Quitting smoking?

This could help.

 

Omg I quit with e cigarettes! You pick a nicotine strength and a flavor it's tobacco free so it's a really good cross over for me I just use ecigs instead now. Lots of 20 years + smokers have quit this way

 

I started smoking when I was 11 years old, so I was a smoker of 33 years. Towards the end of last year I had simply just had enough of the damage it was doing to my health and the damage it was doing to my finances with a pack of 25 smokes in Australia being $20, the habit was consuming $140 a week of which would be better spent on my mortgage.

I went to my GP and told him of my smoking habits and my quit history, I had tried several times. You will not quit if you don't have your head in the right place. The quitting battle as far as I am concerned is 90% psychological, so if your head is not in th right place for you to remain strong, you will never quit no matter how many aids you use (Patches, ecig, Champix).

The most important ingredient is WILL POWER, if you are determined, you will succeed no matter what.

How did I do it? After talking to my GP he decided that my head was in the right place and we would try something I hadn't tried before..CHAMPIX (I Believe it is called CHAMPAX up your way), The intention was a 3 month course given that I was a pack a day smoker for 33 years.

I lasted 3 weeks before stopping CHAMPIX because of the side effects...BUT that was long enough for me because I was in the right head space to do this. I have not had a ciggie in almost 9 months now ( No, it wasn't a New Years Resolution as I don't believe in them, it is just coincidence I came to this place at about that time), I don't get any cravings at all, I am confident about the future and remaining smoke free.

Don't be disheartened if you don't feel the benefits immediately, because that probably won't happen, as you don't really start feeling any real benefits until about the 8-9 month mark after quitting.

Good luck with it

 

It's definitely a battle fought in the mind, the withdrawal symptoms of physical addiction cannot even come close to the mind-blowing bloodrush I got weeks later when I had a beer and saw my friends lit up some cigs.
First time I quit I did it by using nicotine patches but next time I just went cold turkey and it was fine. As dfiant said the most important ingredient is your willpower, but personally it greatly empowered me to find a pal who joined me in putting the cigs down. You know, like a work-out buddy.

 

That's awesome, congrats...and great idea to have someone else quit with you

 

Ya I don't smoke, drink, or do drugs so I' am clean. I can say it's a turn off for me if someone smokes or so even do drugs. Social drinking is fine but if they smoke or do drugs then I don't want them to be my boyfriend. Unless they will totally quit for sure and never do it again. But eather way I know most people don't smoke so that's a good thing.

 

I agree with the psych aspect of smoking cessation (including the fact that nobody wants to be a quitter so that term doesn't start in the right direction). I had tried a few times over a period of 20 years, managed to stop for almost a year at one point, but wasn't doing it for the right reason. To support a friend who was trying to stop himself (guess what happens when that friend starts again), because somebody guilts you into stopping (guess what happens when that person is no longer in your daily life). After a while, being around smokers at a party or bar I'd have "just one" and a few days later it was "just one more" etc, you get the idea.

Last time I stopped due to ending up in the hospital (not smoking related, but ended up on a respirator for a few days) - and during recovery realized I didn't want to go back there and smoking would be a step in the wrong direction. Even though I still have the occasional craving years later, I have accepted it's highly unlikely I can have "just one" and not start again. Yes I know some people who can be "social smokers" and turn it on and off. Maybe it's some brain chemistry thing.

In short, in my case anyway, it was a combination of finding the right reason that was not conditional on others, and accepting I am prone to developing a cigarette addiction (as much the habit/ritual/social aspects as the nicotine and other chemicals) so "just one" was no longer an option. So far so good 5 years later.

Whatever your circumstances and motivation are, best of luck with the process.

 

My ex boyfriend got me started on smoking about four years ago. Tha bastard, lol. We would share smokes with wine or a beer after work. Then he quit. I couldn't. I started using it as stress relief. I believe it is mind over matter. When you start to mind it will matter. Last year, I had a trip planned back to visit my folks for their anniversary. I knew my mom was alergic to smoke. I couldn't stand the thought of trying to hide smoking the whole trip, so I just quit three weeks before leaving. I used minimal patches. It's been over a year now and I am so happy! I can't stand the smell of cigarette smoke now. I really can't believe I ever smoked. I was such an athelete in highschool and college, so smoking was not really who I am. I have saved so much money and I don't stink. You might not realize it, but if you smoke, you stink. Your clothes stink and everyone knows it but you. Good luck!

 

Swap to e-cigs and then start lowering the nicotine amount over time until you're at 0 nicotine.

I'm on e-cigs and never looked at an analog again from the moment I tried them. I'm not intending to lower the nicotine but believe me that the method works.

I know quite a few that stopped nicotine altogether and now either just vap 0 nicotine or simply quit completely. It's way easier than trying to go cold turkey or those dumb chewing gums and patches.

Besides, you get to smell of something like strawberry or belgian chocolate instead of that tobacco stench, no bad breath and no horrid shit going into your lungs or other people's lungs while you're on the e-cig.

 

I could probably go on and on about health benefits that come with you quitting smoking but I understand that it's hard for some people to stop. I mean it's part of you. I like the idea of e-cigs though. They have some really interesting flavors and they smell better! When my co-worker switched to these, he started smelling like peaches. LOL

 

There's got to be a point where you finally can decide that smoking is causing you more problems than not smoking. It's only then you find the drive to quit.

You also have to accept that it's not possible to ever have a cigarette again.
Over time, your brain has adapted to the idea that cigarettes are just a part of functioning and have incorporated that into many neural processes. Once you quit, those processes change in response, but take a long time to gain strength. Even if you have 'just one' socially, you undo all that work.

I've quit drugs and haven't used them for two and a half years. Only now I'm getting around to quitting smoking, but my motivation only came to me recently.
I've been trying to get fit lately, and my lack of lung capacity is beginning to become a real issue. I've also started working in a pretty anti-smoking workplace so the shame factor helps The concern over appearance and ageing also plays on my mind when I think of having a cigarette.

By all means, use patches etc. (I've never heard anything good about Champix) But the mindset has to be there before you begin to quit.

 

I smoked 1 or two cigars a day for 10 years. The way I quit is not really recommended. I went to the ER with a bleeding abscess that required emergency surgery. I was in recovery for a month in a no smoking hospital. It made me very grumpy with the nurses. The doctor finally gave me a nicotine patch. That helped me feel human again. The released me to a nursing center that allows smoking. However, by that time the cravings had all but ceased. It's been two years since my last cigar.