On Quitting Zyn
Almost by accident I've ended up quitting Zyn for the new year. I had been wanting to quit for quite a while now, and wanting to quit nicotine in general for longer.
I smoked off and on, more of an occasional thing throughout my twenties and it never became too much of a problem. I would notice myself smoking more, then quit before it got out of hand. It wasn't until a longer-term international trip that I began smoking consistently. When I returned home I tried to quit, but kept coming back to it.
During all this I heard about Zyn and I decided to try it. It at least kept me from smoking and it felt like a good alternative. It helped me stop smoking, but now I was addicted to Zyn. Zyn can be consumed much more discreetly that cigarettes, which made my nicotine intake increase. The more nicotine I was ingesting, the worse it felt to abstain.
I've quit numerous times. The longest period being about a month. Then eventually, I get curious or stressed and I return to it. My more recent attempts at quitting have been more challenging. The past 6 months or so I've struggled to go past a day without it.
This most recent period of abstinence I got lucky. I came down with a bad head cold around the start of the new year and my appetite for nicotine just kind of evaporated. Whatever withdrawal symptoms I had were covered up by the illness, so I managed to get through the worst of it without any problems.
It's been about a week and a half now without any nicotine, and I'm hoping to keep it that way. I've been noticing myself struggling a little bit lately. I'm still adjusting to not having the substance in my life. Not being able to regulate myself with something external. It is a gradual change. Not unlike learning to be less addicted to digital media.