You’re always an addict, you’re just stronger and know yourself better.
that’s some AA nonsense
Strongly disagree, I think it’s very useful to accept your own addictive tendencies so you can stay mindful of the risks, but as with most of these things it’s probably personal. Use what works for you.
I might always have the potential to become an addict again, that doesn’t mean that I’m always an addict.
i mean i do think its true in a sense. ill always have to stay away from strong opioids.
then say “I’m always an addict”.
its a disease. ill always be an addict
Both alcohol and nicotine. Corona probably saved me with its lockdowns (though I did go back to hard drinking to some degree after). I still have the odd drink and odd cigarette, but neither are everyday things for me anymore and I can go weeks without either (though on days I do drink, it certainly makes me want to smoke).
Currently battling coke zero. I will dehydrate rather than just drinking plain water (carbonated makes little difference) as I just don’t want to drink it and forget about it. As a kid, the place I lived had well water that didn’t taste great, so that’s probably something to do with it. I’ve managed to somewhat replace it with a zero-calorie sports drink powder that I put in water. Still, it lacks the mouthfeel and satisfaction.
The other current battle is gluten and thus wheat and everything containing it. This is more-or-less impossible here in Japan if eating out (most soy sauce has gluten). The background is that I likely have Celiac’s (dad has it with very rough symptoms starting in his 60s, I’m in my 40s and a DNA test already told me I had inherited markers for it was likely to develop it). I was called “the bread kid” as a child because of how much I liked to eat (particularly homemade) bread. Until very recently, I baked bread and stuff a lot. It really sucks because I really miss the texture and taste of good bread. It’s also difficult when thinking about what to eat. “Oh, I’ve got some pasta that will just take a few minutes to cook” is not a thing anymore. I have to make rice or potatoes ahead or have nothing but meat and veg.
Like half the thread, I quit smoking and legitimately feel like it was easy in hindsight. Once I really made up my mind to quit it was not hard. The most difficult part was breaking out of the rituals - smoking in the car, after meals, coffee and a cig…
Honestly I still end up having one every few years when I’m drinking and it’s kind of nice, but I will never go back to being a smoker. Unless I ended up dating a smoker, which I would avoid. Unless they were like really hot. Or rich. I could totally fix them either way
I quit smoking four times, IIRC. The first week was always the shitty part, and then it would get dramatically easier. Three of the times I started back up because my ex-wife would secretly start smoking, get tired of hiding it, and offer me cigarettes (‘just one, as a treat’). The last time I quit we were in the process of separating prior to divorce, and so that shit didn’t happen. That was a little over ten years ago now.
This last time I quit because I was waking up every morning coughing. I had that nasty dark-yellow smokers’ phlegm that I’d cough up, and I’d have that first cigarette along with my cup of coffee. When I realized the direction my health was going, and that no amount of cardio and weight training was going to fix it, that’s when I decided to quit.
Each time I quit was cold turkey, no aids. The times I tried cutting back, using gum, etc., all failed miserably. Vaping wasn’t a thing at the time.
I still love the smell of cigarettes, pipes, and cigars. That’s never going to stop. But it’s pretty easy to resist now.
so you would still date Obama?
I would definitely wreck myself over anyone in that family.
Meth. Used to shoot up 2-3 times a day. Had 3 years sober, relapsed for about a year and a half and kicked the habit again about 2 months ago. Feels good man.
yeaaaahhhh ! good on you
nice man. mainlining uppers is some stressful shit
Video games. I used to play 4-6 hours per day (or often more), every day. It was kind of my default activity when I wasn’t forced to do something else. If I ran out of steam trying to focus on work or family I would drift into playing a video game. The result was a MASSIVE sink of time into something that left me with little afterwards. I didn’t learn new things, I drifted away from my kids, and I didn’t take care of my home.
Video games are fine. They’re entertaining, but they’re also potentially life consuming. I watch people who want to do more with their lives, but instead they just put more time into some game or another.
I managed to kick the habit and it’s been a great 10 years since then where I play very little and only in very short, controlled bursts when I can play with my kids for a bit (they usually destroy me these days). With all of that saved time, my career started flying, my home is in better shape, and I actually don’t drift away from family events like I used to.
Same, I posted another long comment about if you want to read it.
It’s scary how many games require more time and attention than full time jobs.
Respect. Games are my getaway. I have burnout on games, and I’ve had withdrawal from games. I could limit my game play, but honestly, I don’t have a reason to.
I just bought a Steam deck primarily to fill the time in my work breaks. I feel like if I’m able to game during lunch time, then I’ll be less antsy about getting home and playing something, and I’ll be able to spend that extra time on house work or whatever.
I used to be an acidic goblin but now I’ve limited my caffeine intake to 1 soda per day at lunch (for the boost in energy). Proud of that one. Throwing out the vapes next but thats hard. At least it got me off cigs.
I had a teacher who drank so much Coca-Cola and strong tea that his dentist used his mouth in a medical journal
Sugar. Ok, that’s a slight exaggeration. I don’t eat anything with added sweeteners. (Like, if it has sugar, honey, HFCS, corn syrup solids, cane juice, apertame, sucralose, agave nector, dates, maple syrup, etc, that’s just a deal breaker for me.) And I don’t eat anything that has natural sugar any sweeter than a tomato, red bell pepper, or carrot.
I’ve been doing that for the last 15 years at least and made very very infrequent exceptions. (Like, I can literally count the times I remember making exceptions to this rule in the last 15 years on one hand.)
…because any time I do make an exception, I have severe gastrointestinal symptoms.
Smoking. Accidentally through vaping? Switched to vaping never intending to quit, but ran into issues with my vape, couldn’t use it, and one day I just sort of realized I was fine.
I had one of those early Kangertech models and i kept having issues with coils (even new ones) and then later with the battery. I guess I could have gone to the disposable kind but yeah. It just sort of happened.
I remember the fear i used to get thinking a certain cig was my last one ever. I think taking that out of the equation is critical. Either by lowering your dose or just cutting back in number, working down slowly, and keeping the process open ended is best.
Reddit, but now I’m here, so…
Yeah same :(
Alcohol, though I swapped it for a THC addiction instead.
I’ve stopped smoking 3 times
4th time the charm? I have up 4 or 5 times for 6 months to a year before it stuck.
Sodas
My first wife
playing stupid mobas
Switched to smart mobas, I assume?
Nicotine, and I really think I’ve totally kicked it this time.
I made the mistake the first time I quit of thinking that cigars and pipes wouldn’t be addictive because there’s no inhaling. Yeah, I was a moron.
But I know that it’s a zero use thing now, and while I miss the ritual of smoking, neither tobacco or more modern nicotine delivery tempt me at all.
I’m sure as hell not paying for some herbal cigarette crap, because those were never worth a damn to begin with. And I can’t smoke weed because it fucks with me. So, I won’t be dragged back to it that way, even if I wanted to find alternative rituals to do.
It also helps that I can’t handle the smell of cigarettes now. It hits my nose, and I’m sneezing for an hour.
I quit right as covid was hitting the news, and after six months, I didn’t even have the urge to engage in the ritual after meals or sex.
Also, no smoking = better sex. Kinda difficult to do it right when you can’t breathe right and get winded fast.
