How can i quit smoking? -
i gave up weed fairly painlessly about a year ago and now i want to quit cigarettes too, i-ve been chewing nicotine gum, but keep needing to smoke (first thing in the morning, after food, after work etc) i am smoking less than i used to but the urge is still there even though i-m getting nicotine from the gum
Make a list of all of the reasons you want to quit (i.e. Your health, your family, finances, to impress girls) on a sturdy piece of paper and keep it with you at all times. When you feel a craving come on, take it out and slowly read through each item until you are reminded exactly why you are quitting.
Practice deep breathing techniques. When an urge arises, count slowly to ten while taking deep, full breathes of air. Concentrate on a comforting image in your mind and let yourself work through the craving.
Learn to recognize and anticipate triggers - those situations that cause you to want to smoke a cigarette. If you can learn to anticipate those triggers, you will have a better chance of avoiding situations that cause them.
Find out what relaxes you, helps you release stress, and makes you calm. Maybe it-s soothing music, a hot bath, meditation, prayer, reading a book, or a combination of more than one. Do these things often, especially if you feel a nicotine craving coming on.
Join a Nicotine support group. Whether it is an in-person group meeting or an online discussion forum, having the support, encouragement and sympathy of other people in your situation will make the process of staying quit much easier. Go to the official site of Nicotine Anonymous to find a support group in your area, or see About.com-s page on Quit Smoking Support Groups.
Don-t smoke! Not even one cigarette. Not even a puff. You may be tempted to have just one cigarette to get you through a particularly stressful time, or because it-s a special occasion, or any number of other excuses that you can use to justify smoking. Don-t do it. This is the surest way to a relapse. Stop and think about all the work you-ve put in so far and how far you-ve come. Starting again will send you back to square one.
cold Turkey is the only way, but you need to know what is going to happen. Plus you might be -habit- smoker, i.e you need to have something in your hands, or miss the physical aspect.
The worst symptoms are in the 1st 2 weeks, then they start to get better, each craving only lasts 3 minutes so you need to occupy yourself. It will take 6 months for the cravings to go fully and even years later you will still be tempted.
The being snappy with people only lasts about 2 weeks also, if you know these things will happen you can be prepared.
Failing that try patches in stead like the 24 hour ones INSTEAD of gum, because it would suggest you need nicotine before you get up in the morning. If the first thing you do is have a fag when you get up you need 24 hr if it is after a coffee and getting dressed etc then try a 16 hour that you take off at night.
These things cause side effects like nightmares and other strange symptoms, also they are active on the body for 4 hours after removal. So don-t use gum or remove them to smoke, as it is possible to get nicotine poisoning this way.
Go to your pharmacist for a full consultation to get the best product for you. Don-t be tempted to buy them in the supermarket or local shop, they do not have the expertise to help you buy the correct products.
I haven-t smoked for seven months now so I know a bit about it. Before you give up properly go to amazon and get the Allen Carr book. He smoked 100 cigs a day and gave up and he talks you into not wanting to smoke.
It-s a drug addiction so at first it isn-t easy but after a while you wonder why you smoked in the first place. For the first couple of days I couldn-t take not having something with a coffee, so I went to Holland and Barrat and got some herbal cigs. The nicer ones are TB something or other, or if you get Honeyrose, get the mild ones in the light blue packet. They-re not that nice so I only smoked them for a couple of days and of course they-re as bad for you as smoking, but as they don-t contain nicotine they helped me to keep off real cigs. You might even have one and then throw the rest away as they aren-t that nice.
I was going mental for the first few days it was so difficult. I had the strong patches at first, then I went to the lower dose and I didn-t finish the packet of the lower dose as I went onto the chewing gum. Nicorette in Fresh Fruit is the nicer flavour. After a while it gets so easy. I couldn-t imagine smoking now and when I have a coffee I don-t even think of smoking. For a while I would read the Allen Carr book with a coffee to give my hands something to do.
Just think of yourself as any other drug addict and how silly they are to not feel bad for a few weeks to be more healthy and feel better. Get a quitkeeer you can download and when you click on it it tells you how much money you have saved and other things.
They tell you to throw away all your cigs and smoking things but I didn-t throw away anything. I was worried about withdrawal symptoms so I kept a packet in my cupboard and they-re still there. In a way it made me feel good to know they were there and I was strong enough to not give in. You-ve got to pick a day that you know is the start of a new life.
I was told there wasn-t anything I could do about putting on weight but I have even lost weight since giving up. I was fat and lazy while I smoked, as I used to sit in front of the TV smoking, but now I have so much more energy and I walk more and go to the gym. The amount a cig speeds up your heart rate to speed up your metabolism isn-t anything compared to what a walk does. It-s much easier to stop now as we can-t smoke as much in public places. I think going to the gym helped me a lot as it helped me to get into a new lifestyle.
I think the mental thing is the most difficult, but you also go through physical changes. I had really bad wind and stomach cramps. The withdrawal symptoms are almost like a hunger, so try drinking more water to fill you up. You will feel more thirsty. I woke up with this feeling of the biggest hunger ever and I knew a cig would make me feel normal but I didn-t have one.
I look back on all that now and know I will never smoke again because I feel so great. It-s worth feeling like that for a while as smoking is like any other addiction and you just smoke to feel normal. You think a cig is making you feel good, but all you-re really doing is making yourself feel like a non-smoker feels all the time.
Join an online forum and you can talk to others in the same positon.
I stopped about three months ago, and can honestly say I do not miss it. I smoked over 20 a day and stopped by going to my local GP practice. They go through what the best way to quit would be, and initially I had an inhalator and gum. The good thing about the inhalator is you still have the smoking action and it gives you something to do with your hands. I stopped using it after a couple of weeks and just stuck to the gum, I am still using it and intend to for at least the next six months, possibly longer. Until I am sure that I will never smoke again.
It could be that you are using the wrong strength gum. Perhaps you need the 4mg to start off with. I also found that when I used mint or fruit flavour, I still craved the nicotine, but when I use the freshmint, I don-t, and it is far more pleasant. I do still want the nicotine first thing in the morning and after food, but I find the gum satisfies me. Now I am on 2mg and although for the first few days I did notice the difference, you quickly adjust. Some days I don-t need so many pieces, other days I seem to need more. See your local GP and get the support and advice that you need, you will get there.
Did you notice you didn-t say how important this is to you? You said you want to do it, but you didn-t say how much.
Spend some time thinking about how important this is to you. You might not realise it, but doing so will force you to come to a more serious frame of mind and that will motivate you to get real about quitting.
Just ask yourself why you would want to quit. Then ask yourself how important is it that I quit smoking altogether? Just stay with that thought and see where it takes you. If you are willing to focus your mind on the importance of quitting like this I can guarantee you that it will strengthen your will power to quit. It is when we sort of want to do something that it gets put on the back burner and never gets done.
Bring the whole thing front and center and focus on it. You will soon have that extra motivation only you can provide, and you will be able to provide it because you will have spent some serious time thinking about how important it really is to you.
i-ve managed to give up for 8 weeks now with the help of evry NRT except patches.. they make my skin red raw and itchy. But the hardest thing ive found id the physical need for the hand to mouth action of smoking so got an inhalator which has really done the trick and has kept me sane. Try it and the lozengers really help too.. especially when you cant chew gum.
Just keep on going and maybe even writting a letter to your ex friends the cigerette is good to.. Literally, write a letter saying goodbye as they have been your demon friend for 12 yers.
All the best and dont give up trying!!!
honestly, the urge will always be there. sorry to tell you that. i smoked for 14 years and the only thing that made me stop was getting pregnant.
i STILL want one. especially with a beer, or when i smell someone else light up.
my grandmother hasn-t smoked in 37 years, and she said she still has cravings every now and then. it-s all about willpower. never give in to the first drag once you make the decision to quit. don-t even -bum- one. i read somewhere that i takes 7 drags of a cigarette to be right back where you were before you quit.
Just hang in there. I gave up after 24 years of smoking. I used the gum as well, but I believe the patches are better. It does get better eventually, don -t give up! I wouldn-t thank you for a cigarette now, in fact I hate the smell of them. YOU CAN DO IT!
I had to use prescription strength medication. I used Wellbutrin (also known as Zyban) and quit smoking in 2 weeks... I smoked for 10 years prior to that.
Talk to you doctor. But watch out for side effects.. I ended up getting hives.
will be in the same boat soon join a give up smoking group ask your gp or chemist , but will power is the key the group will encourage and support you but it does get easier i gave up years ago and a fool to takeit up again
If you do not want to use pills, when you go to the store do not even look towards the cigarettes, try getting some cold water. It really does help.
It-s easy to give up drugs, and alcohol, but tobacco is the tough one. Just go cold turkey, the 4th month is the hardest, apparently.
It-s both an addiction - a habit; get some counselling.
Smoking - using gum is not reducing the nicotine.
Have you seen a picture of a lung has has been damaged because of cancer? Look at one, maybe you-ll stop smoking then.
just go cold turkey or try to find something else addicting, besides drugs, to replace it.
talk to your doc. he/she will know what to do