Have you quit smoking? -
I am 35 and I have been smoking since I was 19. I really am thinking about quitting. Any suggestions how?
First, make an appointment with your doctor. He/She can review your smoking behavior and determine if and what stop smoking aid would be appropriate or helpful for you. Second, check out Nicotine Busters on Yahoo (
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Nic…
They have a wealth of information on smoking cessation. They also provide wonderful support. Third, check out
http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/…
this is a quiz to determine why you smoke. It might be helpful to take this quiz before you see your doctor.
Good Luck.
P.S. I smoked for 30+ years. I had my last cigarette on March 24, 2007
did u know every time u smoke 7 minutes each time comes off your life. That sentence should make you stop.
Yes. I quit cold turkey and it was painful for a while.
Good luck.
Smoking is as much habit as addiction. If you-ve smoked for 16 yrs, you-re certainly addicted to nicotine, but you also realize you smoke when hungry, angry, tired, bored, driving, on the phone, etc etc. All of those times and places are about the habit and probably account for the majority of the cigarettes you light in a day. So how do you deal with the habit... first you need a better understanding of when you smoke and what-s going on with your body in those moments prior to an urge. To explain this, I need to back track to when you started smoking and first became addicted to nicotine.
Nicotine is an extremely addictive substance and anyone who starts smoking with any regularity will soon become addicted. At it-s most basic, what that means is that when a smokers nicotine level drops, they begin to experience the first signs of nicotine withdrawal. Those signs are shallow breathing, general muscle tension (usually including neck and shoulders), foggy thinking, and a shift in mood (usually toward irritable or cranky). The signs of nicotine withdrawal become more and more intense until the smoker lights up and within 8-12 seconds nicotine has been carried through out the body and the signs of withdrawal have been relieved. It-s just that simple and just that fast... feel signs of withdrawal, light up and inhale, feel relief. Obviously it-s easy to see that it wouldn-t take long for that pattern to be established and become basic conditioned response. This leads us to the real problem with smoking and quitting... most of what we experience as -normal- life comes with physical signals that are just like nicotine withdrawal. And because smoking has become a conditioned response to -shallow breathing, muscle tension, foggy thinking, shifting mood-, we-ll reach for a smoke regardless of their source. (I include foggy thinking and shifting moods as physical cues because for smokers, these have a physiological base.)
Here are a couple of examples:
Anger - your breathing will become rapid and shallow, your body will become tense, depending on how angry you are your thinking may be very narrow focus and anger is nothing if not a sudden shift in mood. Did you light up when you were angry? Did you think you were smoking because you were angry? Or were you smoking -when- you were angry but -because- of the physical cues that come with anger?
Fatigue - may include slouched posture with shallow breathing, general muscle fatigue/ache/discomfort, thinking becomes sluggish, do you get impatient or cranky when tired? Did you light up when tired? Did you use cigs as a -pick me up- at just about every break during a task? Where you smoking to energize yourself or were you smoking -when- you were tired and -because- of the physical cues that come with fatigue?
Driving - we usually slouch behind the wheel so our breathing becomes shallow, we-re stuck in one position (at least one hand on the wheel, one foot on the gas/brake) and become more stiff/uncomfortable the longer the drive, attention must be on the road to some extent, and on today-s roads mood is very much a factor.
Did you smoke when you were driving? Could it be that you were smoking -when- driving and -because- of the physical cues that come with driving?
So how do we change this habit... we start by becoming aware of subtle physical cues that we-ve been connecting to a default smoking response. The easiest way to start to be aware is to use something like a kitchen timer to remind yourself to stop once an hour and pay attention... -is my breathing shallow? are there any tense muscles? what other physical cues can I identify?-. Within a short time (a few hours usually), you-ll find that you are more in tune with what your body needs at any particular moment. And as soon as you are more aware, you-re in a position to start providing appropriate responses. If your breathing isn-t as full as it could be, take a couple of proper deep breaths (check
http://deepsloweasy.com
for a breathing demo. Follow along until you-re comfortable) and do a bit of simple stretching (
http://howtostretch.com
and
http://ergocise.com
both have excellent basic stretching info).
There-s a bit more to this smoking cessation program, but this is where to start... discover what your body is telling you it needs and provide proper responses.
Congratulations on your decisions,
In addition to Lou-s suggestions, I-d say try to avoid hanging out with smokers. More likely it will make you want to smoke, which is not good.
Make new non smoker friends if necessary and do stuff with them.
It will get better with each new day!
Good luck and never give up!
I am now 67 years of age. I smoked since I was 17 years old. When I was 45 I decided to quit smoking. It was the hardest thing I have ever done!! But, with the help of Nicoret
gum and trial and error I finally succeeded. I have never been sorry. Now I am probably the worlds worst ex-smoker. I can-t stand to be around where anyone is smoking. The smell is awful and lingers in my nostrils forever. Try a help such as on of the anti-smoking gums,pills, etc. believe me it does help with the craving. GOOD LUCK!!!!
Contact the Quitline and join a Quit Smoking Clinic.
have you heard of Chantix?