Electronic cigarette?

My brother uses one and loves it. He's been using one for about a couple of months but I don't think he's wanting to actually wean himself off the nicotene quite yet so I don't know how well it works for that. Good luck though!

GET ONE!!
My mother got one a while back and hasnt touched a cigarette since!!! The money you save in the long run makes the initial costs worth it. Now - she has been using it for ayear an a half - but after nearly 40 years of smoking i think its great. Over time you can decrease the nicotine you put in it and ween right off. For a lot of people its kicking the physical habbit of puffing - so this helps -you still puff but get none of the bad stuff (just nicotine - which could be worse)

I would totally recommend it!!!

I tried it all... and honestly, the only way that worked and stuck for me was going absolutely cold turkey. It will be 2 years in August. I have had no desire to go back. It's more of a mental challenge. Once you can get your mind made up...you will have the willpower to make it happen. You have to decide that your life, your health, your body.... your future... deserves better!!! G'luck to you! I hope you find what works for you sooner...than later.

I tried it all... and honestly, the only way that worked and stuck for me was going absolutely cold turkey. It will be 2 years in August. I have had no desire to go back. It's more of a mental challenge. Once you can get your mind made up...you will have the willpower to make it happen. You have to decide that your life, your health, your body.... your future... deserves better!!! G'luck to you! I hope you find what works for you sooner...than later.

I have to ask... how did you do it cold turkey? What about the grouchiness?

I used to smoke, I quit by getting my mind completely away from the act of smoking. Fill your time with something different, and free! lol

I quit smoking over 5 years ago, cold turkey, after 26 years of a 2-3 pack a day habit. Here's my big piece of advice--do not use an e-cigarette if you plan on actually quitting any time soon. E-cigarettes merely perpetuate the addiction in a slightly more "socially acceptable" manner. Even more importantly, don't ever reintroduce nicotine after you've gotten it out of your system--you'll be off the wagon and smoking again in no time. Smoking leaves us forever wired for nicotine, which is why folks relapse--one smoke turns into a pack turns into 2 years, you know?

E-cigarettes are somewhat better for the people around you, but you remain an addict. However, it might be a good move until you can inspire your boyfriend to quit. The best, most successful quits happen when the "significant other" quits, too.

Good luck! I've been where you are, and it's hard. I wish you luck!

Kris

I agree! my husband smokes that much, when he is on night shift at work (oil field) he takes 2 packs with him, and during the day smokes about a pack. We are both trying to quit, he did alright his first night 'quitting' no cigs from 6pm-midnight... but after that he finished off everything he had taken Any more advice on how to quit cold turkey?

For me, it was all about changing how I look at cigarettes and recognizing that the stress I believed they eased was actually caused by craving them. I got rid of all the smoking accoutrements, and never, ever had anything in the house that might make it easy for me to light up. No "magic" spare packs, no lighters, even packed away the ashtrays. I started concentrating on just how lousy smoking made me feel most of the time--tight, scratchy throat, heavy, clogged up chest, burning, raw sinuses. And every time I had a craving, I knocked it back with ice cold water and a Coffee Nip (my husband quit at the same time--he swore by Jolly Ranchers).

I cleaned the house and the car, even had the upholstery and curtains cleaned so that the smell of the smoke was gone AND so that I wouldn't want to dirty it again. I stopped letting people smoke in my house and car. I hooked up with an online support forum (about.com's smoking cessation boards) where I could be with hundreds of other people in all stages of their quits. The support was priceless, and the advice amazing.

I met each craving with the understanding that it was going to pass whether I lit up or not--but if I lit up, guaranteed I was going to have another craving in about 20 minutes. I viewed every conquered craving as a victory and a step toward long-term success. I didn't rely on willpower because willpower fails eventually. I worked to change my thinking. I came to realize that a cigarette is a lousy reward for anything--come on, I watched my Aunt die of lung cancer, still smoking to the awful end. How is that a reward? No, my reward was, at first, the satisfaction of knowing I was beating an addiction. But soon my reward became things like my restored sense of smell (wow!), my gradual reduction in morning hacking and lung biscuit removal, the easing of the constant headaches I'd had for years, and (this is so important to me) the return of my laugh. See, for over a decade, any deep laughter left me choking and gagging, so I struggled to NOT laugh. Not laugh at jokes, not laugh when my little boy did something funny. Now I can laugh--deep, hearty laughs with no hacking. It rocks.

And the money, of course. My husband smoked as much as I did, and between us, we were smoking away a carton every two days. 15 cartons a month. Thousands a year. At today's prices? Over a thousand a MONTH literally put to the torch. We saved that money and took our first "real" vacation--ten days to SoCal with our niece and nephew in tow. The next year? Two weeks on the east coast, living it UP. And the year after that? THREE weeks, with a luxury rental car, kids in tow, and some of the finest dining I've ever done.

Another thing that REALLY helped was a quit meter for my computer. I used the free Silkquit meter, which tells how much you've NOT smoked, how much you've saved, and how long you've gone without. It is SO motivating, and really reinforces the success.

Carrots, grapes, taking up a new habit you've never smoked at (I took up needlepoint), and, most of all, changing how you view cigarettes. Smoking isn't a reward, it's a punishment. The reward is being free of the things.

Oh, and the cravings? They DO go away! I haven't craved a cigarette in almost five years. So that struggling and suffering early on? It is NOT long term--promise!

Good luck! If you need any support or advice, absolutely add me!

Kris

Hi!

Okay, I was a 30+ year smoker. I quit February and started using E-Cigarettes (GreenSmoke). I love them. I will never go back to smoking a real cigarette again. And yes, it is still supporting my nicotine habit, but I am no longer polluting my body or lungs with the carciogens from cigarettes.

I didn't want to quit smoking. However, I have a life goal to quit before I turned 50. This was the year to do it.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, Veronica

Thanks everyone for all of your help Still not sure what to do about the e-cig, I can see how still having nicotine wouldn't help, but then it would be better than smoking actual cigarettes. I tried the nicorette inhaler a while back but it was really menthol and I hated it. Still got it though and all the refills so at least I could turn to it at desperate times! My boyfriend wants to quit too (but I don't know how serious he is) so I said we must pick a day and stop together..I like the idea of cleaning everything and making the house and my work van all fresh again. Plus my boyfriend's best friend is wanting to quit too so instead of the 3 of us sitting around at the weekends smoking, we can all stop together. Then again he's one who can only smoke at weekends, so I don't think he'll find it too hard. It's hard because it's such a social thing at weekends, if we go to the pub most of the people we go with will be outside most of the time smoking. My best friend has never smoked though so at least i'll have someone to stay indoors with!

I think it will be a good idea to save my 'smoking' money when I do quit and have my teeth whitened, that'll be good motivation to stay off the cigs! I used to have lovely white teeth but the insides of them now are shocking!

When I quit, my husband quit, then my sister, then my mother! We went from a fully smoking family to a fully non-smoking, and it was really very cool!

Good luck!

Kris