help! i smoke and want to quit asap

Al48feelingreat

Where to start
I have tried patches,e cigarettes. Chinese herbal therapy, sprays and going cold turkey

I ride 10-20 miles a day do at least 2 hours of intense exercise a day

I do not run as I really don't like it I do multiple sprints with jogging for a 1km interval and again the smoking has an effect on my breathing but not so much

To everyone that knows me they say that guys strong/ fit etc

But inside I'm far from healthy and would like to change that asap any tips or tricks to help me would be deeply appreciated

Many thanks in advance

MarietjieHoward

What country are you from?, if you are in the UK you can go to the NHS and they will help you quit smoking....

hupsii

I set a date in the future about 4 months ahead and told everyone I would stop on that date. When the date came, I had no choice but to stop (I was smoking 20 - 30 a day)

hupsii

might add... I have never smoked since

pondee629

hupsii wrote: »

might add... I have never smoked since

Very good. Congrratulations. Keep it up. if you haven't noticed, you will soon, you'll be feeling great. Getting your wind back, able to do more and not get as tired. The money saved is merely an added bonus. Take the money you have been spending on smokes, put it in a jar and in a year go somewhere nice.

Al48feelingreat

Thanks for your replies I'm from London and have done the nhs quit smoking program and that didn't work

The date setting sounds like a good idea I'll try that

doesthisappmakemelookfat

My husband quit (he LOVED smoking) with Champix. I think it's called chantix now? It's a 6 week program, which he didn't complete because he found he was dreaming in technicolor and it was making him too tired, but it got him over the initial cravings/difficulties.

hupsii

Al48feelingreat wrote: »

Thanks for your replies I'm from London and have done the nhs quit smoking program and that didn't work

The date setting sounds like a good idea I'll try that

Good luck - if you really want it , you can do it ! Just never, ever, have another one ... quitting smoking is easier than losing weight .

chaines0145

doesthisappmakemelookfat wrote: »

My husband quit (he LOVED smoking) with Champix. I think it's called chantix now? It's a 6 week program, which he didn't complete because he found he was dreaming in technicolor and it was making him too tired, but it got him over the initial cravings/difficulties.

My mom quit using that medication. It worked great (hasn't smoked since), but said the dreams were just ridiculously weird...

_Bropollo_

My GF used e-cig/vaping to quit. Gradually stepped down nictotine to 0%, then just stopped altogether. She said it helped her gradually get used to having less and less nicotine, plus keeping the e-cig charged all the time was a enough of a pain to make smoking a tedious activity for her.

tincanonastring

+1 on Chantix (and the screwy dreams). I used it to quit 3 years ago after countless failed attempts.

thebozz7

It's everything in your mind I used to smoke not as much as you do but at the end of the day it's smoking, what did it take for me to one days say enough well set my mind to that simple your mind controls your whole buddy train it to do the right thing I every time that I want it to do it again I fell bad because I had train mind to stop this addiction and must importantly your slowly shorting your days by doing that hard but that's the reality I didn't want to end up speaking through a whole some time we need to realize what we are doing to our buddy's thing about it this is all we have you damage it you can't take back to repair shop!

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zoeysasha37

I used a vaporizer to quit ( don't buy the cheap ecigs they really suck) spend on the good stuff. Get yourself set up with a good mod,tank and liquid and then you can wean down monthly. I haven't smoked in 2 yrs

FutureGains

Use a Vale pen with an e-liquid that doesn't contain nicotine

FutureGains

Vape pen

Al48feelingreat

Yup

Thanks for all the advice will take that all on-board

Kind regards

samhennings

Al48feelingreat wrote: »

Thanks for your replies I'm from London and have done the nhs quit smoking program and that didn't work

The date setting sounds like a good idea I'll try that

Sounds to me like maybe you arent ready yet.

I smoked for over 20 years. Tried giving up several times, with the best of intent, and failed every time.

Over the last year or so I cut down to about 5 a day. Then I started to stop smoking the whole thing. And even so I couldnt shake it.

And then one day something just clicked in my head, I was ready for it. Got a nicorette spray and used that as a substitute, a couple of weeks later stopped using that as well. Its been easy. Bizarre, huh? Considering it was impossible up until now.

A bit like losing weight, when you are ready to do it it comes quite easily I think.

Al48feelingreat

You know what I think you hit the nail on the head right there!

markrgeary1

A buddy quit by using Chantix, he'd tried most everything for 25 years, Chantix worked first time. Another friend used a vap to get off the cigs, he's nicotine free but keeps vaping. I quit using fear, I'd had severe C-spine issues and the pain was indescribable, neurosurgeon said to expect more events like I'd had, that last cig was it for me, too chicken. Good luck, I will tell you after I quit life got very good

samhennings

Al48feelingreat wrote: »

You know what I think you hit the nail on the head right there!

For a while I knew I wanted to do it, so I did spend a lot of time working it into my subconscious. Eventually it must have stuck!

_Bropollo_

billieljaime wrote: »

I smoked real cigs for twenty plus years now I vape full nicotine and no plans to quit that. The difference is great. There is no tar or additives. Nicotiene is not bad for you it is like caffiene.

There is no data on vaping yet so we dont know if it is bad for us per se.

I can tell you i feel milestones better. I can run and I smell better!!! Plus it so SOOOOOO much cheaper!!!!!! No odor no ash!!!!! And it gives me the feels I need just like smoking with out the nastiness.

It is not quitting but an alternative, you can try the step down method as mentioned above.

Get a variable voltage vaporizing cigarette with premium liquids, i use halo. The initial start up cost is great but once u are up and running it is cheap!

Good luck!

Normally I would just not say anything, but please don't spew bad info like this on a health and fitness website, because it isn't true.

Nicotine is absolutely bad for you, hands down. There are tons of doucmented tests. Vaping is better than smoking for sure, but not vaping at all is better than vaping: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine#Adverse_effects

Also there are mutliple links to the propylene glycol (aka engine coolant) found in e-liquid with hearing loss (several research links at bottom of page): hearingreview.com/2015/07/can-e-cigarettes-cause-hearing-loss/

jock7

Try the vapour 3 cigarette i have been stopped for 2 month nw i have previously stopped for 6 month will power but these are great i have put weight on what i culdnt b4 and saved a fortune and feel great in myself

MommyL2015

4+ years with vaping. Love it, can't see myself ever stopping because it completely handles the hand-to-mouth habit that was the killing point for me every time I tried to quit in the past.

However you choose to quit that allows you to stay that way is the best! Good luck!

thereplay

I smoked since my teens, for about 15 years (god it sounds awful at this point). it started at a pack a week and crept up... I went through a breakup with my GF my second year in college it instantly went up to a pack a day.

I kept that pace for a long time even after we got back together.

For a couple years I rented an apartment with no smoking. I tried getting away with it by exhausting it out the window, but my landlord caught on and confronted me about it, so i stopped smoking indoors. Well, almost, every now and then I would light up indoors and take two or three drags, maybe once a week if i didnt feel like going outside. He caught on to that also and confronted me again. so never again did i smoke indoors. I would normally come home around 4pm, and leave my cigs in the car. To get them I would have to put on a pair of pants, a pair of shoes, go out in the cold and smoke outside... it was more effort than it was worth so i just stopped smoking after work until the next morning.

I realized it wasnt all that hard, and now instead of a pack a day I was smoking more like a third of a pack. When the weekends came and I went to my primary home in another state, i went back up to almost a pack a day.

But I knew, i KNEW, it didnt have to be that way. if I can get through 14 hours of not smoking without pain, I could quit.

So at a random checkup with my doctor he asked me if I smoked and asked me if i wanted to quit... to which i replied yes of course i did. He told me about chantix (which i already knew about). I asked him about the dreams, and he said basically this.... if you have PTSD, paranoia, mental problems, etc..., then nightmares can be a problem.

But he said if you dreams are just normal dream, or if you are superman in them, they they are just going to get more vivid.

I generally dont have nightmares and enjoyed the vivid dreams, they tapered off after the first few weeks and now its just for the most part normal.

anyways putting that aside... Chantix is about as close to a miracle drug as can be, but it WONT quit for you. Like anything else you need to provide your own motivation and you need to WANT to quit. For me it was the scary thought of my health, telling myself you have smoked long enough, asking myself why i was losing all this weight if I still couldnt breathe, etc... just in general telling myself my motivation was an all time high and this is the time to quit.

My quit date was at the back end of the time period, and unfortunately it fell on a week that i took time off from work.. so i overlapped my date by 5 days. But on the monday morning, i smoked my last cigarette in the pack and told myself i would not buy another and i would not ask for another.

The hardest most intense craving i had since was that very first day was when i got in my car to drive home, that was one of the high points... im done with work and i can just drive home relaxed puffing on a cig. After that the it was more breaking routine rather than cravings. after about two weeks i felt confident to go back outside and chat it up with my smoke buddies at the smoking lounge without fearing a craving. Honestly i didnt have a problem doing it, no cravings, was still taking the pill twice a day.

I dont think I ever actually tried to quit prior to this... one time i gave a half assed attempt when a friend died of lung cancer, but it only last for a weekend.

I still get the routine craving/dejavu craving at infrequent times, but they are now very easy to dispel.

My advice give chantix a shot, put forth a determined effort.

Holly_Wood_888

I quit by cutting down ... cigarette by cigarette until I was left with only one at the end of the day (my after work smoke) now wouldn't you know - that was the hardest to let go of .

I used e- cigarettes (the ones without nicotine - to help with hand to mouth )
I ate an apple on the way home from work everyday to help not smoke while driving
I took up jogging 5 nights a week and found it easier not to smoke after I completed healthy exercise
I avoided my 'smoking friends' for two months (wasn't easy but they understood)
and I kept busy !

Good luck!

ninerbuff

Al48feelingreat wrote: »

Where to start
I have tried patches,e cigarettes. Chinese herbal therapy, sprays and going cold turkey

I ride 10-20 miles a day do at least 2 hours of intense exercise a day

I do not run as I really don't like it I do multiple sprints with jogging for a 1km interval and again the smoking has an effect on my breathing but not so much

To everyone that knows me they say that guys strong/ fit etc

But inside I'm far from healthy and would like to change that asap any tips or tricks to help me would be deeply appreciated

Many thanks in advance

Once you make the decision to WANT to truly quit, then quit cold turkey. The issue with most people who don't quit is that they aren't really committed to it.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

jgnatca

I have to remind people at work that importance is not the same as urgency. It is very, very important to quit smoking. Don't wait like my dad did. I'll lose him soon to COPD.

The diagnosis and the patch, plus three months of grumpiness, did it for my dad. I suggest you skip the first step and go straight to two and three. Try the patch again and brace yourself and your loved-ones for the grumpiness. I also suggest you put the money you save in a jar every day, and use it to buy yourself something special after three months.

tincanonastring

thereplay wrote: »

He told me about chantix (which i already knew about). I asked him about the dreams, and he said basically this.... if you have PTSD, paranoia, mental problems, etc..., then nightmares can be a problem.

But he said if you dreams are just normal dream, or if you are superman in them, they they are just going to get more vivid.

I generally dont have nightmares and enjoyed the vivid dreams, they tapered off after the first few weeks and now its just for the most part normal.

anyways putting that aside... Chantix is about as close to a miracle drug as can be, but it WONT quit for you. Like anything else you need to provide your own motivation and you need to WANT to quit. For me it was the scary thought of my health, telling myself you have smoked long enough, asking myself why i was losing all this weight if I still couldnt breathe, etc... just in general telling myself my motivation was an all time high and this is the time to quit.

My quit date was at the back end of the time period, and unfortunately it fell on a week that i took time off from work.. so i overlapped my date by 5 days. But on the monday morning, i smoked my last cigarette in the pack and told myself i would not buy another and i would not ask for another.

The hardest most intense craving i had since was that very first day was when i got in my car to drive home, that was one of the high points... im done with work and i can just drive home relaxed puffing on a cig. After that the it was more breaking routine rather than cravings. after about two weeks i felt confident to go back outside and chat it up with my smoke buddies at the smoking lounge without fearing a craving. Honestly i didnt have a problem doing it, no cravings, was still taking the pill twice a day.

I dont think I ever actually tried to quit prior to this... one time i gave a half assed attempt when a friend died of lung cancer, but it only last for a weekend.

I still get the routine craving/dejavu craving at infrequent times, but they are now very easy to dispel.

My advice give chantix a shot, put forth a determined effort.

I smoked for about the same amount of time at a steady pack to pack and a half a day and this is almost exactly my experience with Chantix. It's been 3 years now and when those craving/deja vu feelings are infrequent enough at this point that they make me realize it's been a while since the last one.

Al48feelingreat

Wow so many answers, I kinda had a epic moment this morning. Did what I usually do before I start work. I always make sure I have extra pack of cigarettes.well I dropped them while climbing my tower crane.it's kinda good timing as I saw a nutritionist last night.we had a hour consultation and was meant to send me details of smoking and how it damages the digestion.I climb up and down the crane two times looking for these cigarettes and then it hit me.I really don't want them.climb my crane. Calmly got in the cab and have been operating with no tobacco rage.