Help!! I need to stop smoking...

2»

Replies

  • MadtownMadisonian
    MadtownMadisonian Posts: 66 Member
    get the book by allen carr - seriously - it changes your mind set. instead of feeling annoyed because you must deprive yourself of the cig you want, you switch to feeling liberated as a nonsmoker and annoyed that the cravings are interfering with your good feeling. it makes a world of difference. worked for my guy, and then for me.

    allen carr"s easy way to quit smoking

    available from amazon
  • rubberbiscuit
    rubberbiscuit Posts: 128
    I quit in February of 2001, after smoking for 23 years. I first cut back until I was only smoking around 5 cigarettes a day, then I went cold turkey. It took all my willpower, but I was really determined to finally quit. The thing that motivated me was that I had recently met a woman, and had spent quite a bit of time with her, who was only around 65 years old. She smoked like a chimney, and was on oxygen and an atomizer. In the middle of a conversation with you she would have to interupt to have a coughing fit, which lasted for what seemed like several minutes. I saw my future in her if I didn't stop.
  • Just_One_Me
    Just_One_Me Posts: 66 Member
    I smoked for 14 years . Quit cold turkley after my last pregnancy. Its been a year and a half. Best advice - GIVE IT ALL YOU GOT, TRY WORKING OUT IF YOU GET THE URGE , BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY .... JUST DO IT ! Its hard , but with time of course, it gets easier. The urge is still there for me sometimes, but i just dont buy em anyomore. quit buying them also. dont even buy singles. YOU CAN DO IT ! good luck ! =) Oh a funny joke my friend told me was when i asked him how he did it , he told me : You get two balls, but they have to be from a BULL...... What o_O , then you eat them , once you eat them they will activate the two balls God already has given you. LOL but im a woman... Ya well, God gave you two eggs didn't he. My goodness , I was like ok just grow some balls, huh, and YES bottom line is just STOP , you CAN do it !
  • Just_One_Me
    Just_One_Me Posts: 66 Member
    Oh make sure you dont replace it with food either, I think I did ! =) taaaa taaaaa !
  • nonstopper
    nonstopper Posts: 1,108 Member
    stress ball :)
  • donnantx
    donnantx Posts: 76
    3 years NIC free this month! I have never felt better..you can do it. If you have medical insurance...most of them have a wellness line and you can sign up for a health coach. My health coach called me every week at a designated time and she also sent me the Nicotine Patches (name brand) for FREE...It really helped..I also stayed away from drinking alcoholic beverages and went to the bars only until I started craving...then I would leave. My husband still smoked at the time. I thought it would be hard...but looking back...wasnt hard at all....I was just determined! GOOD LUCK!!
  • Anamdalta
    Anamdalta Posts: 56
    Hi everyone! I really need and want to quit smoking. However, if you have ever been addicted to cigs then you know how hard it is to quit. I am looking for tips and advice on how to quit. If you ever smoked, how did you quit?

    I smoked on and off for about 20 years. Sometimes quite heavily, sometimes not. I got to the point that you are at - I was determined that I wanted to quit. And, so I just stopped. At that time, I was probably only smoking 3-4 a day, but I was really psychologically attached to them :)

    I am fortunate that none of my friends smoke, which makes it much, much easier. But, I didn't want to use patches and gum, because I do better when I just stop doing things -- weaning off just leads to "okay, well, today I won't knock off another cig from the tally"... at least for me.

    I drank a LOT of water. I ate a LOT of raw veggies, and chewed a LOT of regular gum. I had to find other things to do that replaced all the activities that went along with smoking -- I smoked outside exclusively, so I stopped sitting on my porch to drink coffee in the morning; I made sure I told people that I was quitting.

    It was awful, I won't lie. There were moments where I thought I'd lose my mind if I didn't go and buy a pack of smokes. One night, I was on my way out the door to go to the store. I had totally given up. And, I swear, I got 5 feet down the front walk, and it was like something grabbed the back of my jacket, and stopped me in my tracks. I went inside, drank a big glass of water.... and that was it. Never had another unmanageable nic fit again.

    For a long time, I avoided alcohol, because it was guaranteed to cause a huge nic fit, especially if I was out somewhere where people were smoking. Now, a few years later, it doesn't bug me. And, now, if I have the urge to smoke, it's really abstract, and totally non-urgent, easy to ignore.

    If you can get through the first 3 weeks, you're golden. But, you have to decide, and just do it. It's like any other lifestyle change. People balk at giving up chips, or chocolate, or soda... you just have to say, "enough," and stop.

    Good luck. It isn't easy, but you will feel a million times better even after a month of not smoking.
  • hughtwalker
    hughtwalker Posts: 2,213 Member
    I gave up 16 years ago.

    1. don't wait until you smoked the last one - always 'know' that you could have one, just don't want to.
    2. I sucked nicotine tablets for a couple of weeks
    3. I chewed licorice root (the woody stuff, not sticks of licorice - that would just be messy)
    4. I had a strong motivation - I was doing it as a part of my 20th anniversary presents (my wife had never smoked)
  • GreyEyes21
    GreyEyes21 Posts: 241 Member
    I dont know if you believe in hypnosis but I do. There are doctors that can put you into light hypnosis for quitting smoking for 1 hour and you no longer feel the urge to smoke. It changes the way you think. Maybe give that a try? 1 out of 4 people cant be hyptnotized though.
  • iWILLbeFit062012
    iWILLbeFit062012 Posts: 97 Member
    I quit almost 5 months ago by just cutting back until I got to the point where I just didn't feel like going to the store to buy the cigs. Took about 2 weeks. Used an e-cig to take the place of real cigs for a bit and chew lots of nicotine gum. Still use the gum but haven't used the e-cig in a while. What made things easiest for me is that I jumped head first into my fitness and new eating routine at the same time I quit. So I basically gave up one bad habit for a few very good ones.

    What I've noticed these past few months is that it is so good to breath and not wheeze, cough, clear my throat, etc. Simple head colds don't automatically result in bronchitis anymore. Matter of fact, I haven't gotten anything but a runny nose since I quit. Stairs used to leave me winded, but now I run up and down stairs for my cardio workout.

    Good luck to you and you can do it if you set your mind to it. You have to ask yourself why you want to quit and then be willing to take action. If at first you don't succeed, pick yourself up and try again - eventually it will stick!

    ETA: It helps to have a bottle of water nearby at all times. If you feel like smoking, pick up the water and chug away!
  • mabelbabel1
    mabelbabel1 Posts: 391 Member
    I smoked 30 a day until I was 28yrs.

    Then I decided I wanted to stop.

    I had hypnotherapy, a one off session, it lasted for 3 hours and I have never smoked since.
  • SanjiSun
    SanjiSun Posts: 69 Member
    get the book by allen carr - seriously - it changes your mind set. instead of feeling annoyed because you must deprive yourself of the cig you want, you switch to feeling liberated as a nonsmoker and annoyed that the cravings are interfering with your good feeling. it makes a world of difference. worked for my guy, and then for me.

    allen carr"s easy way to quit smoking

    available from amazon

    this, this and again.. this :D
  • LiqueLique89
    LiqueLique89 Posts: 75 Member
    I only smoked for 6yrs...started off with black & milds, then moved on to prime times, then cigarettes. I quit for 2 weeks because i had my wisdom teeth removed, once they healed i had a smoke, didn't like it so i quit again; until we had a family gathering and i had a few drinks [i get the urge to smoke when I have more than 3 drinks]. I smoked one cigarette and that was enough, or so i thought. I went out clubbing with my cousins and sister 2 weeks ago and had 2 cigarettes, I woke up the next morning with a feeling of nausea. I havent had the urge to smoke since then. I've decided to quit cold turkey and for good.My 23rd birthday is next month and i couldn't think of a better present to myself than 5 weeks of being smoke-free.

    It will be tough at first but keep yourself busy so you don't have time to take a smoke break. You can do it!
  • tekwriter
    tekwriter Posts: 923 Member
    I quit seven years ago. Join the quitstop.com, you don't have to pay, and go read everything available at whyquit.com. Once you understand the addiction it will help as you work through the withdrawal. It is definitely worth it. I can go anywhere, do anything I am no longer shackled by the need to have a cigarette.
  • onepillarofsalt
    onepillarofsalt Posts: 37 Member
    Real Allen Carr's "The Easy Way To Quit Smoking". Life-changing book.
  • cccerberus
    cccerberus Posts: 26 Member
    i quit several times.. which is to say i tried to quit several times, and through the process learned a lot about addiction in general.
    I have currently been a non smoker for about a year and a half.
    my problem was not with stopping, that part is easy for me..
    my problem was always with keeping myself from starting again for no good reason(drinking, stress, spite...) weeks or even months later.

    ultimately, using the patch helps for getting you out of the peaks and valleys of nicotine dosing..
    I only ever used the patch for 3 or 4 days and done.
    (full patch, half patch, quarter patch for a couple days and done)
    then its is just the focus on the things you hate about smoking.
    if you find yourself saying that you still like or enjoy or miss some aspect(s) of smoking, don't bother trying to quit yet. your mind has to lead this effort, and you have to hate it before you will stop, and STAY stopped.


    for me at least, ANY wavering on the focus of disgust/distaste for smoking will result in back sliding.

    good luck
  • vspeer
    vspeer Posts: 1
    I quit August 3rd of this year. Two things helped. Electronic cigarettes and telling myself that each craving will pass. What you are trying to do is very difficult and I wish you good luck.

    P.S. Don't beat yourself up and do it for you.
  • Flixie00
    Flixie00 Posts: 1,195 Member
    I gave up 3 years ago, almost to the day. I went cold turkey, but that method doesn't suit everyone.

    If you want a bit of extra motivation, there was an item on the BBC news today that said if women give up smoking before they are 30, then they will avoid a smoking related death.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19946427
  • Colstriper
    Colstriper Posts: 71 Member
    I quit cold turkey. I liked the website whyquit.com - it helped me understand what was going on while I was going through withdrawl.
  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
    I quit for good just over a year ago. I read The Easy Way to Stop Smoking by Alan Carr. It worked great for me and everyone else I know that read it. Changed my life. I don't think it works if you aren't ready to quit, but if you are, it will work for you. I looked into the pills, but after reading about the horrible side-effects I decided there was no way I would risk my mental health (what little I have of it LOL) to help me quit smoking.

    Yup, worked for me too (and some other MFPrs that I have recommended it to).

    20 years of smoking quit cold turkey, I can't crave what I don't want.
  • cdnkatherine
    cdnkatherine Posts: 12
    I stopped smoking almost 4 months ago, by first, the use of e-cigs, and then i got a good PV (personal vaporizer.) I get all the benefits of smoking, with none of the dangers. I vape everyday. Check it out.. you pay maybe 30.00 for a good vaper and some juice, once, and then 20 a month for juice, forever. You can also step downyour nicotine level in as many stages as you like, until you are nic addiction free, and then just stop! either way its great. I vape at o nic right now, because i justy love to vape. :-)

    Google vaping, or watch some videos from GrimmGreen or Pbusardo on youtube.

    I always loved smoking. And i still love the smell. <3 but now ill live longer. <3
    I've been quit since Jan 29 when my eGo c-Twist (pink) came in the mail.
    1359471600_12_1_USD_10.50_dark.png
    My husband (who is a long haul truck driver) and I quit cold turkey going to vaping and we vape less than we smoked. Together we go through less than 30mL of ejuice a month. Roughly 15 bucks. Not too shabby in the savings department!
This discussion has been closed.

Categories