I need a little help well actually a whole lot of help.
What worked for those of you who quit smoking?
Im 35 and according to my doctor in the very early stages of COPD. She thinks if I can stop now I can avoid any serious complications. On top of that I have high blood pressure controlled by med's. Showing signs of early blockage. On a steriod inhaler for a few months to attempt to open up my lungs some more after having some issues recently. Plus Thyroid issues and Im on anti-depressants as well. Basically its make or break time for me.
Ive tried chantex and other things like the patch, gum, etc. Nothing worked, I cant get a handle on it. Which bugs me when I was in my early 20s I drank like a fish amoung other things. Both of those I was able to lay down without looking back. Well honestly I still have a beer every great once in awhile. Last 6er I bought though I ended up throwing 3 out, cos they was in there for almost 3 months. I know its a mind issue more than anything, but I cant seem to wrap my mind around it.
Any suggestions Im all ears, I have 2 sons (6 years and 10 months). Playing music helps but more so when Im playing with others. I think mostly cos its to easy when Im by myself to just sit it down and go smoke.
I watch my mother-in-law die from COPD. She did her Hospice at our house and my wife and I tended to her last days making her as comfortable as possible before she finally (mercifully) succumbed.
You can control it - it IS a choice that you have control over and there are ways to make the withdrawal symptoms bearable - even non-existent. DO NOT buy into the BS excuse so many people use to explain why they "can't" stop - that it's harder to quit than heroin... That's just bunk. It's highly likely that the people who say that the most have no clue what heroin addiction is like anyway.
I was able to control my smoking habit (some call it quit) and I have never had a craving or "slipped" once I put out my last smoke.
There is a slight physical addiction that you have to ween your self from (everyone knows that). There are also the behavioral associations that you need to re-wire (the psychological part) - everyone sort of acknowledges that part but no "smoking cessation programs" I've seen directly address how to do that.
My dad developed a method that tackles the 3 most critical aspects that define a smoking habit. He stopped smoking after doing so for 40+ years - never went back.
1) How to break the addiction to nicotine
2) How to re-wire the associations
3) How to set yourself up for success vs. failure
It's a 'strange' method, but understanding why it works helps you to stick with the program. But like anything, it requires a commitment to stick to the rules to be successful.
1) How to break the addiction to nicotine
You continue to smoke like you normally do but you add to your habit a couple steps that both insert a "hassle factor" into what you normally do without thinking and it also diminishes the amount of smoke you take in which reduces your dependency on nicotine.
You do that with a pin. You keep a good sized pin (like a hat pin) with your pack of cigs. Each time you want a cig you pull one out of the pack, pull out your pin and shove it through the tobacco part of the cig just above the filter. Then you smoke as usual. You cannot cover the holes - that obviously defeats the purpose. At first it sort of sucks - but you get used to the lighter smoke really fast - a day will do it - but again, you MUST do it right. You cannot 'pre-poke' your cigs - that eliminates the "Hassle-factor" which actually forces you to think about what you are doing each time you do it. You cannot cover the holes when you smoke.
When you get used to one poke through the cig, add a second - when you get used to that, add a third and so on.
What ends up happening is you realize over time that you easily get used to less and less smoke. It's pretty amazing how quickly this happens. You are also diminishing the amount of nicotine you are taking in and as a result weening yourself off of it.
The Rules are simple:
1) Always poke at your cig with your pin all the way through just before you smoke.
2) Always increase the number of times you poke your cig (at your pace - but push yourself - it's not that bad)
3) You cannot smoke unless you poke that smoke - You cannot poke less times than you did before (you can poke the same or more, but never less) - you cannot 'pre-poke' - you cannot cover the holes (or if you do to get the cig lit, you cannot inhale that drag) and you have to do your pin thing just before you smoke.
This all makes your habit "top of mind" and more difficult to do. It's hard to drive and shove a pin through your cig, so there's one common smoking situation that now has a 'hassle factor' in it. It draws a lot of attention your way with is one more motivating factor to simply not do it. It weens you off the addictive components (really quickly - once you get up to like 6 or 7 pokes, you are almost not smoking when you smoke) - and if you are able to stick to those rules - you can technically "smoke" for the rest of your life if you want to - but I assure you, you'll decide it's just not worth it.
I was up to about 15 or 16 pokes - pretty crazy - but the fact is that I pretty much couldn't even get the cig to light because of all the holes (so I would cover them just to get it lit but would NOT inhale that drag), then I'd go about "smoking" normally. The amount of smoke that I was drawing in was was all but non-existent. I had been doing the "program" for about 4 weeks at this point and when I finished the last cig in that pack, I just never bought another pack.
I used to get "smoker's cough", colds, and other nasty lung-related gunk from my smoking. All of that cleared up in WEEKS. I wasn't able to run more than a few hundred yards before my system said, "dude... hack... stop... hack..." - a few short weeks after my last cig, I could run as long and as far as I wanted with NO nasty, cig-related side effects.
The method is so unusual that when people see you doing it, you inevitably end up having to explain what's up. This works to your advantage because it keeps it at the front of your mind instead of letting it hide in your 'mindless habit' zone. It also point yet another conscious point in your process where you get to exercise your will power and choose to either go ahead and do it (sticking to the rules and dealing with explaining) or simply waiting.
I could go get one tomorrow, however, and start right back where I stopped if I wanted to. I'd have to get a pin and poke my cig at least 16 times, but I can - and in doing so, I would not be breaking any rules and therefore wouldn't hit that "Oh well, I've failed" mindset that allows people to fall back into their old habit.
The fact that I know I can smoke anytime I want as long as I do it that way makes it so easy to choose not to that after a few weeks of choosing not to, I simply stopped thinking about smoking all together. I was never bothered by other people smoking - again, I can too if I want.
PM me if you want more info or support. YOU CAN DO IT! This way is one that worked for me. Other people have done it other ways. YOU CAN DO IT!!!
