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I decided to quit smoking

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Congrats, keep it up! I don't smoke but I have some friends who do/did - the only way I *ever* heard of any of them ever succeeding was going cold-turkey. Dunno if that's how it is for everyone, but those who I have talked to who have quit said they had to go flat-out cold-turkey to quit.
 
I tried to quit on my own but didn't have the willpower. Ended up getting hypnotized and it worked! It was so easy for me it was like cheating. I did think about it quite a bit just because my routine changed after quitting but I never had the desire to do it, in fact I trained myself to feel physically sick if I thought about cigarettes. Then after a month or so I would hardly think about it any more. After a few months it was a distant memory. Best $100 I ever spent.

I know others that have quit this way very easily, also know others that tried and it didnt work so it's not a silver bullet, just giving my experience.

Smoking a 3-5 a day doesnt cut it, like others have said you are still a smoker and it is far too easy to return to your old level. If you get hypnotized you don't have to suffer through cold turkey.
 
I quit cold turkey after smoking for 7 years straight.

It can be done but you just gotta do it, not screwing around B.S. like slowing down.

I've been smoke free for 3.5 years now.
 
That's the problem for me. I just love smoking. I love smoking when I'm driving, I love smoking after meals, I love smoking when I'm bored, when I'm doing homework, when I wake up, before I go to bed. Smoking is never bad. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't mind living a few years back when smoking was accepted anywhere.

Still, I wish it didn't cost so much. 🙁
 
Originally posted by: lyssword
studies have shown (nbc.com/health) that cutting back on cigarettes will not help cut risk of death, its same as if u smoke a lot of cigarettes, unless you quit.
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I don't see how that is possible. Link to actual study please?
 
Quitting smoking sucks!!! I did it about 6 months ago. I still have a cigarette like once a month, just because I still enjoy it. It makes me all light-headed and weird now though.
 
Originally posted by: theprodigalrebel
Updated status. May this inspire fellow ATOT smokers to quit and show solidarity with me.
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Good for you, sir - I'm planning to kick the cig/beer habit for the new year...

/soon to be on the bandwagon........
 
Originally posted by: theprodigalrebel
Updated status. May this inspire fellow ATOT smokers to quit and show solidarity with me.
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Good job! Keep a positive attitude the whole time and it'll seem to go by faster 🙂
 
Haven't you seen those anti-smoking commercials on tv?! That alone should be enough to stop you from putting those filthy things in your body!

Good luck and keep up the work, I wish my dad put in some more effort into quiting too.
 
Congrats and good luck! I'll be quitting smoking myself on Jan 1st because the price of cigs are going up and I'm not going to pay that much for them.
 
Dude its great that you want to quit, but as your learning (the hard way) "cutting down" isn't going to work ... after awhile just like everyone elso I know who tried it that way including me, you'll be right back to the same number of smokes you were using before you started.

You have to go cold turkey & I strongly suggest you do it now before your addiction is back to full steam... I did it after 10 years of 2+ packs a day & so can you.
 
Originally posted by: theprodigalrebel
Thanks guys. If possible, I will try and be clean by the time 2007 arrives.
Anyone here that quit cigarettes for good and never went back? How long did it take to totally quit?

I mean, not even the occasional smoke?
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I've done it twice in my life . I started smoking when i was 13 and smoked till i was 28 when i quit for 10 years, at 38 for no good reason i started again and smoked until i quit at 42 and am 53 now. I havn't had a cigarette in 11 years. For me it takes 6 mos. to a year to be "clean",by which i mean i have no cravings for a cigarette and am not aware that i am NOT smoking. I use the 'cold turkey' method.

I, and many friends of mine who also smoked have tried cutting down like you
are doing and it never works. Quitting means NO CIGARETTES. It's tough but worth it.
 
You gotta go cold turkey. It's the only way. The first few days are pure hell, but once you get past that it's smooth sailing.
 
Originally posted by: ManyBeers
Originally posted by: theprodigalrebel
Thanks guys. If possible, I will try and be clean by the time 2007 arrives.
Anyone here that quit cigarettes for good and never went back? How long did it take to totally quit?

I mean, not even the occasional smoke?
Click to expand...

I've done it twice in my life . I started smoking when i was 13 and smoked till i was 28 when i quit for 10 years, at 38 for no good reason i started again and smoked until i quit at 42 and am 53 now. I havn't had a cigarette in 11 years. For me it takes 6 mos. to a year to be "clean",by which i mean i have no cravings for a cigarette and am not aware that i am NOT smoking. I use the 'cold turkey' method.

I, and many friends of mine who also smoked have tried cutting down like you
are doing and it never works. Quitting means NO CIGARETTES. It's tough but worth it.
Click to expand...

Looking back, how is your quality of life different including those around you?
 
Originally posted by: theprodigalrebel
Update: It has been nine days since the thread came. I always feel sick, deprived and have a recurring headache problem. I stuck to a 3-5 average - even had a day with just TWO cigarettes. But yesterday, I couldn't handle it so I went out and bought a pack - smoked four cigarettes in quick succession. 🙁 So the count went up to eight for yesterday but hopefully, won't happen again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I started smoking in 2002. For the past two years, I had been consistently smoking a pack of cigarettes (20) a day - and to be honest, my decision to quit/reduce smoking had more to do with saving a few extra bucks than concern for my personal health 😉

It's 3:30AM where I live. I have been up since 12PM. And in these 15-odd hours, I have only smoked 5 cigarettes.

I have been maintaining a 4-6 average for the past 4 days. And I'm loving it. I don't know how I am doing it - no chewing gum all the time, nicotine patches or anything of that sort.

I just set my mind on this - and I think it's working. I want to get down to about 3 smokes a day - one after every meal and I think that will be just fine. Maybe I will quit for good, who knows? I do love these death-sticks and I am a little proud of what I have done in these last four days.

Hence this bragging thread. Wish me luck!
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man, it's tough. Don't beat yourself up if you go back to them, but keep trying to muster that willpower to quit.
my mother is on her second week with NO CIGARETTES. this is the longest she has ever quit. what *finally* did it for her was a scare with her health and being in the hospital with a lifelong smoker as a rommie who couldn't breathe w/o oxygen but told her that she would still smoke if she could.

 
I religiously smoked 2 packs/day of Marlboros for ~15 years. I quit Cold Turkey and haven't had a smoke, not even so much as a puff in....3 years. I think about it every single day and when I step outside and smell the first smoke off a freshly lit cigarette, my mouth waters, then.... I remember how awful it smells after the last puff and I am cool with it.

I wish you luck and would suggest quitting them completely as my wife is still on the Bullshiit trail of "Oh, I only smoke once in a while". That inevitably turns into a pack a day and then she decides to "quit" again.


The absoulte best thing about being a non-smoker is not having to fvcking quit smoking on the New Years Day. I used to HATE the first of the year and now I welcome it 😉

Good Luck!

Dave

 
😎
For everyone!

I have been a smoker for over 20 years. You will not quit until you are ready. Unless you are a rare individual, help is required. You need your core circle of freinds & family on your side to succeed.

Don't listen to one word a lifelong non-smoker tells you. He/she doesn't have a clue. You need a plan, and only ex smoker's and/or your doctor can help you. Never smokers and non-doctors can support you, but most people who have never been smokers themselves have no idea of the task in front of you.

Talk to your doctor. Listen to the cd's that come with the nicotine patches. Use the internet. Try to learn everything you can about your addiction, and make a game plan. Even if your first, second or third attempt fails, you are getting closer to success. Try to understand why you failed, and go from there.

You can do it! I can do it! If you want to quit smoking, then you must QUIT smoking. Please, take it from me, I know, at least regarding my last statement.

I turned 42 in June. My father quit smoking when he was about my age, and died at age 65 of lung cancer. My Mom quit about 20 years ago, and is very healthy. She just turned 72.

If someone has never been a smoker, they have almost no right to criticise smokers. If someone is a current or ex-smoker, then you know where I am coming from.

Good luck to you, OP, good luck to anyone attempting to beat this terrible habit, and Merry Chrristmas, Happy holidays and just plain ole warm fuzzies to everyone. (Lame attempt at PC...)

Thanks.
 
Many many thanks to everyone (Captante, ManyBeers, Mosh, Batch71 and the others) that chimed in with their experiences. Sigh, I guess I have to stop kidding myself and dump the 'I'll reduce first' approach in the ashtray...er...trash can.

Cold Turkey, here I come! If people can quit 2 packs of Marlboros (after 15 years!), hell I know I can do this. I got two of my friends to join me and we made a pact and everything. We're a couple of 21-year-old 5'11" 135lbs weaklings with no exercise routines - no good can come from this in the long run. If I have trouble, I will remember what you guys said...and also The Matrix.

There is no spoon 😀

And of course, a big ATOT welcome to kevbot. 🙂
 
if you loved America, you will quit smoking today.

if you loved yourself, you would have quite a long time ago.

if you had thought about your parents, you probably would have never smoked.

well, honestly, smoking isn't healthy, so suck it up like the rest of us and get a life~
 
I am two years quit. It is a proven fact that cutting back on smoking does not decrease your need for nicotine. You are needlessly punishing yourself. Either quit completely or smoke as you do, anything inbetween is pointless.

Quitting is easy. Just don't smoke a single cigarette ever again. After a week you'll feel like you can survive, after a few you'll forget about them for the most part. In a few months the idea may cross your mind and after a year you'll wonder what the hell you were ever thinking while buying a nice new laptop with all that money you saved.
 
Hi again,

You are welcome for the story and after reading a few posts here everyone has a completely different smoking addiction and then quitting process. I have seen some peeps put it down easy and then I have had relatives die from it. Both my grandparents on my mothers side died from Lung Cancer. 100% smoking related. My grandfather never quit and my grandmother did finally put the smokes down after being diagnosed with Full Throttle Terminal Lung Cancer. She died a horrible and painful death. My mom will probably never recover from the pain of her mothers death during that 6 month period. Ok, point of the story is.......

Quit completey, you will never regret it!!

If anyone tells you that quitting is easy they are either

1. A very casual smoker who enjoys the social aspect of it. (I hate these people 😉)
2. A fvcking liar

My money is on #2.

Good Luck

Dave
 
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