Xvaper... I believe I meant to tag you on my ealrier post, but missed your name!  Yes, I must, must, must educate myself!  Life has been overwhelming!  But with the grace of God, I have been managing!  You mentioned will power cannot overcome the addiction on its own.  I am going to try and get more willpower!  I am overwhelmed .... What should I do?  Suck on a lozenges to help me manage?  I want one to help take off the edge!  I am going to write out a list of what I need to do tomorrow.  Will continue to keep you all posted!

Oh, you all by now know, I am vain lol, and gaining weight just the idea of it, makes me cave and turn to a lozenge when I am hungry!  That has improved for me... Yay!!!-  i find that I am allowing myself to eat more now.  And don't mind the extra weight as much... Yay me!!!  Sometimes I begin to think I look better lol.  But where I still need the lozenge is at times of extreme overwhelm and anxiety over too much to do and not knowing where to begin!

So... I will end this post here and let you know tomorrow if I caved at this moment. I will make the list see if that can replace a lozenge.  For me... It is back to the goal of just cutting down... While really searching can I ever be fully smoke free the rest ofy life?  Night all.

Thank you! This forum has been such a huge help:)

Jerthie,

The more we read and the more we understand that 'the edge off' is the edge of nicotine level dropping and you brain demands more. "extreme overwhelm and anxiety " is also nothing but the effect of nicotine level dropping in your body and you brain demands more.

Nicotine does not help you cope at all. It a lie we have been fed for over 100 years. Nicotine does not help you manage, and the lack of it will not make you gain weight unless you want it to. Nicotine addiction is exactly what it is, a pure addiction that gives you nothing but health problems and makes you a slave to it. People who are not addicted to nicotine, manage to their stress without it. If a none-smoking friend of yours told you she is overwhelmed with anxiety and feels like she can't manage would you offer her a lozenge and say "Here take one, it will help you manage?" Obviously not.

The only way you will gain weight is if you eat more. And you don't have to. People have this idea in their head, but over eating is trying to compensate or 'reward' ourselves for quitting smoking. There are plenty of overweight smokers, and smoking does not make them eat less. If you feel like eating more its ok as long as you don't get addicted to food..haha. But if you really don't want to put weight on, don't over eat. It's really simple.

Try to drill this information into your head. All the links on this site will lead you to literature that explains it better than I did. You can do it.

Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  I needed to hear this... All of... This.  Will post more another day Xvaper.  I have a busy day.  So much gratitude for this post!!

I'm pleased to hear that! Please keep posting, no judgement here!

You are brilliant.

You speak with so much intelligence and clarity.  And you give me so much hope and light!

I love this one!  I'm gonna keep it.

Night all.

Yes!  You go girl.  Winning the life or death battle!  Defeating the you'll need me for the rest of your life threat.  Finally climbing your way out and staying out od the nicotine trap. I think I am finally going to follow your lead!  I can see it all too clearly now.  The threat.  If you threaten someone, you are not a friend.  Nicotine is not, and never was... A friend.  What an awakening!  Thank you for this post, and allowing me to savour the realization that I do not and will no longer be... Threatened.  Night all.

Thank you Anne!  Yes!  I can now view cravings as shouts of victory!  God bless your heart!

You go girl!  I've quit many times before -- sometimes for years at a time -- and I believe the difference this time is that, thanks in large part to all the wisdom in this forum, I've deep-down accepted the power of my addiction. Nicodemon is the perfect word!!  But having accepted it, I also know that the addiction has absolutely no power over me if I make the choice not to smoke. That's it. I have tools now to handle the cravings. Thank God as time goes on my cravings continue to subside, but I know that I might have them the rest of my life. A victory for me every time I ignore a craving, woot!

I caved at 1pm.  I don't know how to do this.  Will write more later... At work.  Know that I am still not giving up though!