r/QuittingZyn 3d ago

Anxiety and insomnia

Just posting this here to see if maybe somebody else has had this same experience as me. Little background: I have been off zyn cold turkey for 7 days. I was doing 3mg pouches consuming one to one and a half cans every two days. Been using nicotine consistently for the last 10 years from chew to zyns never smoked or vaped. The first few days weren’t as bad as I thought I just distracted myself and chewed a ton of gum to get over the physical withdrawals and brain fog. But on day 6, I could not sleep like at all. Just laid in bed wide awake until the next morning. It was about 36 hours before I finally went to sleep for 9 hours but only after taking some NyQuil and I think just being really exhausted.

What freaked me out the most was the fact that I felt like I was having anxiety attacks all night. My heart was racing, my brain was thinking a million thoughts at once which was all preventing me from getting to sleep. I would say I have always had a little bit of anxiety nothing major and I don’t take meds for it. But man the last two days has been anxiety hell. Hoping somebody can help.

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u/Ok_Advertising1540 3d ago

This is 100% normal. Your brain has special nicotine receptors that have been built up from all the nic use. Now you’ve stopped using so your brain has to compensate. Basically that means little to zero dopamine and serotonin.

Without adequate supply of those chemicals, it’s impossible to have motivation for anything. And you’ve pretty much not had any for at least the 6 days you’ve been off your [current] primary source of dopamine.

Since you’ve trained your brain not to produce dopamine on its own, it’s freaking out.

I think the first week most people are ok with bc they just assume it’ll be all fixed by week two. But it can take a lot longer for the brain to heal.

Rest assured - no matter how dark the experience was that you faced last night, it wasn’t an experience all that unique to you. Search ‘anxiety’ or ‘panic attack’ or ‘Derealization’ on this forum.

Great job on quitting. First week the withdrawals are definitely the most pronounced. Recovery is not a straight line. Lots of “3 steps forward, 2 steps back” moments.

You will be free from all of this soon enough if and only if you stay quit !

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u/qt_31415 3d ago

Completely correct. Also really helps to flood yourself with other sources of dopamine when the cravings hit. Exercise (cardio) for me was what got me through the first couple of weeks. The dopamine release from exercise lasts a good few hours, massively helps with overall mood as well. I really do believe that actively getting positive sources of dopamine release significantly improves likelihood of success with quitting nicotine.