To the smokers (former smokers)

[imarockstar]

i would love to quit smoking cigarettes. they stink, they make me cough nasty sh*t up, and theyre expensive. im just wondering if anyone had some good strategies or if any products you can buy work well. ive heard chantix is good, but i have no health insurance and thats out of the question. a couple months ago, i pretty much just stopped in one day. i was at work and i had none left, and 5 hours til i could leave, so after that 5 hours i told myself i went that far why buy a pack now. well that lasted for a week. the strange thing is i had just got back from the gym, i felt great but i felt super anxious. i brokedown and bought a pack, smoked 2 and the next day smoked like 10.

ive quit for 5-7 days a couple times in the past couple years, but i cant seem to stick to it. the first 5 days are usually not that bad, i start enjoying smelling and breathing easier. its not until days later that i tell myself i just want one and it wont be a problem, but it always turns into one.

any suggestions?

 

[Colossus]

It's going to be really tough for about 2 weeks, maybe a little longer if you're a heavy smoker.

I used to smoke in my late teens, and I tried to quit several times. One day I just got to the point where it completely disgusted me...the smell, the respiratory damage, the money...so I quit, point blank. I did chew for a short time after, which helped take the edge off; but chewing is pretty gross as well so I had no problem stopping that after a week or two.

Seriously, man...any physical discomfort you might experience during the quitting phase is a small price to pay for your health. Just do it. Dont hang out with other smokers, dont put yourself in situations where it's easy to smoke (if you can avoid it), and chew gum or seeds if you have to. Do whatever it takes.

 

[penkitten]

ive tried cold turkey, and i have tried chantex.
apparently i wasnt ready to quit and had a terrible go at it, and i still smoke.

 

[Scuba]

This is my first post here but something I am familiar with. I smoked a pack a day for almost 10 years and quit with no problem.

Buy the book The Easyway to Quit Smoking by Allen Carr. It's pretty cheap on Amazon and worth 100x what I paid for it.

Really made quitting VERY tolerable. Last December was three years quit for me!

 

[Unprez]

just look at pics of smokers lungs and it'll make u want to quit...personally i got really sick and couldn't stop coughing....thats what made me quit... only now do i see there absolutely no benefit of smoking unless u love socializing so much that u'll kill ur lungs so u can chill wit smokers....its stupid...been 3 weeks and hopefuly my life time

 

[Ken785]

try the new electronic cigarettes that are out there... www.smokeanywhere.com

 

[horaholic]

try the new electronic cigarettes that are out there... www.smokeanywhere.com

I wish I could afford that.

Im givin it another go also. I quit for 8 months last year. What worked for me is Nicotine gum. You still get an oral fixation, and you get some nicotine. Nowadyas, it actually tastes good too. The hardest part was going to the bar, and watching everyone else smoke. I also listened to a stop smoking hypnosis cd every night. The more things you do, the better chance you have. Im gonna look into that book scuba mentioned also, to have more ammo.

 

[snowdog]

Cold turkey is the only real way. It's going to be sh*tty yes, but why make it drag longer then you need to with gum and stuff? You're still giving your body what it wants with that. Bite through the first few hard days and it will get easier every day.

A buddy of mine stopped in one day, and kept a full pack of cigarettes in his pocket. He walked around with it for about a month without even touching it, and then concluded to himself that he was cured.


Everyone can stop. Oh, make that: everyone with a backbone and willpower can stop.

 

[WC2]

Cold turkey is the way to go.

The key is to keep telling yourself what you've achieved.

Day 1. Ok 1 day cigarette free.
Day 2. Wow 2 days, that's pretty good.

Before you know it's been a week and you say

WOW! 1 week damn that's pretty good.

Keeping a calendar is what helped me quit smoking everyday. Along with that, I kept a chart of benefits you see after 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 1 year.

It's funny how true true the charts are and you NOTICE your breathing and smell getting better everyday.

I can't say I was 100% successful, because I will have the occasional cigarette or two with my friends every blue moon. But it's sure as hell better than the pack a day I was smoking before.

 

[Forty0ztoFreedom]

I quit cold turkey too. You just have to really want to, or feel like you NEED to. There is no other option.

I still allow myself one (ONE) on special occasions (birthday, christmas) and end up coughing it up the whole next day which serves as a reminder. Now I feel like I'm in a good spot because even if I did say 'fvck it' and decided to go nuts and smoke all night, I wouldn't make it past 2-3 without feeling sick and horribly ashamed.

It comes down to making the commitment and sticking to it, and knowing how hard its gonna be. And . . in my weaker moments, puffing on an unlit one.

 

[snowdog]

^LOL at puffing on an unlit one. Perhaps puffing but not inhaling would be better. The whole first year I smoked, I was doing it wrong by not inhaling and I didn't even know I was supposed to. It was all a social thing really since I'd always smoke with at least 1 other person, and I wasn't hurting my lungs nearly as much as someone who inhales cigarettes.

Puffing without inhaling would help cuz a lot less of the sh!it would get in your lungs but you'd still be smoking the cigarette.

Smoking in that way gives the same problems cigar smokers have. You still get bad breath and bad teeth from it. Plus the chance of cancer in the throat.

 

[DAMN]

addicted to smoking

I was addicted to smoking, not too often but the few I did smoke (1-4 cigarettes a day) I could not get rid of.

Then I had an idea, I replaced the cigarettes with a one-hitter weed pipe. Every time I wanted a cigarette, I smoked that, and shortly thereafter forgot about cigarettes.

Worked for me. But I am the manager where I work, so there wasnt really anyone except the big boss that I had to be concerned about.

 

[horaholic]

^LOL at puffing on an unlit one. Perhaps puffing but not inhaling would be better. The whole first year I smoked, I was doing it wrong by not inhaling and I didn't even know I was supposed to. It was all a social thing really since I'd always smoke with at least 1 other person, and I wasn't hurting my lungs nearly as much as someone who inhales cigarettes.

Puffing without inhaling would help cuz a lot less of the sh!it would get in your lungs but you'd still be smoking the cigarette. The only thing you wouldn't get is the mini body high that people tend to get from a cigarette.

Btw, another way to quit is: turn smoking cigarettes into a social thing! Only smoke a cigarette when someone else is down or you see someone smoking and you are gonna go and say what's up.

Are you fvcking kidding me with this crap?