Quiting Smoking

nickycakes said:
Quitting is easy for some and very hard for others. My mom could start and stop smoking at will, and it took my father (and myself) about 5 years to quit.

If you're one of the people who has a tough time, here's what helped me:

I used the patch, and didn't try to 'cut down' leading up to it which really was just un-necessary torture in the past. Cutting down days were just as rough as the days after I quit by using the patch, so you might as well just jump on it.

Set a date, get a bunch of shit to munch on like candy, pretzels (i got those honey wheat twist pretzels, like 3 bags of them which i loved), and just sit in your room for a few days if you can and sweat it out.

The patch does not remove the craving, it just takes the edge off so you can sleep and don't want to throw your monitor through the wall.

The first 3 or so days suck royal dick, but after that it will get progressively better and better every day. You will get periodic strong cravings to smoke, but they ALWAYS pass so just chew some gum and wait it out.

Take things one day at a time and just remind yourself that you just need to make it through today and you'll be ok.

Sounds like you're definitely ready to quit which is key, so good luck to you man. Quitting smoking was one of the best things I ever did, and I'm a better person for it. You might not know it, but currently ALL your shit smells like smoke to non-smokers, and it's a big turn-off. Girls, even smokers, don't like dudes who smoke cause it tastes/smells like ass no matter what. Quitting will help your sleep, work, energy, appetite, taste of the food you eat, and if you're the type who likes to go to the gym, you won't be wasting your time anymore.

good luck bro.
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good advice +rep


When I stopped smoking I did notice food tasted better. I could even taste various things in it I couldn't before. That didn't happen right out of the gate for me it was several months after I quit.

The smell! Oh god the smell. You'll walk by people outside smoking and it'll smell like shit. You won't even really have to walk close to them to want to gag. Smokers say oh you can't smell it outside, bullshit stop smoking for 4 months and tell me that.
 


I still smoke usually when I drink because it is fun. But I never smoke during the day or when sober. It got to a point where I would want a cigarette, then I would smoke one, and then I would just feel shitty. Eventually I got tried of feeling shitty.

Of course, alcohol negates that shittiness.
 
Alcohol is just shittier than cigarettes.

Quit just over 4 years ago. Smoked 50 cigarettes, 7 days a week, for about 8 years with one 3 month break.

I quit when I had a bad health scare, and got really ill. 3 days later, I threw my cigarettes in the garbage, and never looked back (had one cigarette a couple months later, hated it).

I can breathe better now than ever before and food tastes good.

Health is still in slow recovery, but if I kept smoking, I might have died by now. I like living too much to die young.
 
I've said it in a previous "stop smoking" thread, but I quit dipping back on Oct 26th of last year. Today is 183 days nicotine free (yeah I count that shit cause it keeps me focused). I haven't had a pinch since then. Like everyone said, the first week is the biggest obstacle. Each day is progressively easier, but you'll be an addict for life and if you don't accept that and understand that you can't just bum one cig here and there without getting fully back into it again, then you'll never be free from the nic bitch.

The day you quit, make yourself accountable. Tell your friends and family and kids and whoever you can that you've quit for good. That way you'll be less likely to let them down as well as yourself. Get on a quit smoking forum and participate. I'm on KilltheCan.org and it's the main reason I'm still quit today. Everyday promise yourself that you will be quit for today, and today only. It's the only day that matters. If you can manage that, and do it again the next day, you'll be on the road to never smoking again.

You will have bad days, even after 6 months or a year or 10 years. That shit leaves your body, but not your mind. You'll get better at dealing with nicotine craves as the weeks and months wear on.
 
I agree with .hack, except I'd add cigars to the ecigs and gum. Cigars with at least a 34 ring still give you the cool factor of smoking and allow you to flaunt your success and virility.
 
JCash said:
I agree with .hack, except I'd add cigars to the ecigs and gum. Cigars with at least a 34 ring still give you the cool factor of smoking and allow you to flaunt your success and virility.
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Or just say fuck it and get some churchill's and act like my idol.

BossHog.jpg
 
efeezy said:
You will have bad days, even after 6 months or a year or 10 years. That shit leaves your body, but not your mind. You'll get better at dealing with nicotine craves as the weeks and months wear on.
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I had to laugh at myself when reading that.

Each time I've quite for more than a month, there have been times that I would DREAM that I broke down and took a chew!!!

I'd wake up in a half PANIC that I had WASTED all that time being nicotine free, and then after a few moments I'd realize that it was JUST A DREAM!!!

Freaky shit for a guy who's into NLP other Jedi Mind Tricks!!

Lulz


Those dreams would take DAYS for me to get over. I'd have to redouble my guard and vigilance for awhile after one.
 
Yeah, I still have dip dreams from time to time. Those do suck. The daily cravings aren't as bad, but I always keep a can of the fake stuff Smokey Mountain around just in case. Honestly, I miss the chew. I miss chewing in the car and having a chew after a beer or meal. But I don't miss worrying about oral cancer, my kids not having a dad, and spending the money on a stupid leaf that runs my life.
 
More RAMBLINGS from a nicotine addict.

efeezy said:
Yeah, I still have dip dreams from time to time. Those do suck. The daily cravings aren't as bad, but I always keep a can of the fake stuff Smokey Mountain around just in case. Honestly, I miss the chew. I miss chewing in the car and having a chew after a beer or meal. But I don't miss worrying about oral cancer, my kids not having a dad, and spending the money on a stupid leaf that runs my life.
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I use to JOKE that I'd just have skin grafted from my ass to my mouth if my lip ever rotted out.

It's no longer a JOKE at my age.


I tried the fake Jerky Chew a while back. Just wasn't the same. Something about NOT spitting. (Awesomely attractive huh? Especially since I was in Outside Sales for like 20 of these 30 some odd years of chewing.)


The last time I quit, I broke open a Nestle Black Tea Bag and put that in my lip one day when I was REALLY Jonesing!!


What a MISTAKE that was!!! ROFLMAO


That tea immediately dried my mouth out completely!! Then I got such a damn headache from the caffeine rush that it lasted about 3 minutes in my mouth and then I couldn't spit out quick enough.


But, I had NO DESIRE for a chew after that either.



Lulz


The "Interesting" thing I've discovered with myself is that over the years of stopping and then starting again, the actual initial withdrawal symptoms have gone down from taking almost two weeks to subside to about 3 days now.

I also sleep for about an extra two hours a day during that time but then I"m back to my 4 hours routine and I'm just fine.


So, I really have NO EXCUSE anymore. I'm glad that RAGE9 started this thread. And I thank you the link efeezy.


As I said above, I have the patches sitting here, but to me it's still putting that poison in me which feels like it's defeating my purpose for quitting in the first place.


I did a little more studying on the effects of Nicotine and Caffeine on the brain and it would SEEM that both chemicals actually PHYSICALLY alter the way our brain's neurons fire. Not just the pleasure centers of Dopamine Receptors either. But how other neurotransmitters function.

Society for Neuroscience - Nicotine Addiction


So, it would SEEM that quitting cold turkey for MOST people would be akin to just stopping an Anti-psychotic drug like Clozapine. The brain actually seems to need time to get use to functioning with less and less nicotine or caffeine so that it's not such a SHOCK to your brain's chemistry. It can then start functioning on it's own gradually as less and less nicotine is available until there is none. This does take time though.


Since reading up on this at medical sites for those in the profession, not the Patch research sites, I decided to give the patches a try. But after reading the boxes and other info on them, I decided to just cut down gradually with the chew first and then quit.



If I start to have a problem I'll just pop open the box with the least amount of nicotine to get me through it I guess instead of starting out with the highest amount since I'm now down to about 1 can every 4 days of the candy crap long cut.



2 years ago I was going through almost 2 cans a DAY of Copenhagen Snuff and had been since I was like 15 years old.

I use to keep a chew in for like 20 to 30 minutes and then spit it out when it seemed to be WEAK. Now I keep this weak chew in for two hours at a time. So on top of being weak to begin with it keeps getting weaker while in instead of having like 4 strong chew in that same time frame.



So, since I've been lowering my nicotine levels very gradually for almost two years now I'm a little concerned that even the WEAK patch may deliver more nicotine than I'm getting right now.


Anywho, time to go SPIT THIS IKKY DISGUSTING CANDY CHEW OUT!!! (I hate sweet stuff!! I'm a bitter and sour type guy.)

Lulz
 
Ive quit several times, tried all the products out there. Patches gums ecigs cigars chantix.

For myself I was always a bad smoker.. Chain smoker. Sometimes I would put a cig out and feel like I wanted another one before I even let out my last drag. I just hate the feeling of being addicted like that. Almost strung out.

FeelsBadMan

For myself it seems easiest to just quit cold turkey like others have said. Get yourself in the right frame of mind. Outline for yourself the reasons you no longer want to smoke, and just bite the bullet.

I myself have quit successfully many times, and unsuccessfully others. Cold turkey wins hands down. But you also must have some kind of motivation. Girls Money Health all of the above?

For me right now whats keeping me clean is that I been lifting weights really seriously. Ive made some very very good gains. And a for a few months (like 2) I picked up smoking again. My gains all but nearly STOPPED! My high protein perfectly engineered diet fell apart almost instantly and my food intake dropped to about 1/2 of what it was.

Not only did my gains and food intake come to a screeching hault, but compound lifts like squat and deadlift are some of the most important to me.

When I would deadlift the few weeks I started smoking again. I would be so close to blacking out sometimes I would have someone stand by me incase I would need some help taking a seat. I would get SOOO lightheaded from all the blood rush on the first few pulls. One time... the first heavy pull when I was pulling all the lights and my whole vision where flashing like a strobe light. made like 20 pulses in 4 seconds. Pretty crazy!

Since I gave it up again like 3 weeks ago. Ive started putting on mass very fast again. Added 30lbs to my dead lifts, and chances are I will ripp my back out before I blackout, unlike before when I was oh so close to actually hitting the ground from the blood rush.

Its a shame that smoking is so unhealthy. Because ive always enjoyed the act of it, just not the nasty effects.

I want to be a beast, dead lifting working sets over 500lbs someday. I wanna live well, eat well and take care of myself. I wanna have the quality of life ONLY a none smoker can have.

I try to picture myself being a GREAT success, The person I want to become. Is that person strung out on nicotine, and smokes nasty deadly tobacco products . FUCK NO! He gets money, fucks bitches, can run like a 120lb african sprinter, has the reflexes of a cat and has the strength of a fucking silver back gorilla, all without breaking a sweat.
 
When it gets hard; gym and sauna/steamroom if you're into that sort of thing really helps(perfect for gay webmasters). Health should be a good motivator to quit anyways.
In my opinion we don't quit habits, we just replace them with new ones.
 
Rusky said:
When it gets hard; gym and sauna/steamroom if you're into that sort of thing really helps(perfect for gay webmasters). Health should be a good motivator to quit anyways.
In my opinion we don't quit habits, we just replace them with new ones.
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Honestly a good workout or the Gym just make me want it more, I have no idea why. I have been smoke free completly for like a week now. The hard part is getting through a night of drinking.

I think everyone that has posted in this thread, it's good to know that there are others here who have been though it. If you ask any ex smoker what the hardest thing they have ever had to do is, I would think they would would say quite smoking. As others have alluded to you can, and do get these crazy feelings or dreams about it. As stupid as that sounds been there done that.

Honestly I'm just so sick of smoking that it had to be done, no matter the cost.

Gone the ecig route, worked but takes a while. Gone the gum route, never worked. Best, shortest route, is just to try and battle through a few hell days, get down to just a couple cigs a day and be mentally focused and just stop.

Those who say to "just quit" must not have ever been regular smokers, because I tell you what, it just doesn't work that way. Well for 99% of people it doesn't work that way. If you could feel the same feelings as someone quiting, I guess I would call it anxiety, you'd understand. It's a constant battle until you can gain enough control to fight it off, and at the end of the day it's all in your head.

Thanks to everyone else for their own experiences.
 
guerilla said:
Your next thread should be about how to START smoking again, since you also seem to have that mastered.
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You know it sounds funny, but once you quit, one cigarette can bring you back in a blink. It's almost discussing. You play this mental game of chicken, like "oh yeah I can handle a cigarette or 3 no problem I've been off them for months". Before you know you it you have a pack in your hand, because you want to just have a cigarette here or there when you drink or some other stupid reason. Before you know it you're back at it. I honestly don't know how these things haven't managed to be illegal while weed is. Whatevers.
 
Rage9 said:
You know it sounds funny, but once you quit, one cigarette can bring you back in a blink.
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I know. I quit for 3 months or so once, and then I was at a stag, and I had one, and next thing I knew I was down at the Sev buying a pack, and another 6 years of smoking followed.

When I quit last, I didn't have much of a choice. It wasn't whether or not I wanted to quit, it was whether or not I wanted to end up in the hospital.

Pretty easy decision to make and stick with when shit gets real like that.
 
I also quit one fine day. I have to smoke when I take my dump first thing in the morning. So One day I said fuck it and quit. And I now smoke, like once in a couple months, only when I am doing second hand smoke too much, like in a pub or something, because why not smoke while you are at it. I never want to go back to it, but one smoke never got me back to my habit.. I was only doing about 10-15 a day though, except when I had an exam..
 
Pro Tip: Every time you feel the craving, do 10 or 20 pushups or run around the block.

As soon as you're out of breath the craving will disappear, and you'll get healthier in the process.
 
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