Quitting Smoking

[HOTDON]

It's radical, but I would suggest indulging your urge to punch everyone you see in the face. Then, when they're puzzled and bleeding, be sure to thank them for helping you quit.

In all seriousness, good luck. This is a good time to quit by the sounds of it. Since you're moving and changing your daily routines anyway, you should be able to avoid a lot of the old triggers.

 

[Mr Janny]

I am going on 9 months now. I did it without medicine. I watched too many people on Chantix, etc. to ever make me think it was a good idea to use that. Lots of water, and gum, helped. And you need to find something to do with your hands, like toothpicks etc, to simulate the motion to your brain.

The biggest thing that I can tell you is to not make it seem like such a big deal in your own mind. It's especially true with the stuff that you associate with lighting up (driving, after meals, etc).

You can use motivators, $, kids, whatever, But it has to be intrinsic for it to really take. The study that I saw, and I have no idea where I saw it, said that the desire for the cigerette lasts only as long as it takes to smoke the cigerette. So you can break that down, and realize that you really have to survive 8 minutes per crave. You can use that, if you aren't able to minimize the importance of what you are doing in your own mind.

I smoked for 10 years. I really liked it. But, it is something that you eventually have to quit.

totally agree with this. I was a ten year smoker, and had tried to quit several times. But, I was never able to until I was actually ready to. And when that day came, I knew I was done, and honestly the cravings didn't really matter much because I had a different perspective on things.

For me, it was about getting mad. My wife and I had a trip planned, that we were really looking forward to, and about two weeks before we were scheduled to leave, we both got colds. Hers cleared up in about a week, but I was still hacking and wheezing horribly, right up until the day we left. I was miserable. It made me so angry to see how much longer it took me to recover from a simple cold, and I knew my smoking was to blame. That's when I knew I was done. I went cold turkey and never looked back. Every time I had a craving, I just thought about how pathetic it was to be taken out of commission by the common cold, and how I never wanted to be in that position again. That was four years ago.

The point is, that my mindset was completely different than all the other times that I tried to quit, and I think that's the primary difference. I look back at those other attempts and think about how I wasn't even really trying.

 

[VeloClone]

If you find yourself getting weak and ready to just go out and have one look at the images in the link. I didn't post any directly here since some may think they don't belong here, but frankly everyone should see them.

smokers lungs pictures - Google Search

Remember there are immediate benefits to quitting no matter how much damage you might have already done.

Stay strong. I'm very happy for you.

 

[CycloneBob]

I quit about 40 yrs ago after smoking for about 5 yrs. My advice:

1. Quit cold turkey - gradual reduction is like cutting a dog's tail off an inch at at time - sounds good in theory only.
2. Avoid any spicy foods that can trigger the habit - such as pasta sauce, Mexican foods, alcohol, coffee, tea. I did this for a week.
3. Eat a lot of bland foods - such as white meat turkey or chicken without the skin, not the deli sliced stuff, lots of veggies and fruit.
4. Drink a lot of water. Whenever you feel the urge to smoke, get up, walk around, get a big drink of water.
5. Exercise, take a morning and evening walk.
6. When you feel the urge, take several deep long breaths.
7. Break routines that triggered a smoke - such as after a meal. The urge is not only chemical but physical routine.

 

[cyson]

I know mentally I can do this, but any advice dealing with the withdraw effects, making them easier to deal with...By the way I'm 24 hours in and I know the first three days are the toughest on me.

Good luck. I had to tell myself I wasn't quitting I was just stopping until I got old then i could smoke again. Hardest thing I ever did.

 

[3GenClone]

A few things that helped me:

Pay for gas at the pump - the temptation is there to buy a pack at the counter, so avoid it if you can. Same thing with groceries. Stores like Hy-Vee have self-checkout and can help avoid the cigarette counters.

Get your car, home and clothes cleaned. It not only helps get rid of the smell, and it serves as reinforcement that you are committed to quitting.

Quit/limit drinking for awhile. A beer and cigarette paired like wine and cheese for me. I cut back on going to the bar to avoid the trap of beer-smoke-repeat.

The wife and i quit cold turkey and nearly killed each other after day 4. That was 2 years ago and we haven't given in yet. It's tough but if you have a good support network it's a little easier.

Best of luck!

 

[intrepid27]

Ask your doctor for a Zyban prescription. Not only does it greatly reduce cravings but you will get some crazy nightmares as a bonus.

 

[acoustimac]

I know mentally I can do this, but any advice dealing with the withdraw effects, making them easier to deal with...By the way I'm 24 hours in and I know the first three days are the toughest on me.

Have a really good personal reason for doing it. Money usually isn't it. Health is a good one. A significant other is a good one. Mae it personal!

 

[swiacy]

I was a 2 pack a day user. Quit cold turkey when I started having kids @ 30, did not want them to have a user parent. Leaving the single guy/bar scene lifestyle was probably key for me, looking back. Hardest for me was first thing in morning with a cup of coffee. Chewing gum or toothpick helped, something called oral fixation I believe and I think there is something to that. For a perspective, a pack of cigs was 50 cents when I quit (1980)!

 

[Cyclones_R_GR8]

My last cigarette was July 31 1996. I smoked it at 6:00 am right outside the door to Mary Greeley hospital as I was going in for jaw surgery and figured that was as good a time to quit as any.
Every time I wanted a smoke I would get up and take a walk around the block. Believe me I took a lot of walks. I couldn't sit down and watch a 1/2 hour TV show I was so antsy but it paid off.
Most people fail after about 6 months when they decide to try "just one" and for me that would escalate to a pack a day within a week.
Just remember to never ever fool yourself into thinking you can try just one.

 

[oldman]

Quitting smoking is easy. I've done it hundreds of times -- Groucho Marx (I think)

As was stated earlier, IMO you have to go cold turkey. When I was in the Navy, I worked my way from a pack a day to two cigarettes, one in the morning and one after dinner. I'd count the minutes till I could have those two smokes.

And my best advice is to not try one after having quit for a long time, just to see what they taste like. It'll taste really bad, and then the next day you'll want another one.

 

[CLONECONES]

stop doing the things that you always have a smoke with when you do them

 

[GeronimusClone]

It's definitely a mental thing. When you quit, you need to convince yourself that you're no longer a "smoker." The days, months, years you've quit don't matter and keeping track is pointless. From today on, you're a non-smoker. That's your mindset. Your mind is powerful, you trick it into believing all sorts of **** all the time. Now, trick it in your favor.

 

[isubeatle]

i'm going on 2 years now and i used an electronic cigarette and it REALLY helped me a lot to get over the habit part. Manly, i was still able to "smoke" during stressful times and i still got the sensation of inhaling.

 

[HawkFanISUalum]

My quitting was unplanned. I got sick last June and couldn't get over it. Was sick for about 3 weeks and didn't feel like smoking at all. When I finally felt better, I was past the withdrawal symptoms and have been smoke-free ever since. I even hang out with a smoker at work to build up my resistance to the mental addiction.

I wish I had some profound advice for you, but the only thing I can say is take it one day at a time. Every time I have a beer, I still crave a smoke, even after 11 months. My mom quit almost 40 years ago, and she said she still has a craving every now and then when she has a beer. It's a nasty addiction. Just stay strong.

 

[NATEizKING]

Avoid activities that you smoke doing. A lot of people are used to substance abuse while doing certain things. If you smoke when you are driving a vehicle don't take them with you when you drive. If you do while playing video games or while on CF try avoiding those for a little while. I know you can't avoid CF but just an example.

 

[RVD4]

There is no easy answer, avoid triggers as others said, quit for the next hour, and then the next hour. Look up images of lungs of smokers. If you can every time you have a craving brush your teeth. Warn others that you may be a bit crabby.:realmad:
Most importantly you have to want to more than anything else in the world. It is easy to convince yourself, just one, it will not work. The first three days are hard, but so are the next few weeks, that being said I quit chewing 11 years ago,and it has been about the most rewarding thing I've ever done. Now I know I have a better chance of living longer and seeing important moments in mine and others lives. I found a support forum on the internet when I quit chewing and it helped a ton. You can do it !

 

[cdnlngld]

Sorry, no advice but congrats and good luck. Probably the best thing you could do for your health. When I quit I started chewing. Definitely don't recommend that. Now I have a new bad habit.

FIFY: I have a new WORSE habit.

 

[Clonefan94]

I quit chewing over 5 years ago and it was hard. I carried a can of chew with me for 8 months and had a can in my pickup for almost a year. Its mind over matter at this point. Drink lots of water to get your system cleaned out. The worse part it I still crave a chew now and then.

I've always wondered how similar chewing is to smoking when it comes to quitting. I chewed pretty much for 20 years. Then one day, just decided I wasn't going to do it anymore. It was tough as hell for a couple of weeks, but after that it was smooth sailing and I haven't missed it one bit. (except for any drive over 4 hours, I start to get itchy then) When I would convince myself to start back up and buy a can, I would just give myself that little talk, that said, "You don't need this, you are stronger than the urge." I'm not saying it was easy, but it certainly wasn't the trouble that I've seen smokers go through. And my cravings came more with After a meal, during a drive, etc, than "Oh, it's been an hour since my last chew."

I would just think about why you are buying the smokes, if you get the urge and tell yourself that you are better than that and you are quitting for a reason. Remember why you quit and it should be easier to keep yourself convinced to stay quit.

 

[Tre4ISU]

It's all mental. I quit chewing a year or so ago and for me, it wasn't all that hard. The mentality I took was this: If I don't buy it and spend $5, I can't do it. So instead of quitting chewing, I was quitting buying chew. That really changed it for me. That's not to say I didn't bum any while having a beer or something, but I never really had the urge to start up as a habit again. Good luck.