I need help

Ive replied to a few people but now I will tell you my story as it was a blur to me. I had to ask someone when I officially quit which was Nov 1 2015. I had surgery (my teeth removed all of them lie 10 I think) anyway I had implants put in but some were put where there was infection so this is what happened. I was in so much pain from the implant twisting trying to get put. I was non-stop in pain and couldnt swallow anything causing me not to be able to take my meds so I detoxed off all of them 100mil of Kadian (morphine) thyroid, cholesterol, clonidine, water pills, I was totally over medicated and stopped everything.

The pain was so bad from the implant it formed a big bubble and burst puss shooting out and the screw. It took like 2 weeks or more for it to finally come out, then a second started but I got to the surgeon first. I couldnt before because I really didnt know what was happening to me until the bubble happened and that was only days before the screw came out. Anyway I didnt notice a nicotine withdrawl until now my 2nd month and I have constant headaches, salivating which so far no-one has mentioned plus sweats, no sleep and anxiety.

I smoked 40 yrs, a pack or more a day never tried to quit before, now Im at my wits end, smoking didnt hurt like this does. Is there anyone out there who can tell me how long this will go on for, is it a delayed withdrawl and really my body thinks its been 4 weeks not 8 and this is normal. Im so confused.

48 Replies

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bandit2Planning To Win

in reply to Briarwood

2 years ago

No I did it cold turkey, I was in so much pain I didnt even think of cigs, I was puking so much. Thats why I think I have a delayed reaction to going through withdrawl. My body thinks its only been 4 weeks not 8. The salivating is from hunger cravings I think. Im also a recovering bulemic so weight is a big issue for me and I wont give in. I will drool first lol. I put a call to the dr but not heard back.

This is just what I think. Yes my body is confused or Im having a very long withdrawl because of the length of time I smoked 40yrs. Like Ive said Im so confused and searching for answers from someone who did it like me cold turkey and smoked as long. Everyone Ive talked to used something

like patch, gum, inhalor or ecig.

Ive used nothing and Im miserable but to use something now would defeat the cold turkey and I might as well smoke if Im going to put nicotine back in my system.

jaglan22 Months Winner

in reply to bandit2

Omg!!! Yes it is!!! Believe me it is truly HELL ON EARTH!! If you click on my name you can go read my misery in the early stages! I was SOOOOOO CLOSE to saying ^%%%%### the world I'm starting again! Living smoke free but MISERABLE isn't worth it!!!! But BUT LOUD BUT IT IS!!!!! Omg it soooooo is!!! I was where you are! Even went on antidepressants before giving in to stopping my quit! But I didn't! And I promise in a little while you will have moments... Glimmers of oh thank heavens!!! You will feel SO HAPPY that you stuck through the TRULY TERRIBLE STUFF! I promise!!!! Stick with it !! It TRULY TRULY does get easier as the days turn to weeks to months... Xxx

I was also cold turkey.. Pains in teeth. Nose bleeds etc etc etc xx

in reply to Lottie24

Lottie it seems alot of people are from the UK on here. Not sure why havent found a Canadian yet lol. I know its confusing about the sweats but I tried taking Clonidine which is for sweats and it didnt touch them so Im pretty sure its a side effect.

Im going to get my hormone balance just to be sure but Im 57 and shld be through menopause by now I would hope. Its the pain I cant deal with my poor head. I had a shower and washing my hair hurt like hell. No one told me that this is what I would be facing, they all made it sound like a walk in the park no biggie deal. I think they all lied.

You have been honest and I do appreciate that. I havent had bleeding gums and Im going to have hypnosis again for sleeping. It worked for my anxiety so Im hopeful it will work again. After the trauma I went through I couldnt sit anywhere in my house without getting a panic attack.

If it is going to be 12 weeks of hell then Im ok with that I have 3 more weeks hopefully, I will be moving at that time to Oshawa, Ontario. Its too expensive to live in King City u have to have money to live here, most of the people are rich and Im not lol, its less expensive in Oshawa.

I will have to come down to Toronto for my second surgery end of February. they will try to put the implants back in. Im scared shitless but hopefully there wont be a repeat of the last time. I know u r sleeping right now its 9:30 pm so it must be 2:30 am where u r. Hopefully u r sleeping I forget what that is lol talk later thanks for your help much appreciated

EmJayAdministrator

Hey Debbie-t, welcome aboard to our lovely Quit Support family 🙋

Congratulations on making it this far, you've done amazingly well considering all that you've been through!

Are you still undergoing dental treatment? It may be worth paying another visit if you're concerned in any way.

With regards to smoking, how you are feeling is quite normal. Regardless of whether you use NRT or not, (or even how long you have smoked for) your brain will still have what we call nicotine receptors that play silly games and try and get you to come back to smoking.... Don't listen to them! 🙅

I've had a little rummage around the site and quickly found an old post of mine. Have a read through as it may help you gain a better understanding about where your heads at 😳

Stay strong and remember that you can do this 👍

Post title: If it only takes 24 - 48 hours for nicotine to leave your body, why would I want to use NRT?

(EmJay Administrator 3 years ago)

For those of you 'toying' with the idea of whether or not to use NRT have a read through the following information that I put up a while ago.

It's also worth reading through it as you may understand how those nicotine receptors in that brain of yours work;

When you first stop smoking, it is true that it only takes up to 48 hours for the nicotine to leave your body. So it may seem strange to start using nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and put the nicotine back into your body again. Why would anybody want to do this?

Without trying to make it complicated, this is basically what happens;

Once a person becomes a smoker they begin to put nicotine into their system - Nicotine is the drug that the smoker becomes addicted to and craves for. By doing this, the nicotine attaches itself to receptors on nerves in a part of the brain that is important in controlling motivation.

This causes the nerve cells to become more active and leads them to releasing a chemical messenger called 'dopamine' at the other end of the nerve.

This dopamine acts as a 'chemical reward' or 'teaching signal'. It causes the brain to be motivated to repeat whatever action immediately proceeded it - in the smokers case this would be puffing on a cigarette. In the newly quitter's case it could be caused even by just putting the kettle on or after a meal - Most people would recognise this as a 'trigger'.

This is usually a completely unconscious decision and quite often undermines the smoker's ability to stay stopped.

Regardless of whether or not NRT is used, it can take between 8-12 weeks for these receptors to down regulate.

These receptors are very, very powerful little 'gremlins' and most new 'quitters' can find it really difficult to ignore them. When this happens, the person will quite often return to smoking.

This is where using NRT can help. Provided that it is used correctly, NRT will never satisfy you in the way that smoking a cigarette will. However it will help to 'curb' the feeling and will keep those little gremlins at bay to give you a head start on 'learning' to become a non-smoker.

This is the reason that NRT is generally used for the same amount of time that it takes for these 'gremlins' or receptors to down regulate. However, when used correctly, the amount of nicotine is controlled and is slowly reduced over time.

Therefore it is recommended that the full course of NRT is completed if you are to remain quit.

Regardless of whether you choose to use NRT or not, it is really important that you plan ahead and try to remain as positive as possible.

Keep marching forward and remember our mantra NOPE: Not One Puff Ever! 😇

glolinAdministrator

Hi debbie, and a big warm welcome to quit support.

WOW, you sure have gone through a rough time with your mouth.

I quit cold turkey after 40 years of smoking 30 day.. Was it easy ...Hell no - up their with the hardest things i have ever done....Was it worth it...Hell Yes

No two quits are the same and there is no real time frame of how long it takes for your body to recover from all the years of smoking.

I have always suffered with anxiety and when I quit smoking, this certainly did increase. I have always managed my anxiety myself. For me this lasted around 5 to 6 months before it settled down.

I too had the trouble sleeping, for me this was the hardest thing for me as it was really impacting on my work. This too took 5 to 6 months before my sleeping patterns returned. ( I have never been a good sleeper)

I was looking at the list of meds that you have gone off and noticed thyroid among them. I was recently diagnosed with hypothyroidism which presents with very similar symptoms. I had be quit for over a year and all of a sudden, i was struggling to go to sleep, felt absolute fatigued and all my muscles in my legs and arms just ached like a toothache - Going off your meds maybe a contributing factor.

You have done brilliantly getting through the first 2 months...Please try and stay strong as it is so worth it.

I am a great believer in the powers of positive thinking - If you truly believe that you can - you will

I am now 18 months smoke free and to be perfectly honest, i knew after day 1 that i would never smoke again....every time i felt terrible.. instead of focusing on how miserable i was feeling i turned it around to - this is just my body healing itself

You have come this far - keep up the great quit you have going

in reply to glolin

I really wanted to read your journey. I think u shld post it so people like us can know time frames ect and what could happen. I know everyone is difeach quit is unique, but everyone gets the side effects. Now u have told me I could be doing this pain for 5-6 months holy crap my head will friggin fall off.

Its the not knowing what to expect that fuels my anxiety. I had hypnosis because of what I went through in this house I couldnt sit in the house without having a full out panic attack and mine r very bad. Im doing it again for sleep. I have bags under bags on my eyes. I cant keep going without sleep and I wont take pills, they dont work anymore. A person on here who had headaches took beta blockers. dont know what they r but if it helped the pain Im in.

I want to know all u went through what side effects u had how u managed them. The nitty gritty truth no matter how bad please

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