Ex-smokers! I need some advice to help me quit

bella_babe_86

I just quit last week. Im using an e-cig that I bought at www.aquavapor.com It really has helped me because the liquid used in them has nicotine in it, at first you can get the strong liquid and work your way down slowly. Its a whole lot easier then quitting cold turkey, but you do still have to have the determination to not pick one up and smoke it. Good luck to you and congrats for making this decision!

Cheryl943

I quite 11-11-11 while on a vacation from work. I didn't go anywhere on vacation so it was a "staycation" but it meant I wasn't around anyone who smokes. I didn't tell my husband and he didn't notice for 4 days. I did tell my best friend at work who is a smoker and her response challenged me. She said 'I'll believe it when I see it". I was really hurt at first but then it made me mad and more determined than ever to quite. I have an app on my phone called breath freely! LITE and it tracks all my stuff. I am on day 88. I have saved $483.55 and have not smoked 1774 cigs. That helps me right there. Now I have the weight to deal with and instead of thinking about smoking I am thinking about eating. Good luck and I'm here for support anytime. add me if you want to.

jenifer7teen

What saved me was a podcast (free on itunes) by WNYC's Radiolab. It is called "Help!"

To summarize you make a deal with yourself that if you ever smoke another cigarette you will __________(fill in the blank)_____________. It should be something revolting to you and and immediate, present moment punishment. For me, I vowed to cut down all my flowers, and vegetables that i was growing if i ever took another puff. You have to listen to the podcast to understand the psychology of why this works for some people... But ten years of being a hardcore smoker and trying MANY things ended when i listened to this. Completely smoke free for almost 1 year now.

Deuxtrouble

I used Champix to quit 15 months ago. I also found a great quit smoking support site to be accountable to....sort of like here. We encouraged and supported each other along the way.

www.quitnet.com - great place - saved my life.

fitfocusedfamily

First, and most importantly, you have to want it badly enough. It has to be THE most important thing to you, similar to losing weight. Second, there is no shame in using an aid. I used the patch. I smoked only less than a pack a day.
Third, try to figure out at what times you smoke most often. For me, I always took smoke breaks at work at the same time of day, smoked after every meal, and when I was driving. I also smoked out of boredom (when I quit, I ate out of boredom).
Fourth, break the habit of smoking at those habitual times. Those will be the times when the urge is the strongest & no single aid will help you through that. It is all mental.
Last, find someone to support you. Someone you can call when you have a craving you don't feel you can overcome. Someone who will be positive for you. It is best to have someone who has been through the same thing because your subconscious won't be able to tell you that person doesn't understand. One less excuse.

You seem to have at least the first & last items (the last being members here if no one else). Be strong! You can do it. The first month is the most difficult. When I quit, I had a hard time getting past week 3. Once I did, though, it got easier. One day at a time. It is an addiction. You have to treat it as such.

forty3fab

I agree with everyone else who mentioned the book "The Easy Way To Stop Smoking" by Allan Carr. It has been 3 years for me and 2 years for my husband. It worked great for us and at least 10 other people we know who we recommended the book to also. We can be anywhere and not be bothered by anyone smoking. We love to party on the weekends and have coffee every day without ever thinking of them. I cannot even believe I used to smoke....gross! Oh, and I used to smoke a pack a day, every day since I was about 17 years old and I quit at age 42. If we can do it, so can you!!

Read it. Read the entire book. If it works, think of all the things you will benefit from...you will have more time, you will be healthier, have more money, have a whiter smile, not be smelly, yada yada yada, etc. If it doesn't work for you then you are only out the cost of the book, which is about $15.00.

Just go get it!

By the way....it really was EASY TO QUIT! No drugs, no cravings, no nothing. Just a breath of fresh air!

schmittyf4l

COLD Turkey! its the only way!
I hate to say this to you but you have to decide to quit and then quit no excuses

philipmann

hi,
this may sound a bit daft, but do you really want to quit smoking? I'm 58 now and after smoking for over 40 years, I asked myself 'why am i smoking this cigarette?' I couldn't give myself a satisfactory answer, so I went to see my local smoking cessation counsellor at the doctors surgery. After a breath test, oxygen saturation at 93%, the counsellor offered me some help,because I'm also diabetic, we agreed Nicorette patches could be the solution. 6 weeks on full strength patches and 2 weeks on half strength. i haven't smoked since, That was 5 years ago. Downside was I couldn't do two things at once and a put on quite a bit of weight. But now I'm tackling that. I wish you every success.

cabaray

I quite cold turkey 13 years ago. The felt like crap the first 4-5 days. The habit of having a cigarette took longer. Getting in the car to go somewhere was the hardest for me as I always lit on up before I took off. You have to just really want it and you have to tell yourself your done.

delilah47

Hey, I'm 64 years old and have had lots of practice in this . The first time I quit smoking I was 30 and stayed quit for only a few months. I have literally... LITERALLY, quit smoking more than 100 times in the past 34 years since then. Sometimes for a few hours and sometimes for a month or so and everywhere in between. I have paid big bucks for acupuncture, hypnosis, fake cigarettes, cut-down filters, patches, pills, and just about any other gimmick that came along. I always had, in the back of my mind, a thought that I would be able to smoke again. This was a subconscious thought that would pop into my head often when I was in the worse part of quitting. I couldn't control having that thought and when it popped into my mind, I would do anything to NOT think about it. Finally, I quit again last October 17th, cold turkey. The first few weeks were hell. I slept, played games on the PC, watched TV... anything to kill time, knowing as time passes, the urge will ebb as well. This time I have not had that "I can smoke again" thought for some reason (weird, huh?). Anyway, I'm almost up to finishing my 4th month and smoking rarely enters my mind.. it does, but the longing last for only a few seconds now. The thing I found most useful is planning ahead of time, and writing it down, what I will do when I REALLY want to smoke. Like, go take a nap or go do a crossword puzzle on the PC, etc. I am retired so I don't have to face the smokers at work or other social situations I was involved in when I was younger. That helps if you can avoid peer pressure situations.

Whatever happens, never give up. If you fail, give yourself a few days (or weeks, etc.) and try again. And when you are successful... NEVER think you can just have one cigarette, you know, just one when you are out partying. You CANNOT do that! You will end up smoking again... fur sure.

Okay, now that you've quit: In a week or two you will start feeling amazing. You won't believe how good you feel. You will be motivated to exercise and you will feel even better when you do. Run with it and you will be happy. And, believe it or not a time will come when you think back and you will think: Wow! I am SO glad I quit smoking!

Levity14

I used to smoke a pack a day. Anytime I wanted to quit I would go hardcore and just break. - Here is what I did to make it work and I still do this every now and then I feel a twinge of wanting a ciggie. - I have been smoke free for 5 months now. Any time I want to smoke. I just tell myself not right now, later. Just kept saying not right now, not right now. If I wanted one I would have one - only one at night. - But sometimes I would say not right now at night too. . .pretty soon I was not wanting them at all. Try doing this for 3 weeks. just saying not right now.

You know they will always be around -easy to get a hold of - just a short drive away from a fresh pack - you just don't want to have one RIGHT NOW! LOL

I know its odd- its just what worked for me.
Now I am 5 months out from smoking and I feel great. I can smell everything so much better, I never reek of ciggies. My cardio is awesome. - My skin is better. There are so many pluses! !!! Hang in there!

artsiefartsiek

I quit cold turkey 2 years ago this month. It was the hardest and most rewarding thing I have ever done. Be clear, it is an addiction, not a habit. You body wants you to keep smoking so it is really hard to stop. NOT IMPOSSIBLE!

I thought about smoking like I did an ex boyfriend. Everything I did, everywhere I went, there were memories of me smoking. Every time you wanna run back for a "hug" you have to remind yourself why you broke it off! Even months after, you will do something like going to a wedding and realize that the last wedding you were at, you were smoking...the craving comes right back.

I hope you are able to do it. For me, running my first 10k was worth it.

liroez29

I tried quitting so many times! I tried the gum, lozenges, and the patch! None of it really helped me. I finally tried a prescription called Chantix, this was my miracle!!! It worked so well for me! I took the medicine and continued smoking while on it for over a month, and then one day I just realized that I didn't like smoking anymore, and i was just doing it to do it. So that day I decided I would try and quit, I have not smoked since and it will be 2 years on April 19th! It is the only thing that helped me finally quit. Good luck to you! I know how hard quitting is!:flowerforyou:

kammy92

An e-cig is the only thing I tried that worked! Today is my 6 month smoke-free mark!!!!!!!:bigsmile: :bigsmile:

minnesota_deere

how about its a gross habit, yuk, what are you thinking?? JK, smoked for 18 years, loved everyone, wish i could still smoke but can't even get near a ciggy without gaging!!!! i can smell a person smoking from 100 yards away, makes me gage. anyway i bought the patch and used only the 14mg when i had a craving and it just tapered off from there and became gross to me, 7 or more years now without them lost count. oh and i quit going to bars and drinking to, got rid of my smoking friends (losers anyway) and found new non smoking ones. i think that is really how i quit, was getting away from other smokers, same as choosing to eat healthy, its your choice and what you need to do to overcome it.

beckie1185

I quit smoking Feb 29th of 2011. I was deathly ill at the time with the flu, and was physically incapable of smoking for about 3 days. Once I got better I decided not to start back up again, and for some reason, I didn't even want to anymore. Something inside of me clicked and I realized how gross it really was and how horribly unhealthy. It was such a great decision, too! I feel so much better after almost a year being smoke free!


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ahavoc

I smoked for 5 years, quit for 5 years, smoked for 9 more years, and now have quit for 21 years. Here's the deal. You'll always want one, you just have to say no. It gets easier with time. Make it difficult to smoke in the first place. No smoking in the car, no smoking in the house. Then quit.

FIrst it's getting through the first hour, then the first night, then the first complete day. Then it's getting through the first week, and then the second, and slowly, it happens.

If I could do it, than you can definitely, but be realistic.

I know for a fact that if I smoked a cigarette today after all this time, I'd be right back to a pack a day.

jhajnal

First of all, I just want to say congratulations on your amazing weight loss! i can't wait until I reach a 40 lb. loss! Way to go!!!!

Secondly, I quit smoking back in May. I haven't had even a puff since. At my job, they were going to start charging $10 more per week if you smoked. My husband is going to school and we don't have much money so if I had to pay an extra $40 a month, that would not be good. They offered to pay for a quit smoking type program. I got on Chantix (which is usually $150) and they paid for it in full. I was taking it for 2 months and like I said, I haven't smoked since. When the offer presented myself, I figured I could at least give it a try since it was free. Also, I have a 5 yr old that I wanted to quit for. When you are a smoker and you see your kid
"pretend smoke", it breaks your heart.

Good luck on your journey!

jodymcadam

Congrats on losing 40lbs!! I quit smoking almost 5 months ago. I used the patch, and I read Allan Carrs easyway to stop smoking book. I'm not going to lie, I replaced one bad habit (smoking) with another (mindless eating). But here I am 5 months later, and I'm getting back on track. I told myself that I'd rather be a little chunky than sick (and poor!! omg smoking is expensive) from smoking cigarettes. Its totally a mental thing. If you're ready to quit - you'll quit, and when you finally do, you'll wonder why you waited so long.

Good luck - I hope you succeed.

riannenrings

The Easy Way To Quit Smoking by Allen Carr. Saved my life. $6 on ebay. price of a pack of smokes. i've struggled with being a non-smoker and wanting to smoke only a handful of times and its been almost 3 years!! what do you have to lose?