...quit smoking?

[tanyachrs]

This is so worth doing. I'm nearing 3 years now and it's all positive. Forget the people who tell you they've been quit x years and still miss it every day. They're the same types who cry over ex's who never loved them, beat them, cheated on them, and that they haven't seen in 10 years anyway. There is absolutely nothing, nothing, nothing, physical, pyschological, habitual, social, nothing good about being a smoker. You only think so because you're addicted and it's hard to quit. Honestly. Once the smoke clears (ha ha) you'll see. It's a long, hard process but compared to the rest of your life, it's short and simple.

If you're familiar with newsgroups, alt.support.stop-smoking is fantastic and made all the difference to me.

Remember: the only way to never want a cigarette again is to never have one again.

 

[Guest]

 

[Straight-8]

Ed:
I didn't want to go for the 'scary stuff' but I just read Scaly's post and I had to jump in. I had an uncle who smoked heavily all his life. He was a really dedicated family man. My aunt smoked occasionally. My uncle got lung cancer and died at about sixty-five. My aunt was diagnosed a little while later and she died too.

But what I think would have broken his heart was that my cousin, who never smoked a day in her life, also came down with lung cancer and died at thirty, leaving two very young children. Was it all the second-hand smoke? We'll never know for sure but I know what my guts tell me about this filthy habit.

 

[Eilan]

My grandpa smoked from the time he was 12 years old until he was in his mid-40's. At the time that he decided to quit, my grandmother was trying to lose weight through Weight Watchers. My grandpa told her that if she lost the 50 pounds that she wanted to lose, he would quit smoking. The day she came home and told him that she'd reached that goal, he handed her his last 2/3 of a pack of cigarettes. He never smoked again.

My father-in-law quit cold turkey because he was outraged that the price of cigarettes had gone up to 50 cents a pack.

Sorry. That's all I got. Good luck, though.

 

[Ron54]

I have been smoking most of my 55 years and quite (almost) a year ago.
Started with the gum which helped. But the most usefull thing for me was to convince myself not to smoke for the next 15 minutes. I think it is something like AA. Don't think about never smoking again for the rest of your life. You can't control that but you can control the next 15 minutes. And the craving will pass within that time. Then the trick is never buy another pack. I will sometimes bumb one from a friend while out drinking or even buy them a pack ($6.00+ here in NJ). It is the habit of haveing one after morning coffee, while at a bar drinking and of course after SEX!
I also heard from a friend who just quit about a Dr. who uses laser to treat it. SOmething like acupuncture but with a laser. Worked for him.
Problem is if it wasn't soooo fuckin bad for you I would start again this aftenoon. Always loved the habit, just give you something to do with your hands.

 

[JustaJerk]

Hey Ed,
How are things going? I've been cutting back a bit, getting up the guts to make another quit attempt. Would like to know how you're doing, what you're planning.
Justa

 

[thirty]

I don't think it's that hard to quit smoking. You may just make a decision, then just do it.

I used to swear that I would never touch a piece of cigarette in my life time ten years ago. I didn't addict to cigarette before that. I made the promise because I thought smoking was disgusting.
I made it during the past ten years, I believe I can keep it for the rest of my life.

 

[asseater1]

Nicotine gum is working for me. Last Cig was July 4. There are times I WANT one but I don't feel like I NEED one.

Hope that helps.

 

[Flyin_Free]

Nicotine gum is working for me. Last Cig was July 4. There are times I WANT one but I don't feel like I NEED one.

Hope that helps.

My mom has chewed that gum for the last 15 years. She quit smoking but is now addicted to the gum. I don't understand how either....it's really gross gum.

 

[ltnsfr007]

My mom has chewed that gum for the last 15 years. She quit smoking but is now addicted to the gum. I don't understand how either....it's really gross gum.

Maybe she's got an oral fixation

 

[sba]

I think if you condition your self to smoke only when you are having a good time,then you could cut down atleast.
I smoke about 2 a week(showes how much good times i have a week..lol).
A friend of mine gave up after smoking for 4 years and she said that it was the easiest job,if you really want to,but for maney(like my dad) he cheats himself by saying well not today then next day well...not today and when he eventualy gives up,he gets angry too quick and starts to smoke again, and blames it all on everyone apart from himself.
There is a new injection i think comming soon on the market where it stops the "gremlins" in the brain asking you to...go on! have another...go on then!
I think this jab or pill or what ever i once read about,knocks them dead on the head!
My mother quit just like that,i think "we" women can stop when we want to,but men have a harder time due to more pressure in a working enviroment! i don't know!
I hope you do quit since it is the world's number one turn offs in bed where a man has a breath which smells like an ashtray

 

[JustaJerk]

My mom has chewed that gum for the last 15 years. She quit smoking but is now addicted to the gum. I don't understand how either....it's really gross gum.

The problem with NRT (Nicotine Replace Therapy) is that it doesn't address the addiction to nicotine. Your mom is still addicted. She's just getting it from the gum instead of the cigarette. Cheaper for her to just switch to chewing tobacco. Either way, she's traded lung cancer for mouth cancer.

As I said in an earlier post, 80% of regular users of nicotine (cigarette, chew, gum, snuff) are physically addicted. Sure there are plenty of stories of people that just decided to quit the habit and did without a problem. They're the ones that weren't physically addicted. They didn't go through the dizzyness, the creapy crawllies on the skin, the panic attacks. All the while knowing that a cigarette will make all the withdrawal symptoms go away.

I've already planned a quit on Monday, September 18th. Lately, I've been buying my packs one at a time, walking the 2 mile round trip to the store to get them. Monday, I'll start walking in a different direction.

Again, for anyone trying to break the addiction, I highly reccomend the website:
WhyQuit

It does give reasons to quit, but better is the information regarding what the body goes through during the addiction and during the quit when breaking the addiction. Hard to read it and NOT get encouraged to try. Also, they reccommend using the cold turkey method. NRT just makes you adddicted to a different form of nicotine.

Justa

 

[tanyachrs]

Those WhyQuit people are kind of militant. I agree with the basic premise that as long as you're putting nicotine in your body you're still addicted to nicotine and are thus dragging out the process of quitting instead of getting it over with. But that's what some people need to do. Even though I quit cold turkey, I always take bandages off one hair at a time. The bandage comes off eventually. And if you end up addicted to the gum it's still a thousand times better than smoking. Do what you need to do - for you - to quit.

But . . . those people who still miss smoking years after quitting are usually putting nicotine into their bodies through one device or another (gum, occasional cheating). Once you make it through the worst six months, do yourself a favor and get off the NRT if you can.

 

[Luminatri]

I quit 7 weeks ago. I bought the patches but got an allergic reaction from them so day 2 i tossed them.
I think the first few days were the worse but i was more determined because each day was another obstacle.
I never really planned it aswell which shocked me more. I was runnin low on my duty frees and knew i could't afford to keep buying so i stayed up til about 5am making sure i smoked my last cig before i went to sleep. still goin strong. I only miss the 'after sex' smoke.