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So, I'm quitting caffeine, I'm. It going cold turkey but it's hard. I'm always tired, I got vertigo and I'm itching for an energy drink. I'm 4 days into quitting it and it's horrid.
But I have only had this habit for a few years, what was the worst thing you ever gave up Dakka?

Caffeine for me too, I've quit this a few times over the years...

I suffer massive headaches with caffeine withdrawal to the extent that I am physically sick. Painkillers have zero effect on these headaches although more caffeine will relieve them pretty quickly.

The headaches were so debilitating that I instead weaned myself off caffeine rather than going cold turkey. Each time it took around 4 months to gradually reduce my caffeine intake to nil.

I should probably think about doing this again. Felt calmer without the caffeine.

It's a really hard thing you are going through, I wish you the best of luck with it.

Living.

But on the caffeine, I've found drinking more water to do wonders for me personally. Maybe it could help, YMMV and all.

The purchase of plastic from this odd company called GW... ever heard of it?

 The Forgemaster wrote:
The purchase of plastic from this odd company called GW... ever heard of it?

I gather my plastic shavings and snort lines of them.

Quitting tabs was quite hard for me. In the end after trying patches and gum and all that jazz, I ended up going to the doctor and getting some pills called Champix that completely blocked my desire to smoke. Awesome things, I stopped cold turkey and have never had an urge or craving since.

Smoking. Still haven't managed it. That's how hard it is.

Smoking. It's just dumb, kids! Don't start. Total waste of money. Literally the worst drug in the world. Some give you energy. Some give you a buzz. Some help you relax. Ciggies? Give you cancer. And an empty wallet.

sucking my paint brushes.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Smoking. Still haven't managed it. That's how hard it is.

Smoking. It's just dumb, kids! Don't start. Total waste of money. Literally the worst drug in the world. Some give you energy. Some give you a buzz. Some help you relax. Ciggies? Give you cancer. And an empty wallet.

The cost of smoking was one of the main reasons I never wanted to. Saying that, i've probably spent almost 5K on tattoos, but at least you get to keep those.

My job....really would love to find a job that I would enjoy but I live in a area of the US were good paying jobs are hard to come by. Found out Wednesday they are closing my office and they let go of 136 fellow employees. Surprised us with a meeting all of a sudden on Wednesday morning were some big wigs came from Boston, big wigs even brought armed security. ( crazy world we live in) I was one of the lucky ones who kept their job and now have to work from home (which is a plus since now I don’t have to dress up for work and saving on wear and tear on my truck) but promotion wise is now a dead end job. Really wish that all 400 employees in that office would of walked out that day and let the big wigs do our jobs with help from their armed guards.

Smoking for me too.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Smoking. Still haven't managed it. That's how hard it is.

Smoking. It's just dumb, kids! Don't start. Total waste of money. Literally the worst drug in the world. Some give you energy. Some give you a buzz. Some help you relax. Ciggies? Give you cancer. And an empty wallet.

This. Most drugs give you something. Cig's give you nothing. When you start they make you feel sick, and cough, then they make your clothes smell, your hands yellow, make your skin old, give you cancer, and make you poor. That is it. Why do people start? Because it used to make you look cool and be a social thing, which is stupid. Now they don't even have that.

The image of smoking when I was young:


Image now:

 The Forgemaster wrote:
The purchase of plastic from this odd company called GW... ever heard of it?

Shhhh! It's only an addiction if you admit you have a problem!!!!!

Gonna sound weird here, but matching the purchasing habits of the ex I lived with.
We were together about a decade, and his reaction to depression was to constantly buy, so that there was in influx of mail and new things, games, miniatures constantly. I got drawn in to this as a habit myself. I'd match his pace on purchases, not competitively, but because we both enabled each other.

When I left him, and emptied the house, I realized how much stuff was stored in my house that he had never even used, crates of it. Garbage bags of it. More than a small car could contain.
I realised my life probably had the same amount of compulsive comfort purchases. I banned myself from buying anything I wasn't gonna immediately use, and it's taken 3 or so years, but I broke the habit.

I also unloaded tons of miniatures and games on friends who ran clubs, it was great to see things being repurposed.

Spending is an absolute sod.

And it does form part of my mental health. When I’m feeling down, and the spectre of depression is knocking on the old mental door, spending is one way I can drive it off.

I’m not as bad as I used to be. I’ve nearly cleared all my credit, and this year am committing to a specific spending plan (essentially, No Touch Wages, only spend my lodger’s rent).

Now that actually gives me some decent money, and weekly. But avoiding that payday splurge is taking time to control. I’m getting there, but it’s not been the ‘immediate shut off’ I’d planned for.

Ultimately, the plan here is that within months, I’ll have gone from paying off debt, to being in credit. That way, when The Black Dog comes a-snuffling, I’m spending my Money.

Sugar in general. I love caffeine and won't be giving that up, but I get in through coffee and tea nowadays rather than from soda.
By the time my dad was my age, he already had diabetes and died of his first heart attack at 35. I am 34 now and thankfully do not have diabetes.
My grandfather (his dad) also died of a heart attack, but at 69.
I share their name, being Glenn #III, and I'd like to think "third times the charm".

It's a struggle though, as I have a strong sweet tooth. I eat much less meat then my dad and granddad and far more veggies. It also helps that my wife is a borderline vegan (not really, but it feels like that sometimes) and considers sugar/aspartame to be diabetes/cancer in-carnate.
My biggest hurtle isn't quitting the bad foods/sugar, but exercising. I only really like biking but sometimes the weather just does not permit it. It's been months since I biked

-

 Buttery Commissar wrote:
Gonna sound weird here, but matching the purchasing habits of the ex I lived with.
We were together about a decade, and his reaction to depression was to constantly buy, so that there was in influx of mail and new things, games, miniatures constantly. I got drawn in to this as a habit myself. I'd match his pace on purchases, not competitively, but because we both enabled each other.

When I left him, and emptied the house, I realized how much stuff was stored in my house that he had never even used, crates of it. Garbage bags of it. More than a small car could contain.
I realised my life probably had the same amount of compulsive comfort purchases. I banned myself from buying anything I wasn't gonna immediately use, and it's taken 3 or so years, but I broke the habit.

I also unloaded tons of miniatures and games on friends who ran clubs, it was great to see things being repurposed.

Good lord that strikes a nerve. Sounds like this person had it way worse than I've ever had... but recognise the feeling. I'd get a kick out of buying something and would hit a real low pretty much after I'd opened the package or gotten it home.

I ended up starting a spreadsheet on what non-essentials I bought so I could see how much I was spending... after looking at the cost of what I'd bought every month for a couple of years it really made me feel very different about spending money.

I found the hardest thing to give up was relationships... I'm just lucky I got away "lightly" and never got abused to the extent you hear about in the news (or witness happen to fiends ;-( I'm also lucky I'd taken self defence tips on how to disarm someone with a knife before I needed the know-how ;-)

So, I am straight edge right now, so i quitted a lot of bad habits over the last two years, drinking, smoking and eating meat. And I have to say after i quitted drinking, it wasn't really aall that difficult to stop the other habits. The main problem was, to stop looking for excuses and just quit it. Like, not saying, well, just this week, or just after tonight, I will stop smoking. I am reaaally good at making excuses for myself.
Quitting to drink was really difficult, but mostly annoying because of the social pressure. I am suffering from anxiety and agoraphobie and while it was basically gone after 3-4 beers, the days after a evening of heavy-drinking were really tough for me because my anxiety and depression and bad thoughts really spiked. After yet another of those hang over days full of "maan if i make it out of this whole this time, I stop drinking that bad again", I stopped drinking for 4 weeks and said to myself, thats it. And then i just stopped drinking. The first half year to year was really annoying, because everyone is trying to convince you to start again or you have to explain yourself all the time.
While this still happens from time to time now, my closer friends and acquaintances accepted that im that guy who doesnt drink. So, thats kind of my schtick now and people accept it. I am living in germany and we are people who really like to drink so in the beginning, you realize how frequent everyone is drinking and you stand out of regular people really quick.

I smoked for nearly 10 years and I tried quitting from time to time but I always started again, once I was drunk. After I stopped drinking, I thought, I might aswell stop smoking because it would be easier without drinking and it was. I still crave a cigarette from time to time but without drinking I managed to quit quite easily.
Kinda the same with meat. Without the drunk cravings for a kebap aber partying it was quite easy to stop eating meat.

So basically, after I got over the big milestone of quitting drinking, it became a lot more easy to stop other bad habits. Without drinking I have a stronger will power, more energy, I feel less anxious and depressed and overall better. Still, I'd llike to get drunk from time to time and I like to think, that once I drink one beer, I will immediately start smoking again, but right now I think, if I start drinking now after 2 years, this two years would basically pointless. this is my main motivation right now.

My ex.

I mean, I'm a recovering alcoholic, so uh.... that one is pretty high up there for me

 Reavsie wrote:
Caffeine for me too, I've quit this a few times over the years...

I suffer massive headaches with caffeine withdrawal to the extent that I am physically sick. Painkillers have zero effect on these headaches although more caffeine will relieve them pretty quickly.

The headaches were so debilitating that I instead weaned myself off caffeine rather than going cold turkey. Each time it took around 4 months to gradually reduce my caffeine intake to nil.

I should probably think about doing this again. Felt calmer without the caffeine.

It's a really hard thing you are going through, I wish you the best of luck with it.

This is a good strategy, weening yourself off of it instead of cold turkey.


I am currently on my 3rd energy drink today. I've quit caffeine a few times, but it never last more than a month or two due to my lifestyle (physically disabled wife, multiple pets and children, school and work full time, plus renovating my house). The withdrawal headaches are horrid, but after a week or so they will dissipate. I stopped drinking soda altogether, and quit smoking years ago so its just these things that I have to kick and I should be in decent shape.

I don't drink alcohol and never have (just don't like the taste) but it is funny how consistent the one-two response is when people learn that:
"Wow, really? That's unusual."
"...but you know it's probably a good thing."

Soda a lot (where my caffeine is) but stick to diet and sometimes 'water it down' when club is available. Regular soda is too sweet for me nowadays.

I quit an incredible paying job mid-recession. So that wasn't the easiest decision. I'm still worse off for it, but mentally in better shape.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Smoking. Still haven't managed it. That's how hard it is.

Nah, quitting is pretty easy. It's just that starting again is even easier - you stopped buying the stuff so it's OK if you have a cigar when your mate celebrates his first kid, or whatever. Then you go out and buy a pack again and start up the old chimney.

Well, not had a smoke for a few months again so I guess I'm quit. For the time being at least.

I recently went to a talk about willpower. Aside from the strategies for strengthening or utilising it, there was an interesting point about how it can also be fatigued. There's lots of ways you can use it up, with each little decision chipping away at your ability to be resolute.

Strategies included:

1. Focus on one goal at a time, as success frees up willpower, and change takes willpower.

2. Avoid temptations (duh), but use a small amount to remove those opportunities to fail later when you're all out.

3. Make plans. Again, front-load that willpower into a plan and follow through. The momentum of a plan means you don't have to rely on reserves of willpower in case you run out.

4. Monitor behaviour. It's like having a fuel gauge. You don't want to be at risk on an empty tank.

5. Reward yourself for good behaviour. Obviously not be doing whatever you're avoiding (food for following a diet, a puff for not smoking that day, etc).

6. Get sufficient sleep. Tricky, but sleep deprivation reduces the amount of willpower you can exercise or expend.

7. Cultivate optimism. Willpower goes further and works better if you have confidence in it.

8. Seek support. Having other people to lean on when you're weak or 'out-of-gas' is another way of making sure you don't exhaust your reserves or fail because you're relying on your own limited supply.

In retrospect many of these helped me quit smoking. I started smoking on a regular schedule and keeping a tight reign on how much I could smoke for economic reasons, but I found that doing so meant that I could correlate all the nasty side-effects of smoking with a good puff as well as the nice swimmy feeling, and after a while I couldn't do that. It took several years after to stop enjoying the smell of secondhand smoke though...

Well, this may sound very strange for some in the light of this thread, but hardest thing for me was to quit NOT drinking alcohol.

I was a truly dedicated (one might even say fanatical) abstinent up until my 10000 days. This dedication started when I was a teenager, but grew increasingly socially impairing over the years, closed so many, many doors before me and made me a very toxic (and extremely picky) partner to be with, because I could not stand (as in truly and deeply suffering from it) even the slightest intoxication of my significant other or to consider "normally drinking" person as a possible romantic match.

This story comes with a truly ironic twist of fate, because my first relationship after this decision ended due to my girlfriend alcoholism and quitting on her was second hardest quit on my list. So beware what you wish for

Happily this is definitely in the past for me - I'm back to not drinking at all now, but a brief period of "normal drinking habits" allowed me to sort my relationships with drinking people enough to not miss out on my one-in-a-million wife.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Spending is an absolute sod.

And it does form part of my mental health. When I’m feeling down, and the spectre of depression is knocking on the old mental door, spending is one way I can drive it off.

Yep. My thing is clothes. A new outfit will make me happy! I think, as I pick out stuff. Then I get it, wear it a couple of times, and it's over.

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
I don't drink alcohol and never have (just don't like the taste) but it is funny how consistent the one-two response is when people learn that:
"Wow, really? That's unusual."
"...but you know it's probably a good thing."

Soda a lot (where my caffeine is) but stick to diet and sometimes 'water it down' when club is available. Regular soda is too sweet for me nowadays.

I feel the same. I have an occasionally frozen Margarita, but usually months between each occasion and only on dates with my wife.
What I like about it is that my tolerance is really low, so I feel like I "get my money's worth" out of a single drink
Cannot stand the taste of beer and most wines and I have tried dozens upon dozens of different kinds. All have about the same amount of "floor cleaner" taste for me.

But soda. I do love soda. After years I am finally to a place where I can go a day or 2 without a soda and the days I do have a soda, it's only 1 or 2 and always diet/zero sugar.

-

Doughnuts.. with jam... Just cant do it...

I've quit smoking, I've quit drinking, I've quit drugs.

But doughnuts? ohhh no, that sweet sweet sugar and taste has its claws deep in the farther Reaches of my soul it seems.
Also Kebabs... But that's a story for another day.

Reading political news.

Don't laugh, I'm not kidding.

 Ouze wrote:
Reading political news.

Don't laugh, I'm not kidding.

Nothing to laugh at, it took me nearly a year to break the same habit.

I've quit both energy drinks (caffeine) and tobacco for months at a time. Staying permanently off of them is difficult though. Quitting is really just changing habits. After a couple of weeks it is relatively easy for me until I hit intense external stressors.

nou wrote:

 Ouze wrote:
Reading political news.

Don't laugh, I'm not kidding.

Nothing to laugh at, it took me nearly a year to break the same habit.

Not to go into politics but I imagine that particular habit is a lot more difficult to break these days. Like watching a horrible injury happen in slow motion