Quitting smoking

[Eric J]

One of the best pieces of advice I found before I finally was able to stop smoking, was each attempt to stop brings you that much closer to having the strength to finally do it.

I know how tough it is, I still crave them now and then and it has been over 5 yrs. Just do your best, be honest with yourself and each day without one, is that much longer you are helping yourself.

GOOD LUCK!

 

[buddy's_mom_29]

Me and Stacy quit together in April of this year. We had both tried several times, but sheer determination is the only thing that helped! That and Zyban, it makes the cigarettes taste really bad, and actually, they made me feel so shaky that I didn't feel like smoking. You take the pills for so long, and pick a day, and just get up that morning and don't smoke. It sounds ridiculous, that's what I thought, but it worked. It's five months later, and we're still quit. I won't lie, I've smoked one or two here and there when I'm really stressed. That's my weakness - stress. But two cigarettes in five months is pretty good I think. Good Luck!!!!!

 

[ssleighter]

I too am a fellow tobacco addict, and I have also tried all of the stop-smoking gimmicks! I am dead set on quitting this year. My plan is to lose weight. I am in Weight Watchers and have 5 pounds to go before reaching goal, but I am not going to stop there. I intend to go down another 5 pounds THEN stop smoking! That way I won't have to worry about the inevitable weight gain (which causes me to stress, hence to smoke).

One thing that helped me a lot when I quit last (for 3 months) was to make a list of all of the triggers that make me want to smoke (ie: after eating, happy hour, my car, talking on the phone) and I was able to modify my behaviour to beat those triggers!!

Good luck, I know we can all do it!!!

 

[Dodgn_AK]

I too have decided to quit. Both my boyfriend and I are smokers and decided we would like to set ourselves a goal by taking the money we spend on a pack of cigarettes and put it in a jar to save for a down payment on a house. This is good motivation, but I am still having a hard time quitting. We "officially" had our last one on Sunday, but I cheated and had two yesterday and 4 today. I decided to quit cold turkey. I don't want to use the gum or the patch or any other aid. I think if I start going to the gym again on a regular basis it will help alot. Good luck to everyone quitting. Oh, thanks for the link Olly, I printed it out.

 

[Boo]

I have given up twice since starting the habit when I was 11. The first time was when I was pregnant with my daughter. I gave up before the second trimester, by sheer force of will. As crappy as the withdrawal made me feel, I did not want my baby to suffer through that during her first week of life. I didn't start again until my son was 2. That was nearly 4 years altogether I think.

I gave up again 2 years ago. I was going to stay with my sister (who doesn't smoke) for a week. During the 3 hr drive down, I said "Remind me when we stop that I need to buy some smokes."

Silly thing to say to a non-smoker who loves you huh? I used the visit as a starting point to give up. Meanwhile, my husband AND our best friends all still smoke like chimneys. While my body doesn't crave the nicotine anymore, I think psychologically, I always will. So far so good, though.

Good luck, and whatever works for you, just do it. It IS important.

Adele

 

[HarleyBeau]

Well, there seems to be alot of us in the same boat. I've even PM'd a few of you so maybe we can ban together for support.

Jelly - KEEP THE QUIT!

Eric - I envy and admire anyone who has come through this addiction.

Fenick - Whatever works for you babe...no matter how silly others think it is. The mental part of this addiction is almost as bad as the physical.

Dodgn - Best of luck to you and your boyfriend. My husband actually uttered the words (after a very bad coughing spell last night) "I gotta quit these things" I told him "Let's do it then. Next month. Do it with me." I got no response though. :mad:

ssleighter - Good luck! Meeting your goal weight wise may make you stronger for quitting. You'll have the mind set that you are strong...I lost the weight. If I can do that I can quit. Best of luck!

buddy's_mom_29 - I did the Zyban at one point also. I was a basket case the whole time I was on it. Instead of an anti depressant it made me depressed. I could cry at the drop of a hat. This was all while I was in the 1st stages of the prescription "Pre-Quit". Threw out the prescription!

It is said that the addiction to nicotine is worse than an addiction to heroin. This is some baaaad %#*@!

I found a really good support site last time I tried. www.quitstop.com maybe you guys can check it out. Tons of active support there!!

WE CAN DO THIS!

 

[Gus’s Mom]

I started smoking when I was 14 and quit six years ago when I was 30. I was probably smoking about three packs a day at the time I quit. It was something that I had wanted to do for a long time but I had met my husband one year before and he really wanted me to quit. I did it cold turkey and was really surprised it worked. I was afraid I would gain a lot of weight so decided to concentrate on exercising and eating right. I bought a big bag of sweet tarts and whenever I craved a cigarette I would crunch on the sweet tarts. I kept myself busy by jogging a lot. My husband is extremely proud and can't believe that I went through two really tragic times in my life -- the loss of my sister in 1998 and the September 11th attacks on the WTC -- and didn't pick up a cigarette. He thought for sure I would but I proved him wrong

Linda

 

[HarleyBeau]

I gave the wrong website before. Should have been www.quitnet.org

 

[dan h]

I know how you feel. I just quit smoking two weeks ago. I have tried to quit many times but this time is different because I no longer crave for cigarettes even if someone else is smoking next to me. What I tried this time was accupuncture. It's not for everybody, especially if you are scared of pointy things. But it did miracles to my craving. All the doctor did was put a couple of very small pins on some pressure points on each of my ears and just like that, I didn't think about cigarettes, didn't crave, didn't go through the whole withdrawal symptoms, it was amazing.

 

[mymax]

you Can do it!

I started smoking when I was fifteen and after several tries, Iquite at age twenty five. It's been five years and quitting is one of things I'm most proud of. As you know, it's not easy...it was actually the hardest thing I've done! But it can be done!!! What I would do is tell myself, after I finished my last pack, was I'm not quitting, I'll just not buy a pack until after lunch. Then when it was after lunch I would tell myself I'll buy a pack after supper and continued telling this to myself. When people asked if I quit, I would just tell them no, I just haven't smoked in a while. It seemed to help relieve the pressure and stress I would put on myself. Also, I was a real social smoker so for about a month I didn't really go out. I just caught up on some reading, go for a walk while listening to music, talked to loved ones on the phone. Good luck!! You CAN do it!!!! MyMax