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How did you stop smoking?
- Thread starter srltzz342
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Decided one day I've had enough and quit cold turkey. I think it was almost 6 years ago and I still get the craving, especially after drinking.
Next time I attempt to quit smoking, I'm gonna invite you over to hang out with me.
I guarantee you'll be scarred for life. Both in a physical and mental sense.
Not sure what you mean. I never understood people who talk like that.
If you want to smoke, then smoke. If you don't want to smoke, don't.
"Attempting to quit" sounds like you are somehow forced to do something against your will.
Who is forcing you?
Because that's almost what it's like. If it were so simple that I could just drop smoking on a whim, I would've done it years ago. I don't even like smoking anymore.
...but damn do I NEEEEED IIIITTTT!
What you're not accounting for is the addiction. Cigarettes are roughly as addictive as heroin, and when you quit, every fiber of your being craves it like nothing else. It isn't a little thing. You'll be sitting there one minute, feeling totally normal, then RRRAAAHHHH! SMOOOKEEEE! It's like you're actively fighting against yourself to keep from grabbing a cig, and hotboxing that bastard down to the filter.
I have a bunch of people in my family who've quit, and it took them all multiple tries over the course of years to do it successfully. It's not something you just give up. You have to prepare for it mentally, and get ready for a fight.
If you don't want to do something, then don't do it. Stop being a whimp about it!
It seems to me that you do want to smoke. Nothing wrong with that!
But I would recommend cigars instead of cigarettes. Enjoy
If you don't want to do something, then don't do it. Stop being a whimp about it!
It seems to me that you do want to smoke. Nothing wrong with that!
But I would recommend cigars instead of cigarettes. Enjoy
The pep talk is appreciated, but if you were to say that to me while I was in the midst of quitting, I'd probably kill you dead. At the very least, there'd be a maiming.
I don't like smoking. I hate the way it makes me smell, and coughing up what looks like escargot in the morning isn't a fun way to start the day. My only saving grace is that I smoke a little less than a pack a day, but even that is too much.
Seriously. It's not something you just stop.
chantix has the highest success rate, around 14 to 44 % the secret is to keep smoking and taking chantix at the same time, and eventually the chantix interferes with the pleasure of smoking/reward mechanism, and you get less satisfaction and pleasure, and eventually around 3 or 4 months of taking chantix daily you give up smoking
if you have a history of any mental illnesses like depression or suicide (other then smoking HAH) its advisable you do not take chantix.
rant section
vaping is almost as bad as smoking.
electronic cigarettes are on the fringes.
if you say it is a smoking cessation product, then it should be regulated as a drug. and it should be under the same kind of scrutiny of other smoking cessation products like nicotine patches. but the companies make them don't want them to be classified as such
if you say it is a cigarrete product, then you gotta regulate it like cigarettes, make them illegal for minors and make all flavors except menthol and regular illegal. but the electronic cigarette companies don't want to do that either.
how many states is it legal to sell electronic cigarettes to minors?? like 40???
then theres that claim that electronic cigarettes , you only exhale water vapor. thats a lie too
electronic cigarettes are just like regular cigarettes. they have to lie to you to keep selling the product
California banned the import of them at one time, because they tested positive for Formaldehyde.
they still find Formaldehyde in electronic cigarettes and they do nothing to eliminate it.
its gotten so bad, that I've seen them not being placed behind the counter. or being placed close to the cash register.
in california around 7 years ago or so. or maybe 10 ?? we weren't allowed to have self service cigarette displays.
and its legal to do this with electronic cigarettes because they are not regulated as a tobacco product.
back in the day it was legal to put cigarettes right next to the cash register so customers can just grab a couple packs without asking for them , and you can't do that anymore, now you can do the same thing with electronic cigarettes and the parents and government can't do anything about it
rant off
please don't flame me
if you have a history of any mental illnesses like depression or suicide (other then smoking HAH) its advisable you do not take chantix.
rant section
vaping is almost as bad as smoking.
electronic cigarettes are on the fringes.
if you say it is a smoking cessation product, then it should be regulated as a drug. and it should be under the same kind of scrutiny of other smoking cessation products like nicotine patches. but the companies make them don't want them to be classified as such
if you say it is a cigarrete product, then you gotta regulate it like cigarettes, make them illegal for minors and make all flavors except menthol and regular illegal. but the electronic cigarette companies don't want to do that either.
how many states is it legal to sell electronic cigarettes to minors?? like 40???
then theres that claim that electronic cigarettes , you only exhale water vapor. thats a lie too
electronic cigarettes are just like regular cigarettes. they have to lie to you to keep selling the product
California banned the import of them at one time, because they tested positive for Formaldehyde.
they still find Formaldehyde in electronic cigarettes and they do nothing to eliminate it.
its gotten so bad, that I've seen them not being placed behind the counter. or being placed close to the cash register.
in california around 7 years ago or so. or maybe 10 ?? we weren't allowed to have self service cigarette displays.
and its legal to do this with electronic cigarettes because they are not regulated as a tobacco product.
back in the day it was legal to put cigarettes right next to the cash register so customers can just grab a couple packs without asking for them , and you can't do that anymore, now you can do the same thing with electronic cigarettes and the parents and government can't do anything about it
rant off
please don't flame me
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I smoked for 40 yrs. It took me one day to quit with an E-cig. It took me 3 months to quit the E-cig. No withdrawals at all. It was easy as could be. Gawd how I wish I could have found E-cigs years earlier. I haven't had a cigarette in 14 months and I don't miss them one bit.
Although I grew up with my whole family and friends smoking, I never smoked a cigarette in my life. It ended up killing my mother so I have a major problem with it. I'm happy to hear when someone say's they've stopped. It seriously isn't a pretty sight to see someone you love die from lung cancer like my mom. All the power to all that can quit before it does it's dirty deed...
It took me about 7 tries to finally quit.
I tried (in order):
Cold turkey
Cold turkey
Hypnosis
Anti-depressant
Cold turkey
Anti-depressant followed by cold turkey when the insurance cut me off.
I tried (in order):
Cold turkey
Cold turkey
Hypnosis
Anti-depressant
Cold turkey
Anti-depressant followed by cold turkey when the insurance cut me off.
It really is something you just stop. But it's something you have to come to terms with that you truly want to quit and are completely fed up with it. Then it actually becomes quite easy.
Guilt, some outside pressure, a vague thought of health won't do it. It has to be something in you that says, "This is it, no more." After that it was quite easy. I just quit cold turkey and the cravings weren't even that bad.
Adhering to a diet or quitting weed is much tougher.
That's pretty much what everyone has told me. I just haven't made that commitment yet.
But for me, it's difficult because I use smokes as an enhancer for so many things, and when I do these things, I suddenly, desperately want one. Like if I'm thinking particularly hard about a problem, I always have a cigarette in my hand. After meals? I gotta have one. Driving around? That's where I smoke the most, actually.
I have to steel myself for when I do, because it's not quite so simple for me as dropping them and moving on.
...or maybe that's the excuse I keep telling myself. Hell, I don't know.
First time was easy, motivated by our first born. A week of nicotine chewing gum and that was me done for about six years. Then with a stressful job, locked for hours underground, I then joined a few to the surface and started smoking again.
About 12 months ago I switched to vaping, did it for a week on the lowest nicotine content, but felt stupid still standing outside so I just gave up.
I did have three cigarettes following s heavy drinking session at a Christmas party this year. But that was it again.
For me I'm convinced that whilst I can stop easily, I can also be easily tempted to start again. I think it is because I like it.
About 12 months ago I switched to vaping, did it for a week on the lowest nicotine content, but felt stupid still standing outside so I just gave up.
I did have three cigarettes following s heavy drinking session at a Christmas party this year. But that was it again.
For me I'm convinced that whilst I can stop easily, I can also be easily tempted to start again. I think it is because I like it.
I stopped 27 years ago, one evening I was out of cigarettes, and I just thought now is the time to give up. The first three days were hard, and then I had no problems.
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Similar story for my father. My mom got pregnant with me and told him if he did not stop now she would leave him. He loved her and me more than cigs so he quite cold turkey.
He can't stand the smell any longer.
I have never smoked a cig and I am pretty sure my parents would murder me if i started, it killed my grandfather.
It was new years' day 2003. I'd had a bad cold and sore throat for days on end and just went cold turkey. I started carrying chewing gum for when I craved a cigarette (ordinary mint gum, not nicotine gum). I can't say that passive smoking didn't help for at least the first 6 months but it's been 12 years now and I can't see me being tempted by a cigarette again.
I started at 14 and smoked 1-2p packs a day. When I moved from Germany to Canada, my partner told me that I need to quit sometime soon as he has asthma, I agreed and one day when we were out we spontaneously went to the next drug store and bought a box of patches. I used them for the first 4 weeks but then just quit them as I felt that I was pretty much "over it", that's 10 years ago. I was a heavy smoker, especially when drinking, and most people said that they couldn't imagine me being a non-smoker, fortunately it was far easier for me than I thought and I never had the slightest desire to smoke another cigarette.