How to put down that last cigarette!
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I started to get sick from smoking. When I was stressed I would smoke 2 packs a day. I quit smoking and went on the patch... then I got stressed and the doc said I could smoke up to 5 cigs with the patch. I did and got sick. Now, its been 8 months and I am smoke free
You just have to be ready. I could have gone back but the urge to quit has to override your smoking. I miss it, I can't lie but it is the best choice health wise! 0 -
when i quit almost 3 years ago ..i went down to smoking 2 or 3 for a couple of months so that when i actually quit i wasnt missing so much nicotine. it seemed to work for me..hopefully it will help you0
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My husband and I have been smoking since we were children. I smoke for 17 years and my husband for about 11 or 12. My husband and I finally decided to quit because we A. Don't smoke in our home with our children, B. Don't smoke in our vehicle with our children, C. Were total hypocrites telling our children not to smoke while puffing away on a death stick. We were just confusing the hell out of our 10, 8, and 6 year old children. The breaking point? When our kids took D.A.R.E in school then came home and proceeded to tell us that we were on "Drugs" because we smoked. That really hit hard.
My husband knew that he needed help to quit smoking and had our PCP prescribe him CHANTIX and he says it's his little miracle pill. He quit within a week which is amazing because he was a chain smoking who truly Enjoyed his cigarettes. He'd take a pull off one like a thirsty man in a desert taking his first drink of water.
I had quit two years earlier cold turkey because of severe vomiting and migraines. About 15 months in I started back up because my husband still smoked and it reeled me back in. But April 1 of this year we banded together and quit as a couple and for good. We are so happy to say that we are a smoke free family and our children are so proud of us.
Don't get discouraged. Quitting cigarettes is harder than quitting heroin. It's going to take a couple tries but don't be afraid to ask for help. My husband used the help lines, had the coaches call him, and took his medicine like clock work. If my husband can quit ANYONE can!!
Good Luck and GOD BLESS!!!0 -
I started to get sick from smoking. When I was stressed I would smoke 2 packs a day. I quit smoking and went on the patch... then I got stressed and the doc said I could smoke up to 5 cigs with the patch. I did and got sick. Now, its been 8 months and I am smoke free You just have to be ready. I could have gone back but the urge to quit has to override your smoking. I miss it, I can't lie but it is the best choice health wise!
even after 3 years i still feel like i want one
i just remember why i quit in the first place) 0 -
I started to get sick from smoking. When I was stressed I would smoke 2 packs a day. I quit smoking and went on the patch... then I got stressed and the doc said I could smoke up to 5 cigs with the patch. I did and got sick. Now, its been 8 months and I am smoke free You just have to be ready. I could have gone back but the urge to quit has to override your smoking. I miss it, I can't lie but it is the best choice health wise!
even after 3 years i still feel like i want one i just remember why i quit in the first place)
See!!! That's scary as hell.0 -
I can't tell you what will work for you, I'll just tell you what I'm going through. I too was having a hard time putting down that last cigarette. I'd been "quitting" for a while too. But really you just have to make the commitment and STICK TO IT. I had a nearly full pack of cigs that one morning I just crumbled up and threw away. I've been cigarette free for 2 weeks now (I know it's not long) but my cravings are going away and when I do get them it's easier to overcome them. The hardest is when I am drinking. But while we are on our fitness/weight loss journey we are doing MUCH less of that too.
So a few tips:
-try your hardest to keep yourself out of situations that would typically include cigs.... like drinking.... or even hanging around a bunch of smokers.
-tell people that you are quitting so they are less likely to ask you to smoke with them or offer you one, and hopefully will be encouraging.
-stick to your guns. Just like your weight loss decision, make a commitment and stick to it.
The first week is the hardest. Get through that and you are good. GOOD LUCK!!
Edit- Not to mention, that I suddenly started having breathing problems at night, wheezing, went to the doctors and he gave me an inhaler prescription. I've NEVER been asthmatic or anything, that was obviously a result of smoking for so long.0 -
I quit cold turkey too (on July 21, 1996) after smoking a pack a day for about eight years (and many attempts at quitting). I found acupuncture really helped with the cravings, surprisingly.
Also, I found that I had to change the way I thought about smoking. To me, this was the key. Every time I tried to quit, there would always come a time when I would think to myself, "Okay, you've quit, you're not hooked any more, you could have just one." Well, we all know how that turns out. I would have just one, and then I'd be back to a pack a day within twenty-four hours. So I decided that instead of telling myself I wouldn't smoke, I would tell myself that I could never even think about smoking. Every time I started to think that it might be okay to have a cigarette, I would remind myself that thinking about smoking was taboo. This actually worked, believe it or not. It's funny because I usually have a much harder time than that controlling my own thoughts, but in this case it was effective.0 -
this worked for my mom....she smoked 3 packs an evening, for three evenings in a row while at bingo lol (on purpose) and hasn't smoked for over 10 years since that time!Can you perhaps smoke a ton so it becomes repulsive? That always seems to work with some types of alcohol? Just a thought from an ignorant non smoker.0 -
I'm one of those casual smokers who is trying to quit. I've tried the Chantix but it made me sick to my stomache. My mom quit about 12 years ago after 40 years of smoking but now has lung cancer. She used to smoke 2 packs a day where the most I think I ever smoked was one pack in a day and that was due to drinking. I did good last week and didn't smoke Mon, Tues or Wed, but Thurs on the way home from work I cracked and bought a pack. I smoked it over the weekend and saved the last one for Monday night after work. I can only imagine the same thing will happen this weekend, but I am not going to quit "quitting". Good luck to everyone trying to quit. Congrats to those who have quit. You won't quit because someone else wants you to quit, it has to be your decision and your will power that gets you through the tough times.0
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I started to get sick from smoking. When I was stressed I would smoke 2 packs a day. I quit smoking and went on the patch... then I got stressed and the doc said I could smoke up to 5 cigs with the patch. I did and got sick. Now, its been 8 months and I am smoke free You just have to be ready. I could have gone back but the urge to quit has to override your smoking. I miss it, I can't lie but it is the best choice health wise!
even after 3 years i still feel like i want one i just remember why i quit in the first place)
5 years for me and I still want one. But like you, I remember why I quit along with realizing my triggers that want me to go back to smoking (stress mainly) and then I remember that smoking won't help me with stress and I try to deviate to something else0 -
This is a great time for your quit!
you have to find something to fill that void you feel from quitting smoking anyways, so instead of cheeseburgers why not let the "filler" be the gym!
I just kept telling myself the first month when It got bad..."you got this" now im about 2 months in, and its already alot easier especially since Ive focusing on weight and fitness, i think about it alot less....
You Got This! xoxo0 -
I started to get sick from smoking. When I was stressed I would smoke 2 packs a day. I quit smoking and went on the patch... then I got stressed and the doc said I could smoke up to 5 cigs with the patch. I did and got sick. Now, its been 8 months and I am smoke free You just have to be ready. I could have gone back but the urge to quit has to override your smoking. I miss it, I can't lie but it is the best choice health wise!
even after 3 years i still feel like i want one i just remember why i quit in the first place)
See!!! That's scary as hell.
I quit April 11, 2011 using Zyban (wellbutrin). I started smoking when I was 15 and I turned 40 last year so I smoked nearly 25 years. And honestly, if I had known how much easier than expected it would be - I would have quit years ago. I'm sure it was a combination of the meds and me being truly ready to quit, but I had anticipated it being way worse than it actually was. The first week or so was the hardest - I ate a LOT of tootsie pops (wasn't on mfp yet. lol). I had even warned my kids I might be really cranky but it never really happened. The first few months I had several dreams that I was smoking and I would wake up totally disgusted with myself that I had to start over with quitting. I would be so relieved it was just a dream! I also still miss it occasionally, but in a very mild nostalgic kind of way. Not at all a painful craving or anything. And my hubby still smokes too. Doesn't bother me surprisingly. It stinks, but it doesn't make me want one at all. I am just really proud of myself, and so glad I quit before I "had" to because of health issues, etc. It is SOOO worth it. Good luck!!0 -
I quit cold turkey too (on July 21, 1996) after smoking a pack a day for about eight years (and many attempts at quitting). I found acupuncture really helped with the cravings, surprisingly.
Also, I found that I had to change the way I thought about smoking. To me, this was the key. Every time I tried to quit, there would always come a time when I would think to myself, "Okay, you've quit, you're not hooked any more, you could have just one." Well, we all know how that turns out. I would have just one, and then I'd be back to a pack a day within twenty-four hours. So I decided that instead of telling myself I wouldn't smoke, I would tell myself that I could never even think about smoking. Every time I started to think that it might be okay to have a cigarette, I would remind myself that thinking about smoking was taboo. This actually worked, believe it or not. It's funny because I usually have a much harder time than that controlling my own thoughts, but in this case it was effective.
thats a cool trick, Im going to try that!
its all in the mind.0 -
My husband tried the patch. I think it's a 3 step process, but it worked for him. Good luck.0
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My husband tried the patch. I think it's a 3 step process, but it worked for him. Good luck.
I tried the patch too and I couldn't keep the darn things lit.
so sorry, just couldn't resist thowing a little Larry the Cable Guy levity into the mix.0 -
I smoked for about 25 years since I was 15. I knew how bad it was for me and just kept telling myself how much I enjoyed it and that I would never be able to quit anyway do I never even tried to quit.
What changed? My wife quit 8 months ago which was an inspiration, I am in my 40's and overweight so I figure if I want to make it to 50 I should probably quit, the money I wasted on it was getting painful. Imagine, paying thoussands of dollars to die a slow and painful cancerous death. How idiotic is that?
Anyway, here is how I quit 59 days ago:
-Stopped lying to myself about how I liked to smoke.
-Decided that I will be damned if I am gonna let cigarettes rule me, what would that say about the kind of person I am?
-Started eating better and losing weight before my quit date so I didn't end up at 300 lbs.
-Set a quit date and time that coincided with a good time to let go of it.
-Loaded up on sugar free gum and hard candy to get me through
-Fought the urges the first few weeks by exercising, drinking water, chewing the hell out of some gum, and telling myself over and over that I can never ever do it again. Not even once for any reason. EVER!!!
So far so good. I feel better, sleep better, digest better, breath better, feel more verile, can go up dozens of flights of stair without passing out, have lost 35 lbs, plan to live into my 80's, started running, realized I am awesome and so am I!!!
I hope you can do it. You will be glad you did.
THIS! I quit 5 days ago and I made a plan and am sticking to it! I am using patches, but take them off at night as they cause me horrible, vivid nightmares. I also use a lozenges for urges....which I keep in my mouth about 30 seconds because they make me instantly nauseaous!
I smoked for 40 years, about a pack a day. I also refuse to gain back any of the weight I have lost, therefore I continue to make healthy choices. AND I drink a ton of water....
If I CAN DO IT....so can YOU. Good Luck! You have to want it!0 -
It took a blood clot to the heart and a stay in ICU for me to quit. And I did cold turkey on Jan 26, 2012. I kept half a pack on the shelf in my kitchen for 3 months so I wouldn't have a panic attack but found out I forgot about them andt hen finally threw them in the trash I can take deep breaths, I can go to Lake Tahoe without gasping( I live in Reno), I can walk up to 2 miles(only twice), and I don't stink. I still need to get my car detailed because it smells like a big ashtray!My circulation has improved so much I am off the Plavix(I only take a baby aspirin daily).Do it for yourself. It took me 45 years to quit!0
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Proud of you Cyn. I am an ex smoker too. My husband and i quit cold turkey nearly 35 years ago.. Marie0
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i smoked a pack a day for a decade. quit 25 days ago. how? i finally really felt that it was time. like any other addiction, you can try all you want, but until you're completely ready and committed to give it up for good, you're not going to stay clean.0
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also, if you want to go the medicated route, i've heard wonderful things about wellbutrin making a massive difference in people who are quitting.0
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It's nice to see everyone else's experiences with quitting. I'm still on a pack a day and i know i need to let them go, but i haven't really gotten there yet. Nothing is really quite as satisfying as that smoke on the ride home right after i leave the gym.0
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I think ANYONE can quit. It's just a matter of just damn well doing it.
I started up at 19 and told myself I'd enjoy it until 21. And I did. I quit ... not AT 21 but a few months into that year of age.
I went cold turkey.
A HUGE help for me was finding a support group. The government provides a lot of aid for things like this. They can give you packages of the gum or patches. I thought they were nasty so I went forward with cold turkey but used the support website which gives you a countdown.
I use Quitnet.com.
I had to grasp the fact that I will be around smoking and smokers for the rest of my life and I didn't want to smell like rank nasty shiz anymore. Sorry.. but when you smoke you smell like something died LOL.
I'm around my parents, my husband, and his friends that ALL still smoke years later. I never gave back in. For some reason it never was something I wanted ever to do again.
I quit 4/11/2010. You can quit too!
You have to realize it's a WASTE of money. It's DISGUSTING. It's OFFENSIVE. It ruins your teeth. You smell like crap everywhere. It ruins your car and house and clothes and blankets and everything else in between. It hurts the environment with the stupid butts. And who the bloody heck wants to freeze their ace off or sit in a building for 2-3 hours being cracked out for a cigarette??? I don't miss that. I know nobody else would. And aren't you tired of driving up to the stupid gas station and having to go in to throw away $5 more dollars for a pack of crap? Plus isn't it embarrassing going to the doctor's office or dentist and having to fess up to smoking.... ? Or working out and not being able to go as far as you really could because your lungs are caked in tar gunk? Or what about the fear of cancer and other nasty diseases? Do you want your family to be left behind because you couldn't put the cigarettes down?
LOL! Here is some food for thought. Brutal and honest and it will get your mind thinking. IF this cannot convince you... I don't know what to say!
Oh and my husband's gums are receding and he has chronic bad breath because of smoking. He still hasn't quit. Not my body but still... if he stopped smoking we could fix his teeth. I lost my uncle, my grandparents, and will probably lose my mother to smoking. Don't be one of those people. Live for yourself... not for an addiction.0 -
I grew up with both parents being smokers, but they were separated. I used to insult them daily, give them hell about it, especially in the car.
One day my father got out of the car, tossed his pack to my uncle and said "Take them, I don't smoke anymore." He never smoked since.
I was genuinely interested in this transition and we talked a lot about it, both now and then. It's hard, it's definitely hard, but you can do it. And for your own sanity, I would do it without any of the "help" products... You've been giving that industry far too much money as it is, keep it now
Just like the dieting industry (90B$US annually...), they have been marketing for years how hard it is to do it, near impossible, you HAVE to buy this and that (and fail) etc. If it works for you, you can motivate yourself to go through this if only not to be that gullible person all those ads are targeted to anymore. That helps me with weight loss, might help you with smoking.
A few of his tricks :
When he was really feeling the urge, he would either go outside (in the winter) or even in the refrigerator, and inhale real hard through his mouth. He said that "buzzed" or "numbed" his throat much the same way that the first few seconds of the cigarettes was doing, and would kill the urge. He said that anyway the "fun" or pleasure in smoking was mostly through that first puff, that the rest was just to finish the cigarette.
Do something with your hands during your free time. We used to do paper folding back then.
Focus on this, just like weight loss. Take interest in this process your body will be going through, take notes, blog about it, anything. But keep the positive things in mind, and keep focused
And mostly, you are not "quitting" anymore. Quitting takes a second and it happened right after your last cigarette, in fact you are already a non-smoker for few minutes/hours now. That's super easy and already done. Now you are just... living, a regular life, like everyone else. Focus on that too
Good luck!0 -
I smoked for 10 years and for at least the last 7 of them I tried cold turkey, patch and gum. It was pretty hard to quit, people I worked with and a few of my best friends smoked.
In 2007 my company provided us a free quit smoking program, Commit Lozenges. They were given out for free and so I gave them a go. The Lozenge was not doing anything for me for the first few days and I went and smoked a cigarette, somehow the taste was off and I couldn't even finish my cig. A few days later I tried to smoke again and it really threw off my taste buds, the taste was pretty foul and just gross.
Weird thing is I never even finished the bottle of Lozenges, I only took it for 3 days.
August 12, 2007 is the last time I smoked a cigarette.
Funny thing now, if I smell a cigarette now it actually makes me feel sick if I smell it for too long, I can't stand the smell anymore. When I was a smoker being around the smell never bothered me.0 -
I smoked for over 10 years, at times 2 packs a day (but would give some out... not a lot though). I tried patches, gums, rewards, exercising, running, quitting with friends, quitting for my kids, slowly quitting, quitting cold turkey, even quit for 2 years once! Always started back up. I "quit" so many times.
Then, a couple years ago, decided to be cheesy and go with a new years resolution. At 11:51 lit up my last one. FInished before midnight. After the countdown took the rest of the pack and broke them all in half.
I used to save them and give them to people, other smokers. They would want them. I don't want them going to waste. Nope, I was done. And I told myself, NONE. No drags, no puffs, not when I'm drinking, not in Vegas (what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas), None, Nada, Zip. And I told myself this was going to be forever. And it is. That was over three years ago! And I'm stronger each day. I don't have ANY desire to have any. Ever.
I even get pissed when I walk by other smokers and I have to breathe their smokey air. I think "oh no, does that count?"
You Can Do It!!! It's hard, but totally something you can conquer!!! You want this.0 -
I also tried everything (gum, patches, mini carrots...). My advice is to buy LOTS of sugarfree gum and sugarfree mint and eat as much as you can or want, but my best advice would probably be sunflower seeds with the shell. I could spend an hour or 2 eating sunflower seeds as it occupied my hands and my mouth, and it doesn't ruin your diet even if you binge, plus it's so much work for so little that it won't fill you up. By the time I was sick of eating them I wasn't thinking of smoking.
Setting a specific date helps a lot too as you can see it coming and plan for your non-smoking life. You could also determine how much you smoke every day, then remove one cigarette every 4 days or so; write it on a calendar so you know when you have to remove one and when you'll quit, so you'll stick to the plan. You can also write the pros and cons of smoking as a reminder.
Finally, you could watch ads on youtube to quit smoking... the ones about cancer are quite convincing.
Everyone is different, so you have to find what works for you.0 -
I have quit 8 times in my life. The last time was about six weeks ago.
I was only smoking for a year this past stint and in December I decided I wanted to quit but every time I tried it was all bad. So I bought the nicorette 2 mg lozenges and I used those until May 19th when I finally felt ready to quit for good. The first three weeks sucked, totally, but now it's okay. I gained six pounds in the first 8 days but I know that I usually gain ten so that was better.
When you are ready, you will. Use a crutch if you have, a crutch just help you get to healed. You can do it.0 -
i quit cold turkey. i had only tried about 4 or 5 times (while pregnant, and a few other times)
i didn't leave the house for a week, and i took lots of sleeping pills.
good luck.0 -
I smoked for 20 years off and on. I quit last November using an Ego-C e-cig, and I haven't had a cigarette since. It works for me because vaping still has the same physical movements as smoking, but without all of the smoke and tar. I'm already down to very low nicotine juice, and I'll probably go with zero stuff soon.
The other good thing about it is that it won't interfere with you losing weight.0 -
Green Smoke! The electronic cigarette!
They are awesome. Just remember to drink a lot of water, as they tend to dry out your mouth.0
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