Quitting smoking?

[Legzman]

anybody in here sugsessfully quit? If so what did you do to help make it easier. I've been thinkin about quiting but I've tried many times before and ultimatly fail every time! Maybe this could double as a thread for ex-smoker support group type of thing! Anyway any suggestions would be appreciated. Non-smokers don't even waste my time saying shit like "Just quit" or "you know it'll kill you" I hear that shit all the time and frankly that just makes it harder!

 

[niptuck]

Well, I am a smoker and I have tried to quit more or less successfully before ( I understand the irony). Here are my thoughts:

1. Will power. You won't quit if you simply don't want to. All tips are BS if you still sneak a smoke every now and then.

2. Jogging in the mornings. This one is the best IMHO. Once you start you will feel all the damage smoking does to your lungs. It is best if you actulally set yourself goals and really get into it. You dont have to do something oustanding in the beginning, just 20-30 min jogs every morning at average pace. Don't overexert yourself, it will just kill your commitment.

3. Patches. They really take the egde of cravings.

4. When people talk about changing your routine to avoid situations where you reach for a pack they really mean it. The worst for me is having a coffee or drinks with friends since I smoke the most then. Try to avoid situations such as these at least in the beginning.

5. Commitment. If you have decided to quit NEVER EVER pick up a cigarette. I have quit for 20 days recently and a major fuck up in personal life has sent me into the cornershop for a pack of 10. I thought to myself that one would not harm me. A week later I am back to my full smoking habit and now have to go through the motions again.

6. ALWAYS REMEMBER: smoking is a disgusting habit, the sooner you kick it the better

 

[Yup]

Well, I am a smoker and I have tried to quit more or less successfully before ( I understand the irony). Here are my thoughts:

1. Will power. You won't quit if you simply don't want to. All tips are BS if you still sneak a smoke every now and then.

2. Jogging in the mornings. This one is the best IMHO. Once you start you will feel all the damage smoking does to your lungs. It is best if you actulally set yourself goals and really get into it. You dont have to do something oustanding in the beginning, just 20-30 min jogs every morning at average pace. Don't overexert yourself, it will just kill your commitment.

3. Patches. They really take the egde of cravings.

4. When people talk about changing your routine to avoid situations where you reach for a pack they really mean it. The worst for me is having a coffee or drinks with friends since I smoke the most then. Try to avoid situations such as these at least in the beginning.

5. Commitment. If you have decided to quit NEVER EVER pick up a cigarette. I have quit for 20 days recently and a major fuck up in personal life has sent me into the cornershop for a pack of 10. I thought to myself that one would not harm me. A week later I am back to my full smoking habit and now have to go through the motions again.

6. ALWAYS REMEMBER: smoking is a disgusting habit, the sooner you kick it the better

Yup, that about sums it up. The part about wanting to quit, is no BS. You can say you want to all day long, but I didn't quit until I made the commitment to quitting. You'll feel different in a week or so, and know you've made the right choice. Good Luck! :thumbsup:

 

[AFA]

Well, I am a smoker and I have tried to quit more or less successfully before ( I understand the irony). Here are my thoughts:

1. Will power. You won't quit if you simply don't want to. All tips are BS if you still sneak a smoke every now and then.

2. Jogging in the mornings. This one is the best IMHO. Once you start you will feel all the damage smoking does to your lungs. It is best if you actulally set yourself goals and really get into it. You dont have to do something oustanding in the beginning, just 20-30 min jogs every morning at average pace. Don't overexert yourself, it will just kill your commitment.

3. Patches. They really take the egde of cravings.

4. When people talk about changing your routine to avoid situations where you reach for a pack they really mean it. The worst for me is having a coffee or drinks with friends since I smoke the most then. Try to avoid situations such as these at least in the beginning.

5. Commitment. If you have decided to quit NEVER EVER pick up a cigarette. I have quit for 20 days recently and a major fuck up in personal life has sent me into the cornershop for a pack of 10. I thought to myself that one would not harm me. A week later I am back to my full smoking habit and now have to go through the motions again.

6. ALWAYS REMEMBER: smoking is a disgusting habit, the sooner you kick it the better

EXcELLENT suggestions.

Throw the cigs away, and avoid those situations where you would normally smoke. Tootsie pops help, because it gives you something to play with instead of a cigarette. If you smoke and don't stop, you will die from smoking. (Watch the Insider with Al Pacino and Russell Crowe).

Cravings are the worst in the beginning, so try to do other things that don't involve smoking, excercise, eating, going to a movie. Cravings will take up 2% of your time, the rest of the time you won't have them, and they start to fade particularly after day 3. Pat yourself on the back every 15 minutes you don't smoke, then every half hour, hour, and day. The more days you get behind you, the more your confidence will grow. If you cheat, start again immediately to quit, and feel good about how well you did, and that you only smoked 1 cigarette in x hours. Just don't give up, on giving up!

 

[Mr. Daystar]

I just quit about 8 months ago, for the second time. The first was about 17 years ago...I quit for 3 years, and started again (don't ask). I have been doing alright...I still want a smoke every once and a while...but the smell of it makes me ill now, so there ya' go...problem solved. For me there were a combo of things...the first time I quit, I was young and head strong and just quit...will power was all I needed...that and a few people telling me I couldn't do it. This time was much tougher...a combo of the need to, for an operation, and the fact that my state has jacked up the taxes severel times, rapidy, has gotten me very angry...those were the motivators...the help was a drug called Welbutrin. It is the same thing as the stop smoking drug, Zyban...but without all of the other stuff that goes with the program. It worked...I have NO COMPLAINTS...I smoked for the first couple of weeks, then one day said "this is the day"...and it was. I now chew through a box of toothpicks every couple of days, and I'll probably end up with Dutch elm disease of the gums...but at least my lungs won't be getting any worse. I wish you luck...it's not easy...you have to want to quit, but it's not immpossible...you can do it.

 

[4G63]

My Dad quit smoking after 30 years and got really fat, and now suffers from being overweight.

Make sure you don't trade one vice for the other, otherwise your back were you started.

 

[BigSwede]

In august I have been a non-smoker for 10 years.
I just quit.
I think I had to or I woud be either dead or seriously ill.
But I didn´t really quit, I wanted to check for how long I could be without a cigarette.
I´m still checkin´....
I got a little overweight too.

 

[poggy]

I'm a ex-smoker I smoked for 17 years and was on 35 a day when I stopped. I'm not bothered what anybody says about you need this patch or gum or whatever to make you stop. The only thing that will make you stop is you and your will power. I stopped dead and never used any of them patches or other cures, I just got up one Saturday morning 9 years ago and went thats it I'm stopping.

The hardest thing you'll find is breaking habits, like if you have that morning cuppa and a smoke. What you have to do is break the habit of reaching for a smoke. I personally did this by having a bag of peanuts with me, why peanuts there not fatty for one and not a full of sugar like sweets (candy). Plus another good thing about them, there easy to carry too.

It really rough over the first few days, but if you hang in there it gets easier each day that passes. Take each day at a time as the old saying goes. You just have to be strong in mind and determined to stop. Set yourself little goals and reward yourself with the money you save. This way it makes you more determined to stop and gives you a incentive too.

So if your serious about this, Good Luck!

 

[sammy402002]

the best thing to do to quit is to find a substitute.I used exercise/weight lifting at the gym.While at home in the quiet times I used hot tea.It worked for Me.Smoking,I believe is mostly a habit.I substituted exercise in the morning and English tea at night.My addiction faded quite quickly.I am "clean of tobacco" for more than two years now.

 

[lovejoy]

My brother used Wellbutrin and quitted after 45 years of smoking!

 

[Legzman]

But I didn´t really quit, I wanted to check for how long I could be without a cigarette.
I´m still checkin´....

I like that one! See how long you can go without one and just keep checking! Never thought of that...maybe trick myself into it that way!

 

[Big P13]

My friend used the Commit lozenge and quit for a few months. He said it was very helpful. His problem is that everyone around him smokes, including his wife. He said he get to the point where he thinks "Oh, I can have just one," and that does him in just because he sees everyone he knows smoking around him.

Besides, you know it will kill you!

 

[Clarkie25]

my dad now uses an oxygen tank and multiple medications to help him stay away from smoking

 

[USNinc]

It took me a few attempts to quit but I don't know anyone who smoked for years and quit like that.
I quit cold turkey because I wanted to be around and watch my nephew (now nephews) grow up.
I'd rather them know me then know about me from others.

Some steps I took to help me quit was:

1. Drink plenty of water. Drink it even if you're not thirsty to keep your mind off smoking.
2. Take a vitamin and plan on taking up several different exercise programs. Jogging, walking, bike riding, tredmill, exercise bike at home, etc.
3. I smoked a pack and a half a day when it was $3.50-4.00 (US) a pack. That saved me about $6 bucks a day and over $40 a week. That's a nice reward to spend on yourself on a friday.
4. I stopped drinking which I wasn't a huge drinker anyways. Alcohol helped me feel that smoking was okay.
5. I quit going to bars or real smokey places. I even stopped going out with friends for awhile just to make me follow thru with my actions.
6. I visited Truth.com. They run (or used to) catchy ads about what smoking does to your body. They had a listing of all the kinds of cancer you can get from smoking and I decided that I wanted to remain healthy and keep both my testicals cancer free.

Nicotine is (one of) the most addictive substances known to man and it takes a strong person to beat it.
Know that beating this makes you feel like you can beat the world.

 

[Jagger69]

There have been some excellent suggestions posted here already so I won't rehash them, but I quit smoking on November 5 of last year after 35 years of puffing away (moderate smoker last 15 years....probably 10-12 cigs/day). I was able to quit by going cold-turkey after deciding that I really WANTED to quit. Each time I tried to quit in the past, I did so because I felt it was the right thing to do, not because I really wanted to. So, I would tell you that, at least from my perspective, unless you sincerely and truly WANT to quit....you won't.

It wasn't easy at first, but after 3 or 4 days the urge to smoke began to lessen. The physical withdrawal to nicotine only lasts about 72 hours, so if you can make it through those first few days, it gets easier. I signed on at quitnet.com and found support each time I felt a weak moment coming on. Quitnet has a great tool to help keep you on the straight path....it's a Quitometer that keeps a running tally of how many days, hours and seconds you have been smoke free and how many cigarettes you have not smoked during that time. It also shows how much money you have saved and how many days you have added to your life expectancy. So far, I have not smoked 2,545 cigarettes, have saved $445.20 and have added 19 days to my life expectancy. Put into this perspective, you want to keep the streak going!

I was really worried about booze and coffee since both of those are serious triggers for me, but I was surprised how easy it became after just a few weeks. Now, I can sit in a smoky bar (although being around cigarette smoke now disgusts me.....yukkk!) and not even have the slightest urge to light up.

Now, just 8 months after I last smoked, I never felt better in my life and I can't even imagine myself going back to smoking at this point. You CAN quit....but only if you really want to. I'm living proof!

Remember the Quitnet acronym....N.O.P.E. (Not One Puff Ever). Good luck!

See these URLs:

http://www.quitnet.com/
http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/5706/cigaretteprison6mb.jpg

 

[pussy+dickdenice]

anybody in here sugsessfully quit? If so what did you do to help make it easier. I've been thinkin about quiting but I've tried many times before and ultimatly fail every time! Maybe this could double as a thread for ex-smoker support group type of thing! Anyway any suggestions would be appreciated. Non-smokers don't even waste my time saying shit like "Just quit" or "you know it'll kill you" I hear that shit all the time and frankly that just makes it harder!

Forgive me for telling you, its easy. It only takes determination to STOP smoking.

Knowing it is bad for you is not good enough. You do it despite that. But knowing it kills your loved ones along with you, because they inhale unfiltered, unadulterated cig smoke - poisons of tar, that makes you determined enough to stop.
dd

I know. I saw him stop smoking on one single day, despite him being a heavy chain smoker, 70 to 80 death-knells a day.
pd

 

[9inch]

good luck to all people trying to stop smoking
I'm also actually trying to decrease a lil' bit my smoking addiction, but I'm planning my total stop only through the next decade (I don't really have the will to stop now, but I'm sure it'll come -early enough I hope- :o )

 

[GENIUS]

i smoked for 8 years

and the way i quit was everytime i felt like having a cigarette i would say to myself " if that touches your lips your whole family will die"

so i would'nt even though i knew it would'nt i could'nt because i used to say i know they ain't gonna die but if i smoke a cigarette it is like saying i care for cigarettes more than my family

and i did'nt touch one

i have been smokeless now for 2 years

 

[Mandy4Ever]

i never smoke in my entire life.

 

[jumbo_jim]

I smoked a little bit when I was younger. Although I never became really addicted and stopped after about a month. Have seen mates go through trying to quit. They say it was easy to begin with and go without a fag for a few days but the longer you go without a fag the more you want one.

Tell your mates you are stopping and not to give you a draw or a fag no matter how much you beg.