QUITTING smoking!! help!!

My Mom quit by:

1) switching to her second-choice brand
2) every week, waiting for 15 minutes after your craving starts to have a cigarette: week 1, 15 min, week 2, 30 mins, week 3, 45 mins, week 4, 60 mins.
3) saving all the cigarette butts you smoke for a month in a mason jar with a lid. At the last cigarette, fill the jar with water. When you have cravings the next week that you can't control, smell it. After 2-3 days, it begins to turn & smell like mould too. Smelling the cigarette butts after they go mouldy will make you feel nauseated. After smelling the butts for a week or so, then you will associate craving a cigarette with making you feel sick.

It works.

I used Chantix in June of 2008, and haven't touched a cigarette since. It worked great for me.

Well, first I'd calm down. I firmly believe that people get what they expect from quitting smoking. If you expect it to be hell, it will be. If you don't, it won't. I quit seven years ago after smoking 25 years. I decided it was TOO EXPENSIVE, and when I finished the pack I had I just wouldn't buy any more. And I never had another cigarette. And I never missed them.

This is so true, and I think the essence of why Allen Carr's book works for so many people - it changes your mindset from giving something up to gaining your freedom. For the next two days, every time you light up, focus on that cigarette, and how nasty the smoke and those noxious chemicals actually taste - it's just your addicted brain that has tricked you into thinking it tastes good. After you quit, when a craving hits, think about how nasty and gross the addiction really is (love the idea about collecting the used butts in a jar of water and smelling it) and all the benefits you're gaining by quitting (make a list of the good things you feel as you notice them, like breathing better, lower heart rate, enhanced taste and smell, more endurance, etc...). Quitting really can be relatively 'easy' after those first 3 days of nic withdrawal are over.

I have no personal experience with quitting but in my line of work i see the after effects of it and see people that struggle and other that have conquered. Id suggest a few things that i could see working for me. when it comes time for the smoke, do something productive like a walk or workout, housework. Take up knitting ;p you MUST have to really want to quit. i suggest to ppl all the time that they should but but it has to be a personal decision and effort with moral support. when you ask yourself "why am i doing this?" look up health benefits of quitting and the negatives of having a smoke. i have seen people that cant even venerate the breath to blow outa match hardly. In any case, stick with it and best of luck!

I am on day 52 here! I set my quit date two months in advance and did it! dum dums are heaven sent and gum! Every time I wanted a cig I would go brush my teeth. silly but very effective! or I would do jumping jacks or push ups for 5 minutes! I also have an e-cig but barely used the thing since I felt rather silly with it. I still carry it in case I need it but the battery has been dead for a couple weeks!

My biggest problem is that with all the other things I have given up or cut back on since starting here in July, my body went into shock! I didn't change anything other than adding gum I still burnt high calories and didn't add a ton of calories or salty food but my body threw a major temper tantrum! I am still not over it entirely. I went from 185.2 up to a one day touch at 200.2! (nothing great about leaving onederland let me tell you!) I am back to 192.4 but am smoke free. I know how to lose those 7 pounds!

Feel free to add me! I am rather disgusting about how happy I am to be smoke free and have my scale turning around again!

I quit exactly 7 years ago today. I was going to post about it, then saw this topic!! lol . I tried using quitting aids from my doctor and I hated it, and it didnt work. So one day I said to myself "this is my last cigarette". And I stuck to it. Havent touched one since. Honestly, I have never cheated. And I am so proud of myself. I was smoking a pack, sometimes two packs a day at the age of 24!!! I also quit drinking on the same day. They went hand in hand for me. It has made such a differance in my life. I gained about 5-10 pounds that year, but it was well worth it to me. I love knowing that my kids dont have to be around a smoker, and that they will not have that influence on them as they grow older. And for heavens sake, the cost is a good enough reason to quit now-a-day!! I know you can do it. Just get through about three days without one, and it will be easy from there on out. Dont go places where you would if you were smoking. I had to stop going outside on my breaks at work, because thats where the smokers hang out. You can do it!!! We are here for you:) And you wont believe the differance in your breathing and how ofter you get sick!! Made a huge differance for me.

Read Allen Carr's book, The EasyWay to Quit Smoking. It's the best investment I ever made - I've been a non-smoker now for 19 days after smoking for over 30 years, and after the first few days, I've felt great. It can really change your mindset about smoking. Other practical tips - drink LOTS of ice water, and have healthy munchy snacks handy (like apples, carrots, stuff that will satisfy the urge to chew without packing in the calories). Try increasing exercise as a way to offset cravings and to reduce stress (I live for my afternoon workout now :happy: ). No matter what, know that you can do this, and it will be worth the effort.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This, I have been a non smoker for 9 months since reading this... He made it so easy for me to give up, and now I really couldnt imagine ever doing it again. Good luck xx

Oh, one more thing. My doctor had told me the more things you use the better luck you have of quitting. I know besides the patch they have pills, gum and lounges (probably more things too).

Tell me your doctor didn't recommend using multiple nicotine replacements at the same time. That is dangerous. As in--life-threatening dangerous. As in--could easily kill you. That doctor should have his license revoked.

This is not true. It is perfectly safe to use a 24 or 16 hour patch and use low dose gum every 4 hours as well to control break-through cravings. The doctor probably meant that the more strategies you have the better your chances. So journalling, having a quit partner, excercise, having a craving plan and nicotine replacement together make for a successful quit.

For me:
1. I quit by location for about 3 months. I stopped smoking at work. I stopped smoking at uni. I stopped smoking at home and then finally I stopped smoking in the car = smoke free life.

2. I replaced smokes with cups of tea.

3. I did it cold turkey.

4. No slip ups are very important.

5. I ticked off the benefits of quitting smoking on a quit smoking timeline.

Thats it.

yay for quitting bad habits. I have never smoked, but I drank. I flipped a switch on Jan.3rd and haven't even desired a drink...well,once, but I drank water and went to bed. Stopping long standing behaviors is tough, but if your mind is ready, you have half the battle won. Good luck!