Quit Smoking Suggestions Needed

The first step is having the desire to quit. I smoked for 30 years and it will be 3 years on Oct 31 since I quit. I haven't looked back. I used Champix (Canadian) and it was an amazing experience for me. I know there are some who say it was the worst thing they ever used to try and quit. I just had a really good experience. Lucky me. Good luck in your journey, it's such a feeling of empowerment to overcome such an ugly addiction. It truly was life changing for me.

Firstly, as others have said, I wanted to quit! I remember smoking on day 2 of an epic hangover and thinking 'Why the hell am I doing this? I feel like cr@p!' So I resolved to finish that packet (of which there were 4-5 left) then stop.

One thing that helped was writing a list of reasons I wanted to quit - I still remember most of them as I had them pinned to the back door for months (I uesd to smoke in the back yard):

- No more Scary Sheila in the smoke room (that woman terrified me!)
- Running will be easier (I'd just started)
- No more yellow fingers
- Hair and clothes will smell nicer
- No more worrying that my mouth will look like a cat's backside when I'm older
- MORE MONEY!!! (I was permanently skint!)

As you can see, health didn't even feature in my reasons to quit, but I did it - it's all about finding your own motivation. And patches...I was homicidal pre-patch of a morning for the first week...!! I tried lozenges, but they tasted rank!

I also lied to myself for a while and claimed that I was just quitting for a month to 'break the addiction' then maybe I'd allow myself 1 or 2 with drinks...then it was 3 months, then a year....6 years on and I no longer feel the urge. :bigsmile:

Good luck!

I smocked a pack a day for 13 year but when i decided to quit, I set up a date and decided that I quit on that day. The night before I had my last cigarette from my last pack and never looked back. No patches, not gum. They say it is all in your head and it really is. I am going through some right times right now and this is the first time since 1997 that I feel like I want a cigarette. But I know if I have one I will start smocking again, so I just go on without having it. It is all in our head, just like food cravings.

Just stop.

It's like eating healthier and working out. There are a million different plans, pills, self-help books, strategies, habit-re-learning exercises, meditations, etc. But what it comes down to is simply just not doing the thing that's bad for you.

I smoke every now and then (not every week, not even every month) because I am in control of it.

I encourage you to find what works for you. Do you need incentive? A gift or experience for every "good" week? A list? A friend to yell at you if you break your own rule? Try everything and, in the meantime, rely on yourself to control it.

Good luck!

I used patches and exercise. Good luck to you - quitting smoking was the best thing I've ever done for myself. You can do it too!

I've never been a smoker, but I learned about the effects of it in my Psychology classes. Addiction can be both a physiological need (your body craving the tobacco) and a psychological need (a mental thing). Some smokers find the most difficult thing to do when breaking the habit is to find something to do when they aren't smoking. If you're used to putting a cigarette in your mouth when you're stressed, what are you going to do now when you get stressed, and you're not smoking anymore? If you're somebody who took a smoke break every couple of hours during work, you need to find something to do with that time instead. If you don't fill that time slot that you normally spent smoking, or you don't find a replacement for smoking as your stress-reliever, you should immediately work on that. That's one of the top reasons smokers fall off the wagon and start smoking again.
I hope this helps you, and I commend you for quitting! I've seen from family that it's difficult, but it's so worth it.

I've taken up and stopped smoking several times. I believe I have an 'addictive personality'. I find it hard to balance consumption of anything, smoking, food etc. Alcohol, funnily enough, I don't have control issues with.

The best way to stop smoking is to just stop. Of course if you have trouble doing that them just accept that you need some help. Don't beat yourself up over not 'being able to' go cold turkey.

I've tried hypnotism in the past. It's not magic though. I think it's mostly a placebo effect. When I did it I booked a week in advance. They told me to just smoke as normal until my session. Because I was going to the session on the Friday, the whole week I felt guilt free. There was no anxiety over trying to quit.

Anyway the session was nice. It was like guided meditation. You close your eyes and the hypnotist just talks. I'm thinking of doing hypnotism again just because it's so relaxing.

Either way I suggest finding help. Here in Australia there's a "Quit Line" which is a government run call centre that you call and they counsel you on your issues with smoking and help you make a plan to stop.

Just don't punish yourself. Give yourself some slack. One day you will never smoke again. (Frightening thought right now, isn't it?)

I had to quit twice. Stupid I know.. I was totally quit and I started up again. When you quit.. don't count the days, hours, and seconds it's been since your last cigarette. When someone asks how long has it been? Say "Awhile" and don't let you mind start calculating. Also, don't be around other smokers.. avoid smelling the smoke and avoid booze.. it's hard not to have booze in one hand and a cigarette in the other.. they just go together. Grab a calculator and add up how much a year you've been spending on cigarettes and figure out what you are going to buy yourself with a years worth of unspent money that would have gone to smokes.

I used the patches, it took me several tries to quit. You have to want to quit and you have to cut your self some slack as it is an addiction and if you "fall off the wagon" just start over with day 1 again. The thing wtih the nicotine patches that I enjoyed is that you are getting as much nicotine as if you were lighting one up every hour so there is no chemical withdrawal to start with. It is all your psychological part of the addiction. It was super interesting to see what my triggers were, after meals (of course) but also certain spots on the way to work that were like 10 minutes away from walking in the door. If you feel bad during the quitting process then direct that hate at the chemical that controls you, not at yourself. Enjoy the extra money that you will have and the extra years that you will live.
You can do this.

The fact that you are thinking about it this seriously is a very good sign. After pre-contemplation, comes contemplation - then action! I smoked a pack a day for 14 years when I quit almost 18 years ago. Here are the things that helped me through it all:

-I kept changing brands until I was on the brand that had the lowest tar and nicotine. I figured this way the withdrawal might not be so drastic.
-I gave me quitting as a gift to my husband (I quit smoking on his birthday). There was no way that I would take that gift back. It kept me honest and got me through the rough spots.
-I quit drinking coffee and changed routines that were linked to smoking. For example: I always lit up a smoke as soon as I phoned a friend. I started phoning my friends from places I never smoked. For example: my kid's bedroom.
-I avoided the smoke pits at work, malls, etc. Just the smell made me want to light up so I avoided them.
-I got rid of all my ashtrays, cleaned out the car, etc so there wasn't any reminders.
-Once I quit, I started taking vitamin B6 50 mg everyday for my mood swings. It saved my life and I'm sure a few others. LOL!

You can do it!