Quitting Journal (Day 15)
Hey gang, I finished a full two weeks without the zynnies and just wanted to check-in.
First week was much, much worse than the second week. Mentally, I would say the second week I felt relatively normal outside of cravings and some irritability. The big thing for me is that towards the end of this second week my stomach calmed down significantly. I wrote about it in my previous update but I don't think the recovery is entirely because of me quitting Zyn but I do think it's a connected piece.
If you're reading this and also suffer from constipation, and you think Zyn may be the cause, this is what has helped me:
- Quitting Zyn (obviously)
- Taking 2 Citrucel capsules in the morning and 2 more before bed.
- Drinking 32oz of water/electrolytes in the morning and another 32oz before bed.
Stomach issues are weird and I figure there are at least three options for my symptoms:
- Whatever is in Zyn fucked with my stomach.
- Stress/anxiety caused my stomach issues and Zyn made those worse.
- My stomach issues have nothing to do with Zyn usage, stress, or anxiety and the Citrucel is doing all of the work towards me feeling better.
In a month or so I will start experimenting with omitting Citrucel to see if my digestion can raw dog life or not. I may still do further testing if I feel things are still not normal but my digestion feels better today than it has for years.
The most important thing to me right now is that I don't feel like I am dying- which is exactly how I felt two weeks ago when I decided to quit. I literally thought I had some type of bowel cancer and could barely think because of the anxiety. Talking to my doctor, my therapist, and this group has really helped me through that nasty bit of health anxiety and so big thanks to all who have listened- and an extra shout out to those who shared their stories and symptoms as it really helped me connect the dots and ultimately put nicotine use behind me.
Previous post: https://www.reddit.com/r/QuittingZyn/comments/1bqdf3z/quitting_journal_day_13/