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How I Broke My Nicotine Addiction

December 26, 2014 Kira Lesley

New Year's is almost upon us. That means it's resolution time. This January 1st will mark four years since I've smoked a cigarette or consumed any other form of nicotine. Here's how I broke my nicotine addiction.

Nicotine Addiction and Recovery

I quit smoking cigarettes and broke my nicotine addiction using nicotine replacement therapy. Read the story of how I broke my addiction to nicotine.I started smoking when I quit drinking. I used it as a distraction and a social event. Smoking outside of meetings is very popular, as is taking smoke breaks at treatment centers. I started smoking because I was depressed, bored, and surrounded by smokers. I kept smoking because nicotine is highly addictive. In addition, nicotine stimulates pleasure centers in the brain. Smoking never gave me an overwhelming euphoria, but it did give me a nice little buzz at a time when I was despondent.

Nicotine Replacement Therapy Can Help Break Smoking Habits

For several months, I used nicotine lozenges and cut down my cigarette smoking to one a day. You must be careful when using nicotine replacement therapy that you don't end up taking in even more nicotine. Follow the product's instructions closely, or follow a doctor prescribed plan. Even though I was still taking in nicotine, using the lozenges helped me break the habits of smoking -- going outside on work breaks, having a cigarette after meal, smoking with coffee, etc. But eventually I realized I wanted to be free of nicotine altogether.

On New Year's Day of 2011, I realized I had a jump start on my mission to quit cigarettes and break my nicotine addiction altogether. I had stayed out late the night before, woken up late, and had not consumed nicotine in 16 hours. I seized this opportunity as a jumping off point for giving up all nicotine. It was very important to me to keep track of a health benefits of quitting smoking timeline. In addition, every time I wanted to have a cigarette I "played the tape through" in my head. I knew a cigarette would only leave me feeling defeated and not grant the relief I sought. Have you quit before? What worked? What didn't?

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APA Reference
Lesley, K. (2014, December 26). How I Broke My Nicotine Addiction, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2024, December 12 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/debunkingaddiction/2014/12/how-i-broke-my-nicotine-addiction



Author: Kira Lesley

carol
June, 30 2015 at 2:26 pm

I've had a very difficult time quitting smoking due to anxiety.
I get nervous and bored and feel like I need a smoke just to calm down. I know this isn't true because nicotine is a stimulant. I'm working on my anxiety level to bring myself back to normal. Is there anyone else who deals with this?

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Kira Lesley
July, 19 2015 at 4:07 pm

Hi Carol, thank you for your comment. I definitely struggle with anxiety too. One of the things I did for this when I was quitting smoking was I cut myself more slack in areas of my life. For example, I was taking college courses and I didn't work quite as hard that term on classes as I normally do. I was also crabbier and ate more junk food (not that I recommend that necessarily, it all depends on your situation). I would also recommend checking out the anxiety forums on healthyplace.com, there's a lot of good discussion happening over there. Thanks again!

Todd @ Addiction Solutions
January, 5 2015 at 12:01 am

That's a wonderful recovery. Release yourself from addiction is the best thing one can achieve. I'm glad you were able to do it. Kudos

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