Anyone tried quitting smoking..

H

handrewrites

My Member 8=============3
Oct 24, 2010
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..and experienced brain fog, poor concentration and just feeling dumber/slower in general (and this is for years after quitting)?

It's doubly weird when the motivation is still there + feeling positive and psyched up about life in general (though I attribute this to good nutrition and regular exercise that began as I quit) but when I try to sit down and work I space out a lot.

Thanks to an inkling of discipline I still do most of what I set out to do in the day, but the proportion of time spent trolling WF/youtube/etc. has definitely increased and my mind wanders off a lot more.

It was definitely easier to concentrate when I used to smoke - that "cognitive drive" was there. What wasn't there though was lung capacity and athletic ability.

Hell of a tradeoff.
 


See, because I quit, I can't come up with a witty reply.

Nope jus' plain ol' plain cigarettes. This is all about nicotine.
 
Have you tried any of the E-cigs? They don't have the smell of real cigarettes and give off a water vapor. Not many networks have exclusive pages... ask your AM about it
 
zombiezoo said:
yes. you have to actually get over your addiction.
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As I said, I've been off cigarettes for years now. The reason I'm suddenly feeling the need for nicotine now is that I've got a lot on my plate, and I need some sort of cognitive boost. My body doesn't react to caffeine very well (and I don't like the crash) and I'm already exercising, and I remember I could concentrate so much better for longer periods when I used to smoke.
l.simon.89 said:
Have you tried any of the E-cigs? They don't have the smell of real cigarettes and give off a water vapor. Not many networks have exclusive pages... ask your AM about it
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They've been around for ages. I prefer nicotine gum - think I'm going to buy some today as a matter of fact.
 
If you haven't been smoking for several years now, it's highly doubtful it's the cigarettes. It could be a variety of other things - unless for some reason your mind is still equating cigarettes with work. Have you tried chewing sunflower seeds?
 
Hey don't buy nicotine gum dude, you know where you're headed after that. I quit last year and haven't really experienced what you're describing. However, as a cognitive boost I've started drinking some ginkgo and it seems to work fairly well for me. It's also decaf so it might be a good option, this is the one I use, can find it in most herbal shops here and some grocery / walmart type stores. GINKGO & DECAF GREEN TEA

I'd recommend matcha green tea but it has caffeine in it. However, it doesn't give you the crash that a typical coffee does. There's something in it which sort of spreads the caffeine boost out over a long period of time rather than hitting you all at once, does that make sense? It's like something that blocks the release of caffeine all at once. Definitely increases focus and puts me in a "zen" type of state so I can focus on one thing.
 
MyOwnDemon said:
If you haven't been smoking for several years now, it's highly doubtful it's the cigarettes. It could be a variety of other things - unless for some reason your mind is still equating cigarettes with work. Have you tried chewing sunflower seeds?
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I realize it's the nicotine now because I've been like this ever since I quit, and I thought it was just withdrawal symptoms. Fast forward a few years, and I now I know it was some sort of permanent "reversal".
 
m0rtal said:
Hey don't buy nicotine gum dude, you know where you're headed after that. I quit last year and haven't really experienced what you're describing. However, as a cognitive boost I've started drinking some ginkgo and it seems to work fairly well for me. It's also decaf so it might be a good option, this is the one I use, can find it in most herbal shops here and some grocery / walmart type stores. GINKGO & DECAF GREEN TEA

I'd recommend matcha green tea but it has caffeine in it. However, it doesn't give you the crash that a typical coffee does. There's something in it which sort of spreads the caffeine boost out over a long period of time rather than hitting you all at once, does that make sense? It's like something that blocks the release of caffeine all at once. Definitely increases focus and puts me in a "zen" type of state so I can focus on one thing.
Click to expand...
Green tea never seemed to have much of an effect on me. Ginseng on the other hand, seems to give me that "drip-fed zen boost" you're talking about.
 
I loooove smoking. Too bad I quit almost 7 months ago. Still crave it, miss it, love it. Only good thing about not smoking is being in shape. Other than that... it sucks w/o my best friend.
 
I tried about 5 times (the patch, gum, perscription) but then when my kid was born I quit cold turkey. I still have the occasional cigarette when drinking but I do miss it....
 
quitting again on Aug. 1st. Looking forward to not feeling like shit all the time. Not looking forward to the lack of concentration etc. But definitely worth it.
 
I quit 10 years ago using patches. I ONLY used a patch when my craving got so bad I was going to punch someone out. I used a box of medium strength patches and have not had a smoke in a decade.

The real question is, do you really want to quit? It wasn't until I wanted to quit more then anything else in the world, that I had the genuine drive and the will to do it.

Quitting, seems to me, is about of how badly you want to quit then how you do it.
 
Seriously try an E-cig. I know a few people who have 'given up' smoking by switching to that.
 
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