I quite smoking. Much like another post. Swapped to vaping then lowered nic levels to zero. Then I also played a game with myself. How long can I go without vaping. Never told myself I couldn’t. Id just want it more. But just told myself. Can I wait 10 minutes. Pushing it a little longer each time till I was going hours then days. I don’t remember the last time I did it. It just merged into not needing it. I still get cravings at times but I think I just kinda tell myself can I wait an hour and then I forget about it or the cravings is gone.

I… read a book?! A friend told me about “Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking”. I was more then skeptical but ended up reading it and, well, it worked! I had been a heavy smoker for 15+ years at that point. Made me realize you can actually use mental suggestion to change some habits.

Mom didn’t raise no quitter

After a lot of struggle and multiple failed attempts, I quit drinking

The first attempt I got sober for the sake of someone else but never addressed the cause of my addiction. So when they died I fell off the wagon really fuckin hard. (This was also the only attempt at sobriety where I experienced withdrawal symptoms)

The second attempt I tried to get sober my life had gotten so much worse by that point and I didn’t have any idea of healthy coping mechanisms so that one failed after a month.

The third attempt I had addressed some of the issues but I didn’t have a healthy friend group that could accept me for being sober. So that attempt failed because I didn’t want to lose my friends that I had gained.

The fourth attempt came after my doctor told me I would be dead before 30 of I didn’t stop. My current friend group (the one from attempt 3) weren’t supportive of my plans to get sober. And even told me to find a new doctor as my was apparently “too stupid”. I was beginning to show signs of liver damage pretty bad at that point so I made the call and cut them out of my life.

I got sober for me, I went from a fifth of at least 100 proof alcohol every night to zero. I quit cold turkey.

It was so fucking hard. It was literally months before I no longer had to fight the urge to suck spilt liquor off the floor when I smelt it. It allowed me to face my mental health head on and actually deal with my problems.

And over the years it has only gotten easier to stay sober.

If anyone has any questions feel free to ask.

Was severe albeit functional alcoholic til age 40. AA never worked. What finally worked was harm reduction, moderation management. Medical marijuana became a thing, and just one hit of a pocket pipe of medical grade indica… good for hours. No longer needed to drink a case of beer each night.

1st few years… I’d say, I’ll let myself have 8 beers this year. Next year was 6. Year after, 3. By then, triggered addiction cravings stopped happening.

So weird, how overpowering the addiction felt when I was trapped in it.

kratom for the heroin and patches for the cigarettes

I quit alcohol, carbohydrates, weed, porn and tobacco two and a half years ago at age 42, a few weeks after breaking my clavicle in complicated ways, and while checking for additional damage, a fatty liver was identified.

I never picked up alcohol, weed, porn and tobacco and reintegrated sugar in reasonable amounts, like at social events.

I did it cold turkey. One day to the next. It was absolute hell for three days. I was sick, had a fever and malaria like sweats. Then it was a psychological shitshow for two weeks.

I was overweight, so I fasted completely for six days to withstand any temptations. Only had salt and water / electrolytes. After six days I had eggs and sardines for two weeks or so. Didn’t poop for almost a month, even had a colonoscopy to check. Everything was fine. Just adapting.

Then I did keto for a few months, found that to be too complicated, and then went carnivore with social-event exceptions, and never looked back. Keto was fine, but being a carnivore changed everything. All my little ailments went away. Skin issues, scalp issues, rashes, moodiness, sleepiness, urges and cravings, all of it.

Lost 12 kg in those first two weeks, barely slept, but was energetic like hell, only skipped work when having the fever and sweats.

Two weeks of hell, half a year of experiments and two years of a new life. It is like being 20 years younger. I haven’t been sick or ill since, either.

Good luck to you.

Smoked for about 15 years, tried a few times to stop, never worked. Made myself a promise to stop once I get a dog. Got a dog and stopped smoking with no problem.

Possible contributing factors:

• When it was time to stop I was already pretty disgusted by smoking. I just needed a last push.
• My mind was in a more positive state after I had a deep depression for a few years. I was also more conscious about my health because of that (see previous point)
• My friend group and work place used to be full of smokers and somehow that changed over time, so I was often alone with my addiction

What I’ve often found is that even seemingly harmless addictive behaviours leave lasting impressions on my personality. My two addictions I’m trying to quit are porn and nicotine gums.

Porn was just taking up too much of my time and energy. Especially since I was working from home. I’d be in meetings with my camera and mic off browsing some weird nsfw on reddit. Stopped cold turkey and it feels amazing tbh

Nicotine gums stay on for now. This is one addiction which has actually provided me an unintended benefit. My jawline improved drastically over a year! But I hope one day I can be comfortable sitting with myself idle not wanting to compulsively do anything!

Which addiction?

For Adderall, Vyvanse, Dabs, Alcohol, Benzodiazepines, and meth I went to rehab and learned why I used the dopamine inducing substances, to really get to the root of the problem. Honestly it’s been a world of difference and if anyone is struggling feel free to reach out. Childhood trauma is a bitch.

For vaping I am currently using nicorette until I run out and then it’s cold turkey!

For energy drinks I looked up how bad they were for the body and heart specifically every time I wanted one.

The biggest thing for me that has helped is getting the idea in your head that you’re not currently “quitting” but instead you’ve already “quit”. It’s more of a finality of a statement and helps reinforce no relapse. That doesn’t mean you won’t ever go back in a moment of weakness, however. What’s important is to not turn a lapse of willpower into a total relapse.

I went to work for a MS only company and had a work issued laptop.

Helped a lot with my addiction - at least for a while.

I have relapsed though and have a rack with 3 2 unit servers running that OS that I shall not mention and countless VM/Containers and docker images - I also have several VPS in data centers and run a small Lemmy instance, Blog, online shop…

Um, I think I need help again.

Make the addiction not an option among your daily list of things possible to do, not even in boredom. Quickest way to win.

Delete the application

Cold turkey. You make the time to quit “now” and not a later that never comes. It worked for cigarettes and fast food. From that point you live with yourself.

Warning though for my advice. I care little for my own happiness, quiting those were not a pleasant experience. I did not strengthen my resolve to overcome weaknesses, in bouts of depression I discarded things that made me happy for my health.

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