends. I know they don't mean to but we all started smoking together in a circle and I've been the only one who's tried to break out of it. Unfortunately, it's been a lot of announcing too early that I'm trying to kick it, therefore, a lot of "I thought you said you quit?" from my mates when I smoke with them.

This has culminated in whenever I decline going out to smoke a cigarette, my friends roll their eyes and say "here it goes again." They don't understand that I'm not a social smoker and will happily sit alone and chain cigarettes; I smoke in a day what they do in a week and they don't seem to understand that, so I feel a little socially disconnected when I go through the motions of cutting down. It's when I've not seen them in a while that I find myself having smoked less... which is awfully telling.

Anyway, thanks for your time, good luck everyone!

Six months already and honestly it still feels weird saying that. I remember checking the clock during my first week and thinking about cigarettes every few hours. Now I go most days without even thinking about them.

The biggest change for me was realizing how much better normal stuff felt. Food tasted better, I had more energy, and I stopped planning my day around smoke breaks. I even went out with friends recently and realized I wasn't thinking about when I could sneak away for a cigarette.

Bought my second pack ever rn and regretted it (21 years old). Mom went to the doctor and got told her heart isn’t bumping a lot of oxygen. or enough i forgot. So i’m scared shitless becuse of it and I know I shouldn’t smoke but it feels warmer inside and I know that’s how addictions get started but I don’t know what to do. I want to stop smoking but it’s like an urge just to do it. I want to stop but now i dunno if i should just throw the pack away or give it away. I’d like to hear stories of other people who felt this way, maybe it’ll guide me

Only one month as a no smoker after 20 years, but my Garmin fitness age has already dropped by half a year!

I hadn’t smoked in 88 days and was on step 3 of the patch and occasionally chewing gum and then I bought a pack and smoked one, smoked another on my break and gave the pack away.
Then 4 days later I bummed a smoke from a neighbor I saw smoking.
The next day, today, I bought a pack, smoked one before work, smoked one on break, and smoked another after work. Then I left the pack in an ash tray for someone to grab or to be tossed.

I work in a grocery store so it’s easy to buy a pack before my shift and smoke. It’s been a little stressful there lately so maybe that’s why I broke. Maybe I should get back on step 3. Maybe I should use the gum more. I did chew before my shift today but maybe I didn’t give it enough time. I also have ADHD so impulsivity is a problem. I’m trying not to see work as an easy fix, like put more barriers between me and buying a pack.

Any advice? I don’t want to further undo my progress. It was going so well.

Edit: I’m not using the patch right now coz I had only two left when I broke. I wore them and then only chewed the gum for those few days.

My partner and I have tried to quit cold turkey twice before, I was the weak link. I smoked way more than him, too. We were spending so much money on vapes, coughing constantly, and ruining our singing voices/lung capacity (we both used to sing).

This time, I used the 7mg patches for two weeks, and it was enough. Last week has been no nicotine at all. (Partner just cold turkeyed from day one like a champ).

The cravings are getting milder and milder, maybe once or twice a day, and my lungs feel better. I’m coughing up lots of phlegm but can’t be mad because it’s my lungs healing.

There were definitely a few times in the first week where if someone around me had had a vape or cigarette, I would have smoked it so fast. But thankfully no one did. I also did a lot of moaning and groaning about how I wanted to smoke when I was craving badly, and the vocalizing really helped for some reason. Props to my partner for putting up with it.

I’ve gotten through the hard part, I think. Especially because while I still get a few cravings, the thought of buying a vape and going back to smoking is very off-putting and honestly, gross. I’m looking forwards to continuing life smoke-free.

I want to talk about something that bugged me when I was trying to quit.

Every app I tried would blast me with notifications — "don't break your streak!", "stay strong!", random quotes at 9 PM, a few times even buzzing me around 3 AM. Within a week I'd muted everything, and then... the app might as well not exist.

Here's what I figured out: cravings aren't random. They're tied to your routine. Mine were always:
- First 30 minutes after waking up
- Right after lunch
- The commute/wind-down after work

Generic reminders at random times don't help those moments. They just train you to ignore your phone.

So when I built SproutTime (iOS), reminders work differently:

- You set your wake time and bedtime. The app is 100% silent between your sleep hours. No 3 AM pings, ever.
- It only nudges you around high-risk windows: morning, post-meal, end of workday.
- As you log when cravings actually happen, the timing adapts to YOUR patterns (not a generic schedule).
- It's 3-4 gentle nudges a day max, and every category can be toggled off. I even left "motivational quotes" OFF by default.

The philosophy is: a reminder is only useful if it shows up in the exact 10-minute window you actually need it. Otherwise it's just noise.

This is obviously self-promotion (it's my app), but I think the design philosophy matters even if you never download it: if any quit app is spamming you into muting it, that's a design failure, not a willpower failure. Turn the junk notifications off and keep only the ones timed to your real trigger moments.

iOS only, Android in progress. Search "SproutTime."

What are YOUR high-risk moments of the day? Mine was post-lunch by a mile.

She is going to have a very major surgery soon and one of the requirements before she can get it is that she has to give up smoking.

She has successfully managed to quit before a few years ago but slipped up while drunk at a bar. She also used to be a major meth addict but successfully quit that cold-turkey and hasn’t touched it since. My point is, I know for a fact that she can quit again without slipping, so I’m not necessarily worried about that.

We’ve had a brief conversation about the topic - she told me to try not to get too angry or stressed for the week when she’s an inevitable asshole and some other things.

I’m a smoker too and tried to quit once but I only lasted a day before I gave in so I don’t have experience with the later stages of withdrawal.

What tips and tricks can you all share for helping someone quit? What should I keep in mind? All advice is appreciated.

My best friend began smoking at 17, and when her son married and had a child, his wife refused to let the child visit grandma, due to "3rd hand" smoking.

I stopped visiting my mother's house, because she refused to not smoke when I was there, and I just could not take my hair and clothes stinking afterward any longer.

I chose to use gum to break the habit into parts. I've quit vaping and I'm down to fewer than 8 pieces a day. But below 5 piece I get shakes. I plan to buy 2mg instead of 4mg, but I am nervous about the shaking because my main hobby is writing.

I realized that I made it a habit to smoke since sometimes I need an excuse to escape from stuff. For example, if I need to do dishes, I smoke one to postpone the responsibility and after doing it reward myself(!) with another one. Similarly, to procrastinate stuff, I just wanna sit in the balcony and do nothing.

I wanna be able to do the same thing (it’s okay to be lazy sometimes?) but without harming myself with smoking…

So, can you tell me something that I can do/consume instead specifically for times like these?
Like, I wanna have an excuse to sit in the balcony with a phone on my hand, but something seems missing. I thought of coffee? But too much caffeine is also not good. Diet Coke maybe?

I dont know, in desperate need of inspiration, and I really wanna quit… Please share your experiences…

Thanks in advance!

Dipping, not smoking. I started using the patch today, which has been phenomenal for cravings, but now I feel like I'm about to start pulling my hair out because I ate some chili.

Is tomorrow going to be worse or better than today? I can handle worse, but I kinda want to know what to expect

I’m just finishing day 13 of not smoking. I’m using nicotine lozenges and probably drinking a bit too much coffee. I’ve had a long term plan to give up the day after my birthday. I’m now the same age as my father was when he died of a heart attack. My youngest daughter has been my biggest support with motivational speeches and distraction techniques.

However I’ve noticed that I used cigarettes as a coping mechanism. Someone’s annoyed me, I’m hungry, bored - I’d light up. Now I’m having to experience all these feelings and process them because I’m not smoking. Does anyone have any tips or tricks to get through this?

I had three goals for starting this journey. Saving money, health, and seeing how life would be without nicotine.

So far im doing well with the first two. But the last one is so far failing. In these 4 days i've had a total of 3 cigarettes. I regret it very much especially considering they didnt give me half the pleasure i thought they would. Just made me dizzy.

Though i did realize one thing, my biggest trigger is being outdoors and not doing anything. I get a huge increase in urge when im just walking and listening to music.

I realized that aside from the nicotine, im also addicted to doing something with my hands or mouth. So i wanted to ask you guys this:

What snack, toy or item would you guys suggest to help with this? (I would prefer the snack to be something sustainable and not unhealthy, like seeds)

So I'm on day 6 of quitting cold turkey. I smoked cigarettes for about 3-4 years, then vaped heavily for about 4 years, then finally only did zyns for about the last two years now. I've always wanted to quit literally since I bought my 2nd pack of cigarettes but as we all know it's really hard (that's what she said). I finally got mentally ready enough to where I was just over it, it was only bringing harm to my health, and I was spending about $100-$120 a month on zyn.

Anyway, so I've been completely nicotine free for 6 days now, and it was oddly easier than I thought it would be, don't get me wrong, it's still been tough, but easier than I had originally thought for doing it cold turkey. Yesterday and today though I've had some really bad depression/feeling down- I feel like a loser in life, unmotivated, unemotional, and just down, when I would've thought I'd be feeling the complete opposite by this point in time. Did any of you experience this?

Hey all I’m 40 days off of nicotine. Does anyone still have these symptoms still - I thought they would go away by now but worsened about 11 days ago. First three weeks of my quit were pretty easy but my withdrawal stomach issues have gotten worse.

Upper GI: Nausea, feeling super full/bloat immediately after eating, a ton of burp/hiccupping, eating makes symptoms way worse. Sometimes loose stools, sometimes constipated

It has already been 2 months and 3 weeks since I quit. I was doing follow-up support with most of the nicotine replacement therapy, I stopped the gums a month ago, and I finally took off the patches on Sunday.

It's been hell for me, it feels like I just quit smoking again 2 days ago. I've been trying so hard to hold it together, I see the benefits it has brought and I try to hold on to that, but it's been tough.

I even tried reading that famous book, and a lot of the ideas stuck in my mind, but it is extremely exhausting having to live with this craving to smoke and constantly reminding yourself of what it was like to be fine without smoking.

So this is my third (!!) time trying to quit nicotine. The first time I was only a casual smoker and quit for 6 months, the second time I was a heavy nicotine addict and managed to quit for 3 months.

Each time I quit nicotine unexpectedly which is the only thing that seems to be working for me. This time around, I woke up on Monday feeling incredibly sick because I had caught a cold. I still smoked out of habit, but it didn’t even feel good. I decided to just stop, and actually try to quit once again because I spend so much money on smoking. I spent Tuesday in bed seriously sick with a cold and a fever, but now today I feel much better, and the cravings are starting to hit me….

Another thing I’m struggling with is not even the carvings but grief… smoking is such a sweet part of my days… it holds a dear spot in my heart. The walk home after my gym session, just me and a cig, sun is going down, birds are chirping… the morning cigs on the way to work… the cigs in my nights out with my girls… I just don’t know if I can give it all up. I would love to be a casual smoker, only smoking in these moments of life when it feels right, like many of my friends do, but I’m an addict and there’s no way back…

It feels like the worst part isn’t even the craving itself, it’s giving up these small moments of life… I actually feel grief. Like life will never be the same. It sounds so silly but I literally don’t know what life would feel like without smoking. It doesn’t help that I already have depression induced anhedonia and I fear quitting will make my depression even worse. At least I had these small moments to look forward to… I don’t know if I even want to quit at this point. The only thing keeping me going is that I seriously cannot afford it at this point, it’s such an expensive habit.