has anyone here quit smoking? if so, how did you do it? any weight gain/mood swings/other BS along the way? and just to make it a little on topic, was there any trick to getting the smell out of your dreads/clothes? i ask because i have midterms over the next two weeks, and when they're over i'll be quitting. i sort of feel like if i do it right this second i'm setting myself up for failure, so yeah. just really, really sick of doing this, so any experiences or thoughts would be great. throw me some facts, even, if you'd like.
Both of my parents are like 'mulltiple time quitters', my dad always has nasty mood swings like a pmsing bitch and my mom always gains a bunch of weight. I can't speak from experience though, as I've never smoked.
yeah i've tried quitting a bunch of times as well, my dad, my brother, and when she was around, my mom, we all smoke. i just got off skype with my dad and was like "k this is getting a little ridiculous", so i figure in between studying i'll brush up on methods and try something new. hopefully at the very least my dad will hop on board too, he's getting close to 60 and yeah, time to grow up. but thanks for sharing that, i hope your parents can figure it out too. i hate that i smoke, i've been on it for almost 6 years and now all these young kids i know are starting to and they're acting like it's cool and shit. don't even know why i ever started, probably the same reason though, who am i kidding?
My parents always fail because they try to quit at different times because they don't wanna deal with each others bitchiness, but have to deal with each others cigarette smoke. Now that my mom's had her stomach stapled and lost like 100 lbs, she is refusing to quit smoking because she is afraid to gain weight, even though she has been diagnosed with emphasema, sleep apnea and has unidentified nodules on her lungs. Get out before it is too late, if you gain weight, it's so much easier to lose when you're young.. it's doesn't matter how thin you are if you're dead, my mom and dad don't see this and I'm going to lose both of them over this. Do what you can to quit, fuck everyone else.
Wow man, thank you. Over the past two years I've lost around 60 lbs just from eating properly and moving A LOT more, so the weight gain sort of scares the shit out of me, but you're totally right. It's not gonna matter that I'm thin if I look like I'm 45 when I'm 30 and I talk with a fucking machine.
Yes, while I can't speak from personal experience on smoking, I can on food cravings.. After having been on multiple anti-depressants that made me wanna eat 193 horses for b, l & d and being on birth control, sometimes the food cravings were sooo bad and I didn't know how to handle them. This round of birth control, though, I feel like I have a little more control, and I've learned to make healthier choices through the cravings, just gotta be rational. Want something sweet? Fruit in heavy syrup. Something salty? Peanuts, fuck chips. Mcdonalds? When I'm craving fast food I just think 'wow, I really don't have the money for that right now' but you've gotta stick to it, not think 'well, now that I have this extra money since I'm not smoking..' no fuck that. Don't even think those thoughts, lol. I read somewhere that the average craving lasts only 15-20 mins, so if you get a craving, occupy your time with something that will make food nasty.. gum, or get a very soft bristled tooth brush so you can brush your teeth for a few minutes without harming your enamel, and floss your teeth.. it can be so tedious (did I spell that right?) to floss between every tooth, and leaves your breath so nice.
this is good stuff! yeah back in the day i would eat all sorts of shit in the craziest quantities, and now it's mostly good stuff, not always. i just get scared that i'll fill one habit with another bad one, but it's all about the game plan, you're right. thanks again duder! hopefully no one gets choked that i threw this on here, just thought i'd get some outside advice.
Nah, even thought I'm not a smoker or a dreadie, I really don't see a problem in asking for advice on an inportant subject, it's not like you're posting in the wrong section about 'Halp! My grlfriend can't orgasm even though she sayz I'm amazing, whut do I do??'. Just make smart decisions, easier said that done, but I've seen my folks 'quit' so many times, it's ridiculous.
I smoked my first cig when I was around 13-14 (may be even earlier) and became an active smoker ever since, however, strangely enough, only when I consumed alcohol (particularly in large amounts) did I feel the urge to smoke. In my early 20's I had a job for almost 2 years that did not allow me to drink alco on a regular basis so I automatically stopped smoking as well without any problem. I just forgot about it. Once I quit that job I started smoking again, but again only when I drank alcohol or coffee. I never needed to have a cig in a morning (infact I always felt disgusted by it in a morning or during a day). Then a year ago I had to quit everything (alcohol, coffee, cigs) due to some health issues I had and I decided not to smoke anymore. I still feel the urge to have a cig while having a glass of wine on a rare occasion, but I don't buy them and don't ask for them even if someone around me is smoking. I have to admit it makes me feel much better not only regarding health, but also this terrible smell. perhaps I have never been addicted to cigs really. I don't know. It seems I don't get addicted to anything. I could quit everything without any problem at all when I had to.
i have recently given up smoking, so i thought i'd share my experience. sorry this is extremely long, but i'm passionate about it as a bit of background, i had been smoking for about 5 years, roll-your-owns, 5-10 a day. more if i was out drinking. gradually i had this feeling creep over me that it might be time to stop soon. soon being the operative word of course. another year passed. i realised that the perfect time to stop would never arrive in an epiphany, i just had to bite the bullet and do it. i was a little apprehensive so i went to the pharmacist, had a big chat about nicotine replacement options. got pamphlets etc. got some nicotine lozenges. tried them, didn't think much of them, carried on smoking. yet i still wanted to give up. so i just started replacing a cigarette with a lozenge. i told myself that my plan was to gradually substitute the cigarettes for the lozenges, cut down smoking first, and then quit. for me, quitting was too grand an objective, because once i quit (i.e., went cold turkey), any cigarette would be a failure of my plan, and i knew (from previous experience), that one small slip up would signal failure. and i can happily report that i am really surprised at how easy it was compared to my expectations. i started with a cigarette in the morning, at lunch, and in the evening, with lozenges whenever i felt like it in between (for about a week). then i stopped having the lunchtime cigarette (maybe for half a week), and then the morning cigarette (for about a week). I carried on with my evening cigarette for about 2 weeks, as I found the physical act of smoking was linked in with my addiction. all the while, i congratulated myself on the fact that i was smoking much less than usual, and without putting pressure on myself. i still smoked to my heart's content when i went out at weekends, to which i noticed i felt like an ashtray in the morning. so this kind of reinforced my idea to cut down/quit, rather than reigniting the habit. now i'm about 2-3 months from starting this regime. and i don't think i have smoked in about 2 months... guessing! i did try a couple of times, just to see what it was like, and it was gross. i got the headspins, could taste the smoke, and could only take a couple of puffs. i did this a few times. so with this negative reinforcement, i realised that i actually prefer the lozenges. sure, taking the lozenges is just swapping your addiction. but it's not carcinogenic (correct me please if i'm wrong). so for now, i'm ok with this. the pharmacy and the nicotine replacement plans suggest you take nicotine replacement for at least 3 months, to really get the habit of smoking out of your system. then you taper off the replacement. compared to other replacement options (i've only tried gum and lozenges), i like the lozenges. because you still get your hit of nicotine, thus replicating the hit you get from a cigarette (compared to patches, which are continual-release). unfortunately gum stained my teeth. and surprisingly to me, the lozenges actually satisfied/satisfy my nicotine craving. the only problem is that i am spending more money on the nicotine replacement than i did on tobacco. but in the end, once i quit the lozenges, i will be healthier, and won't be spending money on cigarettes/nicotine. it might also help to find other ways to nurture your body. i started doing bikram yoga when i was starting to give up, and it helped to feel myself doing something physically healthy. and i also associated having a cigarette with ruining my hard-earned detox/yoga session!. good luck my take-home advice would be, depending on how strong your addiction is, just be kind to yourself. take a moment to congratulate yourself on your small achievements, and keep focused on the big picture. peace and love sjf
ps - i haven't experienced any of the classic cigarette withdrawal symptoms you suggest, as i am still on the nicotine even so, i haven't had weight gain or major mood issues. sure, i have had some frustrations... giving up the small rituals like taking a coffee and having a cigarette under a tree, or sitting in the sunshine while smoking are things i miss. and just hanging out outside doesn't really seem justified (at least while i'm working!) unless you have a cigarette to hold
I quite 4 1/2 years ago, I went cold turkey, didn't rely affect me that much, I started to eat healthier because I could taste the food better, I just washed my dreads with Dr Bronners, that seemed to get the smell out. Sugar free sweets helped me a little altho I quite smoking quite easily. Even after 4 + years I still get cravings now and then. Didn't suffer any mood swings either except for rely weird dreams !!! Another thing, don't buy cigarettes either, sounds simple but you might think Oooh I'll just have 1 more to help get me thru, don't go there, once you quit, stay quit, don't smoke anymore !!!!
Quitting smoking was fairly easy to me. I smoked for about four years straight. I started super young, haha. I moved in with my boyfriend whom was not a smoker, and his daughter. That really pushed me to kick the habit. I smoked a bit the first month I lived there, but I realized that it was bad for the little one, and bad for me. I kinda turned into a health nut, and tried to better myself, switching to all organic stuff and so on. Also, high prices played a big roll in quitting! I've not smoked for almost a year now, and the only time I crave them is when I drink. Just try to stay away from smokers, that's the main thing, when you're around someone that smokes, you want to smoke.
