Quit Smoking

I have been an on and off smoker for about 15 years, well to be honest I guess more on than off. I used to smoke a pack a day then cut back to a half a pack and slowly down to a quarter pack. Made the switch to cigars and then back to cigs. Lately I have been trying to find the best time to quit and with a few days off around my anniversary I made my move. I am using the nicotine patches and so far so good. It has been 4 days an per my wife I am no more crabby than usual(I think she is being nice). I am also chewing gum when I get cravings, these have thankfully been few and far between. Is there any advice to help me succeed this time? Anything you or someone else has used that just helped give them the additional kick to get over them? For the first time I am comitted to quiting, for me and the family, but mostly me. This is also my first day back to work and so far besides feeling tired and little off I am very happy.

Thanks,

 

7 years. 3 weeks without a smoke. Cold turkey is working so far!!

 

congrats to both of you for making a healthy move!

 

7 years & 3 months here. Cold turkey worked for me and I'm NEVER going back. Congrats on taking care of yourself and keep it up!

 

Good luck with that man - you already know it will be tough. Nicotine gum worked better for me than the patch but I finally had to go the Zyban route to get clean. There's a newer, even better prescription drug out now but I forget the name offhand.

You could also go this route if you really dig smoking:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvD0TYY5ZM8

 

Congrads all. Smoking is ick!!!

 

^^ that looks interesting but knowing my history with stopping and restating I think for me that would be bad. Thanks to everyone for the words of encouragement and to those who stopped cold turkey WOW I don't think I could that is just incredible.

 

My brother smokes like a chimney. Yesterday I asked him if I could try one since I've never smoked. Boy was it awful!I hacked my lungs out. How did you guys decide it was a good thing to do?

 

Lol - I hear ya. When I started, it wasn't a good thing to do, it was a cool thing to do. Really sto0pid!

I'll be quit 8 years on my b-day in June. Much more the coolness.

 

I too did the Zyban over ten tears a go... I started smoking when i was 12 my parents smoked it was easy to git them i would just steal from them. I decided after geting clean from drugs (meth) it was time to give up smoking... And if you cant get off meth after 6 years you can give up any thing... Any way keep up the hard work and just don't light up no matter what!!!!

 

Good job man. I've heard that doing some quick exercises ie. a few sit ups or push ups when you the a craving helps. Maybe that will help too. I used to smoke pretty regularly but then I moved on to chewing tobacco. I've been on nicotine of some sort for the last 14 years, now it's to the point that I hide the chew from my wife and I have a daughter to think about so I've been thinking of seriously trying to quit. My excuse right now is that we're in the process of buying a house and it's stressful lol Maybe the new place will be a new beginning for me! Good luck to you!!

 

I can't get my brother to quit no matter what. It took a threat from his then girlfriend that she would break up with him if he didn't quit. That worked. But now his current GF doesn't care so he has no reason to stop. He smokes like 2 packs a day non-stop. Half my family smoked and they're all dead now. I've kind of quit mentioning it to him.

 

Sorry to hear, My wife bugged me to quit before and I would quit but then restart. This time it was my choice to quit and stopping means more to me. I do care what she thinks but it is much more personal this time and I think that will be the final push I need. I think it is just something a person needs to to for themself and not for someone else, otherwise it doesn't seem as important somehow.

 

I used the gum for about a month but it didn't do anything. Quit cold turkey after 15 years...5 years ago last month. If you have kids, just carry their photo and pull it out when you want to smoke. I quit before my daughter was born because I had chest pains...at 31 years old...turned out to be nothing. But it scared the shit out of me.

Just quit. Your mind is stronger than the urge...you'd be amazed at what you're capable of IF you truly want to quit.

 

You're definately on the right track. Do it for yourself and you have more "invested" in the end result. One little trick that helped me in the beginning was constantly telling myself that "I'm not worried about smoking tomorrow, but I will absolutely not smoke TODAY". Do that enough times and the next thing you know you've gone six months without a smoke.

 

i quit a little over a year ago.. used chantix and it worked really well, but the dreams were crazy on that stuff. just stay strong and don't quit quitting..haha..

 

Ya exactly. Make it personal.

What got me was how the cigs =controlled= me. Got to where I avoided situations where I knew I couldn't smoke. That's what finally pissed me off enough to say ENOUGH.

 

That is pretty much it, it started where I was planning family time with my parents and wife and son so I would be able to smoke. I was avoiding times where I would not. It finnally hit me it was keeping me from my family, and that pissed me off.

 

^^^ Cool. You got your personal reasons and you got your motivation. You'll do this.

Looks like you picked the wrong week to stop sniffin' glue, tho...

 

Check out Allen Carrs book The Easy Way to Stop Smoking...some friends of mine have read it and quit. I don't smoke, but read it to try and help my bf quit, its a pretty good book and an easy read. Find it cheaper on the internet than through his website. Got mine through overstock.com.

Sounds like you are on the right track and for the right reasons. Good luck and congrats on being a non-smoker.