How can I quit smoking when I live with a smoker? -
Even though he smokes outside and I can smell it on his clothes and breath. Then reason i do it bcuz it relives a little stress. What are other methods?
----Keep Busy
----Stay Away from What Tempts You
----Managing Cravings: When you really crave a cigarette
Remember: The urge to smoke will come and go. Try to wait it out. Or look at the plan you made last week. You wrote down steps to take at a time like this. Try them! You can also try these tips:
?Keep other things around instead of cigarettes. Try carrots, pickles, sunflower seeds, apples, celery, raisins, or sugarfree gum.
?Wash your hands or the dishes when you want a cigarette very badly. Or take a shower.
?Learn to relax quickly by taking deep breaths.
?Take 10 slow, deep breaths and hold the last one.
?Then breathe out slowly.
?Relax all of your muscles.
?Picture a soothing, pleasant scene.
?Just get away from it all for a moment.
?Think only about that peaceful image and nothing else.
?Light incense or a candle instead of a cigarette.
?Where you are and what is going on can make you crave a cigarette. A change of scene can really help. Go outside, or go to a different room. You can also try changing what you are doing.
?No matter what, don-t think, -Just one won-t hurt.- It will hurt. It will undo your work so far.
there is alot of help for you on ....... www.smokefree.gov....... ^_^ good luck
It is hard to quit with another smoker near by. I haven-t had a smoke since Monday. If I lived with a smoker, that wouldn-t have been possible. It takes a lot of willpower to not go buy a pack a smokes but much more to resist when you live with someone who can quickly give you a fix. I am a pack a day smoker and I have done this before and it lasted for years before I went back. If you stop, it will be hard to even kiss your man because after a few days( weeks) of not smoking, the smell on him will gross you out. I would try to get him to stop also but don-t do it cold turkey. Its too hard. Both of you can still enjoy smoking together but cut it back a little every day until your down to maybe 4 or 5 for the day, then both stop at the same time.
Mandy,
I-ve to say that your situation hmm is a little bit tough because during the first 2 weeks of quitting you need to stay away from anything related to cigarettes. You are still weak during these first 2 weeks and still tempted to smoke - nicotine dependency is still there.
However, still if you really want to quit smoking, there are 2 ways for you in this situation :
1) Condition your mind for 30 days that smoking is bad and stop smoking is good. List down all the bad things about smoking (you can make up some bad points as well) and read them everyday for 30 days when you just wake up from sleep. Soon your brain starts to believe that smoking is bad and it-s going to be easy for you the moment you quit on 31st day. I-m serious here, this is not a mumbo jumbo but conditioning of your mind (kinda brainwash if you want to look at different angle)
2) If you don-t want to do the first method, you have to move out. You need to stay away from her/him but of course you have to tell him in a nice way. This doesn-t mean you have to end your friendship. Tell him/her that you need him/her to understand your situation. If she/he really cares about you, she/he can accept that.
May be you can think of other options? How about you persuade him/her to stop smoking together with you ? How about him/her being your stop-smoking buddy ? :)
Hi Mandy
yep that-s a toughie.. but it is doable, a number of people in my support group live with practicing smokers.. in time some come around and actually quit, but don-t hold your breathe..you are not alone..
most of my friends simply made up their mind they wanted to quit regardless of their roommates, or spouses, and did that, his willingness to smoke outside is a biggie..
you say that smoking relieves a little stress, actually smoking nearly postpones stress, and you light up again later.. support group people have a bunch of ways to deal with that stress, actually we call them
cravings..
1 Distract.. (do something else) for instance you cant wash dishes and smoke at the same time..
2 Delay (i don-t need one now) a series of delays is real time and a quit
3 Discuss.. we call each other on phone or im the internet..
4 Deep breathe.. most smokers only breathe deeply when they take a drag.
5 Drink water..that-s right drinking water cures cravings as well as flushes toxins from the body..
you may have guessed by now ,that im a member of a support group.. i have been clean from tobacco for over 5 years now.. i attend Nicotine Anonymous meetings, both locally, and on line.. on line voice meetings are as close as your computer, and your welcome to attend meetings before actually attempting a quit..
however you decide to proceed god luck!! there simply is no wrong way to quit!!
Nicotine Anonymous is a Non-Profit 12 Step Fellowship of men and women helping each other live nicotine-free lives. Nicotine Anonymous welcomes all those seeking freedom from nicotine addiction, including those using cessation programs and nicotine withdrawal aids. The primary purpose of Nicotine Anonymous is to help all those who would like to cease using tobacco and nicotine products in any form. The Fellowship offers group support and recovery using the 12 Steps as adapted from Alcoholics Anonymous to achieve abstinence from nicotine.
I feel for you. Quitting is hard enough without someone else smoking in the house. I-ve tried various times to give up in the past and failed again and again. I find advice such as eating carrots, celery and gum useless as ultimately what my body is yearning for is to smoke a cigarette not eat vegetables. And anyway there is only so many carrots you can eat at the end of the day.
My wife smokes. She seems to give up easily whenever i try quitting and then when I re-start, she eventually starts again which makes me feel terrible.
This is a process that has happened a few times. Then eventually my wife bought a smoking alternative ie. an electronic cigarette. She begun smoking that and asked me to give it a go at least when I was at home. I did and although i have smoked the odd cigarettes now and again (not at home) I always revert to the e cig. It helps me because ultimately I enjoy the social side of smoking which makes it difficult for me to quit permanently.Its acts as my safety net.
At the end of the day though you still need a certain amount of will power - even with an electronic cigarette. Its just made a lot easier for me not having to deal with both the cravings and what to do instead of smoking while having a cup of coffee, out socialising or after a meal etc.
You can find out more here
http://smokersbuddy.com
Good luck. Remember to take it a day at a time.
it-s called willpower. some have it, some don-t.