Quitting Smoking. Goddamn.

[ClarkSammich]

So I decided it's high time to stop smoking, for totally serious this time.
I'm going to attempt going cold turkey starting tomorrow morning, but may wind up making an appointment with my doctor to see if that chantrix(?) stuff works.

Anyway, point of thread is to share your successes/failures with quitting smoking. Also general advice is welcome.

[The Stig]

Willpower.

[Blabj]

Sounds simple, but don't have any lying around the house etc. You'll get tempted too easily!

[Shenrien]

quitting is not easy and I'm sure if you've ever attempted it you would know that. I used to smoke and I smoked for about a year, finally one morning like yourself I went cold turkey, and just every time I had a craving I'd hold an unopened package in my hand thinking if I have just one that'll be it and I'll be letting myself down. So every time I had a craving that's exactly what I'd do, finally the cravings stopped and I never opened that package and I've still got it.

And I know, if i ever allow myself to smoke again it'll become a habit that will be hard to stop again. It took 5 months for the cravings to stop, but it was well worth it, I started smoking when I was 16 years old, I stopped when I was 17 because I had realized what it was doing to my health and, I knew that if I could stop that it would overall make me better, and it has in some characteristics.

so.. there's my story of success.

my biggest advise to you, is no matter how badly you want to light one up or how badly you want that feeling just do whatever you can to fight it off, if you light up once while trying to quit, your pretty much just giving up on trying to quit.

best of luck, and family, friends and if you have them which I don't your own children can help out a lot in motivation to stop.

[Mici]

I smoke like a demon playing FFXI so the last few times I tried to quit I got a bag of Dumdums and would just suck on one of those when I really wanted one.
Sadly it has still yet to work out.
Pro tip: stay the hell out of bars and avoid drinking for the first month at least.

[finitek]

It's not easy.

Having an alternative behavior helps. Whatever it may be...
Be prepared for the physical side effects that are rarely mentioned. (nausea in rare cases, constipation, mood swings) going cold turkey is tough, but remember how shitty you feel after a couple of days of not smoking and know that it will go away in a couple of weeks if you were a heavy smoker.

Be happy you are saving tons of cash your were literally burning before.

It helps if you have friends or family that are supportive of your attempt to quit as well.

Oh yeah, channel all your pent up rage at not being able to smoke into HATING smoking. You can do it, just remember why you started and what you stand to gain.

Good luck.

[ClarkSammich]

I can sympathize with FFXI increasing smoking like 200%.
I used to never smoke inside, then FFXI rolled around and well, shit went down hill.

[Pabst]

September would be a year I quit smoking cold turkey. As mentioned above if you can get past the first 5 months then you set. Should be smooth sailing after that. Only down fall is I gained about 25lbs. I went from being around 210 - 215 to 240 in the past 4 months. But it's worth it. Not waking up hacking up a lung full of flem anymore.

[Olo401]

I'm slightly disappointed in myself. Yesterday I broke and bought a pack.. was the first time I've smoked since the 11th.

On the other hand, I've been training myself to use a breathing mask for about the same amount of time (recently diagnosed with sleep apnea) and I have to say it's probably the best night of sleep I've had during the past week. That's worrying because I know how I am and I'll end up using this as a subconscious excuse to finish the entire pack... a sort of for-the-greater-benefit thing until I get used to the mask.

[Atreides]

I'm the kind of person with 0 willpower who can get (and has been) addicted to a great many substances, cigarettes included, which is why it always baffled me that people were able to just quit cold turkey. I went with Chantix, you really do have to make a concerted effort to quit ~1 week after you start taking it but Chantix does a pretty good job of completely removing the physical addiction which in turn really killed my desire to smoke.

You have to eat before you take it otherwise you'll get really nauseous, I had mild nausea but as long as I took it easy for ~30-45 mins after taking it I didn't have any problems and I could function as normal. Having to eat early in the morning and in the evening actually went a long way to helping me normalize my eating routine and eat healthy, as well.

Of course you're still going to think about smoking while driving/after getting up/after sex/etc., but as long as you have a way of dealing with the psychological cravings you won't smoke again. For me, once Chantix removed the physical addiction I was fine (and I haven't smoked in a over a year now) but everyone's different.

btw without insurance Chantix is around 5-6 bucks per day, which is about what cigarettes cost around here so I guess it evens out. It's uncanny how much money I save now, though.

[Aerides]

I quit 11 years ago after smoking for 10. Probably for the first 5 years I would have started up immediately if it wasn't bad for you, and if I didn't know myself well enough that if i let myself fail to quit once I'd fail again.

For the first couple of years I even still loved the smell of 2nd hand smoke and would go out on break with co-workers sometimes when they smoked. But now I can't remotely stand it.

My quitting was initiated by a long hospital stay. I would go outside in the evenings with visitors for a little walk to stretch, and have to pass by patients who had wheeled themselves outside to the entrance: Sitting in wheelchairs, with oxygen tanks and IV poles attached, and they still were smoking. That image has stuck with me.

[Iono]

pffft quitting smoking is the easiest thing to do, i do it all the time.

[Qalbert]

Granted I haven't smoked a lot, but I never have had a physical urge to smoke, so I guess I lucked out in that deptartment.

[MarkM.]

there is a new prescription medicine called chantix that a lot of people are having success with. although i didn't smoke i did use smokeless tobacco and stopped cold turkey, was pretty rough.

[Alleya]

A portion of smoking addiction is conditioning. To improve your chances of being able to quit, you need to avoid situations/places/friends/etc where you usually smoke. If you always hang out with your buds outside the office in the morning to light up, find a new way into the building and avoid it altogether. Don't go to bars if you usually smoke there. If you always smoke while playing FFXI, it might be time to give it up for a while. That sort of thing. Being in those situations will trigger and automatic response that says "light up" which you can't really control, only resist. If you can avoid them as much as possible, you'll improve your chances.

[Klaatu]

Just do it.

[Altariel]

Good luck. I had success with the nicotine gum thing since it gave me something else to focus on and weaned the addiction away. Doesn't work for everyone but worth a try. Probably the most helpful thing when I actually quit was to stop hanging out with my smoker friends and going to the bars for a while. Took me 3 times to quit for good, so do not be discouraged from trying again if you "fall off the wagon."

[Qalbert]

unrelated but I had my first cigar the other day

[Atlasion]

Is there a smoking in the US?

I quit when the smoking ban came in in Scotland a few years ago. I found it a lot easier then. Not being able to smoke indoors whilst drinking makes a huge difference. I went to Colombia for a month and ended up smoking again just because I could do it indoors and not have to go outside for a fag. And now I'm back in Scotland and quitting again. I never smoked too much though, so found it fairly easy to quit.

[Qalbert]

Is there a smoking in the US?

I quit when the smoking ban came in in Scotland a few years ago. I found it a lot easier then. Not being able to smoke indoors whilst drinking makes a huge difference. I went to Colombia for a month and ended up smoking again just because I could do it indoors and not have to go outside for a fag. And now I'm back in Scotland and quitting again. I never smoked too much though, so found it fairly easy to quit.

inb4 lolfag comments from us amerifags