How did you quit smoking?

cmriverside

Cut back/ then cold turkey nearly 20 years ago, after many many attempts. I was down to 5-10 a day by then.

I had to quit drinking at the same time, I found that when my inhibitions were lowered after a couple drinks, I would smoke.

It was way past time. I did it for my peace of mind - not giving in to an addiction that was going to kill me. I smoked for many years.


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That's what I think would be my worst challenge,drinking and not smoking.I want to quit as well.Good info on this post

tex,

It took me a few tries to figure that out. I can drink now and not smoke, but no way I could do it at first. The first two weeks were the toughest, and really only a couple times did I have to fight hard to not smoke. Smoking is nothing but a coping tool. One that will kill you...

It's so so worth the effort to stop.

Both my parents had heart attacks young. They both smoked. My dad died at age 41. My stepdad died of lung cancer. Ex-smoker.

They say your lungs recover fairly quickly. There is a lot of info about it online.

I think any time that anything has a hold on you like smoking, that it is killing your spirit. It is making you think you have no control - that you are powerless. It creates fear in your life. I'm here to tell you you are more powerful than you can ever imagine.

Try it for a week. You can do it. :flowerforyou:

ChellieIrish

Hey :bigsmile:

Cold Turkey :drinker: I was a 20 + a day smoker and am now smoke free the last 13 days :bigsmile: For me this is my 3rd attempt and not to put a downer on it but the previous 2 times were over 2 years :grumble:

In saying that the reasons this time for quitting are for my new lifestyle It's hard to be working out when emmm you cannot breathe lol Also I wasn't a member of any kind of support group ie MFP the support on here is priceless update your status you are having a bad day, need a ciggy etc and within mins usually you have someone helping you out :laugh:

I agree you have to set the idea in your head and really want to do it For me it was after my hols I said to myself once the Duty free smokes are gone that is it I am QUITTING!! I had the ritual with the last box and made sure I enjoyed every last one and said right ... that is it!!

Once I had quit before I went to bed I washed all the ashtrays and sprayed the rooms with a nice airfreshener so the following morning I wouldn't get the smell of stale smoke That did help :flowerforyou:

Now when I feel I need one I go and burn some cals instead by going out for a walk, getting on treadmill or doing a workout DVD

You can do it :flowerforyou:

maurap26

I quit smoking 9 yrs. ago. I used a pill, which I can't remember the name of it. With my Dr. I choose a quit date, which was based around what was coming up in my life. Then I started using the pills 10 days before my quit date.
I kept a quit diary, during this process, which I found a while ago.
The process was still hard, but made easier by the pills.
Good luck !!
YOU CAN DO THIS !!!!

superwmn

I was ready to quit for a while before I put them down. That's the key. You have to really WANT to stop (and thinking "I really should stop" or "I'd like to stop" while happily lighting up doesn't count). I was smoking for a good month or so and each time I lit up I thought "I really don't WANT this".

I quit officially in July when I changed jobs. So not only did I WANT to quit, I was in a totally new environment when I had no smoking buddies, not smoke breaks built into my day, a commute that didn't involve my car...

It was the perfect storm and I've not looked back

Charmagne

poolcue

I am just starting to quit. I am on chantix right now. I've been smoke free for only 2 days, but to prepare for this I had started to cut down from my normal pack and a half a day(20 years) to 10, to 5 right before I quit. I had attempted to quit multiple of times, one time I even did it for 6 months but I was young and didn't have anything to look forward to. This time I am much older and with three children, where one was actually pretending to smoke like daddy, so I told myself it's time and this time I need to do it not just for me, but also for my family. I didn't really pick a start date, instead I let my body tell me when to quit, I was one chantix for 2 weeks before my body was actually ready, then it came just one day I said that's enough and I haven't smoked in 2 days. The funny thing is, I still have a pack of cigs in my pocket right now, I actually told myself if I need one I will burn one up, but everytime I needed one I would put out a photo of my baby girl(the one that pretended to smoke) which just turned 3 four days ago and I would put it back down.

Serenifly

I used Chantix, I was supposed to set a quit date 7-10 days after I started taking the meds... so of course I chose 10... within 3 days my cigs tasted like licking a 2 year old, never cleaned ash tray and I was immediately down to about 4 a day, had completely quit by day 6, that was back in May, the smell still makes me nauseous and I never want to go there again. I did gain 10 pounds, but they are back off now and I feel better than I did in my 20s, literally! I wish you the Very Best Luck with this decision.... You have to do what is right for You, but believe me.... YOU ARE WORTH IT!!

I'm on week 10 of Champix ... I still smoke ... but I'm down to4 a day from 20 a day ... Hypnotherapy didn't work either... I have no idea how to quit, I'm at a loss ... completely lost on this. champix though was the first pill that made me feel like i couldn't be bothered to smoke. They make me want to throw up after taking them for about 20 minutes - even with food...

I'm convinced it will take me getting preggers to quit

poolcue

I'm on week 10 of Champix ... I still smoke ... but I'm down to4 a day from 20 a day ... Hypnotherapy didn't work either... I have no idea how to quit, I'm at a loss ... completely lost on this. champix though was the first pill that made me feel like i couldn't be bothered to smoke. They make me want to throw up after taking them for about 20 minutes - even with food...

I'm convinced it will take me getting preggers to quit

You will get there. I've been smoking for 20 years, back then two of my best friends and I would smoke all the time when we get together, even now we still hang out together. The only difference is, one of them has Emphysema(still smokes at age 35), the othe had quit for 6 months(smoker for 20 years and non-filter at that), using Chantix, and me that's trying to quit smoking. You will noticed while using Chantix you wouldn't want to smoke as much, the time you do want to smoke is in your head, give what I do a try(actually this is from the friend that had quit), buy some dum dum pops(small suckers) and take one whenever you want a smoke, it takes about the same amount of time to smoke a cig as eating the sucker, it helps take the edge off. If you still need to smoke after that, just push it off till your next smoke break.

Hope this help.

Oh, to test my will power, I have an almost full pack of smokes in my pocket that tease me all the time, but I am telling it that I am stronger than it is, instead I reach in other pocket for my dum dum.

PC

Serenifly

I'm on week 10 of Champix ... I still smoke ... but I'm down to4 a day from 20 a day ... Hypnotherapy didn't work either... I have no idea how to quit, I'm at a loss ... completely lost on this. champix though was the first pill that made me feel like i couldn't be bothered to smoke. They make me want to throw up after taking them for about 20 minutes - even with food...

I'm convinced it will take me getting preggers to quit

You will get there. I've been smoking for 20 years, back then two of my best friends and I would smoke all the time when we get together, even now we still hang out together. The only difference is, one of them has Emphysema(still smokes at age 35), the othe had quit for 6 months(smoker for 20 years and non-filter at that), using Chantix, and me that's trying to quit smoking. You will noticed while using Chantix you wouldn't want to smoke as much, the time you do want to smoke is in your head, give what I do a try(actually this is from the friend that had quit), buy some dum dum pops(small suckers) and take one whenever you want a smoke, it takes about the same amount of time to smoke a cig as eating the sucker, it helps take the edge off. If you still need to smoke after that, just push it off till your next smoke break.

Hope this help.

Oh, to test my will power, I have an almost full pack of smokes in my pocket that tease me all the time, but I am telling it that I am stronger than it is, instead I reach in other pocket for my dum dum.

PC

That is GREAT Advice, and you're right about when I need a smoke. I told my doctor that the morning smoke is the only one I truly crave, and the only one that I enjoy in the day, the other three are out of pure 'habbit' - 2 at lunch and 1 on the way home from work ... When I'm at home, I don't even think about it ... it's just that morning one that drives me nutty.

123456654321

Cold Turkey. 3rd time was the charm;) It's been 6 years now Wooohooo!

thumper44

I just did this. I'm 1 month of not smoking.(20+ year smoker).. I took champix, and it does take away the cravings.
Smoking out of habit is a different matter. You need to keep busy, and change your routines slightly.

I used gum and a straw for my first week to get through the oral fixations.

This website helped.
http://whyquit.com/whyquit/A_Benefits_Time_Table.html
There are 3 stories near the bottom, and I didn't read all of them, just Bryan's
http://whyquit.com/whyquit/BryanLeeCurtis.html

This FREE 200 page Ebook was VERY VERY informative, and a lot of stuff I was not aware of as a smoker.
http://whyquit.com/NTAP_large_print_212_pages.pdf

I've changed the normal question of "how much do you smoke?".
The normal answers are always "a pack a day, or 1/2 pack a day". (never sounds like a lot) :smokin:

Now I might ask them, how many is that in a month, (let the smoker calculate it ):noway:

If I knew I smoked 750 cigarettes in a month, I might have quit a long time ago. :embarassed: :grumble: :explode: :mad: :embarassed: :sick:
That's just gross, and stupid.

anubis609

PV [personal vaporizer] AKA e-cig.

I technically still get my nicotine fix, but I've quit smoking actual cigarettes since August of last year. It wasn't planned, but I just naturally didn't want to smoke them once I got my e-cig. I tried a couple after a month of using it, and each time it was nasty as *kitten*. I'm able to breathe better [sometimes better than non-smokers], and I've regained my sense of smell... in fact it seems better than ever. And the plus side, it hasn't hindered my weight loss at all.

sandram82

BUMP

taso42_DELETED

The time it stuck for me was with nicotine gum. For me, nicotine replacement therapy really worked. I was under the impression that it was a mostly psychological addiction, but it was definitely mostly physical. I would crave a cigarette desperately, but taking the mega-dose of nicotine from the gum curbed that right away. I then weened off slowly by taking only half the piece of gum, then 1 quarter, then less and less often, etc, until I was finally done.

poolcue

That is GREAT Advice, and you're right about when I need a smoke. I told my doctor that the morning smoke is the only one I truly crave, and the only one that I enjoy in the day, the other three are out of pure 'habbit' - 2 at lunch and 1 on the way home from work ... When I'm at home, I don't even think about it ... it's just that morning one that drives me nutty.

If the morning smoke what you worry about, you could leave your smokes in your car or at work and try to break that habbit a little at a time. When I first start cutting down, I would still have the same amount of Nic but in all different times, and like you the morning one was the worst, and the one I had the most trouble. Instead I use that time to use my phone to get on here or play games.

PC

jmzhale

I was a 3-4 pack a day Marlboro full flavor smoker. I stepped down to Mediums, then Lights, then Ultra Lights and then went cold turkey in 1999. Find something you want more than that cig, for me it was my wife.

jtsmou

I started dipping my cigarettes in pinesol, but that didn't work so I started rubbing butter on my shins.

smota

Cold turkey. Someone said before they did it together with joining MFP, and I did too. I've had an account since last year, but then I had to stop training and didn't come back here until about a months and a half ago. I haven't smoked since the 6th February.

Put your mind to it. If you can control your food and exercise because you want to be healthy, everytime you pull out a cigarette you'd better be shoving down a hamburger with fries and xl coke

Good luck xx

baisleac

My quit day is Saturday (3/19). I started one per day Zyban (generic version) last Saturday and will up to twice/day on the 19th. I'd been cutting back, from 25 cigs/day to 13/day and stalled... couldn't break the barrier. So, my DR gave me the prescription. Today, my final total will be 6 for the day.

On Saturday we're spending the day with my parents who will help keep us honest (husband's quitting too).

peteyTwang

smoking and being overweight is a _really_ bad idea.... so congrats to all the MFPers on the same healthy journey...
i quit (in '95) mostly cold turkey.. bought a pack of the nicotine gum but only used about 3 pieces over the course of the first week... after that i did chew a lot of sugarless trident for awhile though... good luck... it gets easier the longer you do it and i definitely believe that the experience and self-discipline I learned beating nicotine addiction was a fundamental skill for me losing that ~80lbs

ArchyJill

Cold turkey! Went out to the bar to celebrate my thesis being signed off, got utterly plastered, ran out of smokes, too hung over the next day to go buy more so I just ran with it. It's been about 4 years now.