How to quit smoking??

4Pop wrote: »

pam5762 wrote: »

just stop ..... easy as that

^ This.

Nothing is going to "make" you stop, if you don't want to. Either you do, or you don't. Don't let your emotions control your choices.

I smoked pretty regularly for about 50 years. Stopped for good this past May. Simply walked away from them.

Congratz. But you're very wrong. People want to stop but when the craving increase they no longer do. That's called addiction. The normal rational thought pattern is broken by the nicotine binding to your dopamine receptors (and the lack of it).

DO NOT understate people's struggles. It is rude. For the majority of people it is extremely difficult to stop smoking (as I'm sure you must know as you live on Earth) regardless of how much they want to stop.

My husband took up vaping and is free of traditional smoking but he still vapes. It's 95% safer they say but we won't really know until it has been around longer. It's worth a try.

Go read Allen Carr's book 'How to Quit Smoking the Easy Way'. It comes in audio books too, if you are not the type to read. It is hands down the best book I have ever purchased, because it worked. I smoked my very last cigarette while reading the book over 3 years ago, and have never once had a craving or desire to smoke since. The very next day after my last smoke I had to take a 4 hour car ride, and had no desire to crack a window and light one up.
I went out with friends the next weekend and indulged in alcoholic beverages and never asked to bum a smoke off anyone or felt awkward standing in a fog of second hand smoke with my buddies. I never was envious of them smoking away, I actually pitied them a bit as I was free to move about the bar and get more drinks while they had to stay outside and finish their smoke. I even kept half a pack of cigarettes in my desk, because in the past I had failed to quit and was too cheap to throw away half a pack (which I eventually did a few months later). This seems crazy to most people who quit... the thought of having the temptation within a few feet of yourself throughout the day. I say all this to reinforce what someone else previously said... it's actually very easy to quit. This book helps you understand why it is so easy.

The thing is that once you understand why it is you smoke, it becomes very manageable to stop. Do yourself a favor and spend the few bucks on the book, and it will help you with this.

I quit. I smoked for 20 years and decided I really wanted to quit so I saw my doc. He put me on Wellbutrin...and it worked! The meds had some side effects for me so I wasn't on them long, but it took away the worst of the cravings so the patches etc would work. Good luck! You just have to decide if you want to smoke or want to live...long term you can't have both

I had "wanted" to stop smoking for a while. Waking up every morning thinking 'I gotta give these things up' but never really wanting to stop enough to do much more than complain about it.

Then one day I was on my lunch break at work. I'd just finished eating and had a smoke and went to have one more before I went back up to the office.
The pack was empty.
So I got up and started walking towards the store to buy another packet when I came to a flight of stairs. I knew there was a chemist (pharmacy) up there and I stopped. I looked towards the store, up the stairs, back towards the store and back up the stairs. In a split second decision I turned to go up the stairs into the chemist and buy a packet of nicotine lozenges and that was it. I was done. That was 12 years ago and I haven't had so much as a puff since. It was a snap decision in that moment.

Here are some things that helped me quit for good:
1. From the moment I took my first step up the stairs towards the chemist I was a 'Non-smoker'. I wasn't quitting as that meant that I was still a 'Smoker' who was giving up. I made that shift in my head to being a 'Non-smoker' and it was probably the most powerful thing I did. In the past if someone had offered me a cigarette I'd say 'No thanks. I'm quitting', this time it was 'No thanks. I'm not a smoker'. I made being a 'Non-smoker' a part of my identity and Non-smokers just don't smoke.

2. Resigned myself to the fact that it was gonna suck for a while. Getting over the nicotine addiction sucks HARD and I had to mentally prepare myself for this fact. The lozenges helped take the edge off when they physical cravings got really bad but there's only so much they can do. Just be prepared to be miserable and pretty cranky for a while.

3. I understood that cravings do pass and will diminish with time. The worst thing about the nicotine cravings was that they were urgent and honestly felt like they would last forever, or at least until I had a cigarette. But in truth, they don't, they WILL pass within a few minutes. And the good thing is that each subsequent time the craving hits it will be just a little less intense then last time, last a little bit less time and come a little less frequently. To this day I still on a very rare occasion get a craving for a cigarette. Chances are they'll probably never go away completely. But they're super mild, never last more than a few seconds to a minute at most and only happen perhaps once or twice a year so they're a snap to endure. Little more than an afterthought really.

4. Find your triggers so your prepared. I would go for hours without a cigarette while I was at work but if I sat down in front of my computer at home I'd practically chain-smoke. I'd rarely have a cigarette while watching TV but would smoke far more while I was driving my car. Once I identified my smoking triggers I was able to handle them far better as I was fully prepared. Knowing that the minute my backside hit the computer chair I'd be wanting a smoke made it easier to ignore. Knowing is half the battle

5. Become a 'Non-smoker'. I know this was point one but I can't emphasise this point enough. A smoker who is quitting can just stop quitting and start smoking, but a Non-smoker just doesn't smoke. Become a 'Non-smoker' make it a part of who you are.

g'luck

I quit by switching to vaping and cutting down on the nicotine gradually. Gave up the vape completely when a doctor told me to completely quit nicotine if I wanted to heal properly after a horrible skin affliction.

cold turkey is the only way to go. I tried everything too, patches, gum but nothing worked until I was actually ready. One day (just over 6 years ago now) I smoked my last one and never looked back. And the amount of money I've saved, OMG!!!!

Seffell wrote: »

I stopped cold turkey after 20 years of heavy smoking. I used the videos of a guy on Youtube to help me. If it wasn't for these videos I'd never stopped because I had countless fail attempts including patches, vaping, gums, inhalators etc. I used to smoke 2 packs a day.
His name is Joel Spitzer, look his channel up on Youtube.
I've been nicotine free for more than 3 years and I don't crave it any more.
This guy has videos for every day during your first week which is when you get detoxed from the nicotine and is hardest. I owe him my life.

This is how I quit too. Spitzer has a website (not sure if I can link it, but it's whyquit.com). There's a ton of information that I'd never heard before & helped a lot. I think there's a facebook group too.The main things that helped me were knowing that the physical withdrawal would be pretty bad for 3 days or so and then would ease up. I'd always thought it'd last forever so I'd give in after half a day and start smoking again. And learning that after about 2-3 weeks, you are really dealing with psychological cues/learning to cope without smoking. I quit 'cold turkey' 3.5 years ago and haven't had a puff since. I was one of those "I love smoking too much to give it up" people so I'm very proud to have never started again. Good luck!