quit smoking?!

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  • Chillwabbitt
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    I stopped smoking twice, the second time stuck(almost 2 years now). I used champex to stop successfully. The first time I stopped the social side of it caught me up and I started smoking again. I also tried those damn e cig things and all that did was make me smoke even more!

    I smoked fa box of 20 everyday for 24 years and without Champex I would still be smoking, however its not an easy ride. If you go the route I did consult your doctor first and see if it'll work for you.

    I will say that the only way it wll work is if you looking to stop, if you looking for a miracle pill, keep looking. But if you stick to it, the medication will successfully reprogram your "sensor" to nicotine and smoking, I can now stand right next to someone puffing away and not want one.

    Cheers and good luck
  • ThisCharmingFellow
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    Later this month will see me having been cigarette free for 8 years. I gave up cold turkey.

    The very best of luck to you in kicking the habit. You *can* do it!
  • wkwebby
    wkwebby Posts: 807 Member
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    I quite 7 years ago and haven't looked back. No gaining weight, but I used Chantix. I had a goal of running a 5k and knew there was no way I could run it if I didn't quit.

    Others have quit cold turkey and I think I could have done it (just not sure). I trained for the running so I didn't gain weight. Good luck to you!
  • MonaLisaLianne
    MonaLisaLianne Posts: 380 Member
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    You CAN quit!

    My birthday present to myself was to quit smoking, which I did 20 years ago this month! I had smoked for 25 years. I did gain about 10 lbs. at the beginning, but was able to lose that after a few months. In my experience, if you can make it without a cigarette for 30 days you have a good chance of being smoke-free. After 6 months or so I never really thought about cigarettes again.

    At that time I calculated that I was spending about $20 a week on cigarettes. I put a $20 bill in a little box every Sunday morning for a year. On my *next* birthday, I took the $1,040 dollars I'd saved and bought myself a pair of beautiful diamond earrings. They are a permanent reminder that I can do whatever I choose to do with my time, my money and my life.

    I have 3 friends who used Chantix and they are all smoke-free 4-5 years later.

    P.S. Take up a hobby where you use your hands. I took up needlepoint and it was a wonderful way to keep my hands busy that was NOT smoking a cigarette! By the time I finished that needlepoint I no longer had cravings.
  • gotonenerveleft
    gotonenerveleft Posts: 40 Member
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    I quit last year after 36 years of smoking. Never thought I'd be able to. Quit in steps .

    1. Switched to Virginia Slims. They're longer so I only smoked half at a time. Got down to three a day.
    2. Only smoked outside. Being winter helped. Told myself I could smoke all I wanted but only outside.
    3. Put down cigarettes completely. Used nicotine patch but started with the 2nd strength. Heard the first one made you jittery and I didn't want that. When I got antsy for a smoke I told myself that I was getting all the nicotine I needed from the patch and that the craving would pass quickly. They always did.
    4. Gave them up for Lent. After the 40 days were over I could smoke if I wanted . I just never did.

    It was so much a mind game for me. I was more mentally addicted than physically . I can be around smokers no problem. Sometimes I like the smell of a burning cigarette but I can also tell you that to pass by someone who's been smoking smells NASTY. I cringe to think that I smelled liked that at one time too. To anyone that's trying to quit .... You CAN do this!
  • wonko221
    wonko221 Posts: 292 Member
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    Coming up on almost six months, after 18 years of smoking.

    After trying to quit periodically during my 18 years of smoking, i had relegated myself to just always being a smoker. I would always tell myself i'd quit some time down the road, but never really believed it.

    My roommate, a fellow smoker, quit while reading "The Easy Way to Quit Smoking" by Alan Carr. It's available online or at large bookstores. After he quit, he lent it to me. The book encourages you to smoke while reading it. What do i lose then, but a little time? I lit a cigarette, and turned the first page. By the end of the book, i had smoked my last cigarette. Now my roommate and I are both smoke free. A friend of my father is now almost two months free, after smoking for 50 + years, after reading the book.

    The book doesn't try to scare you out of smoking. That kind of crap only makes non-smokers feel better about not smoking. No adult smoker has any delusions that cigarettes are healthy. We know they stink, cost a lot, and make stairs an issue. The book just gives you a better perspective on how the addiction works, and demonstrates that it's almost 100% in your mind; the nicotine cravings aren't that big of a deal; it's all the behaviors we build into our lives as smokers, to facilitate smoking, that we need to address.

    The real surprise isn't that i quit smoking temporarily. I'd done that before, cold turkey. But from the moment i put out my last cigarette, i didn't have any dread about "never being able to smoke again." I got the occasional craving, but never got frustrated dealing with it. Never got grumpy, never really missed smoking. Now it's 6 months later, and i'm not so much a "former smoker" as a "non-smoker".

    So... for the price of three or four packs of cigarettes, i highly recommend the book. If you get fed up with the temptation, or if you ever find yourself smoking again and want to stop, pick it up.
  • Talanjs
    Talanjs Posts: 13 Member
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    Just passed my 5 year non-smoking anniversary.

    After years of trying it finally stuck. No books, hypnosis, etc.... just will power ( i think moving help, i got away from bad influences ) plus i didn't want to smoke around my kids.
  • TJ_Rugger
    TJ_Rugger Posts: 164 Member
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    Today is 68 days since quitting dipping. I used to smoke in college and for me it was not that hard to give up once I graduated, but as time went on I went back to smokeless tobacco.

    I have tried to quit the habit for a while and failed at a few attemps, but this time, I think it has stuck.

    My advice (if you can work it out), quit right before a big change in your daily routine. Quit right before a vacation, something that gets you out of your normal routine.

    For me I was dipping at work (desk job), driving, and working around the house. I quit and went on vacation and when I came back home, it had been 10 day without tobacco, which helps to show that if you can go a short time without it, you can quit it for good.

    Good Luck! You will be so much happier once you can say that you "USED to smoke"
  • socalkay
    socalkay Posts: 746 Member
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    I quit two and a half years ago but not in time... I'm here losing weight so I can get on the lung transplant list.

    Hope that helps your resolve.

    I used the patch, step-down method. I did gain some weight.
  • TJ_Rugger
    TJ_Rugger Posts: 164 Member
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    Also try http://www.stickk.com/

    This is a website where you sign up and list your commitment goal. You check in and it can help you stay on top.

    Also you have the option of setting it up so that it will penalize you if you slip, of course you have to be honest and tell the app that you slipped and you have to set it up, but you can set it up to draw out like $1 if you slip up and it donates that dollar to a charity that you like or don't like.

    If you are pro-life you can have it set up so that if you slip up it donates $1 to a pro-choice group or something like that.... its been a few years.
  • stillhere1981
    stillhere1981 Posts: 119 Member
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    hey guys,

    whos quit smoking here?? im going to try again this week it will be tough but i know i can do it. so social events are of for a month. what other inspiration can be used.

    also did you gain weight?

    thanks.

    Sorry to be crass, but just weigh that cigarette vs. chemotherapy/radiation/surgery. I've never smoked, but I can tell you from personal experience (well not the radiation, I have never had that) that all of those things suck big time. I'm sure you have people that love you that want you around for a long time. Your lungs can heal.

    My dad quit 25 or so years ago with the nicotine patches. My husband just decided to quit one day and he did.

    Good luck!! You can do it!
  • lisaanne1369
    lisaanne1369 Posts: 377 Member
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    I joined a gym and then 3 weeks later quit smoking. 5 years later- lost 25 pounds and can run a 5-K in 27:00!
  • stillhere1981
    stillhere1981 Posts: 119 Member
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    I'll appeal to your vanity now/. It makes you look prematurely old.

    http://io9.com/guess-which-of-these-identical-twins-is-the-smoker-1458850545
  • Madame_Goldbricker
    Madame_Goldbricker Posts: 1,625 Member
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    15 days in for me after smoking 21yrs. I'm using an e cig & learning to run!

    Couldn't run for toffee on the TM earlier this year. But I'm already doing intervals up to 90+ mins now! Love that it's my legs struggling to keep up & not my lungs.

    You can do it OP!
  • leahsoderlund
    leahsoderlund Posts: 2 Member
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    Today was my first day on the nicotine patch. We can do this!
  • leahsoderlund
    leahsoderlund Posts: 2 Member
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    1st of Sept...start diet/exercise a new me!!!! tomorrow 3rd Sept Quit Smoking, now that will be the hard part....i need some support and help with is one!!! keep in touch

    Today was my first day on the nicotine patch. We can do this!
  • Atrocity108
    Atrocity108 Posts: 328 Member
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    I am getting a vape tomorrow, so see if I can slow down and then quit.

    I have beaten my food addiction. Now, hopefully, I will be able to conquer this soon.
  • kaylafrick
    kaylafrick Posts: 4 Member
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    I quit smoking a few times, I used chantix twice and it worked but gave me awful nightmares. I ended up smoking again due to stress and not knowing how to cope with it in a healthier way. Most recently, I quit smoking about six months ago, but had really tapered down long before that.

    I didn't tell myself or anyone that I was "quitting" I simply decided to have an "open relationship" with cigarettes :)
    meaning if I wanted a cigarette, I would have one (denying cravings makes the mind want it more).
    On the flip side, if I didn't want one at a normal time I would normally smoke, I didn't have one.
    I also found paying attention to why I wanted one helped me to analyze what my triggers were, I found practicing mindfulness techniques like that helped me to make healthier choices than reaching for a cigarette. Because I wasn't quitting, I was just learning to choose other things!
  • Miss_1999
    Miss_1999 Posts: 747 Member
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    Way to go to all of the quitters! And to all of those who are newly quitting, or starting, we can do this! One day at a time! It had been 6 days for me today. I went to the mall, and just wanted a cigarette. I lit one up, took a few draws off of it, and honestly, it didn't even taste good. I put it out without even smoking half of it. That was the first cigarette in 6 days, and honestly, my hands stunk, my mouth tasted bad, and I really didn't know *why* I wanted it after that. I got some hand sanitizer out after that, and thought yep, that's it. If I *really* want one after this, I'll get an e-cig, or some nicotine gum. We can do this!
  • Madame_Goldbricker
    Madame_Goldbricker Posts: 1,625 Member
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    Way to go to all of the quitters! And to all of those who are newly quitting, or starting, we can do this! One day at a time! It had been 6 days for me today. I went to the mall, and just wanted a cigarette. I lit one up, took a few draws off of it, and honestly, it didn't even taste good. I put it out without even smoking half of it. That was the first cigarette in 6 days, and honestly, my hands stunk, my mouth tasted bad, and I really didn't know *why* I wanted it after that. I got some hand sanitizer out after that, and thought yep, that's it. If I *really* want one after this, I'll get an e-cig, or some nicotine gum. We can do this!

    I'm finding the e cig great! I haven't even really had any cravings at all. Given myself up till Christmas to cut the nicotine replacement completely (6wk intervals dropping the mg). Plus it seems to be curbing any food cravings that can come with quitting smoking.

    Just some food for thought if you go down that road.