How did you quit smoking? -
I need help...I am so addicted to cigarettes...I-m 30 years old and I-ve been smoking for 10 years now and I would like to quit...I think there gross and I hate the smell they leave on your hands and clothes...But, I have a hard time quitting...I need Any suggestions or help...
After years of trying, I finally had to do it cold turkey.
I quit cold turkey. I did have withdrawals but i gave myself pep talks. I really don-t know how I was able to quit. ITIS DEFINITELY WORTH IT GOOD LUCK
nicaderm patches really work you should try them
I have started trying to quit the past 3 days also and I am truly scared. I am going to the doctor this morning to talk about this terrible addiction I have to cigarettes. I am 54 yrs. old and have smoked since I was 14. So this is 40 yrs of smoke build-up that needs to be cleaned out. I have tried quitting before, several times, with no success.
But this time, a week ago, I suffered with almost having a stroke. I started to tingle and get numb on my left hand side, fingers first then up my arm.
I have never been so scared in my life. I thought I was going to die. I got taken to the hospital and the dr. said I had to quit smoking. But it is so hard, because I love my smoking, but WHAT I AM I DOING TO MYSELF???? I now have High Blood Pressure and need to keep that down, wayyyy down.
So today is the day that I put those cigarettes down and pray that I never take one again!!
I need all the prayers I can get too, so if you want to contact me, please do so and we can quit together, if you would like.
I wish you the best and we both know, cigarettes are NOT good for you or anyone around you.
i went and had the cold laser done and it works.i smoked for 12 years and quit cold turkey after the laser
Consult your doc.. There is a special type of chewing gum that the docs recommend to chew whenever one feels the need to smoke.. Few of my friends have tried it - it works..
I have been smoking for 40+ years. I also have tried to quit many, many times without success. Several weeks ago I heard about -CHANTIX- and talked my doctor to perscribing this for me. With Chantix and the Grace of God, I have been smoke free for 5 weeks now. There are very little side effects. (nausea if taken of an empty stomache) The program offers web or telephone support. You are a young lady...you do not want to end up like me with emphysema and COPD (Yes, they ARE 2 different lung diseases) Quit now while you have your youth. Good Luck and May God be with You!
I only smoked a little in college but my dad was quite the smoker when I was very young. After his dad and brother dies from lung cancer, and my brother had lung problems, he was very motivated to quit. He went to a program called smoke-enders. I do not know exactly but, basically they educate you, you trade stories about when and why you smoke, and you gradually cut back how many you smoke. He has seen many people quit this way after being a teacher. Good Luck to you.
Read Alan Carrs book, The easy way to stop smoking, it does work. A friend gave it to me after it had worked for her, of course I thanked her but thought what a load of rubbish...reading a book won-t get me off the smokes but before I had even finished the book I wanted to throw the bloody smokes away. I have been off them for nearly seven years now and have no desire to smoke again. I was about 13 when I started to smoke and 41 before I finally quit. I found it surprisingly easy, in fact I guess it is only as hard as you make it yourself, the old mind over matter trick. Actual cravings last for less than 5 minutes and you only need to do it for one cigarette and one minute at a time if you think about it...for instance just for this minute I won-t have a cigarette..I might have it later but just for now I won-t. I did that to stop drinking when I was only 22 and I am still sober now at 48.
Good luck....good health can be yours!
I smoked 20 years and tried to quit smoking several times. I-ve tried cold turkey, family/friend intervention, smoking cessation classes, you name it. Then I bought the -patch- and it was easy. As with any medication, results vary from person to person but it worked great for me. While serving a tour in Iraq, I lapsed and started smoking again, but when I came back I used the patch again, and I was done. The cravings were extremely minimal, and only when I did something that was usually associated with smoking. A simple change in routine fixed that. No matter what solution you use however, you have to truly want to quit. The greatest obstacle is your mind. Don-t beat yourself up if you slip, but don-t except it as defeat either. Good luck.
I started an exercise plan. When I felt like smoking I hit the gym or went for a walk, anything cardio that would make me breathe hard. The more cardio I did the less I felt like smoking. It helped me because I noticed a difference in my lung capacity very quickly, that helped steel my resolve not to smoke. Good Luck!
I stopped soking 20 days ago with the help of a perscription drug Chantix , it-s been working pretty well here, No slip-up-s. But Ihave also been recieving support from American Lung association as well. You might want to a take a look.
http://www.lungusa.org
Once there you want to click on the quit smoking link and sign up. There are alot of people that can support you, just follow through every day. Good Luck !
KAS
i quit december 1st 2006...i smoked my last smoke and just quit buying them. smoked for years..but if you don-t have any you can-t smoke....so quit buying them.
I-m 48 and have been smoking since I was 14. I-ve quit twice before, but within the next month, I will be quitting for good and doing so by taking the advice I gave my father before he died of Emphasyma. And that was to tackle the job of quitting smoking just like you would tackle having a deadly disease. Use every resource available and MAKE IT YOUR MAJOR PRIORITY EVERY MINUTE OF EVERY DAY BECAUSE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT.
I became a grandmother last year and am about to have my third grandchild this year. My children are refusing to let their kids grow up like they did and like I did- in an atmosphere of toxins. If that means not letting their kids have a relationship with grandma, so be it. My pregnant daughter won-t visit me because I smoke and she is protecting her unborn child. It-s insulting, embarrassing, humiliating, and degrading, but I respect her decision because she-s right. If only my mother had done that when she was pregnant with me. If only I-d done that when I was pregnant with my kids.
My mom died of congestive heart failure and smoked up until she went into a coma. She smoked and caught her oxygen tube on fire.... twice. I watched her die. I watched my dad die. Both slowly and painfully and prematurely because of years of smoking.
It all boils down to the decision of choosing life over death; health over pain. Not only for ourselves, but for the ones we love who we subject to the even more toxic second hand smoke.
I wish us both the best of luck. And if we -backslide-, I hope that neither of us will return to smoking, but immediately start working on quitting again immediately.
In the past, I found the patch and a wonderful hypnosis tape to be helpful. I wish I could find that hypnosis tape again, but regardless, I WILL be joining you in your plight within the next few weeks.
We didn-t smoke when we were kids. Perhaps trying to recapture that frame of mind will help too. And the daily affirmation -I AM a non-smoker-!
Drink alot of water.
hi there i-m 29 years old i quit yesterday 4 the umpteenth time. good luck to us all. i-m having cravings and now sweating nonstop cant wait to get back home. all the best. theres nothin cold about this turkey
well, i-ve been hooked to this thing for 4 years now. but now i quit. ok...i may smoke one cigarette or two a day...but i just puff them like a cigar. also, it-s been 35 days since i stopped smoking a whole pack everyday. the thing started when i got the flu a month ago. and since, i couldnt really smoke like i used to before. i found that flu helpful when it came to smoking. it made me really vulnerable to smoking and after that i couldnt enjoy my cigarette like i used to. i dont know if this can help u people in any way...but i am just sharing my experience.
I have been smoking since I was 18, and now I am 41. I somewhat agree with -streetboy-, only because the last checkup I had my doctor took an extensive blood test and told me that I should be highly anemic, but the cigarette smoking is stopping the anemia. That didn-t make sense to me, but I see what streetboy is saying. Quiting after a long period could do some harm, although I think about quitting alot for health, and financial reasons.
Hi there,
I smoked for 20 years and realized I needed to quit for health reasons as most do. I smoked over a pack a day! I tried everything for years and nothing worked until I found Accupuncture. It-s a simple procedure where they stick a few needles at certain points in each ear. I don-t like needles at all but I had to do it and it wasn-t that bad. It was like a pinch. As you sit and listen to medatative music and drink herbel tea for 1/2 hr you become relaxed and the craving for cigarettes do deminish, at least they did for me in a short time. I went for 30 sessions and have now been smoke free for 3 years. I know without a shadow of a doubt that I will never return to smoking because of Accupucture only for me. Some people don-t need as many sessions as I did. I was ok with the not smoking after only a couple of sessions but I wanted to make sure I never smoked again, so I kept going for 3 months. Here in the US you may not be so lucky in obtaining sessions for free as I received them in Canada being Canadian, who knows, I don-t. There may be programs out there that help people stop smoking as they have in Canada. It is one of many programs to try and there must be something the US government implements to help people quit as it is in the Country-s best interest for overall health to live longer as proven medically. IAccupucture does work but not for everyone and is worth a shot because nothing worked for me. I wish you much luck. If you want it bad enough, you will and can do it! Im prime example of that because as sad as it sounds I did enjoy smoking at one time but not now! It is not easy but you can do this! Good luck!
Deborah
I don-t no weather you consume alcohol or not, if you do stay away from any place that serves alcohol, cause I know from experience that alcohol makes you want to smoke.
Another tip that I can give you is to refrain from all caffeine as this will also give you the urge to smoke.
Hang around in all the non smoking areas you can, such as restaurants (non smoking areas)pizza parlors,church.
Keep natural snacks on hand, such as carrot sticks, apples etc.etc.this will help you ,
I hope this will help you and good luck with your quest.
Dont sit around!!! All you will do is think about it, I read in a previous post to get some thing to chew on I used those little straws you stir coffee with you can chew the heck out of them and they are somthing for your mouth and hands to do. Like a few on here I have only been off them for a short time...it has been a month, but I quit cold turkey after trying a few other times using the -cut down- method and patches only problem is is that your body is still getting nicotine, the first week is hard....the first weekend is hell particularly if you like to enjoy a few beers on the weekend. Also workout...you may remeber as a kid being able to run around and having energy, well that comes back mighty quick once youve stopped, I am working out to replace the smoking and I have lowerd my heart rate by 15 bpm at rest and I can do 40 min of cardio and still breath, not to mention walk up the stairs without feeling like I might pass out. I had smoked for 12 years and now that I am off of them I feel great and you know what I look better too, your skin kinda turns color from maybe the lack of oxygen or whatever, but it really does affect the way you not only feel, but look too. I am not going to say it is easy because it is not and even after a month with no nicotine I still have odd little cravings, but I am staying away for good and getting my life and my health back not to mention that you will save between $1400 to upwards of $1900 a year. Good luck and I hope you can finally achieve your goal!! And definatly count the weeks because you tell people and they say good job and you feel proud of yoursef and that keeps you motivated.
I smoked for 29 years and quit 8 months ago. I did it cold turkey but I have no problem with NRTs - whatever it takes to quit putting the poison in your system that comes from the smoke, not necessarily the nicotine.
The other quit aid that I stumbled across was a website - www. quitnet.com. It is an online support group that really made it possible for me to quit. Check it out and you-ll find people on there who smoked multiple packs a day for 30 and 40 years who were able to quit with the help of quitnet.
One last piece of advice: I was lucky because my quit worked the first time I tried. I have known numerous people on quitnet that had to quit several times before they were successful. KEEP TRYING!!!!
Good luck - the outcome is worth the effort to get there!
You will get to a point where you cannot stand smoke or smoking anymore, and that is when you will decide you have had enough. Sometimes it is because a loved one is lost or sick because they smoked, but you will know when the time is right. When i quit, each time I wanted one, I would convince my self to wait another hour and see how I feel then. That time would pass, and I would try it again. Good Luck! it is soooo hard, but sooo worth it.
theres no 1 method that works on everybody so im gonna just tell ya how i did it. I always promised myself that i would quit b4 i turned 30 , cause thats the age were i felt my health would not ever get better and i would suffer from cancer. well 30 came in nov. and dec. i was still smoking, this really hurt because i had gotten used 2 being let down by most other people but when i knew that i was the only one responsable for my bad nasty life threatening habit , i knew that i had to really give a whole hearted effort. so some time towards the end of december i caught another nasty cold ,( like many smokers often do) i thought right now would be a good time to throw these nasty things into the garbage, ( crushed so i wouldnt dig them back out). i chewed gum and carried mints in my shirt pocket where i used to keep my cigs, cause the habit of reaching for that pocket was still there.i also did other lil things like the rubberband on the wrist so when i thought that reaccuring thought of having a cig would pop up i would just pull the rubberband and let it go and it would sting so i was replacing the good thought of a cig with instant pain, just lil mind tricks like that along with real pain really starts to sink in to those places that would have felt even greater pain had i lit a cig. i also put the money i would have spent on cigs in the bank and had a thousand dollars saved up b4 i knew it. i took my family on a camping trip at the end of the year and carried ten one hundred dollar bills around during the small vac. spending it on my family felt so much better than making the tobaco company exec.s richer.I also hate the smell of tobaco smoke and i think that was one of the biggest things that helped turn the tide in my favor . good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There is a new medicine out now called Chantix. It-s WONDERFUL in my opinion, I-ve tried lots of other methods and failed. I was able to quit with this pretty easily, but you also have to make the commitment to quit - stick with it. It took away my urge to smoke. It-s not covered by insurance but to me it was well worth the cost. Good luck.
I quit cold turkey!!But it was about the 10th time I tried, I have been smoking for almost 20 years. If you can make it through the 3rd and 4th day you can do it, those are the withdrawl days. Instead of smoking you have to find other things to occupy your time, my husband and I both quit at the same time. The hardest time seemed to be after dinner, we started drinking coffee instead of smoking, and then we started excersing for 20 minutes just until the craving passed. I found that cough drops (I use Ricola) help with the urges as well, I tried the commit lozenges, but they really burn your throat and keep you hooked on the nicotine, the cough drops give you the same sensation and they are cheaper. I have had a couple of slips, but I continue to keep trying to quit everyday. Good Luck.
That-s more than half the battle, you have to want to quit. Then I suggest getting the patch, that is the best way.....
I have found that the best way for me to quit and stay quit is with support. Quitting smoking is the hardest thing that I have ever done. I go regularly to meetings at yahoo groups. http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/lobbyville/cal
I don-t know if is spam or not, but this has been the biggest help to me. I was a smoker for about 25 years smoking 1 1/2 packs a day. I have now been quit for: I have been quit for 1 Month, 1 Day, 2 hours, 32 minutes and 41 seconds (32 days). I have saved $191.82 by not smoking 802 cigarettes. I have saved 2 Days, 18 hours and 50 minutes of my life. My Quit Date: 12/29/2006 5:00 AM.
There are lots of people to help here that have gone through and are going through what you are.
Good Luck
Debbie
1. Visit with your smoking Friends, hospital where they treat asthma,lung cancer,TB patients
2. Try to stop those habits which demands cigarette afterward or before!
3. Remove things away, which reminds you cigarette eg. ashtrays cigarette cases and smoking Friends(for a while atlest)
4. Just control that time with full determination when you urge cigarette most,even if just one puff, instead drink a glass of water
5. Instead of tea, coffee,spicy food,alcohol which seems great with cigarette try lemon,Orange,grapes drinks
6. Fill the vacuum of cigarette pleasure, with some sports,marshal arts. they give you that adrenal rush which helps filling the missed pleasure of cigarette in hand!
7. Be happy about your enhanced young glow on face,vitality and stamina, as you get all this simply because you quit smoke
MY GOOD FRIEND, THE ANSWER IS SIMPLE. YOU WILL DIE (SOONER) SMOKING! YOU MUST WANT TO STOP SMOKING, SMELL BETTER AND JUST SIMPLY WANT TO LIVE LONGER AND HEALTHIER. IF YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DO ANY OF THESE IT WILL NEVER WORK!!!
I STOPPED COLD TURKEY ONE MONTH AGO USING THE FOLLOWING INSPIRATIONAL WORDS FROM BOB MARLEY (A SMOKER HIMSELF AND WE KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM):
- EMANCIPATE YOURSELF FROM MENTAL SLAVERY....NONE BUT YOURSELF CAN FREE YOUR MIND -.
HAS BEEN WORKING FOR ME SO FAR JUST FINE, NO PATCH, NO PILLS, JUST THE WILL TO ENJOY THIS RELATIVE SHORT TIME I HAVE BEEN GIVEN ON THIS EARTH!
GOOD LUCK.
It-s all how you think about quiting. For me, I just put them down on the counter, in plain site. I never told my self that I could not have one. ( the reason for that is, because if you tell your self you can-t have something you want it more. same thing with food and dieting)
I just challenged my self to see how long I could go with out one. I went one day, then two, three, a week, etc... Also a good point I would like to make is, I didn-t tell anyone what I was doing, so they could not add pressure to me. That-s what worked for me, I have been smoke free for almost 18 years now. Good Luck!
How did you quit smoking? -