I want to quit smoking but I always seem to fail! Does anybody have any tips? -
I want to quit smoking to save money and for the sake of my health but every time I give up i get paranoid and angry at the slightest thing! I think half of it is all in my head, I convince myself that life is not worth living without smoking.
Any ideas, tips or suggestions?
Quitting smoking is a great opportunity to learn about ourselves.
Congratulate yourself on having the desire to stop - then you are over the worst, but still need to maintain your resolve. It-s just so easy to start thinking that just one won-t hurt, but it does. Just one achieves nothing except feeling the need for another. Whatever you do, don-t have just one. Beware - alcohol will weaken your resolve.
Here-s a few home-brewed tips that might be useful.
It-s not just nicotine addiction - there are 50+ chemicals in cigarettes. Also the main problem is habit.
We have been used to having body sensations which we translate as -my body needs something-, which we have attempted to satisfy by having a cigarette.
When we try to stop smoking, we still get these -my body needs something- sensations, and we still feel that we want a cigarette. We have to train our body to be more selective. When we feel we need something, we have to work out what it is that we actually need.
A glass of water is an excellent substitute if nothing else comes to mind, as it helps with the clearance of the toxic substances in our body. Another good substitute is a bag of salted peanuts, used in combination with the water.
Another thing to do is to find an activity which occupies the mind or body. Go swimming - nobody wants to smoke while they are swimming. Slowly, as our body adjusts and translates the -want something- feelings into something other than cigarettes, then the feelings begin to go away. We know its not a cigarette that the body really needs, because as soon as we-ve had one we still have the feeling, and want another!
We will have a few bouts of feeling or even being short tempered. We must try to bite our lip, and control; ourselves. Recognise the short temper as being the removal of toxins which are trying to find a way out. They went in through the mouth, and they try to get out that way to. We must learn to keep our mouth closed, and force the toxins out the other way.
After we have stopped for a while we will begin to feel that just one wont to any harm.
All that leads to is a desire for just another one. We must guard very strongly against the desire to have just one.
I gave up August, first 3 days are the worst. then 2 weeks is kina tough, but if you get over them 3 days without lighting up, you will feel great.
Good luck. Theres stuff on my 360 that helped me quit. xxx
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When you find yourself becoming angry or agitated about the smallest thing, Sit down Take 21 deep breaths and think about what exactly it was that you were mad or agitated about to begin with. I guarantee you won-t remember what it was. i have heard from several people that if you practice something 21 times it becomes habit forming. Maybe it will work for you
When you feel like you are having a craving for a smoke, Meditate about it, ask yourself just how important is that cigarette to you, or you can Find a good HypnoTherapist to help you with the cravings or/and, Take a moment everyday for yourself to relax.
Try getting a Massage atleast once a week, It will help you to relax your mind from all the tensions in your life that are causing you to want to smoke.
Also you can find a friend that does not smoke and ask to chill with them for a few minutes or a few hours. Definitely avoid Smoking friendly environments, Smoking friends and family members, I know thats hard to do if you are close to your friends and family, but you have to take the temptation out of the picture.
I was taught that, at any point in our lives we have the ability to change our own minds. Thats the want and will you have to have to be able to achieve this feat.
yeah just don-t buy them
HYPNOSIS.
I have treated over 300 people, and am proud to boast a 93.3% success rate (288 permanently quit out of 312) with less than 2 hours total treatment. (a further 9 quit but relapsed within 12 months)
Yes,I found using 2 patches instead of 1 worked for me.I stuck them over my eyes so I couldn-t find my cigarettes!
Alan Carr-s book Easy Way to stop Smoking worked for me on the second reading. I-d tried patches and cold turkey a few times as well. Important that you also want to stop or else you-ll be trying because you think you should, not because you want to.
Try Allen Carr-s book The Easy Way to Stop Smoking. It really works. He also runs workshops which you can attend.
I quit in june this year an still have not had one! i went cold turkey the worse bit is the first 3 days! after that the cravins get less day by day! Patchs are to expensive an u cant get them free on the NHS just at a knocked down price!
The way i see it is that tabacco not as addictive as heroin! you dont need a substitue!
I packed in 18 yrs ago, I did not smoke while driving, or at work, or while asleep so I worked it out logically, seeing that I did not smoke for 75% of the day why bother at all, and I went cold turkey. No problem at all, no withdrawal symptoms, and have never desired a cigarette since (no lie) I have my sense of taste and smell back, just overall better health etc. And I cannot stand the smell of the smoke either in pubs or on peoples clothing. Give a real go and mean it, it is the only way.
This is how I did it 11 years ago. I haven-t smoked since then, and it wasn-t easy to begin with, but hey, I-m still of -em.
1. Decide you want to stop, and do it at the start of a new day - then STOP.
2. Recognise it won-t feel nice. This will go away. Recognise that you-ll still want them. This doesn-t go away EVER. Don-t lose hope - read on.
3. Do NOT use the phrase -I-m giving up smoking.- This may sound odd, because to everyone else this is exactly what you-re doing. In fact what you are doing is -Choosing not to smoke again-.
4. Ask your friends and family not to try and tempt you. You really don-t need some jerk saying -Go on, just this one, it won-t make a difference!- It will, so try and avoid these people if they don-t stop it.
5. Every time you feel the urge to smoke, remind yourself that you-re -Choosing not to smoke again-. Just like in Alcoholics Anonymous, you-re dealing with an addiction; don-t say you aren-t because fags will make you just as dead as booze.
6. Take one day at a time. Every day is a new one in which you could smoke, but you-ve chosen not to. Remind yourself of this every day - it may seem boring to start with, but it becomes automatic after about four weeks, which is the major breaking point in your metabolic fightback.
7. Eat sensibly - don-t snack to make up for not smoking. I didn-t and put two stone on. This is important because nicotine is an appetite suppresant, so you-ll have to fight yourself not to push the other animals away from the watering hole, if you get my meaning.
8. Congratulate yourself every day you don-t light one up, because it is a victory! You are keeping yourself alive after all, and if you did smoke 20 B-H per day, you save around ￡1800 a year which is the price of a really decent mountain bike to get fit on!
The -paranoia and anger- stuff is your brain rebalancing it-s chemical makeup (probably from the cyanide derivatives added to your regular smokes!), and tobacco companies want these bad feelings to happen. You get the shakes, you think -A smoke would calm my nerves- and hey presto! You-re a smoker again!
AT THIS POINT, REMEMBER - YOU-VE CHOSEN NOT TO SMOKE, SO YOU-VE GOT THE STRONG HAND ON THIS GAME.
One of my closest mates did this exact method, and is still off them after 13 months. Don-t buy the patches, because they don-t work without the willpower. If you have the willpower, you don-t need the patches. The bottom line is, choosing not to smoke is not just a way of saving some money, it a way of living longer and being able to run around the garden with your kids/relatives/naked partner at midnight, instead of watching from a wheelchair.
Most of all, do it tomorrow morning, and I wish you all the luck and strength in the world.
Im assuming you have tried the gums, patches, etc.
Have you considered Zyabn? Its a prescription only medication, you need to see your doctor to check if its suitable for you as it has side effects, but its wonderful.
It basically stops the craving signal being sent from your brain.
Iused Zyabn, it worked well. I took two tablets for 11 days, during which time I continued smoking, then on day 12 I quit. The night before I chucked out all the ashtrays and lighters etc and when I woke up on day 12, I got up, showered, had breakfast, did some housework, popped to the shops for milk, came back, played on the PS2, made lunch, and only then realised I hadnt wanted or even thought about having a ciggie.
It definitely worked for me, it stops the brain from receiving the -craving- signals, and even though I thought about fags after, i didnt get the physical craving I did beforehand. I continued taking the tablets for about 3 months after, i had one slip up when I was drunk, but quit smoking.
In the past ive tried patches, gum, inhalators, lozenges, but they all still contain nicotine, so i was still having the drug in my system.
With Zyban, its not nicotine based at all. It started out as an anti-depressant, but people were still depressed on it, but a lot of people reported that they had packed in smoking. So they did some research and remarketed it is as a giving up smoking aid.
It is a strong drug, and cannot be taken with a lot of other mediciations, it also cannot be taken if you have a history of severe migraines, epilepsy, fits, seizures or head trauma.
Have a good look at the information available online, then go to your GP and talk to him.
You may read some scare stories about people dying after taking it, but the people that died were ill anyway, and the Zyban interacted with their medication, which i why doctors now know to be careful when taking it with other drugs.
All in all, I found it safe, reliable, effective and an absolute life saver.
lozz xx
my boyfriend gave it up instantly after reading the Allen Carr book. He was smoking about 12 a day and went straight off them all successfully. Only effects were weight gain.Good luck trying to give them up.
lifes to short to worry about if you want to stop stop i did after 22 years of smoking,it was me that wanted to stop for myself thats all you can do no tips just do it for yourself and give yourself a chance of a better life good luck and i wish you will.
I-ve tried a coupla times in the past year or two. I-ve tried the patches, the gum and hypnotherapy. nothing worked for me yet.
i suspect that at the end of the day, you need a really GOOD reason to quit. I know people who-ve quit because it-s got too expensive, they-re having a baby, or they-re tired of coughing all the time.
It-s all in the mind, but I lost mine years ago.
each day start a little bit later, even if it is a minute or two. after you start just smoke as usual. after you make it to around lunch or early afternoon it will be easy
go to the doctors and get the patches on the NHS but to be honest it more to do with will power you will feel a hell of a lot better when you-ve given up and food taste like food again (i use to smoke 40 a day)good luck
Hey, I-m a smoker too and I understand completely where your coming from, I know its very hard if you get angry of upset but I find if I-m going through my stage of wanting to stop I get a pint of water and take a deep breath and drink the whole lot which usually gets rid of the craving, if that doesn-t work try eating oranges, apparently its a fantastic way of getting rid of that horrible craving! Good luck! x
I have been a smoker for over 40 years and have tried everything from will power, Gum, Patches, Hypnotism and acupuncture to no avial, that is untill I read Allan Carr-s book the easy way to give up smoking!!!! what a load of toot read a book that starts by telling you not to stop smoking till you have finished reading it? well I had to laugh for over 40 years I have been smoking and there is nothing you could tell me about how difficult it was to give up, that was till I read this wonderfull book and I havent smoked for over 2 years now!! try it
Me too! I-ve just bought Paul McKenna-s Stop Smoking DVD, I-m convinced it-s gonna work he knows all about the psyche that guy. Why don-t you try it! What have you got to lose apart from the price of the dvd or your life through lung cancer.
I am 51 years of age and hve been smoking since I was 16. Over the last few years I have tried to give up but always found it too difficult.I live abroad and when i was back in the UK earlier this year,i went to see a good friend of mine.he is the same age as me and had been smoking for the same amount of time as me.To my astonishment he had given up his 60 per day habit ,and hasn-t had a cigarrette for 18months.He recommended to me Allen Carr-s -how to give up smoking the easy way-I got the book,it is as boring as hell,but I havn-t had a cigerrette since the 18th August and not had any real cravings either. by the way, the book says percevere until the end of the book,I didn-t,I stopped smoking just over half way through.
Try it,and good luck.
I asked the same question a month ago and this answer helped me
i just pictured myself telling my wife that i had cancer and i was going to die because of smoke. that-s what cut our years short...smoke. sucks doesn-t it. kiss your family goodbye for smoke. hope this helps.
every time you eat brush your teeth and rinse with cinnamon flavored mouthwash.
drink a lot of pink grapefruit juice...
and PRAY!
Just say to yourself and anybody within earshot -when I-ve finished these, I-m not going to buy any more- - AND STICK TO IT ! ! ! I did just that, so work on the assumption that if THIS prat can do it, so can everybody else. ! After three days with that in mind you-ll start to remember you ever smoked. TRUE !
Quit buying.
You will have to beg for a smoke and soon everyone will force you to stop.
Keep smoking and put all your butts in a jar filled with a little water. You-ll soon see the colour of your lungs and this will be a sure turn off, it worked for me. Goodluck.
join a stop smoking group ask at your doctors about it
you shouldn-t of started to smoke in the first place what you gotta to is put all the horrible horrible nasty smelly murdering tobacco in the bin and put the rubbish/trash/garbage outside
Read the book -Easyway- by Alan Carr. I also bought the CDs. They were inexpensive and I found them to be the best thing ever. I have tried millions of times but have now been smoke free for 12 weeks. Its not as easy as he states, but it has been easier than ever before.
So very pleased somebody recommended these to me. Please try. You too may become a non-smoker. Word of caution though. I have felt ill since giving up. Think its a shock to my body.
I can tell you of a friend, a heavy smoker, who found HIS way to quit. He said if he had a cold, he found he couldn-t smoke. After the cold, which lasted perhaps a week, he felt he could resist returning to smoking as his body had, as it were, kicked the habit during the cold.
I urged him not to return to smoking after one cold, and he tried it. It worked, he stopped completely, with no side-effects or desire to smoke ever again.
It sounds strange, but if you should get a cold one day you might try it!
Allen Carrs book -The Easy Way to Stop Smoking-. Read it. It works .Really. I smoked for 15 years and quit easily. So have all my friends - none of us can beleive we went so long without readin it. This method works by tackling the brainwashing that cigarettes give us.... and I have never wanted a cigarette since reading it - yes, even in the pub :-)
Good luck. Oh! and at about 8 or 10 wuid it is the cheapest way to give up!
To quit, all you have to do is never have another smoke again. I only quit a couple of months ago and thought I-d get all the worrying withdrawal symptoms and cravings and start putting on weight. All I have noticed is I look healthier, I have become more confident as a person and I have more money than I used to. Every morning I wake up and take a deep breath and feel more oxygen entering my blood. I realise it is not an easy task but again, to stop smoking... all you have to do is never have another cigarette again.