Any ideas for quitting smoking?

[Shuemue]

Just quit. Do it one day at a time, no patches or gum, just say, "Today I will not smoke. I can smoke tomorrow if I want to, but not today."

Rinse/repeat.

[Howard Roark]

i went cold turkey off anti-depressants of all things, 150mg of effexor iirc (few yeears back), i don't know how they rank vs nicotine or opiates or w/e (i can only assume theyre much more tame in terms of addiction/withdrawal) and holy jesus i had the shakes, it wasn't pretty, lasted 3-4 days and I was pretty out of it, breaking into tears near randomly (perhaps more out of frustration) but yeah.. i can only imagine coming down off opiates or worse as my piddly little prescription medicine was difficult enough

cold turkey = bad

[sephir]

Nicorette helps. But the secret to breaking any addiction is commitment. You have to KNOW you have to change and without this need for change it won't happen. I've had friends who were alcoholics and until they reliazed the necessity of change it never happened.


But ya Take it one day at a time, always think to yourself I will accomplish my goal if I dont smoke today then say it EVERYDAY. Go completly cold turkey because slowing it down will only keep a need in you. You will feel sick for a few days but this is just your body going back to the state it was in pre-smoking. Breaking the bodily needs for nicotine will cause you to feel a little sick, but its gone after 3 days.


and if your still having trouble talk to your doctor. There is a prescription that is out there that blocks the cell receptors that would normally be triggered by smoking. Basically if oyu take the pill you will get 0 satisfaction from smoking, you will feel as if you were just sucking on air. I think it is expensive but some health insurrance will cover it because it will ofset possible future costs for them.

[thetruepandagod]

i made my friend try to smoke a carton as fast as possible cuz i saw it on king of the hill and lied to him and told him i actually researched it, he vomited uncontrollably and he hasn't smoked in 8 months now

[Demosthenes]

cold turkey.

[Melena]

http://www.chantix.com

i've been smoke free now for over a year. When I started taking chantix, i was 10-15 cigs a day. The very first day, I was at 8 cigs. 3 weeks after i started was my first day with 0 cigs. Haven't smoke since that day, can't stand the smell. A one month supply cost me about 90 dollars after insurance discount, and was worth every penny in my opinion. My only other advice I can give if you go this route is keep things like mints around to suck on, and pens to chew on if your one of those who are horribly oraly fixated like I was.

[mootsfox]

Just stop smoking.

Unless you like smelling like smoke everywhere you go.

Unless you like downing $20 a week to give yourself cancer.

Unless you like looking like an idiot.

The thing that made me quit was the smell. Tired of going to bed smelling like smoke, tired of the taste in my mouth all the damn time.

But it's really not that hard to stop. Just do it. You'll probably have headaches or feel sick for a short while, just push through it.

[Xiona]

instead of listening to everyone on their soap box trying to sell you their "Miracle Oil" just look at every method available then go through them from cheapest to most expensive. also look up free or rebated incentives and programs to help get you started.

cold turkey as long as you can, if it doesnt work try gum or patch (if either doesnt work try the other as they are different), then if that isnt working head to the doctor for a prescription. its possible you need the anti depressant med's to get you off the actual habit.

just make sure you keep at it, understand that failure is possible, try and keep the oral fixation in check at those hard times (like after meals or sex) with candy/pen/anything, and dont listen to the tards telling you to "just stop".

just like FFXI, shits situational

[Raiko]

I never quit smoking I just completley lost the taste for it.

Good way is to smoke menthol cigs and then a really a strong one, just 2 contrasting types, it can make you literally sick. You'll find the cravings become non existant. It helps to leave cigarettes in a way that your brain hates them, that way you'll never be tempted again. Also if you have any willpower, just set yourself something stupid to do, like everytime i need a cig, ill go for a walk, or something that annoys you. Make sure you do it, associate things that annoy/make you sick/are a hassle - things like this usually are an instant way to quit something lol (from personal experience)

[Olo401]

I tried cold turkey, it was pretty horrible.

I'm personally on my second week now of cold turkey. No damn patches, no pills, just pure will power. Actually, I started because I got sick with this REALLY nasty cough for like four days, and figured why not give it a go. I've tried to quit cold at least 10 times in the past, longest I ever made it was a month. My short-term goal is to get to that point, and from there I should be able to ditch it completely. I even have an unopened pack of my favorite clove cigs sitting on my desk right here. It's taunting me. I told it to STFU. If I make it to my goal I'm gonna give 'em away to people in the city begging for cigs.

Oh yea.. I didn't smoke a whole lot anyways. a pack a week for the past five years.

[senjo]

i just quit smoking 3 weeks ago after smoking a full pack of cigs for about 10 years, and i gotta say it wasn't/isn't hard at all. this book http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw...n+carr&x=0&y=0
helped me a lot, the 8 € were well worth the investment. you won't need any nicotin gums or patches either, in fact that kind of stuff is counter-productive, just like reducing the amount of cigs you smoke.

if you're serious about quitting, go grab a copy of the book, read it (its only about 150 pages) and you'll see there is nothing you are missing when you don't smoke.

[wintersquall]

oddly enough, i'm about 49 hours into not smoking myself. i can't believe i haven't killed anyone yet. key word being yet. i'm cheating though, i've used tobacco pouches (Skoal mint) for about a year at work since we don't get breaks... so i'm using one of those when i start to freak out.

i've cut down, sorta quit, almost quit... everything in the book. i always thought it'd get easier, yet everytime i cut down it never did - always wanted just one more...

body's fucked up a little, brain is fucked up lol... and i'm not even really having severe nic withdrawals due to the pouches, just withdrawing from all the other shit in cigs i've smoked religiously a pack to two packs per day for 15 yrs.



as soon as i can go about my daily business normally without wanting a cig every 5 minutes (i hear it takes about 20 days to reprogram your body's habits from behav psych buddies), phase out the pouches and i'll be free i hope.

i can tell you the difference between this time and all the other times i've failed though, since i've failed so many times - this time, when it really gets bad i get angry at myself for being such a bitch instead of running to the convenience store for a pack.

no alcohol, no variances in my daily routine or comfort zone, no matter who it pisses off until i feel more normal. this isn't about them, it's about me adding hopefully years to my life (watch, i'll get hit by a bus next week but w/e).

it's hard man, but its not impossible if you really want to quit. just gotta stick to your guns.

[Cochise]

I used a prescription from doctor to quit smoking... benisomething i forget was 3 years ago... i gained 60 pounds in 6 months and i got stretch marks... i ve lost 20lbs. by changing my diet... no pasta, no red meat etc...

ive turned to counting calories and thinking about how to cut bad food from my diet to fight nervousness and compulsions...

The psychological part was a living nightmare and every now and then a certain smell or a smoking scene in a movie still makes me twitch...

After quitting 3 years ago(20 year smoker) my lungs are back to 85% vs. non smoker... can still hack a wicked biscuit every now and then lol...

Good luck...

[Norelco]

1-800-QUIT-NOW

It's toll free. There are "quit coaches" you can talk with to help you through this difficult time.

http://www.quitline.com/services/quitline_coaches.php

[Dolmen]

I once quit for a year, jumped back into it unfortunately due to an extremely stressful workload. Regardless, there are a few, natural ways to quit that work very, very well.

#1 - You have to want to quit. If you don't want to, you won't.
#2 - Do things that remind you why the ability to breathe is a good one. The biggest change I noticed at that time was how much better I was able to breathe without cigarettes. The first week is key, so keep yourself active outdoors. I played golf nonstop for a week, sometimes 2 rounds a day and I didn't even think about smoking. Take hikes in areas away from civilization where the air is a lot cleaner, and the impact will be that much greater.
#3 - Surround yourself with people that don't smoke during that first week.

I wish I could remember the website I found that listed all of this, as it really made a lot of sense. I would say the hardest aspect of smoking cessation is ending the actual habit. Smoking gives you an oral fixation, so gum or always having a bottle of water with you can be imperative. I'd also carry around small pens that I could flip around in my hand, that really helped. It's great when you realize how much of an idiot you look like when you try to take a drag off the pen, so you subconsciously stop that action. Even better if you manage to puncture the ink chamber of a pen...

Once you get past the nicotine addiction, it's all a matter of lifestyle adjustment. Find something to replace the 5 minutes you spend smoking, and it will make the habit easier to break and forget about. Start running, and you won't want to smoke. Work on repairing your lungs, and get active.

My girlfriend and I really want to quit badly, but living in Northern Virginia makes that very hard. We both smoke the most when we're in the car, so we're not sure how to break that. Also, we have quite a penchant for beer, and alcohol of any sort seems to demand smoking along with it!

[Nystul]

A biological prospective:

The physical aspects of nicotine addiction wear off pretty quick- 3-7 days. Nicotine addiction is far worse because of the habituation of it. You begin to associate cigarettes with certain actions and that association is, especially with nicotine by virtue of it's neurological properties, very powerful. As such, I suggest doing the following:

First, isolate the behaviors that go along with smoking. Say, you eat breakfast every morning on the porch and smoke. You smoke in the car on the way to and from work. You smoke when you drink. You smoke when you play video games.

Then, once you know what things you associate with smoking, alter them in some way. Wake up later for work so you don't have time for a cigarette. Take public transportation or carpool with people that don't allow smoking. Do not associate with people at work that take smoke breaks. Avoid going to bars if you drink/smoke together a lot.

When I was quitting, I stopped walking by the convenience store on the way home- I took a different route. I stopped going out to bars for a while (we're not talking forever, just for a few weeks while you get under control), I thew out my ash trays at home. I did a lot of changes to my routines to eliminate the situations that lead me to smoke. Typically it's easier to give those up than smoking itself.

Also, my Sister used Chantix. I think it's a great drug, it does what it says it does. However, if you have any depression issues, make it clear to your doctor before hand, and have some friends/family around that you see regularly who are able to look for signs of depression. It's really rare but it can happen.


Finally, the best way to quit as so many others have said: is to WANT to quit. if you're not in that place, it will be hard.

[Vuitton]

I quit cold turkey.

I smoked about a pack a week for three years. I smoked an average of 5 ciggaretes a day. One on my way to work, one on all three of my breaks, and one on my way home from work. Depending on stress and what I was doing that evnening after work I would smoke a few more. If I smoked more than 7 in a day my lungs would really hurt.

The only thing hard about quitting for me was the anxiety. I would get very anxious during the times I would normally smoke because I didn't know what to do with myself. Waiting for a bus I would smoke. Walking from A to B downtown I would smoke. Outside the bars with friends I would smoke. Doing those things and not smoking was very hard for me the first month.

Aside from the anxiety I didn't experience anything negative. Oh, I also gained about 10lbs after quitting due to increased appetite (aka: a normal appetite.) The ciggs always supressed it.

[Vuitton]

A biological prospective:

The physical aspects of nicotine addiction wear off pretty quick- 3-7 days. Nicotine addiction is far worse because of the habituation of it. You begin to associate cigarettes with certain actions and that association is, especially with nicotine by virtue of it's neurological properties, very powerful. As such, I suggest doing the following:

First, isolate the behaviors that go along with smoking. Say, you eat breakfast every morning on the porch and smoke. You smoke in the car on the way to and from work. You smoke when you drink. You smoke when you play video games.

Then, once you know what things you associate with smoking, alter them in some way. Wake up later for work so you don't have time for a cigarette. Take public transportation or carpool with people that don't allow smoking. Do not associate with people at work that take smoke breaks. Avoid going to bars if you drink/smoke together a lot.

When I was quitting, I stopped walking by the convenience store on the way home- I took a different route. I stopped going out to bars for a while (we're not talking forever, just for a few weeks while you get under control), I thew out my ash trays at home. I did a lot of changes to my routines to eliminate the situations that lead me to smoke. Typically it's easier to give those up than smoking itself.

Finally, the best way to quit as so many others have said: is to WANT to quit. if you're not in that place, it will be hard.

^---- This is good advice.

I did this to quit smoking (cold turkey).

[Vuitton]

oddly enough, i'm about 49 hours into not smoking myself. i can't believe i haven't killed anyone yet. key word being yet. i'm cheating though, i've used tobacco pouches (Skoal mint) for about a year at work since we don't get breaks... so i'm using one of those when i start to freak out.

i've cut down, sorta quit, almost quit... everything in the book. i always thought it'd get easier, yet everytime i cut down it never did - always wanted just one more...

body's fucked up a little, brain is fucked up lol... and i'm not even really having severe nic withdrawals due to the pouches, just withdrawing from all the other shit in cigs i've smoked religiously a pack to two packs per day for 15 yrs.



as soon as i can go about my daily business normally without wanting a cig every 5 minutes (i hear it takes about 20 days to reprogram your body's habits from behav psych buddies), phase out the pouches and i'll be free i hope.

i can tell you the difference between this time and all the other times i've failed though, since i've failed so many times - this time, when it really gets bad i get angry at myself for being such a bitch instead of running to the convenience store for a pack.

no alcohol, no variances in my daily routine or comfort zone, no matter who it pisses off until i feel more normal. this isn't about them, it's about me adding hopefully years to my life (watch, i'll get hit by a bus next week but w/e).

it's hard man, but its not impossible if you really want to quit. just gotta stick to your guns.

Apologies for all the back to back posts.

You should be very careful you don't replace one addiction and oral fixation with another one! Switching from smoke to chew isn't much of a change in health.

[Odon]

Cigarettes taste disgusting when you're on ecstasy.

QFT