Ex-Smokers. How did you quit?

[Stewie26]

I have been smoking for many years now. I am normally a strong willed person with good self discipline. But when it comes to nicotine, I have been a wussy and nicotine has owned me for half a life time. I can not use the anti-smoking drug, Chantix, as it is on the FAA's no fly list because they say it may cause suicidal tendencies.
What worked for you? I would really appreciate any suggestions you may have.

 

[Gorn]

Cold turkey after smoking from 15 to about 33. It was harder than quitting cocaine ten years earlier. There's no trick to it. You just have to do it or not do it. I still miss them.

 

[Downunderwonder]

Everyone is different with nicotine because it's largely in your head. The physical symptoms are very mild.

Read Allen Carr. Cold Turkey is the only way but he explains how that works by first curing you of the idea you need nicotine to feel good, then you quit.

 

[48thStreetCustom]

I looked at all the places/times I smoked (in the car, at home, band practice, after lunch, when I drank, etc) and one by one, I cut them out. It took about 6 months but one day I realized I wasn't addicted anymore. So then I just stopped.

 

[MJ5150]

I consider you a valuable part of TBOT. It would be weird without you around sharing your wisdom and life stories with us, like the ones about the STEM fair or the many lives you've saved with life flights.
I don't want to lose you prematurely because of smoking, so please stop.

-Mike

 

[mapleglo]

I've been on Chantix for a month now. Still smoking but cut back a bit. Subbed, hoping for some good advice.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Not a smoker myself, but I have numerous friends and family members who quit (or didn't) smoking (including a Grandfather who quit after over half a century). Cold turkey by far has the best results. Chewing gum will do something to help the oral fixation. Lots of support from all friends and family helps a lot.

@48thStreetCustom said it - find out the triggers for your smoking.

 

[Doc Blue]

I was never a smoker but my mother was for 35+ years. After she decided to quit, she spent a year or two tapering back before she finally gave them up. My father quit cold turkey 20 years prior.

Actually, I was likely born into nicotine withdrawal. My mother smoked through her entire pregnancy and had a cigarette on the way to the hospital, so yeah, I quit cold turkey also.

 

[Indiana Mike]

You have to really want to. You can't do it for someone else. It's the hardest thing I've ever encountered. I used the MINI lozenges. Walmart brand. Not real tasty ,but take the edge off. Still nicotine, just no smoke. The bigger lozenges are a tad cheaper ,but are like having marbles in your mouth. The mini ones are where it was at for me.
Good luck.

NEVER feel defeated, never listen to people who put you down because you've slipped . Just keep trying. This is a difficult journey your undertaking.

 

[kjp360]

There have been a few scholarly 'addiction scale/factor' schemes and most of the ones I have seen put nicotine below cocaine and opiates but well above alcohol on their scales. There are often in-patient programs for the other 3 mentioned. IMHO this is an approach that could really work but no one wants to pay for. As mentioned already removing as many triggers as possible for a good bit of time is really helpful (coffee, booze, your friends who smoke, stress, the car if you swing that way...) There is absolutely a physical component to nicotine addiction.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Sat in a car with my cousin & we smoked ourselves silly until we vomited. Cured!
It was probably mild carbon monoxide poisoning.

 

[James Hart]

vaping... well documented thread (2 parts) here on TB

 

[two fingers]

Cold Turkey.

I quit (the second time....and for good) when my first kid was a few weeks out from being born. I didn't want to expose her to it. But, I had to can that rationale and do it for me. So glad I did.

I was cranky for about a week. Then it hit me. My sense of smell cam back. Even loaf bread had an aroma I hadn't smelled in years. So, everything on Earth tasted AMAZING.

Then I started to work out. That helped.

Get sugarless gum, and lots of it.

Honestly, if you have the time, take a few days off. Clean out and/or air out the places you smoked. Clean out your car a LOT. Not smoking in my vehicle was the hardest part.

 

[Maxime1980]

I smoked from 15-17 and from 32-36.
Mid-2016, an aunt died of lung cancer (ex-smoker who died after 10+ years of being a non smoker) and let's say i quit coldturkey. No vape, no nicotine gum, nothing but the power of the mental!!!
I was a right bastard the first month or two, but never touched another one.
I had support ( friend who quit one week ahead of me = great support!) and took it day to day.
All pros, no cons + saving 8$ a day/50$ a week/100$ per paycheck + better health + everything tastes better!
Best of luck and yes, it is possible to quit smoking if you want to do it for yourself!

Ps : The money saved can go into 1001 things you like : $$ for vacation, groceries, rent, planning ahead and having that extra $$$ saved just in case, and yes, all things basses!!!

 

[murphy]

Patches...quit for 8 years

Allen Carr easy way stop smoking method...Book....I stopped for 6 months

Nicorette...4 years chewing gum....no smoke...but have to quit the gum

 

[/\/\3phist0]

I'm tapering off after about 40 years, Juul is making it easy. Mint or Creme Brulee flavors.
2 months and only the occasional tobacco stick, and now they taste bad!

 

[P_Robyn]

I started smoking at around 16. Pall-Malls, what my parents both smoked. Then for many years I hand-rolled my own cigarettes. 'The Patch' was what finally worked for me, beginning in January 2008. I started out using the strongest nicotine patch, and eventually tapered off to the weakest. I used patches for an extra month, but it did work for me. I had a few mild urges at first but never smoked another cigarette once I started with the patches. It's great to be free of nicotine addiction.

 

[elgecko]

After 25 years of smoking, I used vaping to quit about 7 years ago. I decreased the nicotine level over a few years to zero...I've been addicted to zero nicotine vaping for about 5 years now.

As mentioned above, I think the biggest factor in successfully quitting was really wanting to and being ready to quit. I still think about cigarettes but the last one I had caused me to vomit. It's completely psychological. Fight the power!

 

[Hot Rats]

Cold turkey. It just came to a point where it was time and then that was it. Like a switch flipped and then I moved on. I could be around my friends as they smoked and I just did not partake because my thinking had changed and I just wasn't interested.

 

[Gorn]

It gets to a point where you're only really enjoying maybe five out of 20 in a pack and the rest are like an obligation to the addiction. I just got off the highway and it's five minutes of lights before I get home so I might as well have a cigarette. Oh look, a phone call. I might as well go have a cigarette. Then you wake up with the taste of an ashtray in your mouth and a little elephant sitting on your chest and you only have six left in the pack so you know you have to pick one up. It's just silly.

 

[LBS-bass]

I celebrated nineteen years without a cigarette in March of this year. It was perhaps the hardest thing I ever did, but worth it. The keys for me were realizing I couldn't do it alone, finding support, and being willing to work at it using every tool at my disposal.

I found an online support group on USENET and joined that. I practically lived there for quite a while. I ended up using nicotine patches to taper down my dependence on nicotine and, eventually nicotine gum in ever smaller doses to get that last little bit done. It was hard; I discovered I was extremely sensitive to nicotine and for a long time I had to have just the tiniest bits of it in the evening or I couldn't sleep. So it took a long time, but it took what it took and I've been nicotine free for many years.

Along the way I learned a lot of things from watching others struggle. One of the things I learned that was most important was that there is no one way that works for everyone. Some can quit cold turkey, some can't. Some need help. There's nothing to be gained by prideful disdain of any tool that you might have in your toolbox. If you need patches, use them. If you need gum, use that. If you need an inhaler, use that. It's not a contest. It's your life.

Another thing that was probably the most important thing was that many of us had false starts. Some people saw that as failure and are probably still smoking today, if they are still alive. But others realized that they were going through a process and learning what did and didn't work for them. The key for those people was wanting it badly enough to go through what they needed to go through in order to learn how to be a non-smoker. Fall down six times, get up seven times.

There's so much more I could share here. The group I was involved with is still in existence, just moved to Facebook now. PM me if you want and I will gladly share that with you.