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Help me quit smoking Anandtech...

U

Udel

Senior member
I've been trying to quit cigarettes for 3 years now, nothing has worked for me. Any ex-smokers or anyone who can help please give me any advice you have as to how to quit smoking. Thanks.
 
Why don't you just stop smoking?

Seriously, not trolling, just don't smoke.

Just put the cigarette down and don't smoke. Problem fixed.

I know it's addictive, but in the end, you're the one lighting it and putting it in your mouth and sucking in the smoke.
 
Originally posted by: JLGatsby
Why don't you just stop smoking?

Seriously, not trolling, just don't smoke.

Just put the cigarette down and don't smoke. Problem fixed.

I know it's addictive, but in the end, you're the one lighting it and putting it in your mouth and sucking in the smoke.
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And, its just a keyboard, and in the end, your just the idiot punching the keys and hitting the reply button.
 
Gatsby, I want to, every part of me tells me to quit... I wish I could understand what makes me keep coming back.
 
Originally posted by: Udel
Gatsby, I want to, every part of me tells me to quit... I wish I could understand what makes me keep coming back.
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Then don't. No matter how hard it is. Don't.

Print the word "Don't" on pieces of paper and put them on the walls around your house.

Repeat it to yourself and rev yourself up with anti-smoking momentum everytime you get an urge. Like it's a challenge.

If you're not willing to do drastic measures, you must not want to quit that bad.
 

Have you tried the patches or the gum? I assume you've tried getting rid of ALL smoking-related stuff at home, and stopped hanging out at places where a lot of people smoke?
 
Originally posted by: Udel
Gatsby, I want to, every part of me tells me to quit... I wish I could understand what makes me keep coming back.
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Yeah it's not easy at all. The sheer will power method does work for some but your best bet is to get support from those around you. Rule number one is to get rid of any lying around the house. Then get your friends to pressure you everytime they see you with one. It is you that have to make the decision, but you don't (and shouldn't) have to do it by yourself.
 
Try to picture what may or may not happen when your body has deceased: your mind gone; you can no longer breath the fresh air, hug your loved ones, or taste the ambrosia of life.
 
I have a method, but very few people will even attempt it... they think it's a waste of money... but how much is your health worth? How much are you willing to pay for devices or drugs or therapy to help you quit?

My method is simple... you can smoke, but you need to throw the pack of smoke out after you have the cigarrete. So go cold turkey, but you'll get urges, and you can cheat. Go open a pack of smoke, take out that single smoke, smoke it, and satiate that desire, then flush the rest down the toilet. Don't just toss it in the garbage, don't give it to friends, just flush it down... if you're out in a bar, crush it up and toss it in the garbage.

Smoking to you right now is enjoyable, even if you want to smoke. You need to make it painful... to your wallet. At first, you'll be cheating a lot. Probably twice a day. Eventually you'll start questioning each time you want to cheat... and you will really weight whether it's worth it or not... you'll convince yourself it was, but then after the smoke, and knowing you need to throw it away, that'll reinforce how worthless it really was.

Even 5 months down the road, when you're in a bar or something, and have the urging for some reason... you're allowed to cheat... but just have one, and toss it away. The reason why people start up again, is because they buy the pack, smoke it... but think they need to smoke the rest so it's not a waste. And the next thing you know, that pack has put you right back into the addiction.

Do it my way, and i highly doubt you'll spend more than $2-300. You just need to be willing to stick to flushing it down after every smoke.
 
For me, it was the ability to realize that even if my life was not worth living, and that I have no expectations, hopes or aspirations to be living at any time in the future, the odds are reasonable that I will be. Since that is the case, I may as well be existing miserably in the future without the added burden of difficulty breathing, chronic colds, a general feeling of shittiness and the risk of cancer. You don't have to give up suicidal ideation or even be a happy person - just resolve to kill yourself or be depressed properly.

You have to think like that day to day for a couple weeks, and then it will become easier.

Also, don't drink, or only drink around people who can't bum you cigarettes, or would seriously physically hurt you if you tried to bum or buy cigs (i.e. stay the hell away from people who won't support your sober decision when you change it drunk)
 
Originally posted by: Looney
I have a method, but very few people will even attempt it... they think it's a waste of money... but how much is your health worth? How much are you willing to pay for devices or drugs or therapy to help you quit?

My method is simple... you can smoke, but you need to throw the pack of smoke out after you have the cigarrete. So go cold turkey, but you'll get urges, and you can cheat. Go open a pack of smoke, take out that single smoke, smoke it, and satiate that desire, then flush the rest down the toilet. Don't just toss it in the garbage, don't give it to friends, just flush it down... if you're out in a bar, crush it up and toss it in the garbage.

Smoking to you right now is enjoyable, even if you want to smoke. You need to make it painful... to your wallet. At first, you'll be cheating a lot. Probably twice a day. Eventually you'll start questioning each time you want to cheat... and you will really weight whether it's worth it or not... you'll convince yourself it was, but then after the smoke, and knowing you need to throw it away, that'll reinforce how worthless it really was.

Even 5 months down the road, when you're in a bar or something, and have the urging for some reason... you're allowed to cheat... but just have one, and toss it away. The reason why people start up again, is because they buy the pack, smoke it... but think they need to smoke the rest so it's not a waste. And the next thing you know, that pack has put you right back into the addiction.

Do it my way, and i highly doubt you'll spend more than $2-300. You just need to be willing to stick to flushing it down after every smoke.
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:thumbsup: That sounds pretty good.
 
Get an out door cardio hobby/exercise and stick to it, hand out with non smoking friends/GF, stop going to bars, don?t go near smoker, have a calendar/routine/plan, eat healthy, and stick to the plan.

I'm a non smoker but most of my dad close friends quit smoking using the above method after my father died a horrible and slow death at the age of 53 from lung cancer (he was a smoker).

Good luck!
 
1. Lung cancer is bad for you, mmkay?
2. Looney's advice is good.
3. My advice, everytime you get the urge to smoke, toss the $ a pack of smokes would run you into a jar. When you're sure you've quit cold turkey, buy yourself a 2405FPW or something 😛
 
here are some tips. smoking is as much of a habit as it is a chemical addiction to nicotine. therefore to be successful you should really address both aspects of your smoking problem.

first of all, go see a doctor. he or she can prescribe various nicotine replacement products, and advise you on how to properly use them. you may also add an atypical antidepressant such as zyban or wellbutrin, which have been shown to increase the chance that you will successfully quit.

second, you need to kill your habit. remove cigarettes from where you live, work, drive, or elsewhere. avoid places where you smoke. for example if you take a lunch break to smoke, go somewhere else instead. don't just hang out in the same area and watch others smoke in front of you. do things to keep your hands and mouth busy. chew gum, type on anandtech, etc. you must break the habit of smoking as much as the physical dependence.

third, ask your doctor about the risks of smoking and the benefits of quitting. studies have shown that smoking greatly increases your risk of not only lung cancer, but also heart attacks, strokes, peripheral vascular disease, and worsens virtually every other medical condition known to man (with a few peculiar exceptions). but the good news it that studies have also shown that no matter when you quit, it is never too late to see the benefits of quitting. those with COPD see the progression of their disease slow. you immediately lower your risk of heart attacks and strokes. the health benefits are real and show improvement as soon as you quit.

fourth, cigarettes have many bad social outcomes. not only are you sicker, but it costs money, it smells bad, and it pisses a lot of people off. i'm sure you know all this, and that's why you want to quit. good job.

fifth, after getting these things in place, especially the nicotine, SET A QUIT DATE. that's a date after which you will not smoke. not a single cigarette. that's your extra motivation.

finally, if you cheat, start over. if you smoke one, then stop and start over. many people require several attempts to quit successfully, so don't give up. keep at it.

cliffs: go see your doctor, get help, and remember that smoking is as much of a habit as chemical dependence.

good luck. smoking is a terrible habit.
 
Different for everybody. Out of all the people that I know that quit each was a different method after trying different methods.

My wife quit using the patch.

My brother-in-law quit through hypnosis.

I've had friends who used the patch, gum, and losenges with success.

My parents quit cold turkey.

My best friend quit by chewing gum and he also used a straw with a bit of vicks vapor rub on it.

My best friends dad can't seem to quit at all. He usually has a peice of nicotine gum in while he is smoking............

Just keep trying..............
 
It's dammed tough. I quit in 2001...for 5 months...then fell off, and back to a pack a day. I quit in 2004 after my knee surgery. (couldn't get outside to smoke, and don't smoke in the house) for almost 18 months...fell off...back to a pack a day...just quit AGAIN, almost a month ago...we'll see...unlike most people, I NEVER did get over wanting one...I've had luck getting past the initial withdrawl and habit stage by using the patches, and the gum for those really hard times...
Funny, everytime I go back to it, it's not because I HAD to have one, but rather, because I thought...one won't hurt...
Admit that they are MOER ADDICTING than heroin, but legal and available EVERYWHERE, and MAYBE you can do it...don't depend on ONLY ONE method to be successful...try WHATEVER works for you. It may take a combination of things to work...
I can tell most of these people have never been addicts. "just quit" "don't smoke" "just say no"...if it were THAT easy, Nicoderm and the others wouldn't be needed, and the Marlboro Man wouldn't have died of lung cancer...
 
My best friends dad can't seem to quit at all. He usually has a peice of nicotine gum in while he is smoking............
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LOL found that funny..

But seriously this thread has helped.. I have set a quit date of end of May 2006 and have been slowly smoking less and less each day since March.

Not only less cigarettes per day, but less of each cigarette each time I do smoke. It probably isnt a proven method or anything, but personally in my own head I think its helping, so Im going to continue and try to kick it before the 31st comes around.
 
ANYTHING you can do, helps. What I've done in the past, is to slowly reduce the number of cigarettes each day, then, just before I'm ready to actually quit, I start wearing the patch, and cut down a little more for a few days...that helps to break the HABIT of going for a smoke all the time...then, when I'm comfortable with 4-5 per day, QUIT...then, that's when I start using the gum in place of the cigarettes I had been smoking...that 4-5 per day...Ain't easy...nothing will make it so, unless you're susceptible to hypnosis...I'm not...did nothing for me...(although I still cocka-doodle-doo every morning at sunrise) 😉
 
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