Quitting Smoking Cigarettes
 

I looked through this forum really quick and didnt see any other posts reguarding the topic. But i've been smoking for about three and a half years now, and stopped a few times cold turkey, but i've always ended up going back. I dont want to go out and spend a large sum of money on patches or gum that may or may not work... anyone else here been through anything similar... suggestions, hints, stories, etc?

Dont take my word for this, but ive heard from friends that using the patch does work. When u use a patch, it has different levels of nicotine. At first u start out with higher dosages, and as you progress, the dosages become less and less, and after a while, you wont need any at all. In thoery it should work, but i think it depends on the person.

do you know what brand of patch they used off hand? i'd just rather have heard positive things from a few people before i go out and drop $100+ on a patch kit.

Nothing works unless you really want to quit for yourself. I quit a bunch of times with every imaginable thing (gum, patches, etc) What finally did it was going to a free meeting at the health clinic. They gave out brochures and a bunch of info. You can also get the patch freee from them.

I started reading stories on the internet about people that have died from smoking. Very scary stuff. I smoked for 8 years, quit cold turkey July 1, 2003 and will never smoke another. One thing that helped me a great deal was the forums at www.quitnet.com It will also keep track of how much you would have smoked and how much money you've saved.

You can do it if you want to. Good luck!

Thank you very much. I work with this guy who's only 36 (If i remember correctly) who was just diagnosed with Emphysema and it really scared me. Thanks for the advice, i'll look into clinics here in town and check out that website.

A girl I know had an injection that is supposed to stop the addiction, and she hasn't had a cigarette for a month since. And she tried everything else. I don't know what it's called, but if you want I'll ask her when I see her (probably next week).

A good book that may be of some help is Allen Carr's Easy Way To Stop Smoking. I have not finished reading it yet but it is a different approach to the normal methods. A friend of mine told me about it and has stopped smoking since reading it. I do think that willpower and desire to stop smoking are factors that you need to have as well though.

Support groups would probably help. It sounds cheesy, but difficult tasks seem easier when other people are there suffering as well. You can talk to each other, share experiences, etc. I don't know if cigarettes would be Narcotics Anonymous; I think that's just for (other) drugs.

Do not waste money on that patch. Or any other quiting method, as far as I'm concerned. I've known people that went on the patch and din't quit, I've known people that just quit (for good) using nothing (including me). You said yourself you have quit on your own, it's starting again that's the problem. That means it is NOT a chemical addiction with you (which is all the patch does, different delivery of the same chemical). Your addiction sounds haitual. Think about the times you started back up. Do you start smoking when you go to bars? When you're around freinds? If you know what triggers you to smoke you should be able to kick the habit much easier - without giving alot of money to "stop smoking" plans.

Patches
 

I found the patches worked for me and also I found I did not need to buy as many as were recommended to get me to a point where I could give it away. Been off for about 6 years now. Anyway I wish you the best of luck with your endevours and can say that you will feel so much better once you have been off them for a few months.

Thanks a lot for all of the ideas!

sounds more like the problem is not starting again, rather than quitting in the first place.

i started running cos it shows you what a difference it makes. i still have a few cigarettes occasionally especially when i have a few beers, but i don't think i'd seriously restart smoking. cos then i wouldn't be able to run for shit :)

works for me anyway. good luck.

The sure fire way to quit
 

Have you tried to stop smoking cold turkey and failed? Have you tried to ease your intake down and failed? Me too, until I found the best way to qit smoking ever invented by my stupid ass.

Get the flu.

You see, when you have the flu you can't really smoke for at least a week. If you try, you just start couching up a lung and it hurts about as bad as it did when you started smoking in the first place. After the flu is gone, you still have to work on getting passed the habit of it, but you already have a week under your belt.

I didn't do this on purpose - and I would question anyone that did. But I just got over the flu and haven't smoked for a week since. Here's hoping I can go a bit longer. (Working out after you get over the flu tends to help too. I thought I was a superman based on how long I could go when not smoking)

i stopped 3 weeks ago, 2 weeks with gum. ill probably start again though.

Too bad you couldn't have been on Cold Turkey, that way it is kind of like being in a support group at the same time. For those of you who haven't heard of this, it's a show on PAX tv. I know not everyone has access to this channel.

patches seem to work, as for the cost its only half of what the smokes were costing per week so I figure its all good Been 5 weeks now

sbudda!!! that is exactly how i stopped!
after not smoking for a week cos i couldn't i didn't see any reason in starting again cos i was over the worst of it. mind you i did have a couple of sudo-panic attacks but nothing too bad really.
it is hard to not have the odd one when out drinking but i've stopped even that by getting into fitness stuff.
the other thing i found helped was everytime i wanted to smoke i imagined all the disgusting things it does to your insides... and i really went to town on this, imagining dripping oozing lumpy tar in my lungs and open sores in my throat and that kind of stuff so that i really didn't want to do it.

i think i perhaps went too far though because now i have little sympathy for disgusting diseased smokers sitting killing themselves and others because they think they look cool ;)

another way to stop would be to move to scotland in the next couple of years cos they are banning it from public places!

I smoked for 15 years. 3 1/2 years ago I quit cold turkey and have been smoke free ever since. LEt me tell you how I did it.

1. You have to want to. I made the clear and conscious decision to quit smoking. I woke up one day, looked at my family and decided I wanted to live. I could see how much smoking hurt them cause I was hurting myself.

Be disciplined, not half-assed, no excuses.

2. Surround yourself with support - girlfriend, family other friends, clergy, teachers etc. Try to avoid other smokers if you can.

If your friends smoke, get them involved: Start a betting pool, winner take all. Each person contributes so the total pot is $1000 - at the end of the year, whomever is still smoke free takes it. If it's tied, even better, split the pot. If everyone has quit after year split the pot celebrate, you're all winners.

3. Substitute - I snacked on carrots, apples and pretzels when I quit. It helped a lot.

4. Create a stake - I labeled a large jar, "smoke free" with my start date on it.
Since I smoked a pack a day, I would put the money in the jar every day instead. $4.50 (Marlboro Lights in LA). I also kept a calendar so I could "see" the progress.
After a year or so, I took it to the bank. I had approx. $1800 in ones, fives and quarters. The teller thought I was a small merchant! When I told her my story she was so excited and wanted to call her sister to tell her my method. Then she gave me a lollipop. *yay*

I opened an account and may buy a bond or whatever. I really should take the family out, or vacation. Who cares, I've got $1800 that otherwise would have been in the nice deep pockets of big tobacco. and, I am healthier, happier - life is good.

Good luck and spread the word.

Quit smoking. Blah, smoking kills off all the weak and leaves the strong in your lungs.

Seriously though, jorgelito is on to something

The patches/gum/nasal spray/inhaler can all HELP. But there is nothing that will make you quit if you yourself don't want it. You'll still have cravings and you'll have to fight them, the nicotine products will jsut ease that. It's hard, as nictotine is considered one of the most addictive substances out there, right behined heroin and before coke.

Not to be cliche, but where there's a will, there's a way. The earlier you try to quit in your "smoking career" the more likely you are to succeed, also the more times you try the more likely you are to succeed as well.

As everyone says here, you must want to quit in order to be successful in doing so. I only smoked for a year and a half, but I was able to quit cold turkey not because it's the best way to quit, but rather because I really wanted to quit. I even reminded myself of the valid (not general) reasons I should quit, such as not having to keep it from my parents (I was in high school at the time), being physically fit to play basketball, and not having to waste my money on it. Whatever reasons you use to quit, make sure they are specific for you, and not some general reason like, "It's unhealthy." You already know that, and you smoke anyways. What makes you think it can motivate you now? Remember, YOU are quitting the cigarrettes; the cigarrettes are not quitting you.

i smoked for about 10 years and quit for 25...then one day i picked them and was hooked again...smoaked for 5 years and quit again 6 months ago...now i'm hooked on the gum...it wouldn't bother me if cigarettes were outlawed or least highly regulated...i'm convinced that the tobacco industry manipulates the nic in order to get you addicted...anyway...just popped in another pc of gum...

I've smoked for roughly 5 years, still do. Went on the patch 2 years ago and that lasted about 3 months because I took it off so I could smoke :lol: I wasn't ready to quit though, was forced into it because I was 17 at the time and my parents wanted to quit and were my providers for the cigarettes.

My dad smoked for 30 years, had a gall bladder problem and was stuck in the hospital for a few weeks and that's how he quit..... for a while. He's smoking again and everytime he gets a pack, he curses how much money he's losing. But nothing like being stuck in a hospital bed when you actually *can't* smoke, that'll make you ease up on the smokes.

I can't believe no one has mentioned this as it worked great for me...Zyban. I took the stuff for the two weeks before quitting (and believe me, my heart wasn't quite as into it as it should have been). By day 12 or so, I didn't even think about smoking, even though I still was. Day 14 quit & haven't had a smoke in four years. I think I took the Zyban for about a month & a half after my quit date. Warnings on Zyban:

It is an anti-depressant (Wellubutrin (sp?)). I am normally a happy person, but I was REALLY happy on that shit. Also, might horny, although from what the doc & I could figure I was in the minority with that little side-effect. I don't mean horny like an 18 year old, I mean horny like 100 18 year olds. I thought about nothing but sex all day long, and my wife had just had our first kid. She was impressed that I quit smoking but not impressed with my newfound zip.

I would highly recommend Zyban to anyone considering quitting. It was actually very easy to quit, painless. Good luck on your choice. You won't believe the extra money you'll have & how much better things are with smokes out of your life.

By the way, I was a 2-3 pack a day smoker of 17 years when I quit. Started at 14 & quit at 31.

And one more thing, you are a smoker for life. I did quit one other time & figured I could have just one after three years. Wrong. Don't ever fool yourself.