Quitting smoking

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  • a11ye1izabeth
    a11ye1izabeth Posts: 5 Member
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    on jan 14th it will be 5 months since i quit smoking. i smoked menthol cigarettes, what i did was get a huge bag of lifesaver peppermints and every time i had a craving i eat a mint. I also did not drink beer or liquor for a long time, aug 14th to dec 31st, so i did not get back into it. now just the smell of it makes me sick. good luck to you, it has been by far one of the hardest things i've done in life.
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
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    24 hrs down cold turkey!
    Congrats...I'll hit my 1 year as a non-smoker anniversary at the end of this month...it does get easier!

    As for the drinking part...are you in a state where people can still smoke in bars? In Michigan, the smoking ban passed a few years ago, and that helps a lot...since drinking can't lead to smoking unless I physically get up and go outside.

    Either way...good luck, and hang in there..you can totally do this! :flowerforyou:
  • MsJulielicious
    MsJulielicious Posts: 708 Member
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    Thanks for the responses! I am finding small rewards are helping me. Like today I used the expense perfume I reserve for date nights just because I knew I would smell it all day and not ciggarettes.. Whatever works right? LOl! Well done to all you fellow quitters :flowerforyou:
  • cmhusns
    cmhusns Posts: 17 Member
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    I am 38 years old and was recently diagnosed with Sarcoidosis. Never heard of it? Neither had I. The C-T scan found a spot on my lung - YIKES! Well I went to a lung doctor, found out it was Sarcoidosis. (Been smoking since 15). She told me I HAD TO QUIT. Well I liked it darnit! So needless to say I wasn't happy about having to quit. I started using nicotine lozenges. Con - I'm now addicted to those. Pro - Per my doctor they are 99% better than smoking. I use the lozenges, however I can now breathe, exercise, play with my kids and over all just keep up. So I've weighed to con's against the pro's in this case and I've not smoked for over a year. I can't seem to get off the lozenges but I no longer cough, sputter or anything else. I go for a CT scan tomorrow to check up on the spot on my lung. I've been exercising. Gone from 168 - 146 in a little over a year. I'm actually HOPEFULL for a good report and I'm excited to say that. I never thought I'd feel this good. Do what you need to do to quit. If it's taking a nicotine supplement - do it! Your lungs will thank you.
  • brandiellzey
    brandiellzey Posts: 10
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    I'm tired of having to quit again... I'm on day 59 of my 3rd time quitting. No more. I've gone through those mood swings and *****iness for the last time! I smoked for 15 years, quittin each time I got pregnant and starting back up by the time my sons were 3 months old. No tricks to it. Just mind over matter! Good Luck!!
  • DJMartins
    DJMartins Posts: 20
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    I have recently given up also, today is day 10. Cold turkey. After 20 years of pack a day. the 2 things that keep me going
    1. I keep telling myself i am now a non smaoker, sounds corny but feels pretty good.
    2. Put away $20 a day which is roughly what i would of spent, i have $200 put away, at the end of the year $7000 would be a good holiday deposit on a boat etc

    Good luck, you are now a non smoker
  • slywon
    slywon Posts: 85 Member
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    I quit smoking August 14, 2011. I will never forget that day because it is the day my 54 year old mother had a massive stroke and life has never been the same since. She too was a smoker until that day and even though she had survived the stroke her life will never be the same. She can now walk again but to this day her left arm is paralyzed. She went from being a business owner and wife living on a farm to being unable to work, separated and living with her elderly mother in a city apartment. Her carotid arteries that supply the blood to her brain are mostly all blocked (one side 100% so unchangeable). Bottom line is I decided then and there that I would not do to my children what was being done to me. It was difficult for about one month. I thought about it constantly. With time it got better and better. I did gain some weight but I am 80 days in on MFP and half way to my goal weight now. I do not even think about smoking anymore. My husband still smokes and did the whole time I quit. I don't like it but realize I can't change it. I am so glad that I quit and you will be too!!!
  • jkmiller82
    jkmiller82 Posts: 214 Member
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    I agree with everyone who suggested Allen Carr's The Easy Way. It cost me the price of a pack of cigarettes and I didn't have my hopes up, but the advice in it is just so smart. He really makes you think about your relationship to cigarettes. It's been one month now and this is the longest I've gone without smoking for over 12 years and I couldn't be happier. Good luck to you!
  • keliyo
    keliyo Posts: 8
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    Uh, I'm a cocktail smoker myself, and the only thing that cures my craves is a disposable e cig from the gas station... Seriously, it works,
  • MsJulielicious
    MsJulielicious Posts: 708 Member
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    So, any idea how long till I quit waking up blowing disgustingness out of my nose and coughing up grossness? I know it's my body healing itself but mannnn.. nasty!
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
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    So, any idea how long till I quit waking up blowing disgustingness out of my nose and coughing up grossness? I know it's my body healing itself but mannnn.. nasty!
    are you drinking tons of water? I usually drink a lot anyway, but found that really helped in the beginning to 'flush' my system out.
  • MsJulielicious
    MsJulielicious Posts: 708 Member
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    Yes, I have been drinking more then normal most days, and taking hot showers because the steam seems to help
  • colourfulchaos
    colourfulchaos Posts: 43 Member
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    Seriously one of the hardest things to do. I quit 8 years ago (after six years of smoking) and still crave them--not every day but definitely when feeling stressed or, like you said, whenever there's alcohol flowing. But I watched my dad die from lung cancer so that's my biggest reason for not starting back up. I won't intentionally do something that will (eventually) take me away from my kids like that.
  • cah05
    cah05 Posts: 2 Member
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    I quit smoking with the use of Chantix in April of 2012 after about 23 years of smoking I had tried Wellbutrin with no success. I did avoid social situations where I knew I would be tempted. I did not have any bad side effects from the medication. They also offer a very helpful website with tips and they encourage you to log in daily. It provides helpful activities to enable you handle the times when you really want to smoke. Also, it was nice not having to quit cold turkey. Don't give up. It is nice to be able to breathe! It is worth it. :)
  • Roy5399
    Roy5399 Posts: 1 Member
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    I smoked for 12 years, and finally quit about a year and half ago. It was hard (as everyone on this thread knows), one of the hardest things I've ever done. I went cold turkey, and the first 2 weeks were pretty miserable. Coughing grossness up in the morning - and CRAZY mood swings. I guess they're a result of the nicotine withdrawal your brain is going through, but it was insane. One day at work I cried 3 times for NO REASON. (I was literally crying and going, "I have no idea why this is happening!") And on another night I screamed at turkey burgers that weren't cooking fast enough.

    But I got through it. My skin is clearer, my asthma is better (I was an asthmatic smoker!), and I can walk the 5 flights up to my apartment without worrying my heart is going to burst now.

    Just be very clear with yourself - I am not ALLOWED to smoke anymore. For me at least, it came down to willpower. I wasn't going to let smoking win. Oh - and all the people who didn't think I could do it served as great motivation too!!

    You can do it! And you will be so proud of yourself when you do!!
  • Doodlewhopper
    Doodlewhopper Posts: 1,018 Member
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    Fear of failure, being a sore loser and arrogance got me off the wicked weed.

    I quit at noon on some Monday in 1988. I had no intentions of quitting until I was in a meeting and a buddy gave me piece of Nicorette gum. Later, after realizing I hadnt smoked in a couple of hours (I was a 3 pack a day) I ran to the doctor and got a prescription.

    That night I was in my regular bar amidst the clouds of bar room smoke & telling everyone "it didnt bother me; I was a stud and was now, at that very moment, a non smoker. I controlled events; events didnt control Big Jim." Of course everyone hoorahed me hard. They tried every trick including money and hot women to get me to break.

    I had realized how addicting the Nicorette was so I only used about 3-4 pieces of it. I instead bought Wrigley's gum. I realized my triggers were phones, driving, coffee, food, booze & after meals. During football season I would often be into the 4th pack of cigarettes. (I think heavy smokers can quit easier than occasional smokers)

    I focused on the gum. When I started getting the urge I would focus on Wrigley's. I would tell myself I would chew a piece of Wrigley's in 5 more minutes...then I would get busy and forget, and 5 minutes would pass by, so the time had to start over again....5 more minutes.

    When I finally had to use the Wrigley's, I would then focus on the Nicorette, 5 minutes and I would get a piece. Again I would get busy and forget...and time would start over again and the focus would default to the Wrigley's.

    I had to stop drinking coffee and start eating. I often smoked a cigarette to kill my hunger, so when I got hungry, dammit, we gotta eat guys, NOW I SAID, NOW! LOL I was a *kitten* for months...and for months I coughed and hacked. I had a constant case of laryngitis. The irony was I never had a smoker's cough until I quit.

    I havent had a smoke since - though I kept a piece of Nicorette in my pocket for years and one in the console of my car. Those two pieces of gum got pretty grungy after a time.

    As I said, it was arrogance & being a sore loser that was my resource. No way could I let those Aholes in the bar get something like failure to achieve hanging over my head. For years I would always throw it in their face. ie "Boys, when Big Jim tells ya he is gonna do something, he does it. Huh?" LOL They wanted to kill me and stuff a cigarette in every orifice of my body.

    Ive told my buddies that the day the last one of them died, I was going to smoke one since they wouldnt know about it.

    So I recommend tener cojones & put your pride on the table, bet obnoxiously, bet big and bet loud. Tellem, Big Jim said it. LOL
  • MsJulielicious
    MsJulielicious Posts: 708 Member
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    Oh also the dreams the past couple nights have been vivid!!! Intense and strange, but makes for great breakfast stories :laugh:

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