What type of advice do you have to quit smoking? I do not want to go the eCig route. I tried them a few times and the technology is very cool, but I want to go mainly natural. Plus i am not into inhaling them at all so would not recommend inhaling them. I admit, i am struggling now. Should i try some procedure like hypnotism or acupuncture? I appreciate all the advice. I am concerned that i dont look for something to replace cigarettes. I am a believer in the concept of oral fixation, not sexually..so...just that it seems to be there. Hookahs seem cool, but again, want to go natural and clean, so if anyone can advise on this that would be good. A friend of mine commented that "the only thing good in your lungs is oxygen"Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!...smart man and brings a good point. Thank You for your consideration.
After smoking for 23 years and quitting cold turkey 14 years ago my advice is to not look for a crutch. No patches, gum, candy, e-smokes, or any other substitute. You are trying to drop a bad habit, not find a new one. When you make up your mind that you truly are a non smoker and that crap is nasty, stinking, expensive, lethal, and dirty, then you can do it! Do not look for a crutch or keep reminding yourself how bad you want a smoke, remind yourself just how many reasons there are that you despise that crap. Your mind needs to be in the quit mode, not the crutch mode. You need to own your new status as a non smoker! Now throw them damn things away and make today your first day of being a non smoker!
Realize how pissed off you get for not having a smoke. Then realize you wouldn't be so pissed off if you hadn't started smoking in the first place.
I have seen people attempt to quit smoking and succeed; and I have seen people attempt to quit smoking and fail. My only guess as to why is that, perhaps, nicotine is simply more addictive for some people than it is for others. My father decided to quit back in 1955 when they didn't have filters--said he didn't want to be a bad influence on me. He said he would smoke the one pack he had left and that would be the end of it. His buddies kept bumming smokes off him so he really only had about ten cigs from that pack. But he did indeed never smoke again. Mrs. Fraggle decided to quit a couple of months after our wedding. Every time she lit up a cig I asked to take one hit. She asked why, and I said, "It dulls my taste buds so I can stand to kiss you." She just stopped cold turkey right there, and never had another. She became one of those militant non-smokers that even other non-smokers hate: nagging people who smoke in concerts, bus stops, etc. She can smell a cigarette fifty feet away that I don't even know is there. I guess once you become accustomed to the smell you never lose it. On the other hand, one of my previous girlfriends tried to quit and couldn't stand it. The deal we worked out was that I kept the cigs at my place and I brought her seven every weekend. She had just one every day and managed to get by on that. We kept it up for a couple of years; I lost touch with her so I don't know how she's doing now. And I know people who quit and then gave up and went back to it. All I can tell you is that it might be easy, it might be hard, and it might be impossible. It's up to you how hard you want to fight it, but it's up to fate to decide how hard it will fight back. And of course it's up to you to define the word "impossible." Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! I wouldn't bother with e-cigs. The latest research says that, contrary to conventional wisdom, it's not the smoke that ruins your health, it really is the nicotine. The most dedicated Rastafarian pot smokers in Jamaica don't have a lung cancer rate that's even close to the average of tobacco users. Same with snuff and chaw: you're just going to get cancer in a different part of your body instead of your lungs. Obviously a hookah isn't going to make any difference either, because just cooling down the smoke doesn't help. You have to be dedicated, you have to be strong, and you have to be willing to endure some intense discomfort, both physical and psychological. Nicotine is a mood-leveler: If you're down it brings you back up to normal, if you're up it brings you back down to normal, and the beauty of it is that you don't have to be enough in touch with your own body to even know which way you need to go! So when you give it up, you're going to experience the little mood swings that the rest of us live with every day, but to you they'll feel like toggling between Nirvana and the lowest circle of Hell--several times a day. This part will eventually go away, so just be strong and patient. Your brain and your endocrine system will adapt to the lack of the mitigating effect of tobacco, and will eventually settle down. So obviously you don't want to embark on this when there's some major stress in your life like a new job or a sick child. Or remodeling your house: psychiatrists say that is in fact the #1 trigger of divorce in America! No matter how tough this is, eventually it will attenuate. Whether it attenuates completely is a matter of luck. But if you stick it out, and you're determined to do this, it will reduce to the point that it's just one more of life's little "bummerettes" and you'll just grin and bear it. And maybe eat more chocolate to compensate. The theobroma in chocolate is a stimulant and elixir, but without the edge of caffeine, and it's not as addictive as caffeine. Unfortunately chocolate contains caffeine too, but not very much. Keep in touch. This is one of those things where it helps to have people to talk to about it.
By "going natural," you mean cold turkey? Because there are pills your doctor could prescribe for you that supposedly help with the cravings. With or without the pills or the patch or gum, the most important thing is actually wanting to quit. I smoked for 14 years, tried quitting several times, but never kicked it completely until I realized how miserable I was as a smoker. It sucked waking up in the morning and hacking my lungs out, it sucked having to plan my life around my next cigarette. It especially sucked having to narrow my dating prospects to other smokers; I'm cute enough to get in the door with a non-smoker, but after a week of breathing my death-breath in their faces, and my clothes smelling like a Carolina brush fire, the honeymoon was over. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Staying off is tough, even now, four years later. But after a week of no smoking, I realized that there was no point in going back and wasting all the shit I'd just put myself through. That's a big part of the reason why I haven't had so much as a puff since. It's too late to go back. I'd feel like a fucking idiot. So get determined and get off it. If it's cold turkey, take a weekend and lock yourself in your apartment. Drink lots of water. It actually helps curb the cravings. If you're worried about sublimating your urges with food or pencils or whatever, start an exercise routine. Oh, and chewing some sugar-free gum isn't a bad idea. The oral fixation goes away eventually.
Thank You for all the help and responses. I will read all the posts since i know, from reading the forum, that this is a good group. Balerion, I am approaching 50 years old, have no health insurance and am on limited funds..not to concentrate on politics, small business etc. i take full responsibility... At this point, health is a priority. Basically, i do have an addictive personality. Luckily, I am a good body weight and try to do everything else right. Don't want to go down the route of replacement where i gain weight because i an element of over compensation, whereas i know what i do is detrimental and i attempt to compensate in my eating habits. Cold turkey just seems to be too hard. I guess I am looking for a magic bullet here. Well...your advice seems to be, that I should go "cold turkey" and bite the bullet, but you have to understand, I am a "degenerate smoker" in every sense of the word. I am just glad to have a forum like this where i can be honest.
I can tell right now you are not gonna make it quitting cold turkey, not with that attitude. You are already defeating yourself before you even attempted it. You looking for a magic bullet is really saying, "I can't do it, I need a crutch." Seriously, you are telling yourself that you want to smoke but it's like somebody is making you quit when you don't want to. It will never work that way. You have to WANT to quit, not maintain an attitude that you want to keep smoking but you have to quit. You will not quit smoking with a desire to smoke. Not gonna happen. You have to make up your mind that you don't smoke and don't want to smoke. Telling yourself how bad you want a smoke is the anti-quit!
One piece of advice I can give you, that applies to ANY addiction of any sort - remember WHY you are doing it. Internalize that reason and keep it close; when temptation strikes, remember what you are fighting to break that addiction for... For me... it was / is caffeine, primarily Mountain Dew... during my first year of college I gained over a hundred pounds from a combination of becoming more sedentary and having a mini-fridge full of mountain dew beside my computer (I was learning programming and taking a lot of online courses)... it was bad, I realized I was imbibing over ten thousand calories a day from just soda... so I quit drinking it. Period. Full stop. First few days I was fine... about day five or six I thought my head was going to split open... I ended up having to slowly cut back on it to avoid the withdraw effects, and now I can drink soda if and when I choose, mainly one in the morning if I need a pick me up (I don't like coffee)
Here is some real advice fit in with all the crazy comments above. I quit by becoming a closet smoker. Tell everyone you quit and then never let anybody see you smoke ever again. You will end up smoking in your car, behind buildings, or out windows, but you will deny smoking. After a few months of this your nicotine intake should be down so far you will quit easily. Allow food substitutes for about 20 lbs and then watch your weight.
You must be my age if they didn't have artificial sweeteners yet. I'm also a lifelong recovering caffeine junkie. It came close to ruining my life a couple of times. Made me crazy and angry. Also ruins my sleep, which aggravates the other symptoms. Fortunately now that I'm 70 my system tolerates it much better. I never cared for coffee. I drink tea (with Equal) and diet cola. Dr. Bob is my favorite, although I guess that's not really cola but imitation Dr. Pepper. Your girlfriend will taste it. Your friends will smell it in your car, and your closest friends will smell it on your clothes.
@ Fraggle Rocker, Those are rookie mistakes. Open Windows / Scope and Halls Cough drops work awesome. I was caught once, but that was finding them in my pocket, but I was ready to quit by then.
Motor daddy, thank you...man. Honesty is the best policy. I have been smoking since i was 17 and i am close to 50 now, though i feel like 30. It is my only real vice, though it will catch up to me soon. I'll do it when i am ready, but lately my lungs have been hurting. I may have pneumonia...self diagnosed. Thing is with a small business before this "so-called Obamacare they wanted $1,200 a month for insurance, sure it was the best health care, but that is like half or sometimes all that i make...I struggle but i like my freedom and have not been to a doctor since i was a child either. I hope Obama makes it and makes things more fair. I would rather go the route of self reliance and self respect than public assistance... but that is just me. Luckily I am otherwise healthy. I have to quit some time. I will make it. My dad has had health insurance for his whole life and he has lung cancer now and is very old. He is a retired police detective (crime scene unit) and that job took it's toll on him. At my age he already had a heart attack, aorta replaced (hard to believe but ask me about that)... and he quit smoking decades ago. He loves his doctors and they are good people. Right now he is my rock, but want to take care of things before he is gone. My dad worked on "Son of Sam" case, knew Frank Serpico from in the police academy and after the academy and told me that the movie about him was mostly lies - gave me the imprssion that "who's the first to run Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!? And there's your answer. He is really cool and i can talk to him. If anyone wants to ask any questions to ask pertaining to this nostalgia feel free to ask because truth is often stranger than fiction...interestingly enough, he is not a conspiracy theorist. Just that right now chemotherapy is kicking the shit out of him and i have no answers. I went another route and opted for a more natural life,aside from smoking, i try and eat right and steer clear of drugs. Only had a few prescriptions in my life time. Just what mother Earth has provided has worked so far. Perhaps this goes deeper, nicotine does have benefits. When i try to quit it is like my legs are made of glass, it's a crutch. Just looking more for moral support since i have no one else to talk to about this and you guys are really cool and very smart so i value your perspectives. Like i said, i love smoking. I guess we find things that are like putting your hand inside a glove so best not to start. In order for this not to be too personal we can concentrate on the medical and psychological aspects of smoking and other addictions and anything else that is OT you want to ask i will start a new thread, i dont mind at all. Thank you my friends, i respect all your opinions since i learned a lot from you guys through the years and it has helped me personally and non personally in the way of general knowledge of science and life, how to be more accepting...there more than one side to see things etc.
I want to point at post 12 again... I was a bad smoker. I could chain smoke and smoke several packs a day in front of the computer. I would not go without. I have gone from being a hard core smoker to fully quit two times in my life, and swear this method is not "normal" but it worked for me more than once. I was in my Late Twenties the first time I did this. I met a girl who did not smoke and I was wanting to quit smoking. Eventually I quit and that is the story over. No. I really had not been able to quit, but I decided to cheat and have the odd cigarette when nobody was looking. You can hide cigarette smell on your Breath, Clothes, car if you use enough care. My coworkers also thought I quit smoking so I would go out for lunch and then park somewhere and smoke a few cigarettes. I kept Mouthwash and cough drops under my seat, and kept windows rolled down. Even on the best day of pretending to have quit it is hard to squeeze in 10 smokes a day if you do not live alone. Driving to and from work, walking dog, breaks, When others are asleep, etc. It does seem deceptive, but I was simply determined to quit smoking before anyone found out. My girlfriend eventually found a pack of cigarettes in my pocket, but by that point I was ready to stop and quit for over 5 years. After that relationship I started smoking again. I knew it was daft, but I also knew it was possible to go from hard core needing for cigarettes to complete quitting. It may seem hard to imagine that anyone could go a day without smoking when you're an addict. In fact; once you go a few weeks without them you will start to forget they even exist. It takes approx 7 days for the nicotine to leave your system, and the less addicted you were going into the 7 days the better your odds. The next time I quit smoking I knew exactly what to do. Just quit. Of course I cheated and never told anyone like the first time, but I was determined to use my deceptive method to curb my smoking as it had done so successfully years prior. After about a month of smoking in the shadows I was ready to quit. I have a fairly active lifestyle however, so there was a few weekends in there where I had people with me the entire time and might barely be able to squeeze in one or two over a weekend. It is deceptive, and you need to watch your breath and smell constantly, but it worked for me. I would sit in front of the computer and fill ashtray after ashtray. So my advice is quit and don't look back. Then just smoke when nobody is looking. There are only so many cigarettes you can get in the closet, and this weans you from them in an odd way. My method is a bit odd, but it works well. Warning though. Your weight will rise. Try to keep an eye on it. No more than 20 lbs.
kwhilborn, bless you...bless you kwhilborn.I have so much to say, but is creativity, learning, freedom being sapped from me? I just want to be myself man...is that too much to ask for? I want to live in a world where the question mark exists no more. Is it truly needed? or better yet, is it truly needed. I just dont see it. Now, the question mark may very well be the sign of the beast. I quit smoking when i made the thread. I am vulnerable to relapse now. One positive side effect is that the nicotine kills the bugs that bite me. Or so i suppose. Now i have no natural defense on the bane of humanity. Tore down my defenses, they sting with impunity. Laughing, saying "you sucker". Well thats it for now. I love you guys...like feel as though i am at home.
Man...since i quit i have been having some vivid dreams. I will not go into details but one (part of one) involved someone falling through a hole in a cat walk at an industrial park, we were hundreds of feet up. Fell clean through into total darkness, just a few feet in front of me. That was not the worst of it either. Funny thing is at the worst part i woke up as though someone flipped a switch. Funny how that happens. I guess these dreams are some side effect.
I quit a 30 year 1 pack a day Marlboro Reds have it literally overnight. I tried to patch the nicotine gum the hocus pocus BS hypnosis nothing worked sooner or later I was back to smoking a pack to a pack and a half a day then a friend of mine turned me on to vaping with electronic cigarettes and I have not had one analogue cigarette since. for the hardcore smokers out there if you've had trouble quitting in the past I strongly recommend you check into vaping as it has saved my life.
You're still using nicotine, and you're also advertising. Thanks for not a damned thing. I smoked almost 2 packs a day for a very long time. I quit about 4 months ago. I'm still addicted to nicotine, I still want the hand-to-mouth thing, but it's not something that preys on me. Quit smoking while you sell your stupid product elsewhere.
Its been over three years for me. I smoked for 14 years. The only way to quit, is to quit, everything. No more nicotine. I tried the gum, cutting back, the patch. It was just torture. You have to stop using nicotine, for good. It sucks for a while, then you get to the point where you don't want it at all. Keep up the good work Dr. Toad!
thanks for your reply Dr.. maybe you should prescribe yourself some Xanax and take a chill pill. vaping save my life and for your information I'm down 0 milligrams nicotine I love the throat hit it satisfy and it helps me not want to slap people like you in the face.
