Any good suggestions for quitting smoking?

I really hate it; my car stinks, I feel tired after backpacking, and its a waste of $$$

Do the patches work? Gum?

Thanks for any personal advice....

 

[Ogg]

If you really want to quit then use hypnosis. It works, cost me about $300.

 

[Looney]

Here's a surefire way to quit smoking.

Go cold turkey, but allow yourself to cheat when you need to. Only caveat is, everytime you do, you only smoke a single cigarette then throw away the rest of the pack. This will allow you to really gauge how much you need that smoke.

Sure, it can be expensive, but i doubt you'll smoke more than 1 or 2 a day, and it won't last longer than a couple of weeks.

 

[Azraele]

If you're good at imaging, then you can try this. Everytime you hold a cigarette in your hand or smell the smoke, picture as vividly as you can the most disgusting, repulsive, gag inducing object you can think of. Take maggoty rotted meat for example. See the maggots squirming, smell the rancid odor...you get the idea.

The purpose of this exercise is to realign associations from smoking as positive (relaxing, whatever) to negative.

 

[captains]

start by not smoking in your car or house, make yourself go outside, i know lots of people who would chew on a drink stir as a replacement for a cig.....

 

Originally posted by: Moralpanic
Here's a surefire way to quit smoking.

Go cold turkey, but allow yourself to cheat when you need to. Only caveat is, everytime you do, you only smoke a single cigarette then throw away the rest of the pack. This will allow you to really gauge how much you need that smoke.

Sure, it can be expensive, but i doubt you'll smoke more than 1 or 2 a day, and it won't last longer than a couple of weeks.

That sounds like a damn fine idea! Cheaper than other solutions i saw...

 

[ZeroNine8]

every time you cheat, just cut off a finger. You won't even be through with a pack before you can't cheat anymore.

 

Originally posted by: captains
start by not smoking in your car or house, make yourself go outside, i know lots of people who would chew on a drink stir as a replacement for a cig.....

I dont smoke at home, I have that amount of self control.

 

[CraigRT]

I know people who use the patch and apparently it works... but still not easy to quit smoking once you're addicted.

 

Has anyone tried the gum?

 

[Fausto]

Try to get some exercise in as much as you can. The nice endorphin kick should help somewhat with cravings.

 

Originally posted by: CraigRT
I know people who use the patch and apparently it works... but still not easy to quit smoking once you're addicted.

I am 24, been smoking since 20, not really long but enough that im hooked.

 

[Ausm]

Has anyone tried that smoke away program?

Is it BS?


Ausm

 

[captains]

Originally posted by: Phocas
Has anyone tried the gum?

i work with a guy that quit smokin and uses the gum.......he spends more on nicoret (sp?) than it would to keep buying cigs


do the uncle buck plan.....cigs, cigars, pipes, chewing tobacco

 

Originally posted by: captains

Originally posted by: Phocas
Has anyone tried the gum?

i work with a guy that quit smokin and uses the gum.......he spends more on nicoret (sp?) than it would to keep buying cigs


do the uncle buck plan.....cigs, cigars, pipes, chewing tobacco

lol

 

[Shanteli]

See I stopped just cuz I'm too lazy to go to the store to get another pack But if I see anyone smoking I immediately want one.

 

[y2kc]

I found that cold-turkey works best. The first 3-5 days are incredibly hard but it gets easier after that. Keep in mind that a craving lasts about 5 -10 minutes (at best) so if you can control yourself during that critical time you'll be ok. It was one of the hardest things I've done but if you are really ready to quit and determined to quit it is very possible.

I also joined an on-line support group on (MSN) that I would frequent when the cravings were bad and read the forums for inspiration. I'd also check out the pictures of the 30 YOs that died from lung cancer and it gave me even more motivation.

You can do it. It really is a matter of making up your mind that you really do not want to smoke anymore. When you place yourself in control, you see the cravings as nothing more than an uncomfortable feeling, not an urge you cannot deny. The strength of the will can get you through this. The first week is hell but it's well worth it.

edit: the next time you feel an urge, don't smoke. you will see that the urge will pass (just to see that it does eventually go away) . I would also suggest that you set a quit date and stick to it to get your mind focused on the task at hand. The smokeout is in 2 days, that would be a good day to make it happen.

Good Luck

 

[rayray2]

I was a smoker for 15 years and finally made up my mind to quit early last year. Haven't smoked a cigarette since 01/17/02.

What really helped me a lot was reading this page and this page whenever I'd get an urge to smoke. Good luck!

 

[Alex]

no... the guy that said go cold turkey and cheat ... that doesnt work... here's my story from 2 months ago...

been trying to quit on and off for years, i finally decided i was ready, had my last smoke, and bam. cold turkey. it worked fine for 32 days, then i got hammered on a buddys bday, had a smoke, and ive slowly started again (although i dont buy packs, just bum them).

so the bottom line is, quitting smoking is a lot about wanting to do it, a lot of ppl say "i wanna quit" but deep down inside they dont really wanna... if you can convince yourself that you dont need to smoke, you'll be fine, and once you havent had a smoke for a week, the cravings will pretty much go away and you will feel like youre on a roll and wont want to start up again...

 

[y2kc]

Originally posted by: franguinho
no... the guy that said go cold turkey and cheat ... that doesnt work... here's my story from 2 months ago...

been trying to quit on and off for years, i finally decided i was ready, had my last smoke, and bam. cold turkey. it worked fine for 32 days, then i got hammered on a buddys bday, had a smoke, and ive slowly started again (although i dont buy packs, just bum them).

so the bottom line is, quitting smoking is a lot about wanting to do it, a lot of ppl say "i wanna quit" but deep down inside they dont really wanna... if you can convince yourself that you dont need to smoke, you'll be fine, and once you havent had a smoke for a week, the cravings will pretty much go away and you will feel like youre on a roll and wont want to start up again...

i agree 100%

 

[dullard]

While I've never smoked, I've watched a lot of family members and friends stop smoking. In all cases, everything they tried failed UNTIL they truely decided that they wanted to quit. For example my dad tried everything, including the gum (when it was a prescription) and all he did was get addicted to the more costly gum. He tried patches, hypnosis, cold turkey, etc. all without success. One day he started having heart problems (skipping many beats each minute) and the doctor said that the nicotine is a major cause of the heart problems. That day he decided to stop smoking and never smoked again (his heart problem went away).

That same story applies to every other person I knew that quit. Sure they wanted to quit before, but they didn't want to quit more than ANYTHING else in the world - so it always failed. Take my mother-in-law for another example. She smoked for 20 years and nothing could stop her. Then she found out one of her daughter's asthma was getting much worse and was caused by the smoking. The choice came down to (A) her daughters life or (B) the cigarettes. She never smoked again.

In my opinion, the best way is to really, really want it and then just go cold turkey. The worst cravings of all last just 10 minutes and many last for less than 30 seconds. Just grin and bear it. After a few days you'll be over it. Yes it is a bad few days, but all it takes is a little determination. Of course once you quit, you need to realize how bad smoking was and just never start up again.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Destroy the cigs you have and don't buy anymore.

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: franguinho
no... the guy that said go cold turkey and cheat ... that doesnt work... here's my story from 2 months ago...

been trying to quit on and off for years, i finally decided i was ready, had my last smoke, and bam. cold turkey. it worked fine for 32 days, then i got hammered on a buddys bday, had a smoke, and ive slowly started again (although i dont buy packs, just bum them).

That's not the same as my method. Of course you're going to start smoking again if you do what you did, you're just continuing associating smoking with a reward (drinking with friends). My way, everytime you smoke, you not only feel guilt about the smoking itself, but there's a penalty, the cost of an entire pack of cigarettes. Not too many people can keep this up for too long, and eventually they'll come to the point where their habit is not so enjoyable anymore (getting over the nicotine addiction is easy, that only takes a few days, it's the habit that's harder), because it's costing them so much.

Those who think this is too 'expensive' a way or looking for an easy cheat like hypnosis, aren't serious about quitting. If you're serious, some sacrifice is going to be required. Sacrifice : Giving up something good for something better.

 

[lokiju]

Best way to help yourself quit is to number 1 - keep yourself away from it all together, do not under rate this, the more you are around it, the more you will crave it, and I made a point to stay away from smoking and drinking as much as possible. After about 2 or 3 weeks I was doing fine. Now 6 months later I can be around it and even out drinking and not even have a desire to have one.

 

Well today is the day for me. I really do want to quit.
I just finished a pack and I am not going to get another pack. I thought about the buy one pack if i couldnt handle it, but i'm a student so $10 for two cigarettes would be a bit much. My only really bad times are in my car, other than that its not horrible. I will keep this updated as to my sucess.

However I am going to the store and loading up on Jolly Ranchers and gum .