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1. pxp

   

   4 posts
   Registered:
   25 Nov 2019
   08 Dec 2019

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   Hi all.
   I have been smoke-free for 27 days. But I feel depressed. Not an emotional depression, with negative thoughts and pesimessen, or feeling like I  have no hope, and such, but rather a physiological depression kind of num.
   has anyone experienced helped you?
   
   Thanks

   Last modified on 08 Dec 2019 12:08 by pxp
2. justfortoday

   

   168 posts
   Registered:
   12 Aug 2019
   08 Dec 2019 in reply to pxp

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   Hey pxp,
   
   First of all, congratulations on 27 days! Truly, that is a fantastic accomplishment!
   
   In answer to your question, yes, feeling depressed seems to be a common part of the quitting process.
   
   For me, I felt incredibly sad for a while... unmotivated, tired, zero energy and an overall feeling of dispare. It was similar to "mourning" something and in fact, that is exactly what I was doing. Letting go of the smoker I was meant letting go of a part of my identity. I allowed myself time to do this and at the same time I imagined who I wanted to be as a non smoker. This made the transition easier and before long I began to feel a freedom that brought with it a wonderful sense of happiness.
   
   As well, our brains have been so used to depending on nicotine to release dopamine which we have now deprived it of. I did some research on natural ways to release dopamine and put it into practice (example; learning something new releases huge amounts of dopamine).
   
   I can promise you this, it does get better so try your best to be gentle with yourself over the next little bit.
   
   You're doing brilliantly!

   Last modified on 08 Dec 2019 13:26 by justfortoday
3. pxp

   

   4 posts
   Registered:
   25 Nov 2019
   08 Dec 2019 in reply to justfortoday

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   Thank you for your reply.
   
   Did you substitute smoking with something else?
4. quitting2019

   

   3 posts
   Registered:
   02 Dec 2019
   08 Dec 2019 in reply to pxp

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   Here are 3 things you can do that will help, guaranteed.
   
   1) eat a ton of vegetable every single day. and by vegetable I meant the healthy ones, dark color/leafy greens, like cabbage/bok choy/broccoli/green peas/kale.. those extremely anit-inflammatory and will help your body recover, improve your liver/lung function. as a rule of thumb, the bitter the vegetables are, the better they are for your health. and drink a lot of water, (take you body weight in pounds, divide by 2, and that's the min. amount of water in fluid oz you need per day, ex. if you are 170lb, you'll need 170/2=85oz of water per day, or about 5 standard plastic bottles)
   
   2) sleep! super important , this helps regulate your body especially when it comes to control your stress hormone( cortisol), can't stress enough ;)
   
   3) exercise, any exercise count, speed walk, climbing stairs, high intensity interval training, lifting weight, shoveling snow.... the impact is almost immediate, you'll almost certain feel more positive after exercise every time, and if you make it a habit, you'll overall mental health will greatly improve