How can I successfully quit smoking?

[stoned]

How to quit smoking ?

 

[Moonbear]

Ask tribdog. Apparently nicotine gum makes you too nauseous to smoke.

From what I've observed of those who manage to quit, you first really need to want to quit, find some positive reasons why it will be worth it to go smoke free (not just "I won't get cancer" which is a negative reason even if there is a positive benefit, but something like "I will be able to stay more active to keep up with my children," or "I will live longer to enjoy life with my significant other/spouse."

Next, it seems have a good support "group" is helpful. Someone or some people who will let you get cranky and do stuff with you when you're having cravings to keep your mind off it to help remind you of why you've decided to quit.

Then there's the method. Can you just toss all the cigarettes into the trash and be miserable for a week or two while you get over the worst of the withdrawal, or do you need to ease yourself off nicotine with patches or gum?

It also helps to get yourself out of the environment where you usually are most tempted to smoke. If you're someone who lights up when you're in a bar, stay away from bars for a while. If you hang out with another group of smokers, find some nonsmoker friends to hang out with more often for a few weeks until you get over the worst (I think it would be very hard to quit if everyone else around you is still smoking). If you smoke when you're bored at home, find reasons to go out more often and do things to keep you occupied. Only you can know yourself and your own habits well enough to decide what will work best.

Perhaps some ex-smokers can share what worked for them (I've never smoked, so I can only suggest from observation, not experience).

 

[Pengwuino]

And remember, smoking + health insurance = $$$$$$

 

[SOS2008]

I'm not sure what kind of smoking you're talking about, stoned, but I use to socially smoke cigarettes until I developed asthma. It is such a negative experience now I have absolutely no desire. It just needs to become that negative for you too.

 

[gnome]

Ask tribdog. Apparently nicotine gum makes you too nauseous to smoke.

Nah. I actually liked the gum (between smokes).

It definitely required a lot of determination, but that wasn't enough. I "quit" about 5 times until I finally did it for keeps. And "weaning" yourself off smoking doesn't work well; you'll be watching the clock to see if it's time for the next smoke, which means smoking is always on your mind & you want to get it off your mind. You have to completely toss the smokes and change your mindset. Stop thinking of yourself as a smoker trying to quit and convince yourself that you are a non-smoker.

Nicotine patches helped me enormously. You gradually reduce the size of the patch & that weans you off the nicotine addiction, but you still have to deal with the 'habit' aspect, & that's just willpower. It also helps to have someone close by who will tolerate the obnoxious mood swings that are definitely going to occur & demand mercilessly that you stick to it.

And even after you're supposedly finished with the patches, keep a few extras around because there will be moments even months later when the urge to smoke returns & feels irresistable. DON'T be tempted to smoke "just one". Remember that you already learned that you CAN'T control the habit. Give in once & you're screwed; you'll be starting all over again. But a small "emergency" patch can get you over those hurdles.

 

[hypatia]

when I wanted a smoke...I would take it out ..look at it...then ask myself ..could I get by right now if I didn't smoke this? The answer was always yes...I could get by.
Some times I would scream at my self..I wanted one so badly. But then when I asked the question..the answer ..I feel like crap, but I can get by without it right now.
I never thought of the "big" picture. Just the here and now.
Its been almost a year..I want to smoke still...just not right now.
PS I've smoked for 35 years

 

[Zantra]

for me it's been a combination of patch/gum. I keep the gum around for occassionals when the urge hits. If you are a light/social smoker you can quit cold turkey. If you're more than half a pack/day then you will probably want to bounce someone's head off the pavement until you are numb, so I suggestion using a stop smoking aid.

It's true that you have to want to quit, but I've seen lots of people who claimed that they quit cold turkey and it was "no big deal". A few years later they are back into the habit. Just a theory, but I think it's better to gradually quit or quit with the patch/gum/other aid. You didn't start smoking a pack a day the first day uou smoked, so you shouldn't go from that to 0 nicotine either. If you quit slowly you have more time to cope psycologically, and you will have more success saying no.

I smoked for 10 years. Each day is a battle, but each day it gets easier.

 

[Uno Lee]

I've noticed that most people who sucessfuly gave up smoking, even though they loved to smoke, when they did, hate it now that they don't. Maybe it's just an attitudinal adjustment. I think smoking depresses the mind. Einstien smoked a pipe.

 

[Kerrie]

after hiking smith rock in oregon and having to stop every 2 minutes because i couldn't climb up made me stop. try jogging or hiking vigorously, see how out of breath you are, it sure made me stop.

 

[dlgoff]

I stopped two years ago totally by accident. One night while surfing the net I smoked two packs which made me sick. The next day I had no more desires.

BTW I smoked for over thirty years.

Regards

 

[Bladibla]

My Dad had a smoking problem. He wasn't complainging all the time time that he shouldn't smoke.

He was smoking for something like 10 years, but he quited, through sheer will.

So i think you just need some mental strength to restrain yourself from smoking. Although by no means may this be true, i think smokers are just making it hard for themselves, and they can just not smoke when they want to quit.

But again, i might be wrong, so just take this as a 'friendly' advice.

 

[Smurf]

I've noticed that most people who sucessfuly gave up smoking, even though they loved to smoke, when they did, hate it now that they don't. Maybe it's just an attitudinal adjustment. I think smoking depresses the mind. Einstien smoked a pipe.

It's called sensitization, people who smoke and then stop are even more sensitive to it than a person who had never smoked in the first place, and it's not a pleasant sensation. I should know, I'm sensitized to tobacco, marijuana, caffein and who knows what else.

 

[polyb]

Well stoned you will quit one day or another! It's called death and that will guarantee that you will 'quit' one day wether you want to or not! As for methods, your solution will be unique to you! Good Luck!

Smurf, we all know how 'sensitive' you are especially when you are wearing your dress!

 

[tribdog]

for me the hardest part has been not feeling the smoke in my lungs. I tried things like chewing the gum and sucking on a straw, but it work. lately I've been smoking crack and that seems to help.

 

[Uno Lee]

I began to notice that after every cigarette, I felt depressed. After awhile, I started feeling better and better, so good, in fact, that I could think of nothing better than another cigarette and feel that fun slide down into the dumps again. I thought about it and realized "I don't want to feel depressed any more." There was no "withdrawl effect" when I quit--though I did start to put on weight.

 

[BobG]

How to quit smoking ?

It depends on why you smoke.

If you're quitting through an organized program and planning to quit on a certain date, switching brand to brand ahead of time, especially if you're using lower tar and nicotene ratings helps a little, at least psychologically. Hell, if you switch to a disgusting enough brand, the actual quitting might be a relief.

The physical part only lasts a few days. I just sleep a lot the first day. It gets easier every day after that. The physical part is worse for a lot of people. Nicotene patches or nicotine gum generally help with the physical addiction.

The psychological part is hardest. You have to find a substitute for all the little things cigarettes did for you. If you smoke a cigarette because you have to think about a problem away from your computer or your desk, you have to find some other excuse and/or activity (funny how a person feels they should be working instead of thinking unless they can find an excuse to go think).

Plus, the psychological part can get you later even after you think you've quit. Business trips (especially to foreign countries where no one speaks your language) always cause me problems. But, I never smoked after I got back home. I also smoked the whole year I spent on a remote assignment in Alaska. In fact, being left at home alone without any of the kids to keep me company can get me started again unless I find a lot of things to do to keep occupied. (For someone who's always been pretty quiet and private, I was kind of surprised to find I had so many problems with being alone.)

Cigarettes are a little like heroin, except more addictive. Eventually, you quit enough times, you get pretty good at quitting. Maybe good enough that you spend more time as a non-smoker than as a smoker.