Need advice from ex smokers

Have you read Allan Carr's book "The Easyway to Quit Smoking"? If not, you should. That book, and the website www.quitnet.com were the best resources that I used to quit smoking over two years ago. I was a very heavy smoker for 50 years and quit cold turkey using just those two things.

I also loved to smoke, but like you I hated the way it made you smell and how hard it was to breathe. Until you have been quit for about six months you won't really know just how bad it does smell, you only think you know.

I waited too long to quit and am now living with COPD...please be smarter than me and quit now...your lungs will thank you for it! :flowerforyou:

I have been smoke free and I still have cravings. Wave the money u would spend on it and buy yourself something nice

Have you read Allan Carr's book "The Easyway to Quit Smoking"? If not, you should. That book, and the website www.quitnet.com were the best resources that I used to quit smoking over two years ago. I was a very heavy smoker for 50 years and quit cold turkey using just those two things.

I also loved to smoke, but like you I hated the way it made you smell and how hard it was to breathe. Until you have been quit for about six months you won't really know just how bad it does smell, you only think you know.

I waited too long to quit and am now living with COPD...please be smarter than me and quit now...your lungs will thank you for it! :flowerforyou:

I second this book. It was the best thing I did for myself to quit smoking. It's been two years now and no looking back! It's true about the smell too. I just walk by some people in a store and I can smell it on them, gross. You can do it!

Anyone got some good advice? I know I should quit smoking (and it has been the worst 53 hours of my life so far) and I have decided to do it. Lots of problems, though. I love smoking! I don't want to quit. I'm doing it because I'm tired of being stinky and being short of breath and I want to see my kids get married, etc., but it's so hard! I'm being a total crabby *****. How long till I start feeling normal again?! Other advice?

I used a spray mist and used it for 2 weeks and I was done. Not thought about a cig since. Though I wanted to quit smoking cos I couldn't breathe properly or exercise.
Find some thing to put in your hand so you can play with it. Not sure if you're from the UK or not. but we have a stop smoking box you can get from the local pharmacy which has stuff in it.

I smoked for what seemd like forever. I tried and tried and never managed to actually quit for good. I would quit while pregnate but that was it. My Dr. had me on a med for my moods and one day I no longer wanted to smoke, they actually started making me sick. I dont know what it was that I was on but I thank god that he put me on that med (tho it didn't work so well for my moods). I am now addicted to gum tho, but thats a good addiction compared to smoking.

I gave up 2-3 years ago and I just stopped, no books, patches nor pills. Works for me, but not everyone. This was not my first attempt at giving up, and like you, I hated the fact that I smoked which I think is part of the battle. Anyhow, you should be over the woese of the nicotene cravings after 3 days, from then its just the mental addiction. Try to keep busy, and in particular keep your hands active. It does get easier, and well done for taking the plunge.

I quit smoking in 2002 and never looked back. My biggest motivator is the way it smells and the EXPENSE. (omg) really? you gonna spend good money to poison yourself?
As far as cravings, these are all good ideas. (not the e-cig- just STOP) take it one day at a time- one hour if you have to. For my cravings I chose to do something, clean my closet .. some ACTIVITY that would occupy my mind. I keep a journal so I would do that too, just write how I'm feeling and why I'm NOT giving in to cigarettes. I pretty much treated it like a contest of wills & I was not about to give in. I won.
I find cig smoke DISGUSTING and avoid it. Also I think people look pretty silly with a cig hanging out of their mouth. It embarrasses me that I was that silly.
You can do this!
Good Luck ~

Congratulations on quitting and I wish you hte best of luck, I quit just over 2 years ago.

Best advice I can give you is

take 1 day at a time, if you didn't smoke for 24 hours, hold on to that fact, if you made it 24 hours, you can make it another 24 hours. Don't count how many days you have quit for, just focus on the next 24 hours.

Write down your reason for quitting, every time you have the desire to smoke, write them down again and again and again, you have to keep you reasons for quitting and the forefront of your mind constantly

Avoid all situations that "you" know will lead to stress, easier said than done but stress will trigger the desire so do your best
to reduce it.

No alcohol!

I quit xmas eve of 2010 cold turkey.

The first week is the hardest. Once you get past that, it becomes much easier.

I was really snappy, crabby and quick tempered my first week. I stopped hanging out with smokers and pretty much locked myself up in my apartment during that time

For me, the one reason that I kept telling myself that stopped me from smoking was that I was not going to allow myself to be a weak pathetic tool under the control of tobacco addiction. And also I wasn't going to continue giving my money to make rich tobacco company executives more rich. They had me by the balls and I had enough.\

You really need to STOP telling yourself you enjoy smoking. that's your addiction talking. Other than the inhale and exhale of smoke, there is nothing enjoyable about smoking.

Let yourself get angry about it. When other peoples second hand smoke enters your space and body, get pisst!!! You wont ever stop smoking until you're ready

Maybe this wont work for you.. but to be honest, when I was craving the satisfaction of inhaling and exhaling.. I would take a hit of marijuana. And once I was buzzed off of that hit, I was like.. "yea.. F smoking "

If you have a smartphone, get an app called Quitnow! It tracks your days smoke free, money saved, cigs not smoked and days of your life gained back. It really helped me stay strong

I started smoking when I was 14 and quit the day after my 21st birthday. il be 23 in june so its coming on 2 yrs now. Yeah i know thats not a long time of smoking, but coming from a family of smokers I have realized the one thing about trying to quit. You have to WANT to quit. If you love smoking you dont want to quit. Just like you cant make any other addict stop doing whatever their drug of choice is. Yea i wanted to quit bc, it smelled, outta breath, blah blah, but i realized I didnt LIKE it anymore. I didnt like paying 9 bucks a pack for something I knew was going to kill me in the end. Its like my mother always says (shes 5 yrs clean of cigs drug etc) Its not a matter of IF it will kill you its a matter of WHEN. I say do some situps everytime you want one. That way you dont smoke and can get some ab workout in lol

I know this is really corny, but when I quite smoking and the cravings got bad, I got some suckers to suck on and mess with. It was just something for my hands to do so I didn't reach for a cigarette. You could try something like that whether it is a sucker or carrot stick or something you really like.

Have to agree. Sometimes I realized it was just having something in my hand. I have been smoke free for over two years now and I quit cold turkey. I like to think of all the money I have saved.

I also agree with writing down positive feelings you are having every day you are smoke free. Congratulations on making the first step! It is difficult but the rewards are so much greater. One day at a time!

Just do it. Lay those demons down! Get mad about how they've robbed you already and how the tobacco companies have robbed us all and ruined lives and killed people! Don't give those coffin-nails or coffin-nail makers another moment of your precious life! Start telling EVERYBODY who will listen that you don't smoke anymore. Make it hard to back off it. Whatever you do, JUST DO IT! This is my 12th year smoke-free and nobody ever loved them more than me. Quitting was the first major change in my life and now I am healthier than I have ever been, at the age of 54. You will NOT regret it!

Congrats on quitting!

I quit 5 years ago using Chantix and I never looked back. Unlike you, I didn't love smoking. I resented the addiction I had to smoking. I hated stinking. I hated having to make sure I had cigarettes and a lighter nearby at all times. I hated how my car smelled. I hated everything about it.

Funny thing is, now that I am quit, I love the smell of a cigarette. It doesn't make me want to smoke one, I just really like the smell. It has to be a freshly lit one, the smell of old smoke makes me nauseous!

You can do this! I promise, you will be so happy with how infrequently you get sick, when you do get sick, it doesn't turn into bronchitis every time. You will be able to run if you want to! I ran three miles on the treadmill at the gym today and it was actually easy!

I loved to smoke too! I smoked from age 14 to 40! This June I will be celebrating my 5th year smoke free! I used chantix and also used their web based support site for a year. I gained weight and lost that weight. I was heavy before I quit smoking! I took it one minute at a time. I treated my smoking habit as an addiction. I can never ever take a puff, even just one puff, ever in my life or I will be right back to smoking. The freedom you will get from not smoking is awesome! You are no longer a smoker and it will get easier with time! Stay positive!

You CAN do it. You are SO CLOSE to that 72 hour mark!! That was the worst. I quit smoking and ditched caffeine at the same time - I was a total you-know-what.

I did do a step down approach, but in the end... its cold turkey man.

One day at a time. Twidle a pencil - chew on it if you have to. Find something else to keep yourself occupied.

You might find yourself getting more hugs now, lol. When you stink like ciggs, people don't want to be so close to you,