Have you successfully quit smoking?

[Mimori]

Hey ENA, I was actually contemplating quitting smoking and I wanted to know if anyone had any successful advice stories on how they went about it-or even suggestions. I know that a part of me doesn’t want to stop (Which I’m fully aware that I will need to be dedicated towards my decision)-So I suppose the mental capability of just ignoring the craving is lacking right now.

 

I also don’t want to be too moody towards my family and friends (especially my fiancé)-but I’m also aware of the toll that smoking is taking on not only my finances, but also my health; so thus I find myself on here seeking advice/tips/ or even words of encouragement…

 

Thanks!

 

Note: I've tried both the gum and patch- neither seem to work successfully (And at the time, I didn't have the doubt about quitting, I was certain I wanted to). Strangely, after using the patch for three days it felt like it was “stabbing” me and I had to pull it off quickly- since then I gave up the attempt and went back to smoking as stress resumed from work and classes.

[boowant]

I smoke 2 like a pack a day and have tryed to quit but it seems as though i cant~! I am worried about the moodynes to because im always moody and this will just make it worse! Ill keep readin this and hopefully get some help here 2! Good luck

[jessgirl]

I have recently started taking champix to quit smoking. I am currantly on day 9 of a 12 week program. Im still smoking but half of what I was. My cravings have definatly been reduced. I think I may just be smoking out of habit now. So you may want to speak to your doctor seems to be working for me. the only side affect have noticed is increased anxiety and depression but that seems to subside the more i adjust to the tablets

[Seymore]

I quit about a year ago, just stopped, no patch or anything. I had smoked on and off for almost 10 years. In the last few months I've had maybe two each Friday night when I hang out with my friend, as a social thing - but I don't crave them anymore. Overall, this is the longest I've gone without habitually smoking.

[Devie3411]

I just bought hard candy instead. So when I wanted a cigarette, I would suck on that instead. Now, a few years later, I will have a random craving every once in a while (mostly when I am around someone else who is smoking) but keep gobstoppers on me so that when the craving hits, I pop one in my mouth.

[Atticus90]

No.

I smoke a pack of marborol menthol every day since i was 15. I don't want to quit either. I feel better about myself that I'm choosing my destiny. I'm not afraid of death. I know I'll die of smoking.

 

That's the talk of a smoker... I enjoy the nicotine to much and i need something to smoke whether its a piece of grass or bark on a tree. Just like to smoke lol

[LazyDaisy]

I smoked for 20 years. I quit cold turkey. It has been 6 years since I smoked. I feel so much better. For the first few weeks of not smoking I came home from work and took a nap to help me get through the moodiness. I also quit drinking for a year, because for me they always went hand in hand. Good luck!

[turnera]

No.

I smoke a pack of marborol menthol every day since i was 15. I don't want to quit either. I feel better about myself that I'm choosing my destiny. I'm not afraid of death. I know I'll die of smoking.

 

That's the talk of a smoker... I enjoy the nicotine to much and i need something to smoke whether its a piece of grass or bark on a tree. Just like to smoke lol

 

You should have spent the last year I just spent, watching my mother wither away from emphysema from smoking. She quit when she was 74 simply because she could NO LONGER BREATHE.

 

It took us 30 minutes to walk from her apartment to the elevator and to the building next door because she had to stop just to gulp some air every 20 feet or so.

 

In the end, she was so ashamed of herself for not quitting sooner, and being stuck - and having her family stuck - with this decrepit version of herself.

 

My best friend smoked and each time she got pregnant, the instant she found out she was pregnant, she never touched another cigarette again, until the day she quit breastfeeding. Then she started up again. Until she got pregnant again. And repeated. That went on for the first 3 kids (she had 8); but after the 3rd kid, she just never started again.

[Atticus90]

your mother was probably one of those who WANTED to quit but couldn't. it's addicting. I sympathise with your mother because it CAN be hard.

 

Atleast your best friend knew it was important not to smoke while pregnant. Hats off to her.

 

I'll never quit though. Right now my life isn't the best. That's not an excuse but I don't worry bout my health like that anymore because of my depression. it's a hit or miss in this life.. thats how i see it. think about that and you'll know what i mean.

[anggrace]

My husband quit about four months ago and hasn't had one since. He had smoked heavily for about 15 years prior. He did it cold turkey, no patch, nothing. Yes, his mood changed towards me and others, but I knew why that was and could easily live through/with it. I knew it was for the best. You're gf would probably rather have you be short tempered for a while than have you smoke for the rest of your life. I wouldn't use the mood side effects as a reason to not do it.

 

My husband said it was simply will that got him through it. That and caring about my health as well. He chewed on straws or smoked on them like they were cigs. He also ate a lot of life savers. That's about it for aids.

[Just Me85]

I have been officially smoke free for 2 months now and I don't even want/crave anymore. I don't think there is really a secret. Gimmicks like patches and gum won't work because you will still want to smoke, if anything the nicotine will just make you want the real thing.

 

I think it was a lot of things for me but I changed my state of mind. I don't know whether you are a particularly determined/driven person or not but I got friends and family on board.

 

In fact my best friend (who some might have heard of in other posts eep), he offered me incentives because he was so anti smoking lol..I think the thought that you have promised something to someone and then failing, the thought that you are letting other people down and that you come accross as a flake if you go back to smoking can be very powerful!

 

I actually technically quit 3 months ago but I had a minor setback a month in and smokes one cigarette at a party, but I was so disappointed in myself the next day and I made myself start again. I havn't smoked since x

 

Also the friend (I didn't ask him to do this) bought me a present and said he would give me it after a month clean. Basically he said he would be insulted if I can never claim it seeing as he put thought into it. This helped a lot.

 

Also, another thing I did was put money aside I would have spent on cigs and every week/two weeks treat myself to THAT pair of shoes or a REALLY GOOD night out hehe..

 

I don't think chemicals/replacements work IMHO..its just a money making scheme.

[Catdancer]

Smoking is my crutch. If I have a bad day, I want a cig. If I have a good day, I want a cig. If I'm stressed, I want 10 cigs. If I'm not stressed and I'm happy, I want a cig. lol

 

For me, it's a psychological addiction. I can stop smoking whenever I want and not have too bad physical side effects. But the emotional and psychological side effects make me loopy. And I simply dont really want to quit. I think this is the problem right here. I say many many times throughout the year that I want to quit, and I mean it at the time. But once I try to stop, I may go for 2 ro 3 days without smoking, then I'm right back into a pack. I really just dont want to quit.

 

So, for me I need to be "reprogrammed" mentally to WANT to stop. Any ideas other than a lobotomy? lol

[testcase]

No.

I smoke a pack of marborol menthol every day since i was 15. I don't want to quit either. I feel better about myself that I'm choosing my destiny. I'm not afraid of death. I know I'll die of smoking.

 

That's the talk of a smoker... I enjoy the nicotine to much and i need something to smoke whether its a piece of grass or bark on a tree. Just like to smoke lol

 

Haha no I think that's the talk of a young smoker I felt the same way till it really started wearing on me. Try smoking more than a pack a day for more than 10 years and believe me you will most likely want to quit even if you don't.

 

I quit more than a year ago! I was a two pack a day smoker by the time I quit. I think as you stated OP the biggest thing is you have to be ready to quit. I took zyban at the end and it was surprisingly easier than I thought it would be. My first real attempt went well and now I know I can never smoke again but a second attempt would surely not be that easy. I'd say my life has been significantly better since quitting and I rarely ever think about cigarettes anymore. If I do I think how proud I am I was able to quit considering I was by far the heaviest smoker I knew.

[jengh]

I did sometime last year. Early July, I think so coming up on a year now. I was a pack-a-day smoker, more like pack-and-a-half during finals week. Like cat said, it was my crutch. I smoked because I was happy, I smoked because I was upset, I smoked because I was stressed, I smoked because I was drinking.

 

To be honest, I think a big factor was I moved to England and smoking is banned inside bars so I didn't want to stand outside in the cold rain haha.

 

I didn't use patches, I didn't chew gum... to be honest, I don't think I was ever addicted to nicotine. I had no moodiness (other than typical, moody me-but that's just my personality), no cravings. It was all psychological for me. I just stopped. It got to the point where, when I so much as smelled cigarettes, I wanted to vomit. I was pleased when they banned smoking in Michigan bars.

[ScubaDiva]

I would highly recommend Champix too - I've quit previously with it but a side effect it had was insomnia... within 2 weeks you totally lack the craving for a cigarette and you are meant to smoke the first 2 weeks on it but eventually the cigarettes taste awful and you lose all desire to smoke - modern medicine is brilliant! Good luck!

[turnera]

Also the friend (I didn't ask him to do this) bought me a present and said he would give me it after a month clean. Basically he said he would be insulted if I can never claim it seeing as he put thought into it. This helped a lot.

 

lol, quick T/J:

I was watching season 2 of Big Bang Theory on DVD last night (about a bunch of geeks, think Star Trek and all), and the pretty girl neighbor wanted to give Sheldon a Christmas present. He hated that cos he didn't want to have to reciprocate, but he bought about 10 different gift baskets of varying worth, and after opening her present to him, he planned to go back in his room and bring out the dollar-appropriate gift to give her, so they'd be even.

 

Well, she's a waitress, and she gives him a napkin - with Leonard Nimoy's signature on it! He becomes apoplectic, it's like the most thoughtful, perfect gift he could ever receive in his life - his hero! And then she says 'it's a little messy cos he wiped his mouth on it' (not knowing what she says), and he practically has a heart attack: "I have Leonard Nimoy's DNA in my possession?!"

 

So he goes in his room and brings out every single basket and places them all at her feet, because she gave him (unwittingly) the most appropriate, thoughtful give he's ever gotten.

 

Sorry, just had to share!

[fr0z3n]

check my last thread and they have some tips for me on quitting, usually how our body will recover from smoking and it's benefits because thats my question is all about...

 

however in my case, I dont resort in nicotine patches and gums because I've read somewhere that it wont actually make your body free from nicotine because it's the addictive substance in the cigarette/tobacco itself... They say your body will be free from nicotine from 2-3 days and your reliance to it (forgot the right term) will be from 2-3 weeks however you will experience from withrawal symptoms and that is one of the hardest fight in quitting smoking... Thats all I can say for now, I hope you'll read my threas cause they gave me lots of useful info there...

[Honey Pumpkin]

I quit over a year ago, and Allen Carr's book did it for me. I am so glad to have done this, and be free of smoking.

 

Plus, I have to say I am very scared of getting lung cancer; it's a horrible way to die, and I always knew that if I was still smoking and was diagnosed with lung cancer, I would hate myself for being so stupid.

 

It took me about four or five goes to finally quit, but the last one stuck. I don't miss smoking at all, and I am very very glad to have done this. You can definitely do this - it takes about three weeks for the physical addiction to go, and then after that it's psychological. I would so recommend Allen Carr's book though, the visualisation techniques and common sense approach really worked for me. It's very reassuring (and cheap!!!).

 

I am by nature someone who makes loads of resolutions and plans to improve myself - there isn't much point doing any of that if you're still smoking, because you are doing the single stupidest, worst thing of all that you can to your body. (These are all the things that helped me to quit, no judgement, I know exactly how hard it is!).

[pumpkinmoon]

Looking down at the ciggy in my hand, I have to say no. I wish I could though. I'm fed up of it.

[Sparkie]

I quit 6 years ago after smoking for 15 years. I went cold turkey and it was quite easy.

 

The key for me was to eliminate will power. So i didn't have that 'I want one but I can't have one' feeling. So i waited until i wanted to stop, rather than doing it because i should stop.

 

The physical cravings go after about a week. Its the social / habitual stuff that lasts much longer. Eliminate this, and its all over in a week!

 

I just put out my last ciggie, and told myself i was a non smoker. That easy. If anyone offered me one, I said no, because i don't smoke. Much easier than 'yeah I do want one, but I'm quitting so I can't'. Its all mind games, but much easier when you want to do it.