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Finally quit smoking!

#21
C.Linton, I see where you're coming from with the routine thing. The cigarettes I'm missing most are my "morning coffee" cigarette, my "break from the labs" cigarette and my, "post-dinner" cigarette. Without fail, at the time I'm used to having those, I'm getting a really bad craving, much more severe than any of the other cravings through the day. It really is terrifying to me how much my daily routine is built around when I get a nicotine fix.

The help from the GF is a bit surprising to me, I've only been seeing her for a very short period of time, so I don't have a clue why she's already so willing to not only put up with my irritability, but to actively help me get through it!
 
#23
All I can tell you , is DON'T GIVE UP! It's difficult now, but it WILL get easier. Like I said, one day you will realize you missed your usual "morning coffee"," Lab break", and "post dinner" cigarettes, and didn't even notice. Trust me.
 
#24
My father quit cold turkey after 30 years of smoking.

I am still amazed and impressed that he did it with shear willpower alone, and I haven't seen him light up for the past 20 years. He no doubt extended his life by quitting.

He claims to have been inspired by a vivid dream of his dead father (my grandfather, a life-long smoker of all things tobacco who died of lung cancer), a stern solemn warning from beyond the grave that cigarettes were going to kill my father in his prime.
 
#25
I had more or less the same, quitting cold turkey. In my case my inspiration was seeing my Father suffering from Emphysema, COPD, and diabetes, (supposedly aggravated by medications he was taking for the Emphysema), being on an oxygen machine 24/7, and just being generally miserable, frustrated, angry .... and pretty much making the rest of the family just as miserable at the same time. The last few years of his life were terrible, all because he smoked for most of his life. All very powerful inspiration for me to quit, and by willpower alone.
 
#26
First, congratulations and well done.

It does get easier. I'm 3-4 years quit and it's very rare I even think about cigarettes. The first few months were hard, and staying away from alcohol was very helpful. From memory, it was about 3 months before I dared wander into a bar.

You've been programming yourself for years to behave in a certain way (smoke a cigarette) whenever you get a particular stimulus (stress, nicotine level drop, hunger, etc...) without even thinking about it. You've now got to reattach a new response to the stimulus, and that's going to take some experimenting. For me it was chewing gum / eating carrots / going for a 2 minute walk around the block ... just as thoughtlessly as I used to pick up a cig. For you it may be something different. Retrain your robot properly, and it'll do the work for you.

Don't worry too much about the food, it's easier to lose weight than to grow a new lung so do whatever you need to do. "Chase two rabbits and you'll catch neither of them".

edit: if you want a little extra motivation, get a glass jar, stick up a picture of something you're GASsing for next to it, and put the price of a pack of cigs in the jar every day. I did this with a $400 bottle of whisky - something I'd normally say was a complete waste of money, except that it was less of a waste of money than sucking the **** of the cigarette companies 20 times a day ...
 
#28
Go to WhyQuit.com and learn everything you can about how the drug nicotine has an effect on your body and why you should never touch it again. Treat it like a Class A drug like coke/heroin/meth. I've quit for 6 years this upcoming May after 13 years of smoking.
 
#29
Having just recently quit again with no help from gum's or patches, my advice to you is convincing yourself they are gross and taste like something you would never put in your mouth. Embrace your new appetite. A few extra pounds is worth the ability to quit cigs. Stay away from tempting situations when possible. I would avoid the bar in the beginning. Also try focusing the money your not spending on smokes towards gear, cloths, vacations, etc...

Best of Luck!!!
 
#31
One is to many ... A thousand is never enough.

I'm on quit trip number 28

I quit last year for 6 months and started again. I've been free a week now and hope I really stay smoke free. For the last 10 years I've quit at least 3
times a year. The guys at work wager on when I will fail. I make it 6 months easy , then I reward myself with a smoke. This time I'm onto it and plan to plow thru that stage of addiction recovery.


Good luck !
 
#32
Ah yes

Nicotine

A drug that causes no intoxication , is more addictive than heroin or cocaine , is legal and is easy to find. Even better is the fact that cigs were altered/engineered to make them even more addictive. The big plus is the wonderful downward spiral one take when cancer or lung disease enters the final stages. I'm proud I watched my grandfather sit in his chair and gasp for breath with one lung. I'm glad I never was able to go on a walk with him or do much of anything except watch him suffer and die. I can't believe I was stupid enough to ever start myself.
 
#36
I've taken tons of drugs. I've snorted them, smoked em, drank em. My brother doesn't believe me but I don't care.

I smoked about half a pack a day everyday for a month and I just quit. Now I smoke one every 3 months. I havn't had any drugs in awhile. Its all in the mind. You just can't take it too seriously.

Good luck. Don't beat yourself up if you give in. Just try again man. Whats that Mark Twain quote.

"I've quit smoking. Hundreds of times. Ya Dig brotha?"
 
#37
BullHorn said:
I repeat this in every smoking cessation thread on every forum.

Will power is all nice and dandy however over 90% of people who attempt to quit by sheer will power - fail.

HOWEVER!

I have quit smoking a bit over 3 years ago thanks to a person who had died of lung cancer, but before his death had came up with a technique to quit with ease. It's a book by Allen Carr (RIP) called EASYWAY To Stop Smoking. Do it.
Click to expand...

+1 I've heard good things from a few about this.

The alcohol connect is tricky ime.

Distraction techniques?, Outdoors/other, doing whatever, I've found I give it far less thought attention, bit of substitution there for me.

No easy one, try and stay on the ball as much as you can with it dj, buy yourself the time however you can to reprogramme a bit. I have heard good things about that book though, that'll be my next port of call.
 
#40
dj150888 said:
So I'm still going strong, though I seem to have replaced cigarettes with coffee. It seems my body just can't function without SOME sort of substance addiction. :(
Click to expand...

Substitution is normal, keep the focus there if you can, the cravings will decrease over time, the associations will be a little harder imo from past experience, but well done dj, persevere with this, it's one of the best moves you can make :)
 

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