Need help breaking an bad habit.

grandmastime
grandmastime Posts: 57 Member
in Motivation and Support
OK I feel the need to get healthy. Eating right and clean and excercising is not enough any more. I am a smoker. Yes bad I know. I had promised my self that when my granddaughter was born I would quit. well 5 years have come and gone and I am still smoking. However, with this new leaf I have turned I REALLY want to quit. My problem is the physical symptom that i suffer when I try. Are there any ex-smokers out there who are willing to help and support me? Any tips on what helped you? My little bug will be 5 on may 13th. I want to be smokeless by then. HELP!!!!

Replies

  • sprintto50
    sprintto50 Posts: 410 Member
    After 3 attempts, I finally quit for more than a year now. I did get some physical symptoms when I quit, mostly sugar crashes but these passed after a couple of weeks. What worked for me was telling myself "I am an addict and I cannot have just one". every time I wanted a cigarette. The previous 2 times I quit because I had to, the last one was because I wanted to. And it really helps to want to.
  • bustinwheels
    bustinwheels Posts: 1
    Hi - I am an ex-smoker. I quit about 10 years ago and wished I would have never started. I'm 52 and smoked from about 16 to 42 years of age. That's a lot of nicotine and potential cancers of all sorts. I have asthma now and although it's not super bad, I still hope to have 30 years left on me. I am so into nutrition now that I cannot emphasize enough on how important it is to quit.

    I quit cold-turkey. I got sick of how I smelled, how the smoking controlled me and how people did not want to be around me when I smoked. If you think of it as a drug such as heroin, it will be easier for you to stop. Sounds harsh, but try chewing gum, having snacks around and if you drink and smoke, try not to drink for a while so you don't associate the two. You should walk or do something healthy when you have the urge to smoke. It's not easy, but it's so worth it. Also, join a support group.

    Good luck and I hope this helped a little.

    OC
  • jody664
    jody664 Posts: 397 Member
    I am in the same boat, Grandmastime. I actually quit in May 2011 and remained smoke-free until May 2012 when I had a super stressful time and picked it back up (stupid stupid stupid!!) Now it's almost a year of smoking again, and I want to quit. I have used nicotine patches to quit in the past and that really helps......You don't get the "high" from smoking, but you don't get the "low" from nicotine withdraw either. I'm hoping in the next couple of weeks to get some patches and try it again.

    I have tried Chantix and nicotine gum but didn't care for either.
  • deviantcupcake
    deviantcupcake Posts: 136 Member
    My boyfriend has tried several times to quit in the last three years. He's tried it cold turkey every time and it hasn't worked for various reasons. Stress is one, and the fact that he's a social smoker and actually enjoys a cigarette when he's having a drink.

    But.

    He showed an interest in quitting again just before Christmas, so I got him an electric cigarette.
    I've heard varying things about them, but my boyfriend has had great success. It still gives the nicotine hit (and depending on the brand you can get cartridges of varying strengths) and you inhale vapour so you still have the physical action and feel of smoking. I tried it, and as an ex-smoker, I was quite impressed.

    It took him about a month to stop really wanting a cigarette, but after six/seven weeks he was ready to start coming off the e-cig, too, starting with lighter cartridges and then cutting down how often he used it.
    It really did help - no horrible physical symptoms and no 'bear with a sore head' moods.

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