Quitting Smoking

[JunkieGirl]

Hey Everybody
OK I've made a decision. I cannot continue smoking. Part of it is health, but it is also a financial decision. Cannot afford to do it anymore. My decision is to continue smoking or keeping my internet (FORT) addiction alive.

So my question is how and what is the best way to quit? I have heard many theories. A lot of people that I know have gone cold turkey. Some have been successful for periods of time, then they go back. Some choose nicotine replacement therapy, and a few have been successful as well, and of course the pharmacists I have worked with all swear by it (even though I have known very FEW pharmacists who actually smoked). So dear FORT people do you have any suggestions/formulas/old wives tales/urban legends etc that may help me on my quest to become smoke free? This will be my fourth attempt. (have tried cold turkey 3 times and the patch once) All times I have tried and only lasted less than 1 week!! I admit I don't really enjoy it anymore, it is more of habit, so why am I so helpless? Of course I realize that the more times you quit and fail, the more successful you will be in the long run....which I hope to be one day.

I should add that my grandmother passed away from lung cancer 2 years AFTER she quit smoking, yet that didn't get me to the quit point, only a lot of thought of quitting. Maybe I should just plaster her picture all over my apartment and then try to stop.

I'm hoping that someone has some good ideas, tips or methods to get rid of this nasty habit. Thank You

[Jewelsy]

I don't smoke, JK, but I wish you all the luck in the world.
I've heard it's one of the hardest addictions to kick, but I know you can do it.

[lalol]

I give you my full support

[Qboots]

Can't offer much in the line of advice, since I'm a life-long non-smoker, but I'd sure like to offer my support. You go girl! Good on ya! My brother tried to quit a few times over the years, but last year he finally quit for good. I think he had just reached the point where he really didn't want to be a smoker any more and was no longer enjoying it. It sounds like that's where you're at, so you may have the battle half won already. Just try to keep in mind that the nicotine cravings only last a minute or so, so just try to get through those minutes.

[waywyrd]

Well my Dad quit after having a quadruple bypass, but you sure don't want to go that far. Now he's fighting emphysema...

This might be sort of off the wall but I do know two people who went to one of those "stop smoking" seminars where they hypnotize you...and it worked! They went in thinking it was a bunch of bull, but that was over a year ago and neither have smoked since. Whatever works, I guess!

Good luck!

[queenb]

OK I've made a decision. I cannot continue smoking. Part of it is health, but it is also a financial decision. Cannot afford to do it anymore. My decision is to continue smoking or keeping my internet (FORT) addiction alive.

Well, the choice is obvious...you HAVE to keep hanging out with us.
Maybe I can help you. I smoked for 23 years, and got up to nearly three packs a day, but I have now been smoke free for nearly eight years. I'll start by saying that in my opinion the patch , chewing gums, etc. are a bad idea due to the fact that they keep nicotine in your system. You don't want that stuff to be in your system longer than necessary!

Of course I realize that the more times you quit and fail, the more successful you will be in the long run....which I hope to be one day.

Poisonous thinking at work here! I 'tried' a couple of times and one of the things that has kept me from starting again is knowing that without a doubt, if I smoke even one cigarette, I'll smoke another, even if it's six months later. The next might be three months after that, then a month, and so forth. Next thing, boom, I'm smoking again.
Remember, it's ok to want a smoke. Occasionally, especially at cookouts or events like that, I still get a whiff of cigarette smoke that smells good to me even though I think it stinks most of the time. This is one of the biggest parts of quitting. You have to realize that this will happen, even years later, you just have to recognize that it's the old behavior trying to come back, and don't act on it. Don't be blindsided when the cigarette demon pops up, as it will every now and then. That's what make people re-start smoking, so always be watching out for it, because it will pop up when you least expect it. Recognize it, and don't pick up the cigarettes.

I'm hoping that someone has some good ideas, tips or methods to get rid of this nasty habit. Thank You

I saw this really cheap looking, poorly printed paperback at the library called "Quit Smoking - NOW' or something like that. I picked it up not even intending to quit, but it made such sense to me that I decided to try. I wish I had a hundred of 'em to give out. I can't remember all of it, but I'll give you some tips I can remember.
1) Set a date about a month from now to quit smoking.
2) between now and then, concentrate on the way you feel when you smoke.
3) About 2 weeks in, start waiting as long as you can between cigarettes, but do not throw them out before the 2 weeks are up. Start thinking about the way you feel between cigarettes, and start dealing with the idea that you will feel this way constantly for about two weeks right after you quit. Convince yourself that you can handle it! After all, you would have to if all tobacco suddenly vanished!
4) on the assigned date, flush any leftover cigarettes you have.

After you have been quit two weeks, that terrible physical craving, crankiness, etc. should be about gone. Then all you'll have to deal with is feeling awkward with no cigarette in your hand at whatever times you used to smoke, and the little voices that try to tell you it would be ok to smoke "just one". Tell them no.

If you need anymore support or ideas feel free to pm me - I do know exactly where you're coming from.

[fluff]

I don't smoke JunkieGirl, never have, but would also like to give you my support in your efforts to quit.

Some very good advice from queenb up there, so I'll just say I wish you the very best.

[speedbump]

I quit a few months back (although I sheepishly admit I broke down a few weeks ago for a day).

Anywho- I used the three prong attack.

Zyban
Nicotine patches
smoking cessation class

And a lot of sugar free gum.

I struggle everyday. When I broke down last time and cheated, I was back on track the next day. I didn't give up. Good luck!

[EvaLaruefan]

JG, I am also a non smoker, buty do wish you the best of luck! Keep us updated on your progress.

[Stargazer]

Junkiegirl, I smoked for 7 years and quit over three years ago. The best piece of advice I can give is to do whatever works for you. Everyone is wired differently and are motivated to quit for different reasons. However, I'll tell you how I quit, in case you want to try it.

I decided to quit smoking out of the blue one day. Just decided it was time. A few days later, I found out I was pregnant, so maybe my body was trying to tell me something. That, of course, turned into a huge motivation for me to continue to not smoke. Everytime I would see a cigarette, I would imagine blowing the smoke into the face of a newborn. My body wasn't just my own to demolish anymore.

Now, I'm not saying that anyone that wants to quit smoking should get pregnant. I am saying that I think it helped to have a specific mental image to bring to mind whenever I wanted to smoke. Something so bad, that I began to associate smoking with feelings of disgust. While I was pregnant, that image was blowing the smoke into the face of a baby. Now, that image is of my daughter's face as I lay in a bed rotting away from lung cancer.

Vague notions of doing it for my health or to save money weren't enough for me. Everyone is going to die someday, and how much scarier is lung cancer than a heart attack? I waste money on junkfood, so why not cigarettes? It's all relative at that point. I needed something *specific* to think about. Something specific that upsets me. Bringing to mind those images EVERYTIME I considered smoking seemed to work for me.

So, good luck, whatever method you use. Just don't think of it as "trying" to quit. You are quitting. As Yoda would say, "There is no try."

It's going to be difficult, but well worth it in the end. Good luck to you.