How do i quit?

2004lady

I used hypnosis. Best choice I ever made. No, they can not and will not make you cluck like a chicken etc. I was surprised how relaxed and happy I was after. But the other key is I was ready. I wasn't doing it because someone told me to, it was because I wanted to. I was sick of it and quitting without some kind of help was not going to work.

sunman00

a tried and tested way to quit is to go go a cancer ward in a hospital, or to a radiotherapy clinic waiting room and hear all the uncontrolled coughing and wretching from the poor souls in there that puffed away all their lives, it's a shocking but proven way to quit

trogalicious

I literally threw out my last pack of smokes back in 2001. The smokes, lighter, rest of the carton. Went home, had a pizza and a few beers. I was driving down the highway and coughed a few times (at least a pack of camel non-filtered per day)... had a tough time recovering and decided that was it.

I didn't really notice any withdrawals. The only thing that bugged me was the physical habit side of it... wanting to smoke if I had a drink, while driving, or after a meal. I just swapped out for a lot of chewing gum.

If you're ready to quit, you'll make that decision and quit. You know the problems with smoking and know the benefits of not doing it.

jconnon

I quit a long time ago and I was smoking two packs a day. Someone challenged me that I couldn't do it soI quit cold turkey about 28 years ago and haven't smoked since. That being said I am also cheap and once cigarettes hit $1.25 I was about done anyway.

kirstyfairhead

Nicorette patches - Determination
Gum - Determination
Mints - Determination

More willpower than you think you have!!

The knowledge that its killing you....not looking away from the adverts and failing to listen to those snide comments from non-smokers and all that other stuff that you like to ignore...its killing you....no question!!

Make yourself believe that and its a pretty big step. I smoked for 20 years, then my dad got cancer, i gave up for 3 years, went back to it would you believe, gave up again 15months ago, think I got it this time!!!

It will be hard
It will be a *****
It will be soooo worth it!!

Good luck!

quilteryoyo

I never smoked, but a friend of mine quit by going for a run every time he got a craving. I know you can't do that at work, but it might help at home. And, running/exercise is a great stress reliever, so you get two for the price of one. I don't know how things are at work, but I assume you can't smoke in the building. So, instead of going out for a smoke break, go out for a walk break. I know it will be hard. My husband smoked and tried many times to quit. So, I'm not saying this is an easy fix. But, I think you can do it. And remember the old saying, you only fail if you don't try again! Good luck.

badmojo108

I quit a long time ago and I was smoking two packs a day. Someone challenged me that I couldn't do it. I quit cold turkey about 28 years ago and haven't smoked since. That being said I am also cheap and once cigarettes hit $1.25 I was about done anyway.

Reminds me of an old friend who quit smoking. We used to car pool to work and we stopped to buy some smokes on the way to work. This was the day they just increased the tax on a pack of smokes another quarter. When the the clerk told him $2.25 he looking him dead in the eye and yelled "Two and a Quarter!!!! F@#% you I quit!" He has been smoke free for close to 15 years now.

bobf279

get along to a stop smoking clinic, listen to their advice and decide the best course of action for your quit plan. I smoked every day for 37 years and managed to stop first attempt (with help) just over 3 years ago now so it can be done.

mississippi_queen

Well I'm not really sure this helps, but I bought an e-cig about a week ago. Haven't smoked since. Not sure this is any better bc really you're just trading one vice for another, but I don't smell like smoke anymore. :smokin:

ninerbuff

Smoking?

every fiber of me tells me I should, I KNOW I should, I wish I didnt,

but I love, love, LOVE
tobacco

when I try to quit I long for it and become a raging beast

I feel like Ijust CANT
when I know that is just negative

What did you do to quit?
How did you deal with stressors?
I work in Prison with Inmates so my stress is pretty high
DAILY
OH, I cant do chantix, tried it once it made me sick and gave me nightmares.

If you have a motivational quiting story I would love to hear it becuase I am feeling pretty low right now.

You really don't want to quit. Till you do you won't. Maybe a heart attack or stroke may be the trigger puller. But the reality is that you REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY have to want to quit or it's not gonna happen.

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

714rah714

When I quit for the very last time, my first smoke free day was on a Saturday. This way, by the time Monday came rolling around, I had two days under my belt, and after two days, well you can't give up now. The next two weeks were torturous, a living hell, but some how, some way I manage to go smoke free and have been that way since 7.7.7. My lucky number. At the end I was smoking more than two packs a day and quitting not only changed my life, it saved my life. So my question to you is , what's your lucky number going to be?

jkdhoo

I smoked for 16 years and was up to about 3 packs a day, which basically means I always had a cigarette in my mouth. Even the thought of quitting smoking made me so nervous I only smoked more. I was only able to quit by using electronic cigarettes. I started with the high level nicotine liquid and am now at the lowest level of nicotine in the liquid. My lung capacity has increased tremendously, my daytime and especially nighttime wheezing has stopped, the morning lung pain and coughing fits are over, and now when I get out of breath it's because I'm overweight and not because I can't inhale. I can only work on one thing at a time :happy:

If you're interested, www.cignot.com is where I got all my electronic cigarette equipment. Fast shipping and friendly service, but they aren't the only sellers out there. I use the Ego-C Type-B system with a Ego-C Upgrade Pass-Thru battery that lets me plug in to USB when at the computer, or unplug and take it with me when I leave. As expensive as cigarettes are now, I took a chance two years ago on something that costs the same amount as I would spend on cigarettes in a little over a week. Haven't looked back since and it was one of the best decisions of my life.

furniem

I quit on my 40th birthday using the patch and it worked for me. What kept me going was the feelings of being able to breathe freely again and all the $$$$$ I was saving. In Canada it is over $10 a pack for cigarettes for the ones I liked so it added up quickly. I am turning 42 this Friday and have saved approximately $3500 from quitting smoking!

If you need the visual, get a big jar and put the money you would have spent on cigarettes in the jar each week and let it add up. Seeing that will give you motivation. Then take that money at the end of each month and buy yourself something nice as a reward or continue to let it add up and go on a trip with your family!

sugarlips1980

I've been there - I've had so many unsuccessful attempts over the years and felt so weak that I could only last hours or days (some times I got to a few weeks or even 2 months, just to start up again). Last July I decided enough was enough. I threw away my nicotine aids, went cold turkey and went on a no smoking forum almost daily for a few months. I'm now 7 months down the line and can't believe how strong I feel now! I haven't had a real craving in a couple of months now. Believe me, I was a 17 yr smoker and a real nicotine-a-holic, so if I can do it, you can! You have to commit. Decide that NO EXCUSES are allowed anymore. If stress and work are a trigger for you, I would book a fortnight off work and go through withdrawal at home, trying to relax with walks, baths, massages etc. Then every day, post how you are feeling in a forum and educate yourself by reading (eg Why Quit website and recommend Allen Carr book) so you reprogrammed your brain to undo all those associations you've built up over the years. I too believed I needed smoking to deal with stress but it's an EXCUSE, junkie thinking.Whatever stress you're got going on will still be there whether you smoke or not. In fact now I see them as totally separate. If something's not going right I honestly think think god I'm not smoking too, that's one area of my life that is sorted. My quit is a strength in stressful times now! Commit to it and guard your quit with your life - you CAN do it! It's a temporary adjustment, the craves WON'T kill you, then you have to put in the self-help work, then it all gets better believe me. So worth it, best thing you will do for yourself!

1aurane

I agree with a support group, I attended one, it supported & encouraged my desire to stop ...and the fact that I was no longer going to be a 'slave' to a 3" white stick ...liberated over 3 year's now ...

foodlover5

I quit smoking in October after 25 years. I also thought I was a smoker for life! I have four children and quit every pregnancy but I waited and waited because I knew the moment I went into labor I was firing up a cigarette!! I must have quit a total of 10+ times, so many I have lost track.
I think what finally did it for me was that I made up my mind to quit. I no longer felt good after smoking, I felt like crap!! I spent WAY too much money on these things, hated the OMG moments when I knew I didn't have enough smokes to get me through the day. I didn't want to end up one of those old ladies who are all wrinkled up and sound like a raspy man. My kids hated my smoking and I want to be around to enjoy my grandkids. I spent every break and lunch at work running outside so I never really got a break did I?
I could continue to go on about why I quit, now you have to find your own reasons. They can't be anyone elses. You must own this!
Ok, this might sound crazy, but I think it is true. I smoked Marbs for years, then Winston and finally settled on Pall Malls for the last few years cuz they were cheaper. Got a coupon for American Spirits and liked the idea that these were just tobacco-not all the chemicals and stuff the tobacco companies add to keep us addicted! It took awhile to get used to them (a pack or so) but then I spent the extra $$ and ended up smoking less. Instead of 2 on break I would smoke 1. Then I would try to skip a break, I could do it!!
I set a date to quit and haven't lit up since. I did arm myself with nicotine gum and all of the other things to shove in my mouth that people talk about, *see the ecig info at the bottom. This time I really didn't have the withdrawal symptoms like I had in the past and I think it all had to do with the fact that I switched to those all natural cigs first and flushed all of those chemicals out of my body while I was still smoking. Other people tell me that's stupid,but I only know how I felt. My husband quit as well (25+ years, 2 pack a day-er, hardcore smoker) and boy did he have a terrible time. He still goes through a box of 100 piece gum at full strength a week, but hey, he doesn't smoke! I don't need any gum or anything anymore and have lost the 10lbs I put on after I quit. You will gain weight, but tackle one problem and then deal with the other. My doc says I am still much healthier for quitting than putting on a little weight.
*If you need to continue to have the puffing sensation for a bit, try some of the e-cigs on the market. They sell them pretty much everywhere now and the disposable ones are relatively cheap so you can try them out before you would invest in the "real" ones. I can't tell you enough how these helped in the first weeks of quitting! I still went out and just puffed on my ecig. Now I only use it on the drive to work and home because that is the main trigger for me and I am down to just very light nicotine in them. I asked my doc about these too, and he said it's the tar and the smoke from the cigs that are bad, so he was fine with me using these for awhile. I say do whatever you need to to get off the smokes. You will be SOOOOOO glad you did:happy:

cebreisch

Wanting to quit and being willing to go through the challenge of doing it are two different things. I knew for forever that I needed to lose weight, but wasn't willing to go through the effort until I went to an event at my daughter's school and could hardly walk to the door for being so obese and out of shape. Once inside the door, I had to sit down to catch my breath. I still remember sitting there thinking "Something has got to change."

You'll quit when you're ready...when you have your moment of "something has to change."

icmuse

Cigarettes are the hardest to quit.

I smoked from 18-24, and I LOVED it! It was also the worst thing I could have been doing to my health so I decided to stop.

The only way I could quit was to go cold turkey, I also stopped drinking alcohol all together, went vegan and worked out like a maniac - boxing!

I was in the best shape of my life :-)

The vegan thing and no wine thing lasted about 4 years, than I started slowly incorporating animal products and wine back into my life, BUT cigarettes no longer seemed appealing. Even to this day I cannot stand the smell of them!!! Now cigarette free almost 13 years.

Good luck!!!!

Bumbeen

The Kitavans smoke daily with no incidence of throat or lung cancer.

They also have much lower stress levels than we do and eat paleo out of necessity.

This leads me to suspect smoking is not as bad as the standard american diet and lifestyle.

sugarlips1980

You will quit when you are ready. You are ready when you are willing to do whatever it takes to quit. You simply may not be ready yet.

I know you mean well, but with smoking there's the danger of just expecting to wake up one day a non-smoker but it doesn't happen without effort to free yourself. And time doesn't half pass by when you're 'waiting' to feel ready. Here's a good little post I came across...


She was 17 and thought it was cool
She was 18 knew she was in control
She was 19 living in the fast lane
She was 20 and would quit before hitting 21
She was 21 and thought new years eve was better
She was 22 the new job was to much stress right now
She was 23 and her fiancée smoked anyways
She was 24 the baby would be fine, what’s a little nicotine
She was 25 what else is there for a stay at home mom to do
She was 26 job interviews are just to demanding
She was 27 in this job you have to be social
She was 28 her uncle just died but she would be alright
She was 29 thinking this time Im ready and 30 is my number
She was 30 maybe just one more year
She was 31 who can handle a divorce all alone
She was 32 working two jobs and life’s to hard
She was 33 and the new boy friend doesn’t mind anyhow
She was 34 wedding plans are all she could do
She was 35 his kids are so wild , just need the break time to time
She was 36 a quit would have to wait , to much on her plate
She was 37 forty wont be to late
She was 38 a daughter and two steps sons a mini van and career
She was 39 one more year and so done
She was 40 are you crazy and gain weight
She was 41 and probably couldn’t anyways
She was 42 and enjoy smoking
She was 43 but I should try, just for a month
She was 44 her little girl smoking, and wonders what went wrong
She was 45 The Doctor said it wasn’t good
She was never 46