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quitting smoking?

#4
JacksonsMen said:
anyone else doing this? ive cut back a lot but eventually i want to quit completely...


anyone have any tips? i dont want to use the patch or anything like that, id like to just quit
Click to expand...

Yep, I have a tip.

Just stop. And when you get cravings for a cigarette, don't smoke one.

That's all there is to it.

I smoked from when I was thirteen until I got to 31. I tried to give up several times using nicotine gum and patches and failed every time.
 
#5
You have to quit for yourself.
I smoked for a total of almost 25 years. Almost 3 packs a day at the end, and I loved those butts.
I've quit twice. The first time, I quit for about 5 years. I went back to it when stress got to me. I chewed toothpicks as a crutch that first time I quit. The second time, I used Skoal as replacement therapy for about 6 months, figuring that chewing was so disgusting that I'd give it up eventually. It was, and I did.
Haven't smoked or chewed for over 10 years and haven't wanted to.
Smoking and chewing got to me on the chemical level as well as physical and emotional levels, I think. When I quit either time, I'd physically shake, (chemical effect) I also didn't know what to do with my hands etc., (physical) was hard to get along with and had the feeling that my life was spinning out of control. (emotional)
When you try to quit, it's so hard not to give in and ease it all with a smoke. Despite the fact that you know smoking is killing your endurance and hastening your demise, and making you smell bad. Three pack a day me, smelling like a full ashtray. But, I couldn't smell. On top of that, it's really not helping you with the things you started smoking for, whatever they were.
It was really an illusion that I set up for myself as a smoker, an illusion of how smoking was helping me relax, made me tuff or whatever it was that led me to start. I think the difficulty with quitting is proportional to how effective the illusion is for the smoker.
Sorry, I can really go off sometimes. I don't mean to preach, and I don't mean to imply that what it was for me is what it is for everyone. I hope somebody gets a little insight into the butts from this and can figure out how to quit them self. It won't be easy, but it's possible. Just think of how much more good music you'll be able to make in your life without tobacco.
Good luck!
RD
 
#6
I quit many times over the course of almost 20 years. But the last one I've been completely smoke free for over two years. All the other times I quit cold turkey, this time I used some assistance.

I found the best nicotine replacement is the Commit Lozenge. I tried them all and I'm telling you this works. It's like the gum but in lozenge form, for some reason it was so much better than the patch or the gum. If you need some help you have to try this. I got to the point where I would just break one in half and have it during a gig.

I was still able to drink beer and use the lozenge and get by without cravings, but I had to give up morning coffee for a while because I couldn't take it without a smoke. So I switched to green tea, but now I am off the lozenge and am back to normal with all my old habits except smoking.
 
#7
I quit too. I can't tell you how many times I tried with the patchh, gum or both together :eek: and it didn't work. All those times it didn't work, It was because I wasn't ready. Bottom line is, you have to be ready and willing to do whatever it takes not to smoke that first cigarette or drag even when your craving. Take it one craving at a time...remember they only last a minute or 2 max. Use a friend who is also quitting or has quit for support. If your getting ready to have one cause you can't deal with the cravings call them before you smoke. I did this and it help me tremendously. I found everytime I called (which was alot in the first few days) It got through each craving by talking about it...sometimes it was gone before he even picked up. Try to stay away from cigarettes, smokers, bars, or other smoking environments during the first 3 days or as long as you need to.

The other thing is, no matter what, don't fall vitim to the evil little voice in your head telling you "it's ok just to have one drag" or "I'll just buy a pack, smoke one and toss it" or "I'll quit again tomorrow." This was never the case for me. It always ended up in another couple months of smoking at least a pack a day, and way harder to quit the next time. Who knows how many more cigs until full-blown cancer. Personally, I don't want to go out like that.

I used 2 patches I had left over this time. I wore 1 the first day, the other for 2 days and chewed regular gum like a mainiac. After a few days the cravings get shorter and fewer. Its been 8 months this time. Stay determined...it is possable. And it's such a better way of life. Thats all I got.
 
#9
"Quitting smoking is easy, I've done it thousands of times." -Mark Twain

I've tried to quit smoking cigarettes three times. The first time I went cold turkey, and lasted about 12 hours. At the first sign of a headache, I lit up.

The second time, I just smoked my pipes. I didn't touch a cigarette for almost a year, had maybe four pipes a day or so. My lungs felt better, my sense of taste returned, I didn't cough up a lung every morning. Then I got moved to a jobsite where I couldn't smoke at all. Instantly, the fact that I couldn't light up and puff away made me wanna smoke all the more, and I gave in and started taking cigarette breaks with a coworker.

The third time, I chewed nicotine gum, and after a week was down to two cigarettes a day--one on the morning drive to work, one on the drive home. Then, I admitted to myself that I didn't really want to quit yet. I had to be beat down pretty bad to quit drinking, and I don't think I'll be able to quit smoking on general principles, either.

Point being, unless you're well and truly sick of smoking, I don't think any gum, lozenge, patch, or raw willpower will help you. Just my experience, and the experience of others I know that have quit.
 
#10
Please stop. How's that? :D

My dad now has cancer because of smoking. It will eventually kill him, just not right now. When the doctor told him he was a cancer patient, he went from two packs a day down to one pack per week. He hopes to be totally off them in a month or so. He's been smoking for over 45 years, so it wasn't like he could just stop on command.

-Mike
 
#12
It's been 29 years since my last cigarette. I was 21, and that was the one smart thing I did that year.
At first I thought every time I wanted a cig, I'd just smoke a doobie instead. Boy, you miss a lot of classes that way! Hey, it was the 70s, I was away at college... anyway, that approach soon became unworkable. So what I wound up doing was getting a box of wooden matches, and just chewing on those. That worked pretty well, and I always had a light if someone else needed one.
The funny thing was, for years after I quit, I would dream I was smoking. Never wanted one while awake, but I must have had that dream hundreds of times. Eventually it stopped.
 
#13
dlloyd said:
Yep, I have a tip.

Just stop. And when you get cravings for a cigarette, don't smoke one.

That's all there is to it.

I smoked from when I was thirteen until I got to 31.
Click to expand...


+1

I smoked from age 12 until I was 36.

I quit cold turkey three years ago.
 
#14
I smoked for about 5 years, was just over a pack a day when I stopped. I tried cold turkey but didn't work. I had to use the patch to quit, and even using that it was the hardest but best things I have done in my life.

I bought a bike to ride around on and went to the gym as much as possible. Keeps your mind busy and help cut down on exsmokers weight gain.

I had some imformation sent to me by my health insurence company, they said rewards work best. Even if they are generic, use that. For example: "If I can go till Friday without a smoke, I can use the money I saved to buy some new strings"

I also work for one of those companys that require smokers to pay a added premium ($13.85 a week) for my health coverage. I saved about $38.35 a week from not smoking. I called my health plan company up and told them I wanted to quit smoking, they overnighted me a video, tons of pamplets, ect ect ect.
 
#15
JacksonsMen said:
anyone else doing this? ive cut back a lot but eventually i want to quit completely...


anyone have any tips? i dont want to use the patch or anything like that, id like to just quit
Click to expand...

You're 20 years old? Quit now, 'cuz it only gets more difficult the older you become. I took up the foul habit when I was 12, and cigarettes were 30-cents a pack! Fortunately (I suppose...) I wasn't a 'heavy' smoker... 1/2 a pack a day... but I was still smoking! I finally gave those damn things up for good about 20 years ago... when they had gotten up to over a dollar a pack! I did it 'cold turkey'... Cigarettes are what... five-dollars a pack now? Geeze-leweeze... :eek:
 
#16
1) Best to quit when you have a good cold, much easier and no witdrawl since you already feel like crap

2) Really want to stop for yourself not for anybody else
3) Substitute the behaviour, I've found altoids work really well, they give you that bite on your tongue that smoking used to.

4) Play music to keep your mind in a good spot, every time you want to light up, pick up an axe

5) It gets easier every day
6) Just do it, don't think about it or justify it, just do it
7) Exercise isn't a bad thing either, helps blow the crap out of the lungs

8) Don't be afraid to be around smokers, I found it very rewarding to hang around with my old friends even if they are smoking. I still like the smell. :) Oh yeah and when you hang with your smoking friends, whatever you do don't be a born again non-smoker, everyone hates that. LOL

Good Luck,
Dirk
 
#17
Lazylion said:
...The funny thing was, for years after I quit, I would dream I was smoking. Never wanted one while awake, but I must have had that dream hundreds of times. Eventually it stopped...
Click to expand...

LOL... I think it's safe to assume all of us ex-smokers had these dreams...:D

...and I might add: my chest started hurting me a little... specifically my left side toward the end of my smoking life, thus a little motivation to get me thinking about quitting. It usually bothered me in the mornings shortly after waking up. Even after I had quit, I felt those pains for about five, maybe six more years... and, eventually they went away... kinda along with the dreams... :hmm:
 
#18
It’s been a year for me and I know I am not going back...

Way I quit smoking cigarettes was semi illegal as we can not talk about drugs here... but really one day I just went "I am bored... I think I will stop" and that was it. I

When first few weeks past and all coughing and hell is past... when you clean your lungs out you feel so much better you have no idea. Then when ever you want a cig remember how crappy you felt when you smoked... remember that every time you were sick how bad you coughed. That’s what stops me…


Good luck...

Cheers
 
#19
What worked for me? FEAR!

I smoked a pack a day or more for 25 years. I quit a bunch of times. I started again. Then one morning I woke up about 4 am and couldn't catch my breath. I was winded from just lying in bed! That did it. I had a mental image of myself at the ripe old age of 45 pushing around one of those oxygen tank carts everywhere I went. That scared me more than anything has ever scared me before or since! I quit cold turkey, put up with the physical withdrawl symptoms for about 2 weeks, and got on with my life.

What had always failed me before was the messed-up attitude that once I quit and got past the physical symptoms, I had "proved" I could quit whenever I want. Then the next time I had 4 or 5 beers and someone else was smoking, I bummed one from them, and within a week I was back to a pack a day.

FEAR to the rescue! Now when I have those 4 or 5 beers and the smell of that second-hand smoke is getting mighty tempting, I just flash back to that mental image of myself pushing the oxygen tank around. That kills the craving immediately. It's been 8 years now, and I think I'll make it this time!

Good luck to you!
 
#20
kserg said:
It’s been a year for me and I know I am not going back...

Way I quit smoking cigarettes was semi illegal as we can not talk about drugs here... but really one day I just went "I am bored... I think I will stop" and that was it. I

When first few weeks past and all coughing and hell is past... when you clean your lungs out you feel so much better you have no idea. Then when ever you want a cig remember how crappy you felt when you smoked... remember that every time you were sick how bad you coughed. That’s what stops me…


Good luck...

Cheers
Click to expand...
I was gonna suggest alternative smokeables too...:hmm:
 

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