I've been a smoker now for awhile. I experimented with it a little in high school, and did it socially in college. It wasn't until I was about 23 or 24 years old that I began to do it with regularity. I've had a pack-a-day addiction since 2013. I don't drink or smoke pot anymore, and have been involved with 12-step programs in some capacity for nearly 6 years (with 2 relapses along the way). However, quitting smoking has proven to be a big challenge for me, as it is for a lot of people. I feel like it helps me get through a day of work, and helps ease other anxiety and stress. I love the taste of tobacco and the act of smoking. I love socializing while having smokes. Quitting smoking will be like losing a friend or loved one, and I know I'll need to grieve it when that time comes. It's just like quitting drinking and pot was for me, back in 2010. At this time, I'm very motivated to quit for good. It's outrageously expensive, obviously dangerous, and hinders me from getting back into serious exercise. I've started biking again recently after a long hiatus, and am very interested in training for a big bike race at some point in the next year. In 2008, I trained for and ran a marathon with my Dad, and absolutely loved the experience. I think having some big motivation like that could definitely help motivate me to quit smoking. I'm just working 1 job right now too, and my financial situation is a little more tight now than it has been over the last 8 months. If I keep smoking, my money would dwindle down, and I don't want that. I want to preserve the extra space in my schedule from working less, and to do that, I need to be mindful of the money in my bank. Obviously though, the motivation of biking shouldn't be my only motivation (if it was, quitting certainly wouldn't work). I just want to feel healthier in all regards. The psychological triggers of smoking are brutal, but I'm confident I can push through them. My plan is to use nicotine gum in the first few days of a quit - maybe even up to a week. I think using that will help any physical withdrawal symptoms I'll go through. It'll help me detox from all the toxic chemical additives in cigarettes. After using the gum for a bit, I'll then quit nicotine cold turkey. I want to just give this method a try, and see what happens. If I fail, it'll be OK for now. For any ex-smokers, what worked best for you? Do you have any helpful medical advice? I'd appreciate any input.
Never Smoked In My Life But You Sound Like You Have Really Thought This Through And I Wish You Every Success........... Cheers Glen.
Give "Alan Carr's Easy Way To Stop Smoking" a read. The best part - you can smoke while you read the book. If you read the entire thing, you wont want to smoke by the time you're finished.
I pay $16 a pound for tobacco. I did stop very about 3 months once. It was like starting all over when I smoked again. That was years ago. Not smoking is like starving but you forget over time what it's like to eat. The addicted brain is wired to function normally only with the drug. They say the mental part of the addiction lasts 9 months!
I chewed a tin of skoal a day for almost 10 years. What worked for me was switching to the gum, then the patch, then cold turkey. It's three steps: 1. Change the habit so it isn't so strong. 2. Break the mental portion of the addiction. 3. Break the physical portion.
Hardest Thing I ever did! I used to smoke 60 a day I am not Anti smoke or Anti Tobacco But !! Fuck man Just Quit and see for Yourself the difference it makes to your Life Dont Do gum Dont Do Vapes Just cold Turkey its the only Way I tried All the other things
I think cold turkey is best, a lthough I do rely on vapes when drinking because it is really difficult for me to drink and not smoke. From my experience you just have to brainwash yourself into thinking cigarettes are the most vile, disgusting things on the planet, which isnt a stretch. And you have to pour all of your emotional energy into it for the first few weeks - probably very similar to quitting any other drug. And i really recommend getting out of the habit of thinking of them as your friend. They are the most toxic friend you will ever have. Also replace them with healthy habits. If you take smoke breaks at work, for example, take a quick walk jnstead
I quit cold turkey. It was the only thing that worked for me. I tried cutting down from a pack to half a pack a day. That would go on for a little while, and then eventually I would end up smoking two packs a day instead. I ended up smoking more, not less. I'm not sure if it its the same way for everyone, but quitting by cutting down gradually may be an illusion. I had to try to quit several times before I succeeded. The first three days are the hardest. Usually you'll encounter some source of stress that will make you want to cave in. Sometimes I would tell myself something like "this is just so unreasonable, I deserve a cigarette". Thinking like that is how you relapse. If you can make it past two weeks, your chances of quitting for good are much higher, imho. It just gets a lot easier after that. Minimizing your stress and staying as far away from tobacco as possible would probably help. I chewed (non-nicotine) gum when I quit, which may have helped a little. Good luck!
For me, it was timing. The first three days are the very worst in terms of anxiety and desperation for a fag. After that it's about three weeks of feeling a bit shit. It doesn't take too long to get over that initial hump and once you do, every day gets easier and easier. I get cravings when i get stressed out, as smoking always calmed me down, but they get easier and easier to ignore. I timed my quitting to when I got flu (fairly regular once a year, as I was at university and after summer everyone gets flu from being cooped up with so many people's germs) That feeling of "well I'm going to feel shit anyway so I might as well put all my shitty eggs in one basket" genuinely helped me get over the hump. To be fair, I had been vaping and cutting down in general for a while before to lessen the sting.
Start walking, if you can, every time you get that need. Addiction isn't that hard to overcome as long as you convince yourself it isn't chemical, but rather an affix to boredom. You can literally walk it off, no joke. Read as much as much as you can stomach, not just fictional novels that interest you, but history as well?
Not to discourage you or anything, but people who are overcoming greater addictions (people who are in 12 step programs) should think deep and hard before quitting smoking. Many times, these individuals succumb to their other, worse, wises once they quit. If that's not an issue... then go for it. Have you ever considered at least switching to e-cigarettes? Sure, it doesn't look or feel as cool... but it's a million times healthier and still gets you that buzz. There are a million great e-cigg brands out on the market these days. You can blow awesomely huge vapor clouds of shit that still tastes like tobacco (or like grapes or whatever if you're into that fruity shit.) Otherwise... if you really really really wanna quit... go cold turkey. It's the only way. Acupuncture helps alleviate some of the cravings, if you're into that kind of thing. I've had some success with Lobelia, a herb that also helps reduce cravings. Good luck to you. Smoking is a shitty habit. Quitting has been one of the best things I've ever done.
I've been beginning to think the only way I'll quit is if they napalm all the tobacco plants on the entire planet. I've lost count of how many times I've tried to quit, using every method under the Sun. But I think as some have said, the only real way is cold turkey and supreme will power. I've got a family holiday coming up at the end of the month, which is going to be stressful, but after that I'm going to go cold turkey. Good luck.
I've quit smoking 3 times. lol The 1st time lasted from 3/16/2008 until 2/2013. I had lots of excuses for starting again, but really I was embarrassed and almost nobody knew. I quit about 6 months later. Then I began again last year - "but" it would "only" be from 1 to 3 cigarettes a day. Usually 2. Then I quit again in January this year. I haven't smoked since. I think it'll stick this time because I've developed this pesky problem with bronchitis and such. I enjoy not smoking, and saying I don't smoke. Yet, to be (too?) honest, at the same time I'll always know or rather be aware in the back recesses of my mind that I love drawing in that smoke, fill that smoke going in my lungs and then releasing it. Each time I quit, including this last (hopefully VERY last!) time, I had a reason I was quitting. I think that makes a big difference...to have a specific reason. As silly as this may sound, one of my reasons was that I would loathe my son finding out I had ever picked up smoking again after that 1st time I quit. I never lied to him...I just never told him I was smoking again and he has his own house. As far as reasons go, I'm not really talking about because of the bronchitis and breathing problems it has caused me, although that is a very real concern now. I was talking with my bff about my smoking and she asked me if I would care if my son found out...when I allowed myself to seriously consider my answer, I didn't have a problem not buying another cigarette. When we were talking, I had run out and was trying to decide if I really wanted to continue. She knew exactly what to say. lol and she smokes but she is really my bff
