Can quitting smoking be easier with a support system?

[honestrosewater]

Thanks for the advice and support, everyone.

What's your mindset going into this rose? In a way I'd like to quit, but I'm afaid in a way I like it too much to give a serious try right now. Have you ever tried a patch? I was thinking the other day that maybe I'd like to try a patch, not to ween me off of nicotine so much as to give me an alternate, indefinite supply of nicotine. I need my drugs, ugh. Caffeine just isn't enough.

I was hoping you'd show up.
Um, a little about me: I started smoking in 7th grade. (That's ~10 years ago. ) I've quit a few times. The last time was a few years ago for 3-4 months. I quit cold turkey. I told my family, roommates, everyone at work, etc. that I had quit and to kick my @$$ if they saw me smoking. It worked. The first day was absolute hell, but it got easier. Then I started again the day before I moved somewhere far away -- chasing a dream kind of thing (extreme nerve wracker).

I haven't tried any nicotine replacement anything, patches, gum, whatever. (Actually, I used to chew the gum in school, but I didn't go to school very often and wasn't trying to quit back then.) My plan is just to keep reducing the amount that I smoke until I can't reduce it anymore; I think this keeps the goal manageable. I was smoking about half a pack a day. My only real rule is that I can change a rule iff doing so will help me quit. I'm making up the other rules as I go along -- whatever works for as long as it works. Right now, I'm smoking only in certain places, doing various things to delay (singing and exercising helps a lot), and keeping a log of when I smoke and how I feel afterwards. Since I started this thread, I've smoked twice: 2:45 PM yesterday and 12:45 AM this morning. (Woohoo!) I felt like sh!t almost immediately -- I didn't even finish them. I can't believe I ever convinced myself that it was enjoyable -- I have no good reason to smoke. But UGH! I've been having cravings all morning. I guess since it's become such a big part of my life, it may just take a while to reprogram myself.

Anyway, I think I know how you feel. What do you think you like about smoking? You too, TSA.

 

[El Hombre Invisible]

Well done so far, HRW! I too am quitting smoking, though it's a staged process and so far I have not got to the "don't put blazing tubes of tobacco in your mouth" stage.

First stage for me is to ban myself from buying packs and instead roll my own. This annoys me to the extent that I will not smoke out of habit (I've used this method before) and only smoke when I really, really need to. So far, so good.

That done, I will stop smoking entirely and keep a pack of fruit-flavoured nicotine gum with me in case of weak moments.

Hard part will be not smoking when out with friends. I've considered telling all my friends I hate their guts, therefore removing any occasion to socialise with them, therefore removing the temptation to smoke. However, that is a tad drastic, and will instead opt for your approach which is too state up front that I do not smoke, and so will be too ashamed to buy cigarettes in their company.

I hope that works. Shame effects me less when I'm drunk.

 

[honestrosewater]

Well done so far, HRW! I too am quitting smoking, though it's a staged process and so far I have not got to the "don't put blazing tubes of tobacco in your mouth" stage.
First stage for me is to ban myself from buying packs and instead roll my own. This annoys me to the extent that I will not smoke out of habit (I've used this method before) and only smoke when I really, really need to. So far, so good.
That done, I will stop smoking entirely and keep a pack of fruit-flavoured nicotine gum with me in case of weak moments.

Woohoo! That rocks. Are you feeling physically better yet? Just taking a few deeep breaths and enjoying how much better I feel is a great boost.

Hard part will be not smoking when out with friends. I've considered telling all my friends I hate their guts, therefore removing any occasion to socialise with them, therefore removing the temptation to smoke. However, that is a tad drastic, and will instead opt for your approach which is too state up front that I do not smoke, and so will be too ashamed to buy cigarettes in their company.
I hope that works. Shame effects me less when I'm drunk.

Well, I hope your friends support you. It was a big help to me. Eh, you could always quit drinking too.

I think I'm going to have a cigarette at 12:45. I made it 10 hours yesterday; 12 hours is better. Okay, I was asleep for 6 of those hours, but my body doesn't care.

Yeah, I smoked; It sucked. Woot.

Is my post showing up this time?

 

[hypnagogue]

If weakening your lungs, shortening your life, and greatly reducing the quality of life you can expect when you reach old age feels good, sure. Personally, I think there are better ways to induce positive physical sensation that do not result in feeling rather terrible down the line.

I doubt anyone begins smoking with the intention of making it a life-long habit. I had my first cigarette some time around 15, but didn't become addicted until I was 20. (Not so coincidentally, that was the time I started buying my own packs. For a long time I just had one every now and then and it was fine.)

Seriously though, how good can it feel to breathe in smoke that largely consists of carcinogens and tar? If you really need to cut off the flow of oxygen to your brain and calm your nerves with drugs, hold your breath and take a sleeping pill.

Nicotine perhaps?

 

[hypnagogue]

Anyway, I think I know how you feel. What do you think you like about smoking? You too, TSA.

I guess the obvious answer-- it feels pleasant to smoke. Sometimes it can be helpful if I need to relieve stress, calm myself down or concentrate better. I find I think more clearly than usual while smoking (assuming I'm not with/talking to someone else) and sometimes it helps me to find the right way to word something or to solve some conceptual problem or somesuch, especially if I'm stuck. However, that last effect might just be due to the fact that while smoking I typically have some time set off for myself where I can let my mind wander without worrying about anything else, rather than being a result of the nicotine intake itself. It gives me an impetus to go outside and walk around a bit and let my mind roam in whatever course arises.

 

[Anttech]

Hard part will be not smoking when out with friends. I've considered telling all my friends I hate their guts, therefore removing any occasion to socialise with them, therefore removing the temptation to smoke. However, that is a tad drastic, and will instead opt for your approach which is too state up front that I do not smoke, and so will be too ashamed to buy cigarettes in their company.

I hope that works. Shame effects me less when I'm drunk.

When my brother in law was trying to quite last he had the same problem, so his solution was to stay in the pub for a week, and it worked :-D don't ask me how, but it did...

Smoking is a horrible habit, and I too want to quite, but I need a reason, and right now I can't think of one. A ciggy is an emotional crutch, and I need to learn to walk again without it...

 

[honestrosewater]

I'm trying to think of what to say... I don't think I know you guys well enough to know how to push without offending you or crossing a line or whatever. It may just take a little while for me to find the right words.

hyp,
Yep, I thought the same thing. Doing anything creative was the worst, especially writing, which still is giving me some problems. Writing, pacing, smoking - they've just always gone together. Everything else feels much better without smoking. I'm not sure how to deal with this one.

Anttech,
Do you think being healthier is a good reason? Is there anyone who you care about enough to quit for? Family, friends, yourself, etc.?

 

[loseyourname]

I doubt anyone begins smoking with the intention of making it a life-long habit. I had my first cigarette some time around 15, but didn't become addicted until I was 20. (Not so coincidentally, that was the time I started buying my own packs. For a long time I just had one every now and then and it was fine.)

No one may start with the intention of developing a life-long habit, but exactly what do you expect? That you'll be different from everyone else who takes it up?

Out of curiosity, why did you start? Seriously, I can understand that, being addicted, you are now compelled and it might even be necessary to keep you from going insane or something. I just can't understand the impetus for beginning in the first place. What is the thought process? 'Oh sure, it sounds like a great idea to inhale tar-laden, poisonous smoke. On top of that, it contains a terribly addictive drug, too. I think I'll buy a pack.' I mean, hey, I make stupid decisions myself, but at least they usually have a potential upside to them.

Nicotine perhaps?

Why not skip straight to the patch? Does the sensation have to be instant? Heck, go get a xanax prescription.

 

[hypnagogue]

No one may start with the intention of developing a life-long habit, but exactly what do you expect? That you'll be different from everyone else who takes it up?
Out of curiosity, why did you start?

Well, to be honest (I guess this is going to sound bad), I started smoking cigarettes to enhance the effects of marijuana when I was starting out with that because I initially had a hard time getting it to work. It didn't take me too long to find out how well they went with alcohol and other stuff as well. But really, for a period of nearly 5 years, I only ever used cigarettes as a booster for something else, which means I smoked them relatively sparingly on the rather infrequent occassions when I would even smoke them at all.

I only really started smoking them regularly (i.e. even while sober) while in college, where I didn't have friends who smoked cigarettes and eventually began buying my own packs. But even that only started around the end of my sophomore year. Given that I've basically given up everything else since then, I really think it's quite possible that I never would have become addicted to nicotine (even after smoking them rather infrequently for a period of about 5 years) had I stayed in my hometown during my college years, or had I had a friend or two in college from whom I could have bummed a smoke every now and then. If that had occurred I likely would never have felt compelled to buy my own packs and thus probably would never have been compelled or tempted to begin smoking them as an everyday kind of thing.

 

[Moonbear]

I only really started smoking them regularly (i.e. even while sober) while in college, where I didn't have friends who smoked cigarettes and eventually began buying my own packs.

So, if you only bummed one once in a while and are certain you weren't already addicted (maybe you were?), why did you decide to buy packs and increase your smoking in college, surely even more aware of the bad health effects by then than when you started, rather than just decide it wasn't worth it? I suspect you may have already been addicted off just the occassional cigarrette and didn't even realize it, otherwise what other reason would there be to smoke when nobody else around you was smoking?

This is something that has always intrigued me and I have a hard time understanding...why does one kid decide to try a cigarette or drugs or alcohol that first time, knowing they are harmful, and another has no interest whatsoever? Is there something different about their upbringing or their personality? Is there some genetic predisposition toward risky behavior? Is it just dumb luck of who your friends are? Are some kids already starting to get addicted just from being around second-hand smoke from parents?

 

[edward]

This is something that has always intrigued me and I have a hard time understanding...why does one kid decide to try a cigarette or drugs or alcohol that first time, knowing they are harmful, and another has no interest whatsoever? Is there something different about their upbringing or their personality? Is there some genetic predisposition toward risky behavior? Is it just dumb luck of who your friends are? Are some kids already starting to get addicted just from being around second-hand smoke from parents?

It is genetic, dumb luck with friends, and a propensity for teenagers to engage in risky behavior. In recent years the MRI has brought out some interesting facts about the frontal lobes of teenagers.

AH HA Now I at long last know why I did all of those dangerous things in my youth.

Ron Dahl, a pediatrician and child psychiatric researcher at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, says a desire for thrills and taking risks is a building block of adolescence. The frontal lobes help put the brakes on such behavior, but they're also one of the last areas of the brain to develop fully. Located right behind the forehead, the frontal lobes actually grow larger than adult size in puberty. But the process is far from complete; refinement of the frontal lobes can continue into the early 20s.

http://www.usaweekend.com/03_issues/030518/030518teenbrain.html

 

[hypnagogue]

I suspect you may have already been addicted off just the occassional cigarrette and didn't even realize it, otherwise what other reason would there be to smoke when nobody else around you was smoking?

It's quite possible, but I tend to doubt it. If I were already addicted, I probably would have bought them much sooner. I don't really recall every detail, but most probably I just bought them because I felt like using them as a booster. I was also experiencing a lot of emotional turmoil at the time; that might have factored in somehow, as a subconscious desire for self-medication and/or an increased proclivity for 'risk taking' behavior and/or general muddied thinking and/or something else. I don't really know for sure.

This is something that has always intrigued me and I have a hard time understanding...why does one kid decide to try a cigarette or drugs or alcohol that first time, knowing they are harmful, and another has no interest whatsoever? Is there something different about their upbringing or their personality? Is there some genetic predisposition toward risky behavior? Is it just dumb luck of who your friends are? Are some kids already starting to get addicted just from being around second-hand smoke from parents?

In my case it was probably just dumb luck who my friends were. I probably would not have sought out that sort of stuff on my own. I'm quite glad things turned out like they did, though, because I feel my life has been enriched considerably for having had the opportunity to experience so many incredible things. Of course I'm not wild about the cigarette smoking though. I might as well use this as a springboard for giving a real shot at quitting. The book that Andre linked to looks like it might be useful.

 

[edward]

As far as quitting smoking goes. At age 25 I tossed my pack of smokes on the dresser and never picked them up again until 6 months later when I finally threw them away. I quit drinking at the same time because I already knew that every time I had a beer in one hand I needed a cigaret in the other.

A full year after I quit I would still find myself patting my pocket during stressful situations.

All I can advise is that while trying to quit smoking it is best to avoid alcohol, people who do smoke, and smoking pot.

 

[DaveC426913]

My strength to quit smokling came from one simple realization:

When I am 50 years old I will no longer be smoking. Whether that is because I quit or because I died a cancerous lump is really up to me.

Knowing it was a foregone conclusion, it merely became a matter of 'when'. Kind of lost its appeal after that. It became a simple matter to conclude that earlier was easier than later.

 

[coffee na lang dear]

My strength to quit smokling came from one simple realization:
When I am 50 years old I will no longer be smoking. Whether that is because I quit or because I died a cancerous lump is really up to me.
Knowing it was a foregone conclusion, it merely became a matter of 'when'. Kind of lost its appeal after that. It became a simple matter to conclude that earlier was easier than later.

TRUE. My husband said in his death bed, "I should have quit when I had the chance. Sorry." Need I say more? :(

 

[Anttech]

Do you think being healthier is a good reason? Is there anyone who you care about enough to quit for? Family, friends, yourself, etc.?

Yes i do, and yes there is... I am cutting down right now, I started smoking Regal long ago, then went onto Marlboro . Then Marlboro lights, now I am smoking Philip Morris, which are evn lighter, and I smoke less...

Some of my muslim friends are on Ramadam right now, and some are heavy smokers, but they totally quite during the day and only smoke at night... I asked them why if they can go a whole day without don't they quite, they don't becuase they enjoy a ciggy...

I could quite becuase I am more addited to the habit rather than the nicotien. I mean if I don't smoke for a while i get a bit stressed, but i don't get massive withdrawls or anything... I just need to break this habbit...

On the health aspect I know i would be healthier, but i am naturally a good sports person (If i do say so myselfs) so even now I am quite healthy and can run, play sports etc.. I know I would be better if I stopped...

Sigh... Decisions Decisions

 

[revelator]

I've been smoked since I was twelveish, and a pack a day at 18. Lately, I've been noticing my cigarette consumption increasing again.

Quitting would be nice, but each failed attempt is more disillusioning than the last.

 

[honestrosewater]

TRUE. My husband said in his death bed, "I should have quit when I had the chance. Sorry." Need I say more? :(

I'm very sorry to hear about your husband's death. And thank you for sharing that. I think it did at least push me to quit for good today.

 

[honestrosewater]

I might as well use this as a springboard for giving a real shot at quitting. The book that Andre linked to looks like it might be useful.

Woohoo! I'm behind you all the way.

 

[honestrosewater]

Sigh... Decisions Decisions

Have you checked out any information online? Just google quit smoking; there's plenty of help out there. You might find something that makes your decision easier.

I've been smoked since I was twelveish, and a pack a day at 18. Lately, I've been noticing my cigarette consumption increasing again.

Quitting would be nice, but each failed attempt is more disillusioning than the last.

Yeah, I was about 12 too. How long ago was your last attempt?

 

[honestrosewater]

Guess what? I made it the whole day without smoking. I think the worst is over.

 

[Moonbear]

Guess what? I made it the whole day without smoking. I think the worst is over.

Woo hoo! Way to go! One day at a time, that's a good way to do it. If you can make it through one day, you can make it through another.

 

[Evo]

Guess what? I made it the whole day without smoking. I think the worst is over.

YAY YAY YAY!

Way to go HRW!

 

[coffee na lang dear]

I'm very sorry to hear about your husband's death. And thank you for sharing that. I think it did at least push me to quit for good today.

yeah...lost times, but thanks been coping now and doing great since he died 4 years ago...just miss him sometimes, but life has to go on and I'm fine

 

[Leah]

I know smoking is bad. I've been smoking since 18 years old, at least a pack a day. So, that's about 26 years now. I've had several bronchitis outbreaks and even a pneumonia once. Do you think that would stop me from smoking? No. I hear it is harder to quit smoking than it is to get off heroin. On a lighter note, a did hear about a woman who lived to 105 years old and still smoked. Not that that is the norm, of course. My aunt still smokes and she is 80 years old. When I was once asked what causes cancer, I said, "Alcohol, tobacco, and Southern Cookin'". I'd rather live well, than die lean and mean. I guess we all have our choices about our lives. Good luck to all of you who quit smoking. Maybe someday, I'll quit too.

 

[honestrosewater]

How's everyone doing? Anyone have updates?

I'm still not smoking! I have sporadic cravings, but either they're getting weaker, I'm getting better at dealing with them, or both.

 

[Niode]

Great! Keep up the good work!

It's such an expensive habbit... I'm such a penny pincher. I think that's one reason why I never considered to smoke.

 

[El Hombre Invisible]

How's everyone doing? Anyone have updates?
I'm still not smoking! I have sporadic cravings, but either they're getting weaker, I'm getting better at dealing with them, or both.

I haven't had a fag since Saturday night. \o/ I'm doing fine. I'm using gum, so I haven't had much in the way of cravings.

I'm staying with friends who smoke this weekend. <--- Me in hell.

 

[honestrosewater]

Thanks, Niode.

I haven't had a fag since Saturday night. \o/ I'm doing fine. I'm using gum, so I haven't had much in the way of cravings.
I'm staying with friends who smoke this weekend. <--- Me in hell.

Wow, that's almost a whole week!

Hap[/color]py A[/color]nni[/color]ver[/color]sar[/color]y![/color]![/color]![/color]![/color]![/color]!1[/color][/size] ​

I hope your friends are supportive and don't make it too hard for you.

 

[El Hombre Invisible]

Wow, that's almost a whole week!

Hap[/color]py A[/color]nni[/color]ver[/color]sar[/color]y![/color]![/color]![/color]![/color]![/color]!1[/color][/size] ​

I hope your friends are supportive and don't make it too hard for you.

Thanks HRW! You must be on two or three weeks by now, right? Huge congrats. Be sure to give us an update when it's a month. I can't even think that far ahead yet.