As one who has both struggled with other addiction and worked in the recovery field, it is generally held that just a little (even one) is enough to trigger the disease.
Never thought I'd start a thread like this...
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As one who has both struggled with other addiction and worked in the recovery field, it is generally held that just a little (even one) is enough to trigger the disease.
It is weird how different we all are.
I have another thread going about my trip to the in-laws for Easter.
But I didn't bother to mention this part as it wasn't relevant.
So it is more than a 2-hour drive to their place.
20 minutes into the trip I realized I left my electronic cigarette gear on the counter.
Turning around wasn't an option at that point.
As I write this, it is 1:30pm and I haven't even looked at my electronic cigarette today.
Most days now I don't even start using it until after work.
That was true before I went to zero nicotine too though.
I have no doubt I can stop vaping quite easily under most circumstances...
Most circumstances except for one BIG one...
Drinking alcohol.
When I drink I will either vape or I will smoke.
Period. Always. Forever. It's not even a question, and it's not negotiable.
And on Easter with the Irish/Italian in-laws, there is drinking.
And I am not one to turn down a drink or three.
So I figured I better stop and pick up an cigalike on my way out there.
I knew I would probably have to get one with nicotine, but that didn't concern me.
And I had always wanted to try the Vuse anyway, so that was that.
So after 8 weeks of zero nicotine I vaped nicotine on Easter.
The next day it was back to zero nicotine, not a single craving anywhere in sight.
But there is no question that everyone's mileage is going to vary.
Well, it's interesting because like DC2 says, every "body" is different.
Nicotine is the only thing I've ever had a dependency with....never developed any to other substances.
What is interesting is that the entire time I was vaping, 3 years, using eliquid WITH nicotine, and slowly lowering my nic over time, I had no real cravings that I was aware of. I also never had a craving for an actual cigarette.
However, after vaping 0 nictotine for several months, (quite happily and with no cravings at all) and then vaping that one bottle of 6mg, I suddenly craved nicotine ... even to the point of bumming a cigarette (which I didn't finish) off a friend for first time in almost 4 years.
It kinda scared me.
It took me a few weeks of 0 nicotine to get back to neutral again. And the whole feeling of "needing" a vape, or nicotine, has completely disappeared again.
Thank goodness.
My experience is that it's surprisingly easy to go back to analogs, (even after spending months vaping exclusively), if I can't vape for a prolonged period of time and am stressed.
A smoker's a smoker, or put another way, the brain's craving for nicotine never truly goes away completely, and stressors can make this "flare up". Luckily, nic's not harmful, except in incredibly large doses.
Yup, as the wisest addiction specialist I ever met told me one time "Addiction, it's funny shtuff" For me it's buts and beer. Did a ton a of drugs in my youth but when the party was over I could just walk away from them.
It didn't bother you as much when you titrated down because you were getting the body use to not having it slowly. Your body was getting used to not having it and you had mental resolve. Then you got completely clean of both body and mind for several months. When you indulged again it triggered that addiction (some fellowships refer to it as an "allergy") Both your body and mind were blind sided and the whole cycle of addiction threw it self in to full gear. This is exactly why an alcoholic cannot have even one drink. It's not actually that one drink that will get them. It is the hail storm that follows that could mean their death.
And, it should have scared you. The cycle of addiction sucks, it is demoralizing in so many ways. You worked hard to get off butts and you know what butts can do to you in the long run. You saw all that slipping away, even if only for a moment or two. That is carry. Like I said before, addiction is funny shtuff.
Glad your feeling better now! But hey, don't do that again with the nicotine, ok
I'm enjoying the rush less and less to be honest, and I'm going lower and lower at the moment. Not sure when I'll be ready to give it up completely though. I still light up an analog occasionally even thought they taste like crap nowadays, don't want that to become a habit again so I'm in no rush.
It's simply appalling that your employer even has the right to interfere with your personal life like that by the way, I don't think that sort of crap is even legal here and if it was I would quit instantly if such demands were made. Or simply lie about it if I needed the job bad enough.
This world is getting crazier by the minute *shakes head*
It's simply appalling that your employer even has the right to interfere with your personal life like that by the way, I don't think that sort of crap is even legal here and if it was I would quit instantly if such demands were made. Or simply lie about it if I needed the job bad enough.
This world is getting crazier by the minute *shakes head*
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