Ex-smokers - give your advice

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

I'm going to make my 10,345,967th attempt to quit.

The difference is I'm serious this time. Really.

What method worked for you?

[crispini]

1. I've quit a dozen times.

This 'round' has gone well so far, but I haven't been under much stress lately. I have always gone cold turkey, and done well for a few months or years, then gotten stressed, had "just a few" and fallen off the wagon again. I think this time I'd better take the tack of "no, you can't have JUST ONE" at all, even when I feel stressed in the future....

[trof]

2. I have a secret plan.

It goes into effect Wednesday.
I ain't tellin' ANYBODY.
Not even Miz t.
It involves air travel and finances.
I'll let you know how it goes.

[Chan790]

3. Losing 4 out 6 grandparents to lung cancer.

Live in caretaker to two of them. I wrote a long description of that experience but I took it out because it was horrible. I'll send it to you if you really want it or think it'll help you.

My advice most closely resembling that experience is volunteer at the cancer hospice for a week. Trust me when I say that after the first day in the cancer hospice caring for lung cancer patients, you'll be physically revolted to nausea by the thought of smoking ever again. It's that disgusting.

[Xipe Totec]

4. My method is not for everyone

I bought a carton of cigarettes, put it on the counter in the kitchen, in plain view, and told myself:

"I can have a cigarette anytime I want, all I have to do is open the carton."

Three years later I tossed the carton in the trash, unopened.

26 years later, I'm still a non-smoker.

That was, by the way, my umpteenth attempt to quit.

In previous attempts, I failed because I knew I could quit whenever I wanted to.

Ironic, but because I had successfully quit before, for months at a time, I was always tempted to light up again.

After all, I could always quit if I really, really wanted to...

[kwassa]

17. My method was similar to yours, but I've only been quit for 24 years.

I smoked 2.5 packs of Marlboros a day for 14 years.

I didn't go cold turkey, I gradually cut down over months to one cigarette a day, stayed at that for a couple of months, and then quit, with that fresh pack of Marlboros sitting in the kitchen drawer. A few days later, I forgot I ever smoked. No withdrawal symptoms, no cravings. Threw my ashtray collection away about a week after that.

[kayakjohnny]

5. I smoked for just a bit once. Kind of enjoyed it. Liked the flavor and what it did to me.

But then I kept saying how nasty it was and I could begin to feel the neg effects. It started affecting my breathing (I'm a multi-sport athlete), and I noticed my gums were turning dark right where I inhaled. And it was hard hiding it from people that I didn't want to know about it. So I added it all up and said, "Fuck this, it is most certainly not worth it. Resoundingly!" And that was that.

[NickTheGreek]

6. Allen Carr

I owe my life to Allen Carr's Easyway method. Amazon probably has a used paperback copy cheap.

[mykpart]

7. A heart attack followed by triple by-pass surgery

worked for me. It's been 7 years now, and whenever I think about having a cig, I just go look in the mirror at the scar on my chest and remember how bad it hurt.

[Runcible Spoon]

8. Avoid going out drinking. That's my biggest trigger.

I had success with the gum. They now have pretty good mint burst gum, far superior to the crappy flavorless gray plastic variety. Some people do better when they have a lot to do, and some people do better if they have no stress factors at all; figure out which kind of person you are and set your quit day for the weekend or a weekday accordingly. I let myself eat whatever I wanted for the first three days, which are the worst, and then get back to healthy habits and go to the gym. My last attempt, I quit when I was really sick and didn't have the energy to go outside in the cold to light up and it would have killed my throat anyway. Two years ciggie free! My friend quit by stockpiling a bunch of vicodin and basically just sat on the coach in an opioid daze for three days watching the every season of Lost. I'm not recommending this avenue, but it was effective for him!

[Gidney N Cloyd]

9. I didn't try to avoid the stress I was worried about. I walked cold turkey straight into it.

I always tried quitting on weekends, thinking I was buying myself a couple low stress days to acclimatize. Then Monday would come and I couldn't handle the work stress, said screw it and started smoking again-- my suffering through the weekend being for nothing.
Finally I picked a Tuesday to quit. On Monday night I pitched the cigs, laid out what I needed for the next day (including some gum and patches just in case-- and I never used them) and went into work Tuesday morning. I told a couple people I was quitting and that I was going to be a prick for a few days. They were glad to put up with me and I rewarded them by keeping on the wagon Saturday and Sunday, coming in the next Monday still clean.
It worked. No cigs in 5 1/2 years.
So my lesson is, march straight into your fears and get the worst over with at the get-go. And don't sell your friends and co-workers short.

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!

[RandomThoughts]

10. How I handle the desire for a cigarette.

I light up a smoke, then the feeling goes away for awhile.

[RandomThoughts]

18. Ok that was bad.

I try to avoid sarcasm, but still working on the smoking thing.

Good luck to all you cutting down on the smoking.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

11. I ran out of smokes

I was too busy to go out and get more and a few days later, I'd lost the urge to smoke.

That was a lot of years ago. Never had the slightest urge to smoke since then.

I think smoking has to quit you and not the other way around. When you're ready, you stop.

Good luck.

[TroglodyteScholar]

12. Can't really give too much advice....

I quit cold turkey on New Year's Eve again this year...probably my 5th serious attempt at quitting in the past 15 years. My previous records for cessation were 2 years on one occasion and 6 months on another.

Here's how my brother put it to me--if you quit smoking, will you ever regret that decision? How about if you don't quit smoking, will you ever regret that decision?

I was also reading some of the stuff at www.whyquit.com and he makes an excellent point about cravings...He talks about how the internal debate is about the choice between a) not smoking a cigarette and b) smoking a cigarette, but that it's actually a false choice. The ACTUAL choice is between a) not smoking a cigarette and b) smoking a cigarette plus every subsequent cigarette that follows that one, as well as dealing with all the health and social issues that come along with continuing to smoke. Not sure I really did that idea justice, but go check out whyquit.com and you'll find some good stuff.

Stay strong, and I'll do the same...!

P.S. Don't ever say you're attemping/trying to quit. That carries the connotation that failure is acceptable or even imminent. Say that you HAVE QUIT and then do what it takes to keep that statement from being a lie.

[blaze]

13. Exercise

I wasn't planning on quitting... but I joined a gym and after a few weeks there came a day when I noticed I hadn't opened a pack of cigarettes. So I started counting and I was down from a pack a day to about 10 a day without even thinking about it!

I decided to take advantage of the moment and quit with the help of a prescription to Zyban from my doc.

[WCIL]

48. That is how my husband quit

After his office went smoke-free, he would come home and sit in the garage for hours chain smoking. When he decided to quit, he came home, ate a quick dinner, then went out walking for hours. He was so exhausted when he got home that he fell into bed. Gutting it out for a week got him over the worst of the cravings, and he got in great shape as a bonus.

He also changed his office layout, so that he didn't have the trigger of smoking and looking out the window as a little break during the day. My MIL gave up coffee at the table and switched to tea in the living room. My dad hasn't smoked for 20 years (heart attack made him quit), but he still pats his pockets for cigarettes when he is stuck in traffic - he doesn't even know he's doing it. It seems that identifying your triggers/comforts and changing habits has a lot to do with be able to quit successfully.

[Skittles]

14. challenging that voice that urged me to smoke

getting real pleasure out of telling it NO!!!!

[jeff30997]

15. I'm not an ex smocker yret !

:cry:

[TK421]

16. Get rid of any ashtray in sight....rule number one

empty it out....get rid of any cigarette receptacles in the area...I have found that fewer receptacles for butts are a major deterrent, but that might just be me. Anything in the area that makes you THINK of smoking...get rid of it.

I still smoke because of these things, but have found that they do deter me from it.....

[Left Is Write]

19. Cold turkey worked for me. I smoked for most of the 15 years between the ages of 17 and 32,

quitting during the time I was pregnant with my oldest daughter (when I was 20), and taking it up again later.

I quit for good in the summer of 1998 by going cold turkey.

[mainegreen]

20. Avoid smokers.

[bettyellen]

21. spending all the cigarette $$$ I saved on fun shit for myself my trip to Patagonia, also Italy...

countless little indulgences I would have denied myself I reward myself with instead.
Positive reinforecemnt works. Now I crave doing buying the fun stuff!
I also read that book The Easy Way to Quit Smoking by Carr. It did encourage this line of thinking also.

[underpants]

22. The patch is great. Any way you do it, it will take 10 days

after 10 days you probably won't think about it that much and when you do you will be amazed at how it completely controlled your life.

I would suggest that once you quit-go for a walk everyday, get outside do something physical you will be amazed at how different you feel

You have to think about not ever doing it again. That might sound harsh but you can't think of IT as a reward 100 days or a year down the road. That part of your life is over and like I said you will not believe how much it dominated every single thing you did.

[LynneSin]

35. I am amazed by you!

When I met you back in DC in 2002 you seemed like you always had a Marlboro-Red lit.

And now you're running marathons. Congratulations on your success!

[applegrove]

23. Chantix/Champix worked for me. And when I did give into a crave and bought

a pack of cigarettes the nicoteen couldn't get to my brain. It was blocked. So it was as if I had no smoked and my quit continued. I used to go for a walk every time I had a crave. I'd buy a popsicle often. Then it was just a matter of getting used to a new routine and finding stuff to fill up my time..time that I would have spent smoking. I had already smoked away from my computer for months. So I just stuck to the WWW and it helped a great deal. Some people have really bad side effects with Champix/Chantix. But it really worked for me.

[likesmountains 52]

24. take a lot of showers or baths...you can't smoke when you're all wet...

[davsand]

25. I found that an emergency EKG kinda cooled my need for a smoke.

The followup stress echo did a lot to kinda hammer it home the rest of the way.

I lost my Dad to congestive heart disease in March and I watched him suffer for several years of heart disease and heart attacks. I always KNEW I should quit, but damn, I was under stress--ya know? Anyhow, I started to have this funkiness with my heart where it felt like it was speeding up and ready to jump out of my chest.

I called the doc to schedule an appointment to see about it because it really did feel awful and the next thing I knew they were screening me for a heart attack. It was a matter of "Get thee to the ER NOW!" Next thing I knew I was hooked up to wires and a bunch of other stuff that I associated with watching my dad die.

My tests came back clean, BTW. I felt like I dodged a bullet because I smoked for 30 years. Did not have another cigarette after the day I went to the ER. Never can. I am an addict and will die wanting a smoke.



Laura

[gblady]

26. getting pregnant.....

and then cold turkey....
it was hell...absolute hell...
especially the first week...
I remember screaming, pounding walls,
being angry as a hornet...

then it was simply one day at a time...
finding other things to do...
distracting myself when an urge came over me
began to see them as ocean waves...
knew it would pass.

drinking lots of water, fresh foods.

NEVER forgot that if I had just one,
I'd be right back on the MF'ers and
I was determined not to let it happen again
(not after 18 years of smoking and 30+ attempts to quit)

One of the most difficult
AND MOST REWARDING things I've done...
23 years and counting...

Good luck!

[Iggo]

27. Cold Turkey.

I stopped and I didn't start back up again.

I smoked about a pack-and-a-half per day for about 23 years. For the first 18 of those years I was a heavy drinker and a heavy drug user. Bad stuff happened and I ended up quitting all drugs including alcohol all in one fell swoop, cold turkey...except for cigarettes, which at the time were "okay" in jail, prison, rehab, and the program. Five years later when, like you, I knew I really wanted to quit cigarettes, I had the advantage(?) of having done it before with drugs and alcohol. I was gonna quit cold turkey and it was gonna suck until it didn't suck anymore and it would be worth the suckage. And that's what I did. I stopped and I didn't start again.

I don't care if I sound like a broken record here. I'm going to say it again so that the idea sits in your head and you start to think about it without thinking about it. Stop and don't start again, no matter what. And really whatever method you use (the gum, the patch, cold turkey, ropes, hancuffs, big fat guys sitting on your chest), that's what they ALL come down to: You stop and you don't start again. It's that simple. That's it. The idea is to accept that you're finished with smoking...forever. Make your peace with that and you'll be fine.

Good luck. I'm pulling for you.

[leeroysphitz]

28. Try chantix.

YMMV but after 2 weeks I just didn't want to smoke anymore.

Smoke free for 14 months and that ain't bad.

If your insurance won't cover it then save up. It WORKS and it's worth it.

[Starry Messenger]

29. I did a week on the gum, then cold turkey.

It felt like crap and I had "quitter's flu". But I read up on what I was in for on the internets and didn't try to fight it. I warned all my loved ones that I was going to be insane for awhile. I got my fiance to stop. And then we quit smoking. The first four months were hell.

I sucked on cough drops when I got the urge. Al likes gnawing on toothpicks. Don't beat yourself up if you have cravings. There is a school of thought that cravings only last for a few minutes, and then, if you don't smoke a cigarette and ignore it, this passes. I found this to be not true. I had cravings that would last for nearly an hour. Watch "Trainspotting" for the detox scene if you need encouragement.

Remind yourself you never want to go through this process again. Don't light one up. Ever. Again. I miss smoking like crazy, but finally after over 6 months the urge has passed.

I quit because I finally got tired of planning my whole day around having the first one. Good luck.

[lukasahero]

30. "The difference is I'm serious this time. Really."

That's the key in my opinion. (Hey, I just realized, I'll be smoke-free for exactly 1 year in about 15 minutes - yay, me!)

Once I decided I was "serious this time", it was easy. I quit cold turkey but I got a lot of help in different places. I used a mantra (not one more puff - ever), avoided "triggers" (such as other smokers, going out for drinks, etc), and quit with a friend so we could talk each other down when necessary. Come up with a "replacement" behavior too: when you get the urge, do something else - the physical cravings only really last for a minute or two so if you can distract yourself for that long, they'll pass.

The first couple of weeks were the worst but I'm really competitive so I turned it into a contest ("do you want to fail now?")

If you want to you can do it.

[Road Scholar]

31. Don't spend time torturing yourself by wishing you had a

cigarette. After a few thousand failures, I discovered that immediately after I quit smoking, I constantly wished I could smoke, just one more. When I realized that, I tried to think about other things, and then is when I was able to quit. I had to really focus at first, then after the third day, I knew what worked for me. I had a very hard time until I realized that.

[LostinVA]

32. I quit only once, and I haven't smoked in 12 years and almost 10 months

I smoked two+ packs a day.

I just quit. I said I would quit in actually six months, and did. It sucked. It was horrible. But, all it does take is willpower. I couldn't even sit through movie without leaving to smoke. I lit one up first thing in the morning. If I can do it, anyone can. Just quit, and ride out the pain.

[Rambis]

33. Stay off drink

I lost my will power after a few pints. The most difficult was the morning tea or coffee while reading the newspaper. No gum or substitutes just gave up-

[Z_I_Peevey]

34. Chantix, lots of hard candy for the first couple of months,

busy work/something to keep your hands busy, and perhaps one still-smoking friend you can sit next to when things get TOO difficult.

[LynneSin]

36. I had a friend who quit with the help of Hypnosis

The first time it lasted a year until a close family member died. She started smoking again for 3 months and then went back again to the Hypnotist and now has been smoke free for over a year.

[NMDemDist2]

37. e-cigs

www.e-cigarette-forum.com (forum)

www.puresmoker.com (one of many online vendors)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-cigarette (wiki)

[LiberalEsto]

38. Self-talk

I quit in 1974.

I started telling myself that smoking gave me horrible headaches, and imagined myself with a headache and queasiness every time I lit up. I imagined my head pounding until I actually had a headache. After a week or so of this self-talk, I convinced myself that smoking would make me sick, and just stopped. Every time I even thought about lighting up, I would think about how sick I would feel if I did. That did the trick.

[rurallib]

39. deep breaths when you have a craving

heard this tip on the radio about 30 years ago when I was trying to quit. My 3rd try and this one took.
Take @ 10 deep breaths when you desire a smoke and the desire goes away. Only took about a week to quiet the cravings.
And the good thing is you can breathe wherever you are.

[ogneopasno]

40. Getting pregnant did it for me, but I don't necessarily recommend that. I quit cold turkey after 10

years of sometimes pack-a-day smoking. Pay attention to when and why you smoke and have something ready to take its place. It's easy to just say "carrot sticks!" or "take a walk!" but you smoke for different reasons during the day so you need to have different crutches. I would smoke at work to take a minute to think about a difficult problem. So, instead of smoking, I would walk around the block and think. If you smoke when you're bored, try knitting or pottery or something tactile. Take a shower. Whatever you're doing, don't think about how you're not smoking. Think about how you ARE showering, knitting, eating carrots, drinking coffee or whatever. Good luck. It's hard, and I tell you, I miss it every day.

[helderheid]

44. ditto! How long has it been for you? 9 years for me.

[ogneopasno]

46. About 11 here. But as I said, I still miss it.

[helderheid]

47. I do too, and it doesn't help that my husband still smokes.

[ogneopasno]

49. Ooof! Mr. Ogneopasno quit the same time I did, so that helped. We share a pipe every once in awhile

....no, I mean a regular kind of pipe! But sometimes we'll be eating out and after a good meal one of us will push back from the table and say, "Ohhhh. The only thing that would make this better is a cigarette." Because it's true.

[helderheid]

54. Yeah... at that point Mr. helderheid actually gets up, goes outside and lights up.

:(

[ogneopasno]

56. No fair! That's just playing mean. Is he wanting to quit at all?

[helderheid]

57. Well, we both quit at the same time before I got pregnant but then I fell off the wagon so he did

too and then never tried to quit again. We've had some heated moments about it given we have kids and I DO NOT want them to start. I've finally gotten him at least off the Camels and smoking American Spirits now. I pray one day he just gets sick of it but he's the type of person that if you push him in ANY direction, he'll push back.

[malta blue]

41. I quit cold turkey in march 2007. Unfortunately,

the recent burglary in my home led to me grab a smoke :(


I am going cold turkey again in a couple of weeks, just need to prepare.

Good luck!

[Rising Phoenix]

42. cold turkey its been over three months

my incentive was breast reduction surgery, and I'm having a hard enough time healing without taking smoking up again. My hope is that by the time I'm completely healed I"ll have to take out a loan just to buy a pack......i kid. Also, when I drink, I let it be known to everyone there that I can not have one and so far, people have always refused to give me one. Best of luck!

[helderheid]

43. Pregnancy

[Resuscitated Ethics]

45. Chantix half the dose for half the time. Time.

A cooperative spouse. No booze. Understanding that after six weeks of no cigs (that is zero--reset the six week chart after a cheat) it really does become better! Don't light up for three minutes after a craving. The craving passed but the knowledge of another won't. Just don't light up. Repeat.

After so many attempts you are likely familiar with the hold that the goddamn satan-cock nipples-of-death have over you.

Lose your ego entirely: admit powerlessness. Throw away matches and ashtrays. Find an old cig? Urinate on it.

It is ok to despise smokers: pity will come later. Second hand smoke is assault: don't let the lung farters breath their death fumes anywhere near you. After two months of healing you will be especially sensitive to lingering smoke-- it will catch in your throat and amaze you. Even after an hour there is lingering fumage. You didn't know how bad it was did you. I didn't and that helped make me a militant ex.

I am off the damn things for better than a year now. I gained thirty pounds and four waist inches. I am taking steps for that (new pants!New sneakers!)but still no smoking. After thirty plus years.

Best wishes. The Chantix will make you a little insane: not smoking for a day and a half will make a normal smoker a LOT insane. The Chantix in my experience amped everything up. Be advised to have some kind of outside emotional limiter. Or just holler. Holler at the moon with big lungfuls of air. Nothing better.

[eauclaireliberal]

50. Cold turkey- there really is no other way for someone like me...

(easily prone to addictive substances...ahem I'll explain later).

It has been over three years.

This isn't the first time I quit. It is not an easy drug to kick. You have my prayers, best wishes, etc.

BTW-the addictive elements of cigs are no accident. Big tobacco engineered it this way. Hopefully this will piss you off-an extra bit of motivation to say goodbye to them.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

52. I suspect it's true for me, too - Thanks for all the tips, folks!

Here I go to fall off the wagon again

[cordelia]

51. Cold turkey

If you can set, a date. Focus on the date. For me, mental preparation was key.

It also helps if your doctor scares the shit out of you by telling you your lung capacity is down 25% of what it should be (at the age of 42).

Smoke free since March 26, 2001.

Best wishes to you, and holler if you need support.

You won't regret quitting.

[Career Prole]

53. Nicorette gum, or its generic equivalent.

Chew a lot of it at first. New piece every two hours, if need be. Just make sure to wean yourself off it on the recommended schedule found in the package. I found it helped to substitute regular gum so I'd have sumfin to chew angrily. :)
Whatever it takes, go for it. You'll notice the difference in days.

[Scout]

55. clean your clothes, your drapes, your home so that everything smells

really nice and fresh and clean. Get rid of all ashtrays. Clean out and get rid of your car ashtray.

If you haven't already thrown them all out, put a quantity of butts and ashes into a glass jar and then add enough water to make a thick looking "soup" of the mess. Put the top on the jar and seal it. Shake it up periodically. When you get a craving for cigarette, go and get your jar and remove the top. Take a good strong inhale of the air in the jar. It should stink pretty badly. Hopefully, this will deter you from wanting a smoke.

As much as possible, avoid your triggers--like getting into the car and lighting up. Try to be the passenger instead of the driver, or think about how nice and clean your car smells and looks without the smoke film on the windows.

google images of cancerous lungs...

i forget ... do you have kids? think about them watching you die of cancer...

good luck to you, keep quitting--eventually it will be the last time you quit!

:grouphug: