Quitting Smoking

I used the patch. It took the edge off enough so I wasn't dying. I also went running every day, which made me feel better for a couple hours. It absolutely sucks for the first several days, and you want to get some gum or candy or pretzels or all of them. It's been a couple years and quitting smoking was a really really good choice.
 


Good god, so everyone is quitting and quitting again. I've been a smoker for 21 years. I'm also thinking about giving nicotine the old heave ho. And, yes, the only thing I can think of that even remotely aids me in quitting is my heart popping like a chicken head in a microwave. That's pretty much it. Because I figure it won't be a quick enough death. If all it was, was a quick POP! and goodnight, I think I'd go on smoking until it happened. The thought of lingering on is what induces me to try to quit again.
 
i wish i could quit like you!everyday when i wake up i promise myself today will be the day i will be stopping smoking.but so far i failed to keep up to the promise,the craving for cigarette is the most intoxicating one for a smoker to withhold.
 
IceToEskimos said:
Made it through another day with no smoking...I don't really know how I'm doing it, but I will continue.
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Nice job man. One day at a time is all you have to commit to. Like others have said, make sure you have something like gum, candy, lollipops, seeds, whatever, just something to replace the oral fixation part of it. When I quit chewing, I used the fake herbal chew like a mad man for a month or more, just so I could have something in my lip that I could spit. Now I'll chew some sunflower seeds occasionally, but i always have somethign on hand in case the cravings arise.
 
IceToEskimos said:
If they never go away, then I may as well start again, because they aren't enjoyable in the slightest.

I have the willpower to stay away from a smoke, but I'm wondering if it's worth it to suffer psychological torture for an extended period of time.
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Didn't read the rest of the thread, (other than the post above this one), but here's my 2 cents.

I'm 31. Been nicotine/cigarette free for a year now. Started smoking when I was 12. Smoked a pack of reds per day. Never, in a million years, thought I could quit. I could maybe go 4-5 hours at the most without a smoke.

But then...

I was forced to quit smoking. Diagnosed with testicular cancer and the doctor said, "Your a prime candidate for COPD in about 10 years."

Ever seen someone with bad COPD? I promise you'll quit. Anyway, got cancer removed, hasn't come back thankfully. It took me around another year, but I finally stopped smoking.

Chantix + willpower = win

I did not experience the crazy dreams others have reported. The meds me hate the taste of cigs.

With Chantix, you'll still have to use a bit of willpower to get you through.

After about 4 days without smoking 1 cigarette, the nicotine was pretty much out of my system. The cravings were still there, but the thought of carrying around a fucking oxygen tank at 41 years old kept me from smoking.

And those same thoughts have kept me from smoking since.

Do I still get cravings after 1 year? Damn right I do. But on a scale of 1-10, it's a 3. When you have moments like that, immediately occupy your mind with something else (work-related, gym, etc) and it'll go away.

Bottomline?

Don't listen to people who say shit like,

"Shit mang, i be craving dem anyway, so mite as well smoke dem..."

Those are the people who will be wheeling around in their wheelchairs hooked up to an oxygen tank in the future.

/2cents
 
My mother said she quit smoking after she developed throat cancer. The day she died, she was still sneaking cigarettes. Her cancer came from smoking, and she knew it. I can't tell you what a horrible five years she had before her death. I just know she never could quit, but she hid it well.
 
IceToEskimos said:
After far, far, too long, I finally decided to quit smoking cigarettes. I like smoking. I'm good at smoking, but smoking isn't good for me, so after 15 years of joyous nicotine immersion, I'm done.

I didn't use gum, or a patch, or an e-cig, because unlike many people, I actually wanted to break my addiction to nicotine, instead of simply changing the delivery method.

The first 4 days were difficult physically, but I got through them. It's been 14 days now, and while I don't feel bad. I don't feel good either. I'm constantly thinking about smoking and having to talk myself out of going to buy a pack.

My question is this...how long until the psychological cravings diminish?
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Good job - nicotine is pure evil when it comes to quitting.

I smoked for around that long and did the cold turkey path as well. Here's what helped for me w/ curbing the psychological cravings.

I've been addicted to just about everything at some point in my life and in my experience, drawn-out psychological cravings are just conflict over really wanting to quit vs feeling like I "had to" quit for whatever reason.

Helps adding more things to your life to put more things on the other side of the mental scale. Like a certain type of enjoyable physical activity, some crazy 4-hour-body-ish-inspired diet, or something else like that to keep your mind excited about this new phase of life and not wanting to go back there. Lots of people say "add exercise", but if you're anything like me, you have to keep adding something new otherwise the temptation of feeling stale & wanting to go back to familiar highs is too great. If I'm always trying to change one thing my brain doesn't have time to piss and moan. Not an airtight solution, but effective.
 
You have to do it for yourself. You have to remove yourself from circles of friends that smoke, don't go to bars that allow smoking, and realize how much money you have available for other things once you quit.

I quit by charting how much money I saved over a week by not smoking. Depending on where you are, it's around 6$ a pack. so $42 bucks a week. $2184 a year. doesn't sound like much, but I bet you'll drink less too. so ~$50 bucks a night that you don't drink. save easy 3 grand+ a year on something you burn anyway. Have the money for something that can help you, invest in your business, get a motorcycle, hell, anything is better than literally watching your money go up in smoke.

My brother got my mom started again after she had quit for 15+ years, and I fucking hate him for it. They can tar up their lungs all they want. I go skiing twice a year, and have plenty of extra cash while they dig change out of the couch to buy smokes.

It's pathetic.

Don't depend on anything but yourself for your happiness, substance abuse of any kind is a weakness to be exploited by those that work to take your money, and you are giving it over to them willingly.
 
IceToEskimos said:
Made it through another day with no smoking...I don't really know how I'm doing it, but I will continue.
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The hardest is behind you, it really is.

A couple things about quitting smoking:

- have to do it cold turkey. I learned that a couple of times.

- you're in the clear or at least well on the way to getting there when you get a feeling of nausea after a whiff of secondhand smoke. This milestone came to me twice at around 30 days.

I willfully picked up cigarettes and smoked for about a year after having not smoked for 5 years.

The difference the second time around is that I didn't just stop smoking. This time my mindset is that for the rest of my life under no circumstances will I smoke a cigarette.

After quitting the first time I eventually became convinced that I was an ex-smoker and could therefore have a cigarette on the odd occasion if I felt like it. I was wrong, that was stupid.
 
I've been addicted to just about everything at some point in my life and in my experience, drawn-out psychological cravings are just conflict over really wanting to quit vs feeling like I "had to" quit for whatever reason.
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I agree with this. It's a type of cognitive dissonance.
 
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