Has any of you quit smoking? -
And how have you done it? I want to quit so bad. I accually quit a few weeks ago, lasted a week and a half :( I just want to be healthy and feel health again. Help! any quitting suggestions?
Its not just the nicotine. Its also the other 50+ chemicals they out 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!
I quit 2 years ago. I knew I needed to quit but it just had to be the correct time, so one morning I woke up and said today is the day. I did it cold turkey. After 3 days I thought I have gone through a miserable 3 days so why would I start again and just have to do another 3 days like that again so I kept going. Not smoking is one of the coolest things I have ever done. Good Luck to you.
I quit smoking cold turkey. I was really sick with a cold at the time, and I just didn-t feel like smoking, since my lungs were all congested anyway. Then I just quit buying cigarettes and resisted the urge to smoke. Its really a mind over matter deal. You just trick your mind into thinking you DON-T NEED cigarettes, and that they stink and are disgusting... you have to want to quit more than you want to smoke cigarettes. Just think of all the money you will save! Good luck!
I started smoking when I was 13 (just to try it)
I finally quit (for the last time) 32 years later.
I haven-t smoked in 6 years.
The way that worked for me was part physical and part psychological.
I learned a lot from -Smoke Enders- I don-t know if they-re still around, but it teaches you how to identify your specific -triggers- (the phone, after a meal, when you-re stressed) and how to delay automatically picking up a cigarette. And... how to look at smoking and smokers in a different way. (It used to be so cool -- now it-s not)
On the psych side-- once I dealt with NOT smoking after meals, coffee, etc. I had to really look at what my triggers were and how I could handle them without a cigarette. For example, I realized that my main problem was when I got angry, I had to have a cigarette.
Now, I don-t necessarily recommend this -- but, I had a prescription for a very low dose of diazepam. (2mg) Once I had stopped smoking for every reason except that anger (at this point, i was only smoking 3-5 a day) I would take a pill-- if needed. (one a day) It calmed the anger, I didn-t feel like i NEEDED to smoke-- and after a week or so, didn-t want to.
I still have moments when I think, -Oh, man I want a cigarette.- But, I just gently tell myself, -No.- And then, it passes.
It is the toughest thing I ever did. And I-m more proud of quitting than anything else. (really).
It will happen for you when you-re ready.
Good luck!!!! You can do it.
Just quit.
Throw away your cigaretts...
Throw away your ash trays...
Throw away your lighters...
and QUIT.
ask your doctor to put you on the pill. it has help me. the thing with it is that you can still smoke, unlike the gum and the patch. what the pill does is that it completely takes away your cravings. after a couple of days on the pill, you find yourself not being able to finish a ciagrette, then not even wanting one. the key is that you have to continue to take the pill consistently for atleast 3 months. not bad since you have probably been smoking for years. the only side effects i had was dry mouth. but i carried around gum and water for that. good luck. email me if you want more info upfromnutin@yahoo.com
I used to smoke 20-30 Marlboro Reds cigarettes a day, but by using the nicotine patch, I was able to put out my last smoke and never have so much as a puff again. That was many years ago.
Once you decide to quit, tell yourself you are a non-smoker. Don-t say -I-m trying to quit- because that gives you the option of failing. Say you HAVE quit and are a non-smoker. It-s not as difficult that way.
I quit 27 years ago. At the time, I was smoking between 3-4 packs a day and could barely breathe. My doctor told me he would give me medication to mask the symptoms of bronchial asthma, but in three years I would be a weekly patient of his and in five years I would be dead. I never smoked another cigarette, and I quit cold turkey, the only way that worked for me. Hard, but doable. Good luck!!
Chow
i was going back to my home state. i stopped to get gas. got back on the road, reached for my cigarettes. i saw i had only 2 left. i had enough gas to get to my final destination and didn-t want to stop until i got there. i smoked the final 2 cigarettes before my final stop. that-s when i decided to quit, that my friend was 12 years ago.
I just kept thinking like you are how stupid it is to risk my life for something that you have to be addicted to,to enjoy.I quit a few times before it stuck.Now I have been glad I quit for twenty years.I am pulling for you.E-mail me anytime you need some encouragement.
my girlfriend is trying to quit at the mo and it feels like im the one going through hell!
Everyone is different. I quit 22 years ago. I started going to a class to stop smoking that the American Cancer Society put on through the local hospital. When they showed me pictures of healthy lungs and lungs that were from a smoker, it made me think about really wanting to quit. You just have to have the will power to say you are going to do it. They didn-t have the patches and stuff that they got now when I decided to quit so I don-t know how they work. Hang in there if you really and truly want to quit you can and will. Hope it works out for you.