I'll give you a dollar if you tell me how to quit smoking!

[MalachiX]

I've tried before and hasn't worked. I'm 24 now and, aside from the loss of energy, I realize that much longer of this is going to garuntee I get lung cancer (which would be bad). I was doing allright but then went through a painful break up and am generally quite unhappy in my life (career is in the crapper, in a city without many friends, money is tight). I think perhaps quitting smoking would be a good first step to getting out of my funk but it ain't happening. Any ideas?

[Enema]

Every time you are about to have a cigarette. Don't.

 

When do I get my dollar?

[curiousnycgirl]

You need Chantix (prescription medication) and huge willpower. Chantix got me to quit - but I still want to smoke many times every single day! I just don't do it.

 

You may keep your dollar and good luck!

[ShoeGirl]

If you are in the US call 1-800-QuitNow. If you have health insurance it might cover the costs of the program. They coach you, send you supplies (patches, gum, Chantix, etc.). You can also look into programs that may be sponsored by a state funded hospital in your area. Many hospitals will provide a free or close to free program for anyone who has been seen at that hospital.

[Green]

hmm quiting is going to be hard, especialy because you have so much percieved stress. You should hypnotize yourself.

[e.clipse]

why would you want to quit smoking?

[j_hunt_12]

I don't know but I'm stopping too... nothing since friday... peace

[Woggle]

Why not try weening yourself off of it gradually. Smoke one less a day until you eventually are down to none.

[sandflea]

Here's how I did it:

 

First off - it sucks, we all know that. You have to go out with your friends on a bar night. Everyone will be smoking around you. Bring gum.

 

When you feel the urge, ask the bartender for a glass of water. Go outside, take a few deep breaths, and drink some water. Then, go back in the bar and keep partying. When in doubt, chew your gum.

 

When you wake up the next morning you will have completed your first day - cold turkey. Yes - it's a trial by fire, but if you're like me, you really REALLY want a smoke with a beer.

 

I'd say go cold turkey. You'll find that after just one day cigarettes taste horrible.

 

Best of luck. YOU CAN DO IT!

[Phateless]

I've tried before and hasn't worked. I'm 24 now and, aside from the loss of energy, I realize that much longer of this is going to garuntee I get lung cancer (which would be bad). I was doing allright but then went through a painful break up and am generally quite unhappy in my life (career is in the crapper, in a city without many friends, money is tight). I think perhaps quitting smoking would be a good first step to getting out of my funk but it ain't happening. Any ideas?

 

You control your own actions.

[MoonlightLover]

I've tried before and hasn't worked. I'm 24 now and, aside from the loss of energy, I realize that much longer of this is going to garuntee I get lung cancer (which would be bad). I was doing allright but then went through a painful break up and am generally quite unhappy in my life (career is in the crapper, in a city without many friends, money is tight). I think perhaps quitting smoking would be a good first step to getting out of my funk but it ain't happening. Any ideas?

 

 

Make a visit to the cancer in patient wards at your local hospital. Its horrific.

 

I've gone almost 4 weeks now, started of with patches..didnt need them after a few days then just chewed regular chewing gum....gave in once had one smoke a week ago but that's all ive had for almost a month...pretty good.

[macon]

Quitting smoking can be incredibly difficult - it depends what kind of smoker you are. It sounds like you may be like me - I probably smoked between 20 and 30 a day since I was 14. I would say that the physical addiction meant virtually nothing - it was the psychological addiction that made it hard to quit. I mean, my entire life was divided into manageable chunks of approximately one hour each - between cigarettes - without them it was like, what do people do? What do you look forward to? And that was part of what has helped me give up - realising that if I need to keep smoking I'm saying that my life is so boring that I can't enjoy it without a cigarette. And that can't be true. This is where willpower comes in! I've been off cigrarettes for almost 5 years now - I'd say it's only the last couple that I really feel I'm no longer in imminent danger of starting again - although if I had one, I know I'd have 40 ...

 

Practical advice I'd give you - read that Alan Carr book about giving up smoking - it helps get your head in the right place, and that really is the most important thing. Also invest in a pack of herbal cigarettes - they aren't good for you, but they don't contain nicotine, and that's the addiction you have to break. I really don't think I'd have managed the first 6 months if I hadn't been able to light up a herbal whenever I wanted. That ritual that you are so used to is very hard to break, and with herbals you can continue to have all the other elements of smoking, while at the same time the fact that you don't get a hit off it really shows you how much or a carcinogenic drug you are pumping into your body 20 times a day. As time goes on you'll find you don't need herbals either - not that I ever smoked more than about 7 a week when I was giving up - but I kept an emergency pack in the car for about 2 years. You will feel a totally different way about smoking in a year's time - it will not be this hard forever. I seriously could not imagine I could feel the way I do now about smoking. When the addiction fades you will wake up - and you will cope with life without it - and then, like me, you'll wonder what the hell you found so hard. Seriously, you will

[slatko]

Hi, I'm 26 now. I tried quit smoking since I was 21. In 2005, I stopped it for 364 days. Then I was at a party, and totally drunk. And started smoking again.

 

For two years, I was on withdrawal symtoms, cause I just smoked at the weekend when I was out partying. Under the week I was able to not smoke, but had withdrawal symtoms.

 

A month ago, I finally decided to quit. I made the decission to do whatever it takes to stop that ****. I avoided meeting my smoking friends, and for the others I was a pain in the ass. I went crazy for two weeks.

 

Now I'm over the hardest time.

 

Here's what gave me the willpower I needed to go through the first 2-3 weeks:

I asked myself: If you can't stop that ****ing addiction, then what a weakling are you?

I compared myself to my ancestors. One of my grandfathers had survived 3 years as a soldier at WW2, and I imagined what he had to take back then.

 

And I, his offspring, would not be able to go trough 2-3 weeks of some withdrawal symtoms? WTF? What kind of a man would I be if these ****ing cigarettes could controll me?

 

(I know this sounds crazy. But it did it for me. Maybe you have to find another motivation. But in the end, in my eyes it comes down to: Are you man enough to go through these ****ing 2-3 weeks?

 

Oh, and btw: the book of Allen Carr helped me a lot. But the thing that really helped me, was to make the decission to do whatever it takes. No whining, just standing it through like a man)

[climbergirl]

To Quit: I do think it has to do with determination-I don't think you will have a successful quit if you are even slightly wishy-washy about your decision to quit. Pick a day and keep telling yourself that day is the day you quit.

 

To stay Quit: Instead of fearing the withdrawal symptoms, I liked them. Well, I didn't enjoy them, but chose to see them for what they were-my body's reaction to taking that drug away and how dependant I had become to smoking. The first 2 1/2 days I couldn't even get out of bed because I was faint, dizzy and had a horrible headache. I'll never forget that and never want to.

 

Keep busy. Keep your hands busy and your body busy. I think boredom is a huge trigger along with alcohol, hanging out with smokers and eating heavy foods. I say avoid all for a month if you can.

 

But, IMO, the biggest motivator to staying quit is exercise. About a month ago I decided to start a new, healthier chapter of my life which started with quitting smoking. My attitude and confidence has done a 180 since then. I've met some really cool people and joined an awesome outdoor group which never would have happened if I stayed smoking. I know this sounds cheesy, but I feel like I have lived in a cave and quitting has brought me back into the real world again.

 

I hope I said something that may have helped.

 

Good luck and good vibes to you!

[Jade 02]

Take a good look at some of those lungs at the Dr's offices they are really nasty looking,and I dout you will light another smoke as young and as determend,as you are.

 

Rooting for ya hun don't lite up every dragg takes a piece of your lung with it.

[tinktronik]

I'm nine days out on the Nicotine Patch. My so is 21 days out and now off the patch as well. Neither of us had any withdrawal symptoms. However we did have the several times a day twinges to "go have a smoke". But I would say mine were easily pushed aside .(a simple internal no).

I was really ready to not smoke anymore and thought about all the things I hated about it. The smell , my children's clothing smelling of smoke

The packs and cellophane and buts and ash and general messiness. Not to mention the increased possibility that I would die painfully gasping for breath and what that would do to my family. The fear and panic I felt at 8 am every now and then would I would awaken gasping for breath and not be able to find it until I had coughed and coughed. My own disapointment in myself when my boys ask me to quit for mother's day or Christmas or their Birthdays only to have myself fail. There are plenty of reasons to quit for good. You should get a board write them down, and use a quit smoking aid ( so many have tried so many times without it) whenever you feel the need to have a smoke , go look at your board and remember that you are a whole person and much stronger than the little white stick.

[J2FT1]

What I did about smoking is I never started.

 

But, I did used to be addicted to video games. I was a beast at it, though. What I did was put my mind on other things. I occupied myself, and not hang around things related to it. It really worked for me.

[jleslieh]

Try googleing "Never Take Another Puff". This is the only thing that ever worked for me and I've smoked for 35 years and have tried every drug, been hypnotized, patches, gum, tapering off, etc. It made so much sense to me because I never looked at smoking this way before. It's as simple as never taking another puff. Hope it helps.

[daphne]

I've quit on the patch before, only to go back a year later. I always craved, and felt deprived. Thsi time around, I didn't want to spend a lot of money on chantix, hypnosis or even laser therapy (I don't even wanmt to know what they laser) so I have just gone pseudo cold turkey except one a day.

 

I started reading the book Easy way to quit smoking and it touched on something that i've been using and has made it relatively painless compared to the million other times I've quit. I have not been super cranky, I have not really missed smoking like I thought I would. I don't need a lot of gum or candy either. I do, however, stay extremely busy which is a great side benefit cos a lot of stuff gets done.

 

About 4-5 of my friends have quit in the past 6 months, and I realized if they could do it so could I. And I realized that I have never wanted to quit so badly as I do now. I'm not a spring chicken anymore, and I do not want to die of cancer/heart disease/emphysema when I was never supposed to be a smoker in the first place. People I know tell me they don't understand how I ever became one in the first place. I don't either.

 

Check the book out at the library and see what you think. One thing, however. No matter what route you choose, there is no drug or process around that can make you quit forever if you do not absolutely 100% want to quit the filthy habit. So you'd better want it.

[ed-205]

I know this is kind of late in the game, but I read this because I'm planning on quitting myself this weekend, and I have sort of an unusual situation...

A few years ago, I quit smoking on 3 separate occasions. Each time wasn't a problem, I had simply made up my mind that "I don't smoke anymore", and that was that. The problem was that after 5 days, I started to get sick - hacking cough, nausea, vomiting, etc. - almost like a stomach virus. Thinking I was physically addicted, I tried a dozen different OTC medications, Pepto Bismol, Prilosec, nicotine patches, but nothing worked except smoking a cigarette, which fixed me up within minutes.

Long story short, after some research, I discovered a medical report stating that smoking tobacco can delay the onset and diagnosis of Celiac, an hereditary disease of the immune system.

Celiac is treated with a diet free of wheat gluten, which causes the body to produce antigens that attack the digestive system, and eventually move on to destroy other organs, like the lungs in particular, and can lead to cancer, COPD, etc. It effects about 1% of the American population, and most of them never realize they have it, they simply get used to feeling sick all the time. I've read some estimates that are as high as 27% of all smokers are "self medicating" themselves against the disease without realizing it.

Within one week of eliminating wheat gluten from my diet, there was no doubt in my mind that I've been sick for the past 30 years, and didn't know it. I didn't think I could ever feel as good as I do now, and all the symptoms of sickness that I blamed on smoking simply went away, including a "nodule" in my right lung. My doctor is amazed at the improvement in my health, and was surprised when I told him that I still smoke as much as ever.

After giving my body 2 years to heal, I'm finally ready to try to quit again. There is only one thing that concerns me, however. I am now so sensitive to anything made of wheat that just the residue of flour on the outside of a pizza box can make me violently ill, and smoking cigarettes is the only thing that alleviates it somewhat. I try to be as careful as I can, but I still manage to contaminate myself about once a week or so.

Avoiding cigarettes is easy compared to avoiding wheat. It seems like the stuff is in *everything*, even candy and envelope glue!

I just thought I'd post this in case any other "Quitters" run into a similar problem.