Day one down of trying to quit smoking, and am looking for a little advice!? -
I have been smoking for about 4 years, and I am on the patches, which helps the cravings, but not so much the mental addiction. I hate to admit it but today I smoked 1 cigarette and 4 puffs off another. I heard from a lot of people that deep breathing helps, and it hasn-t helped me at all! So I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas for me? Thanks!
It is not so much the nicotine addiction that you need to override here, it is the habit of smoking that you need to break....and it is the habit that keeps you reaching for cigarettes. Humans are creatures of habit and once we learn one, good or bad, it is a little tricky to unlearn it. Good news is it can be done!! When you get that urge to light up, stop what you are doing and very, VERY firmly tell your mind -NO!!-... take a deep breath and do something else, preferably something that involves keeping your hands busy. The more you tell your mind NO the more your mind will not ask for it...and it gets easier from there. If your mind is being persistent and really wants one, think about how uncomfortable you feel at that moment in time and if you have one cigarette, just one, you will have to experince this discomfort all over again....and it really isnt- worth it. These are the tricks that worked for me. I still have that habit calling out every so often, but not as strong as it used to be as I have already let my mind know that cigarettes are no longer an option. I have been smoke free since 3/6/03! You can do it!!!
it took me 15 years on and off to give up smokeing, I tried everything and what I found out over that period of time was that unless every single fibre of your being wants to stop smokeing it ain-t gonna happen, no matter what you try.
If you are 100% committed to stopping you can help yourself by avoiding anyone who smokes, not going anywhere that people in general smoke. The craveings actually only last for two or three minutes, when they are bad have a plan of action what are you gonna do? drink water, or take a walk what? don-t let them catch you unawares I wish you the best of luck giving up was the best thing I ever did, 8 years ago now.
The most important thing to do is to not pick up another cigarette, NO MATTER WHAT. Your body is going to scream and shout, because nicotine is about the most addictive substance there is, but your body is not in charge: your mind is, and you can -- and must -- tell your body to shut the f-ck up because it ain-t gonna happen.
Hi,
Unfortunately i don-t have any tips to offer at the moment but have planned tomorrow as my quit day so if you want any support (im sure ill be dealing with cravings tomorrow, uh oh) then feel free to email me.
Good luck and stick with it
xxx
iam against you smoking coz its so wrong completely wrong you can get killed for it you know
Try deep beathing and think of something else. Give youself a few minutes doing this and that should help.
Deep breathing will definitely helps you but have to wait and see
u can get these plastic ciggerette thingss, which are just nicotine which dont harm you at all .. ur doctor can subscribe them to you. :)
I just read about some research that found that people using the patch had a higher success rate if they used the patch a week /before/ they stopped! Too late to do that, but maybe you aren-t far off base.
Anyway, just about everyone I know cheated some on nicotine replacement therapy, so I wouldn-t let your slip-up get you down, I used the lozenges (which I liked better than the patches because you have more control over the dose) and occasionally I-d break down and smoke a cigarette. But over time, as I became accustomed to the lower nicotine levels, that urge went away, and eventually it got to the point where when I tried smoking it just grossed me out. So just keep the slip-ups as low as you can and have faith that the symptoms will go away with time.
As to the withdrawal symptoms -- they are that, not habit, the patch doesn-t give you the heavy, rapid dose of nicotine you-re used to, so it cushions the withdrawal rather than eliminates it -- I-ve never found that the deep breathing thing works either. Nothing does, very well, but I-ve found that sucking on hard candy helps. (Not sugarless, alas . . . the sugar seems to be what reduces the cravings.) Also exercise -- it can release endorphins. And, curiously, twirling an earring -- the ear lobe is in acupuncture point. Strange but true, a friend showed me that trick and it does help.
Mostly, stay away from stress if you can, and you-ll just have to ride it out. It will get better. And if this doesn-t work for you, get a prescription for Chantix. If you-re one of the people who can take it, it can be extremely effective.