Smoking Help?

mamabear272
mamabear272 Posts: 268 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hi all! I need some help here. Gonna try to make this as short as I can. I smoked about a pack a day for about 12 years. Then I met my hubby and he doesn't smoke and I didn't smoke around him. Eventually he was around almost all the time and I just quit. A few years ago, I started smoking only when I went out which was almost never. Four years ago, hubby was in a really bad car accident and I started smoking all the time. I have struggled since then. Back and forth trying to quit. I tried patches but they made me sick to my stomach. Any advice you can give me? I need to get this under control.

Replies

  • patty1138
    patty1138 Posts: 196 Member
    Its easy to quit but hard to stay quit. I just started back in the past month when my mom pasted of complications due to SMOKING! Cant believe myself, I feel unwilling to try again even though it is a deadly addiction plus it makes you look old!
  • _HeathBar_
    _HeathBar_ Posts: 902 Member
    There are a million ways to quit. The key is finding a way that work for you.

    I quit once using Chantix, it was great but expensive. I started smoking again about a year after using the pills.

    The last time I quit smoking I switched from cigarettes to "snus" (aka spitless dip), then I switched from snus to nicotine gum, then from gum to the nicotine mints, then from the mints to nicotine patches. After a year of this insanity I stopped using nicotine all together.

    I'm not sure what the moral of that story is but I think I've literally tied every way to quit that's out there. I've been smoke free for about 3 years. Nicotine free a lot less, but I finally broke free for the addiction and I feel a lot better for it.

    Good luck. Quitting is worth every miserable minute.
  • mommy7
    mommy7 Posts: 153
    I'm there with you. I had cut down to three a day, but ended up going right back up. I hate it, seriously.
  • yaddayaddayadda
    yaddayaddayadda Posts: 430 Member
    However you do it, just quit asap! I smoked a pack to two per day for about 12 years. I quit when I was 26. I am now 50 and diagnosed with COPD. I am not impacted by it now, but someday I may have symptoms. Things we do when we are young can really come back to bite us later!

    I would encourage you to do whatever is necessary to quit. That said, it is hard to break an addiction. Best of luck to you:-)
  • PepeGreggerton
    PepeGreggerton Posts: 986 Member
    I quit 6 years ago, I just stopped buying them. Stay out of the gas station.
  • rawheeler38
    rawheeler38 Posts: 62
    I have been smoke free for a year now- I just quit, refused to buy anymore. I wish I could say it was easy-it wasn't. I still crave it sometimes, but I never give in :)
  • FionaHelen
    FionaHelen Posts: 113 Member
    I am going down the route of hypnotherapy as when i go cold turkey i hater the person i become! good luck to you x
  • Ridley1273
    Ridley1273 Posts: 4 Member
    Honestly - walk up some stairs, take a quick run, anything dealing with cardio; it will show you the damage you are doing. I was a 1 to 2 pack a day smoker until I realized I could not walk up a flight of stairs without nearly passing out.......it's a mental "click" that happens when you realize you just don't "need" them anymore. Replace the cigs with exercise; you'll be amazed how you feel much better within a week or two......then, keep exercising and laugh at those fools standing in the rain in their cloud of smoke to get their "fix." Good Luck!
  • crux
    crux Posts: 454 Member
    Get a support group and get the information you need to get your head in the right place. because staying stopped is a mental battle not physical.

    This is what I used...

    http://forum.nosmokingday.org.uk/

    The links that you can find there and the support were enough for me to quit cold turkey and stay quit for two years now.

    Best thing I ever did for myself.
  • sbfreak17
    sbfreak17 Posts: 42
    The patches you're using may be too strong for you & it may be a nicotine overdose that's causing the sickness. I quit smoking January 24, 2012 after smoking for 17 years (& I'm only 32 lol). I did a lot of research regarding the "best" way to quit & found the nicotine "overdose" is common with the patches. I decided to go with the ecigarette instead of patches/gum etc. I haven't picked up an actual cigarette since I decided to quit. I'm now working on lowering my nicotine levels per the vapors I use for the ecigarette because I'm ready to be done with the "addiction" all together...so we'll see how that goes.
  • aprilgicker
    aprilgicker Posts: 395 Member
    Iit is a lot like losing weight. you may fall off the wagon but you have to dust yourself off and hop back on. if you want to quit just do it. FInd out if it is the nicotine that you crave or the act of smoking.

    For me it is the act of smoking. A drink and a smoke go hand in hand. I haven't smoked to smoke around the house in 8 years however I will smoke when I go out. Some will say it is just as bad but I enjoy it .And if I became ill in some way I know I can put it down.
    I have even gone a year with out a smoke.

    If you need to, just have the pack around, when you need a toke light it, take one or two and toss it. If you have a pack on hand you may be less likely to "binge." If they are around you may feel calmer to know if you need one they are there. You may need to stay away from folks who smoke too, until you can control your urge. If you go out and all you can think about it a cig, then you are in the wrong place.

    Hope this is helpful.
  • mamabear272
    mamabear272 Posts: 268 Member
    It's definitely mostly the act of smoking. I usually do well during the day at home but if I'm around other smokers, I feel like I have to have one. The problem with staying away from other smokers is that just about all my friends smoke. My hubby doesn't and a few friends that I almost never see don't.
  • asakarc
    asakarc Posts: 9 Member
    I feel your pain...! I struggled to quit so many times in my life too (total of 18 yeas) . I was finally able to quit then I found out I was pregnant. After I had a baby, I started again. Then I got pregnant again and quit. Again, I was back to smoking.... then I realized I am making my life miserable, and my kids and husband's life in future.
    You know I saw one of the commercial on the TV saying, quitting the cigarette is so much easier and less painful than getting cancer or any other health issue you will have. I just thought it is so true.
    One of my friend used "chantix" to quit. It worked amazingly to him. I know people say a lot of bad things about this, but I think it is worth trying this if you think what you might face in your future if you keep smoking.
    I just went cold turkey and I was fine. It is all MENTAL thing. Smoking is not that great if you think well.
    Support group never worked for me because I always try to find the reason to smoke, and always tried to lie.
  • mamabear272
    mamabear272 Posts: 268 Member
    Well I had an electronic cig that I bought about a year ago. I had a couple of technical problems and gave up on it. There were defective cartridges that they sent me. After the second bad ones I got I just gave up. I went yesterday to the mall and there's a kiosk there so I bought a box of cartridges and am starting that again. I plan to start with my current strength and work down and eventually give them up all together. Thanks for all the responses!

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