Reformed Smokers Please help

[jaybox_reptiles]

Hi all i have ben smoking for 5 years now and i used to be in such good shape and i could run endless now i look like a dump and cant even run around a chair without having a breathing attack...... i have not had a Smoke in three hours ( ovisouly im trying to quit lol ) but it is already getting hard i am wondering what you all did to get rid of the cravings ................. PLEASE HELP

Thanx

Jay
Box

[Classic]

I did the patch. It works.

[jaybox_reptiles]

i was gonna try the patch i might go get it tomarrow i dont no thoe mi dad wants to CEE how strong my mind is what ever that means

[Wizer69er]

I used the patch also.i have not hade a smoke in over 3 1/2 months.The patch will not make you quit just help you you still need will power with out that forget it good luck!!

[Mason]

It has been about 2 or so weeks for me. The way I did it was stop buying packs a couple of years ago. My girlfriend smoked, so I started only really smoking around her, and the odd friend that was willing to lend a smoke. After a while you only think of smokes when you see others smoking.

I know the feeling of wanting, and not having sux. I smoke weed, so that helped me a bit I guess (cause I still smoke something).

After a bit your want for quitting overrides the cravings..

Just try really hard to be in controle of your body, and not the other way around.

GOOD LUCK. Have fun with the mood swings!

[TheRedDragon]

I just got off the patch three days ago. The withdrawel from that was tough, but, I'm feeling way better today. Try the nicotine patch. Start with Step 1 if you smoked more than 10 cigs a day or start with Step 2 if you smoked less than 10 cigs a day. I haven't had a cig for almost two months now and I'm feeling great. Invictus and I quit at the same time, but, he's been smoke free longer because I did slip up a while back. It happens, so, if you slip, don't beat yourself up, just keep trying. Also, try sleeping more, I find that I get really tired when I'm going through withdrawel. Drink lots of water and have a hot bath, that should help a bit too.

[icequeen]

I quit 11 YEARS ago.
Cold turkey.
I just decided enough was enough and I wouldn't be a slave to nicotine anymore.

The only REALLY helpful suggestions I could offer is that you have to make a lifestyle change in order for it to work.
If you always have a smoke with a cup of coffee...then quit drinking coffee temporarily.
If you associate being in a club with having a smoke in your hand...stop going to the club for a bit.

Smoking is an addiction, definately, but there are many habits that go along with it, that need to be broken too.
Breaking those associated habits is part of the key to breaking the addiction.

[asphyxia]

It has been just over a year for me, after smokeing for 30 years.

I used the patch, nicotine gum, joined a support group, @ the ARF, and used the Canadian Cancer guide as a starting point.

I have never felt better.

Remember that the craving will go away soon and each craving will be further apart and less dramatic.

Good luck
Brian

P.S. Drink a lot of water and be preparred for stresfull situations

[corr]

I'll be smoke free 5 years in January. I used the patch. If you use it, make sure you do the whole program. It's easy to think "this is easy" and go off it after the first stage. If you really want to quit cold turkey, try sunflower seeds and drink lots of water like RD suggested. Also, don't tempt yourself by doing things that you associate with smoking. To stop drinking coffee and stop smoking at the same time is a hard one though. But most of all, WILLPOWER!

[jaybox_reptiles]

thank you all for your your tips i think im gonna try to stop eating and drinking water for a few days lol j/k but i am going to start drinking coffe to get my mind off of smokes cuz i no i can quit coffe lol i drank coffe for 4 years all day long and desided to uit just cuz it got boring lol but smoking is harder but think i am still open for ANY sugesstions you may have

[daver676]

I smoked for 9 years, up until about 2 months ago. I stopped doing everything that made me want to have a cigarette. Drinking coffee in the morning, drinking alcohol, being bored etc. It's been over 2 motnths since my last smoke, and the cravings arn't too bad, and become less and less every day. I've started to bring alcohol back, and the cravings are small for a smoke. And I don't miss coffee at all.

When I had really bad cravings, I would just list the pros and cons of me smoking in my head. Zero pros, a bunch of cons. This helped my alot!

Good Luck, and don't give in.

BTW, I have a friend who used Zyban to quit. I think you need a prescription for it though...

Dave

[Lisa]

I quit smoking a few times, cold turkey each time. the last time i quit was 3.5 years ago. I still get cravings though they aren't as bad.

Part of what makes smoking hard to quit is the habbit is connected to other habbits. IE sitting down and having a smoke and coffee on lunch break, having a smoke on the way to work, smoking when you get to work, smoking after meals, smoking with beer.

I chewed alot of gum, put on alot of pounds, and bit my nails alot. In all it's worth it. I used to hack up something nasty every morning, and I'm sure it was preventing me from getting a good nights sleep.

I love not smelling, being able to breath and the cancer risks have gone down.

[Classic]

3 years 4 months for me.

[Linds]

I've been smoke-free for 2 (or is it 3 years now?). If I can quit, anyone can. I smoked between 2-3 packs daily (2 if I slept, 3 if I didn't)... I didn't even need a lighter 'cause I could just keep lighting them off eachother.
I was going to attempt using Zyban, but the stuff made me so sick I had to stop taking it before I was even to the point where I was allowed to stop smoking :rolleyes: So cold turkey it was, I didn't make myself sick for no reason, and I couldn't breathe and all I was doing was wheezing and making bad noises, so I quit. I chewed on minty toothpick things....lots of them, and kept busy, and tried to avoid things that I really need to smoke while doing. I was a horror to be around for the first couple days, but it was well worth it. It feels great to be free from that crap... I can taste stuff, I can smell, I don't smell bad, I save a buttload of $$, and its great for my health.

[snakemann87]

Jay man you 15.....so you started at 10!!!!!!!! LOL ok......I hate people who smoke no offense.....my grandpa died of lung cancer

[mykee]

I've been smoke-free for a little over a year now. I woke up one morning and said I was going to quit. I had considered it for a while, and what it boiled down to essentially, is if you don't really want to quit, you won't. You have to really want it. I was sick of blowing $50 a week on something that made me feel like crap all day. If you have willpower, and you really WANT IT, you can do it. Good luck.

[burmer]

I am still smoking but not as much. I quit two years ago for a year. I just did it cold turkey. As far as the cravings went I just drank lots of ice water it seemed to help. Also you could take vitamins and double or triple up on Vitamin C. I'm told vitamin c and other antioxidents lessen the withdrawl effects. I have kept up with working out and running and find that the effects on my lungs are not as bad if I exercise alot.

[MouseKilla]

Cold turkey for me. I just decided I was sick of it. Unlike what others have done I purposely did all the things that made me want to smoke. I figured if I held out through doing that the rest would be easy. I still kind of feel the craving when I have a coffee some mornings after 18 months but you learn to live with it.

[Stockwell]

Smoking is a bi*ch!! I absolutely hate it, but yes I was a smoker too. I started on a trip to Europe and ended up smoking cigars then colts, then cigarettes, than any damn thing that would stay lit, for several years. Those damn patches just kept going out (;o)
Step one.... Admit that you are a drug addict... no minor BS about it simply being a bad habit..
Its full fledged, physiological substance addiction. Getting that into the old head, is half the way to correcting it.
It took me 3 years to get off the stuff...
For me, I waited till I had a bad cold/virus.
I found the cravings were less when my craving to
simply breathe was more...
So I made the concious decision to not restart smoking when I felt better.
I smoked herbal cigarettes for a full year after that. You can get them at health food stores. They contain rose hips and herbs and lots of neat stuff but still have tar, but no nicotine.
They smell like weed, so that can be good or bad depending on the company you keep..
I don't recommend them for business lunches..LOL
But it worked for me...
I now have zero tolerance for smokers.
Hats off for recognizing your problem. Self admission is the first step to self correction!

[ohh_kristina]

I started smoking when I was 12, and quit cold turkey when I was 15. Smoking is nasty, and I'm glad I gave it up. I'm ashamed to admit that I had such an addiction at such a young age. Oh well, though..no regrets, right? Good luck quitting!

[LISA127]

I am 34, and I have been smoking since I was 12 years old. I smoke about 2 packs a day, and I feel I can't function without them. Plus, I'm afraid of gaining weight. That's 22 years of smoking, I don't know how to live without them at this point. when I'm not so tired I will read all the posts and hopefully find some encouragement to someday quit.

[lilyskip]

my dad quit when i was born and my mom made him smoke in the garage (hehe--he hated it in there). He chewed gum (just regular gum, not nicotine gum) so that he had something to do with his mouth. Just a warning though...he still chews it, and is still struggling with cravings almost 20 years later! He smoked for 25 years, though, so I assume it's different for others.

[Yve]

I smoked for 8 years and have been smoke-free for 5 years.....i did not quit cold turkey....but I didn't use any aids such as the patch, gum, etc...what set my quiting in motion was that my lifestyle changed, I wasn't really conciously thinking about quiting....I moved an hour away from my close friends(who ALL smoked like fiends), got really busy and had a boyfriend that didn't smoke and wouldn't let me smoke in his car either(bless his heart)! At first I realized that I had cut back a bit on smokes.....and was proud of that tiny unplanned accomplishment so continued cutting back until, I was having the occasional smoke at a bar or party....eventually the taste started to bug me....then the smell....it is a long road to recovery but every small step you take towards it is an accomplishment on its own.....One thing that people don't realize is how crappy they feel when they smoke because they become used to feeling that way...when you quit you'll realize that your health improves, you have more energy, your cardio gets better, you don't run out of breath so fast....i couldn't believe i let myself get so run down to not even notice! Also, alot of people say they gain weight when they quit smoking, possibly because they eat more to replace the habit...i'm not sure....i think it can be avoided...get a hobby...join a gym...started riding a bike for an hour daily...play tennis...go for walks....it'll keep your mind off of smoking as well as improve the shape of your heart!:) Good habits can be formed just the same as bad habits!;) Good luck to you!

[Linds]

I have to agree with everyone. The urge to smoke never really goes away... its always there in a lesser degree. Nothing unmanagable though ;)

Originally posted by Yvonne Kostecki
Also, alot of people say they gain weight when they quit smoking, possibly because they eat more to replace the habit...i'm not sure....i think it can be avoided...get a hobby...

Most definitely. I know many people that have quit smoking and not had any weight gain as a result. Its only if you choose to wean yourself off smokes with food :p

[Wraith]

I smoked for 15 years. At the end I was up to 2 packs a day. I tried cold turkey and almost killed somebody lol. And the gum was a joke (at least for me) so I tried the patch and I have been smoke free for over 7 years now and never felt better.

[jaybox_reptiles]

i have been smoking since i was 10 thats 2 packs a day since i was 10 years old now im 15 and trying to quit manley for my dad they have known i smoked for three of the 5 years but my dad hates it his dream for me is to go to coledge and become a zoologist and i cant afoord that if i have to buy 10 dollers worth of smokes a day but i am going to chew lots of gum and get on the patch thank you all ( im still open for sugestions)

[LISA127]

not to get off the topic or encourage anybody in any way, but i only pay an average of 2.00 per pack of cigarettes. are they all that expensive there? when i started smoking 22 years ago, they were only about 85 cents a pack. imagine that! and i remember in high school i used to put 10.00 aside per week for a carton of cigarettes.

anyway, after only 5 years of smoking, it will be hard, but u should be able to do it. it's not like it's a life long habit for you. i wish you luck!

[Dozer]

Shane, you and I gotta listen into this , especially you man, you pretty much eat the cigarette man... :(

[drewlowe]

I've been a smoker since about 10 years old. Have quit a few times once in middle school and once at the end of highschool. But when i was in middle school i wasn't a huge smoker only when i had the chance to steal my fathers cigaretts LOL. So i've been smoking for at least 14 years off and on.

I'm currently trying to quit for health reasons but ahhh it's really hard!!! Call me a wuss i don't care but it is extremly hard. I was doing pretty good a few months back quitting cold turkey but then that wonderful stess hit and now i'm almost at a pack a day again. I've tried the gum and ewww that stuff was horrible it tasted like licking a 20 year old ashtry that's used everyday but has never been cleaned.

Now i'm telling myself everytime i smoke that this taste like crap and smells the same. I notice i really don't want to smoke but i lit it up anyway and it just burns it self out. (this trick worked in highschool quit for 2 years) I'm almost to that point where i won't smoke but once i quit i hope it will be for good. Good luck on quitting !!!!

[marisa]

I have been smoking since I was 12-13 years old. I started stealing my Dads KOOLS. lmao.

Anyways I smoked about a pack a day or Marlboro Reds until I was 20, and then moved up to canada and now I smoke about a half pack a day of Players Extra Light king size.

I have woke up like 6 times in the past year and said "NOT ONE MORE SMOKE EVER!" Felt all into quitting, excited, motivated, etc. Then if you wait an hour you see Marisa FREAK OUT and frantically do anything she can to get smokes. LOL.

Its so hard but I like all the suggestions you guys have made, especially the one about waiting until you get sick, because personally I never smoke when I am ill but thats the only time I can not smoke. I may have to try that.

Marisa
P.S. Smokes are $7.75 a pack here

[elevation24]

I smoked from about age 12 to age 18, regularly from about age 13.

I quit [almost] cold turkey when I found out I was pregnant at age 18. After I found out I was pregnant I smoked maybe 8-10 Marlboro menthol light cigarettes - and most of the time I wasn't even smoking a full cigarette, but sharing with my boyfriend. Not that it is any more justified. He quit too, but still has problems to this day. I guess it wasn't as much of a motivation for him as it was for me.

I have had 2 cigarettes since I had my son and quit breastfeeding when he was 15 months. Last semester during school, I don't know why - I had bought a pack of cigarettes, I think because during my night classes at break time almost everyone would go outside and have a smoke. I'd go outside too, to make a phone call or just to get out into the cool night air, and being around them all the time I wanted to see what it was like again. I smoked 2 cigarettes (separate nights) and felt disgusted with myself so I threw the whole pack and my lighter away.

[jaybox_reptiles]

Hi all thank you so much for all yalls help i have been doing every thing you told me and it is working so far a solid 24 ours with no smokes thinks guy/girls ( still open for sugestions)

[sapphire_moon]

go to www.quitnet.com You will get alot of support from people there. I've been quit over a year now, did it cold turkey. try drinking water, exercising, chewing on gum, chewing on straws, eating ice, eating carrots, apples, cucumbers, anything crunchy....You will probably put on weight when you stop smoking, it can drive you mad. also try www.thetruth.org .....are some good places to start. Also get rid of all your cigs, and I mean get rid of them, break them, put them in water, whatever you have to do. Then get rid of all your ashtrays. And tell your dad you want support, not critisisim (sp??)

You WILL get cravings, You WILL get b*tchy, you WILL get hungry, you WILL get bored.

[Gillards]

Both Paul and I stopped about 1 1/2 years ago. we both smoked for 25+years. (MY GOD I FEEL OLD!!!!) It is the hardest thing I have ever done. It is easy to stop smoking but staying off of them is the hard part. The funniest thing I hear from people is "The Last time I quit." We have stopped smoking but we are still quitting and probably always will be. Every day it would be so easy to have a smoke and I would love to!!! But every day I have to make that choice again!!
it sucks but it is what we want to do. I do feel healthier I guess but I really don't think I would ever smoke again because I would never want to have to stop smoking again.
Good luck with stopping!!!!

Lorraine Gillard

[sSNAKESs.com]

Originally posted by Dozer
Shane, you and I gotta listen into this , especially you man, you pretty much eat the cigarette man... :(

ROTFLMAO... indeed... Shane man I hope your reading this.... ;) ;) ;) o>

[Invictus]

Wow... congrats to all the reformed smokers!

I also quit. Smoked a pack a day for 13 years, and quit on the patch. I didn't do the full program though - I just went to the step 2's and changed my habits. (Thank the gods of Dentyne for Dentyne Ice!!!!). Stayed on the patch for a few weeks, then went at it cold turkey. Haven't touched one for 3.5 months.

My secret was staying MOTIVATED. Have a goal in mind - for me it was more snakes. At work and at home, I have a program that rotates my desktop wallpaper every X minutes. So, I rotated pics of all the snakes I was going to get if I quit smoking. Well, I now have 25 of the little buggers to remind me of how much I do not miss taking $10 a day and literally lighting fire to it. :)

FIND YOUR MOTIVATION!!!

Good luck.

[MouseKilla]

I've noticed that just about everyone but me changed their habits and got rid of the opportunities to smoke and the smokes themselves. I purposely didn't avoid the things that I knew I wasn't trying to quit, like coffee, like the people I sat with at break time at work, stuff like that. I didn't replace the cigarettes with gum or the patch or carrots or even masturbation (a suggestion from a friend, I think he was kidding...). I wanted to quit smoking, not change how I lived every part of my life so I took it as a test of will power. There's a drum of tobacco up in my bedroom in a drawer right now that I bought the February before last (for about $40 to rub it in for those still smoking), I could smoke whenever I want but I have chosen not to. The opportunity will always be there to smoke, you just have to decide not to. If you find the patch or carrots or masturbation helps then use them but ultimately it's a question of will and conviction.

[JD@reptiles]

wanna know what i did?









I never started ;) that was the best thing to do!

[jaybox_reptiles]

jordan you cant be any more right this is some magor bullshit