Quitting smoking

[Psyk00]

We all know that smoking is bad for our health and wallets. I'm thinking about giving it up after 8 years of smoking about 20, sometimes even 30 cigaretts a day. Right now I have just a couple of them left in a pack and guess what, yep, will try to dump this dumb addiction again. Someone succeded with becoming nicotine free? I know - just realize you pay hard money for lungs/throat/etc cancer, but it's not that simple. Behavioral addicition, which smoking in 90% is, is a tough contender ;/

 

[TheJoester09]

This is a great decision. Congrats! I don't smoke, and I never have so I can't offer any advice, but maybe it'll help to have some moral support and encouragement? You can do it!!!

 

[devize]

Good luck buddy! I don't smoke myself but many friends and family do. I've had many try to quit smoking and quite a few successfully have. The thing I found in common with those that did successfully quit, and not just for a couple months, were that they REALLY want to quit. Not because they're girlfriend or wife forced them to 'try'. All of them are glad they've given up and can't stand the smell of cigarettes anymore. It is hard but in the end it's worth it, health-wise and money-wise .

 

[juanitoriv]

Quitting is so hard!! I've quit a few times before, been wanting to again for good, but D@MN!!! Lets all help each other

 

[Psyk00]

BTW never even start inhaling this ****. I started thinking "ok, I'll smoke one or two while drinking a beer" and after couple of months was a regular smoker. Damn, year of smoking is worth a nice MBP 13 Pro or a impressive ultraboook.

 

[brianLTE]

I personally started using a vaporizer and have been cigarette free for going on two months. I don't have the urge to smoke ever. (even after drinking) you can get different types and flavors of "juice" and go no nicotine or a little bit. It is truly amazing how it works.

 

[killakiloz]

What Brian said. I bought an e-cig a year ago (make sure you get one that takes the nicotine cartridges....the ones without nicotine are useless) and haven't been smoking since. plus the flavors you can get actually taste good

 

[Psyk00]

I know, but I want to quit, not to seek some substitution. Well, gonna smoke what's left and stand up to the challenge. Watching pictures of black as 9th circle of hell smokers lungs may always help.

 

[palandri]

One thing you have to remember is the desire never goes away. It lessens over time, but it never goes away.

The first time I quit, I had crazy smoking dreams. Like I had to hide in my dream to smoke, so people wouldn't catch me smoking, but they always did catch me. I had one dream that my 4 year old nephew caught me smoking. He then said, I'll show you and lit up a cigarette. I tried catching him, but I couldn't catch him, he ran too fast. :grin:

Nicotine gum helps.

 

[Psyk00]

Never? Even after let's say 5 years?

 

[palandri]

Never? Even after let's say 5 years?

It lessens over time, but it's never 100% gone, at least for me. Nicotine is like crack.You'll get into a traffic jam and look for a cigarette. After dinner, you'll look for a cigarette. You're trying to solve a problem and you'll look for a cigarette.

It's hard to quit and you may not make it the 1st, 2nd or 3rd time you try to quit, but something will click on like the 4th time and you'll quit forever.

 

[Psyk00]

It's not my first time, but now I'm gonna throw some money to my special jar every day instead of buying smokes. Maybe it will help

 

[1101x10]

"Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times."

Mark Twain

 

[Fade_z]

1 tip: Never promise yourself "I'm gonna quit after (The weekends/this pack of cigarettes/holiday) just quit now (okay unless you got like 2 left, anyway you get the point)

 

[cw1988]

I have been quit for 6 months now. I went from smoking about 15 a day to electronic cigarettes then reduced the strength of the nicotine slowly.

Good luck!

 

[rider2040]

I smoked for about five years and then made the even dumber decision to use smokeless tobacco for about five years after that. I tried to quit several times, but finally did it for good in 2005. Here's what made the difference for me:

1. I got really ticked off that I wasn't in control. I had voluntarily given control to some tobacco company that designed a product specifically to get me hooked and then profit from my addiction. This made me really mad.

2. I decided that quitting was the most important thing in my life. This allowed me to be lazy, unproductive, unsocial, and a jerk to my friends and family when I needed to be. As I write this, it sounds odd, but to quit I needed to be very selfish. In previous quit attempts I always find some excuse to go back to it and the excuse usually revolved around other people - something like "I really need to get this project done and I can't concentrate, so I better go get a smoke." Only when I was willing to let other things slip while I focused on myself was I able to finally quit.

3. I found a good online community of people quitting. I became a member of the forum, visited daily, and participated. The one I used was quitsmokeless.com, but I am sure there are similar sites for smoking.

4. I improved my diet. I realized that many of the signals that I was interpreting as nicotine cravings were actually signs of hunger.

5. I used nicotine gum for the first six weeks or so, tapering off it during that time.

6. I realized that it was one of the hardest things I would ever do in my life. Previously I thought "I'm a smart, disciplined person, quitting should be easy." And then when it got hard I would doubt myself and cave. Only when I accepted quitting as the challenge it truly is was I able to summon the determination to get through it.

Good luck with your quit. And when you are successful (and you will be sooner or later) you'll find that the health benefits are only outweighed by the personal growth you'll do in the process.

 

[palandri]

I had one friend who quit and started having chest pains. He went to the doctor and had a series of test. The doctor concluded it was nicotine withdrawal. Once he learned it was nicotine withdrawal he never had the pain again. A strong psychological stimulus causing a physiological response.

 

[palandri]

Now that I've had time to think about it, a couple more things came to mind since it was so long ago.

When I first quit, I had trouble with carbonated beverages, like pop or beer. I would drink one bottle and feel totally bloated and couldn't drink anymore. I use to like hot peppers, but I couldn't handle them after I quit. Coffee brewing in a coffee maker smelled terrible to me, almost like it had petroleum in it.

 

[juanitoriv]

I'm trying, but stress is a beeyatch!! Lets help each other out

 

[fatclue_98]

It lessens over time, but it's never 100% gone, at least for me. Nicotine is like crack.You'll get into a traffic jam and look for a cigarette. After dinner, you'll look for a cigarette. You're trying to solve a problem and you'll look for a cigarette.

It's hard to quit and you may not make it the 1st, 2nd or 3rd time you try to quit, but something will click on like the 4th time and you'll quit forever.

I've been a smoker for over 30 years and I've quit twice. The longest period was for a year and a half. In '98 when my daughter was born, one of my best friends gave me the obligatory Cuban Churchill (Cohibas suck). Long story short, I was at 7-11 getting a pack of Winstons within the hour. My daughter will be 15 this November.