I'm trying to quit smoking...

[group captain mandrake]

...in about an hour it will have been four days since my last smoke.
I have smoked most of my adult life. I really want to quit-I think I'm off to a good start. Wish me continued strength.

 

[WNYDiscoIIErik]

You can do it man. Find something to occupy your mind. Its all a mental addiction. Chew on coffee stirrers or something. Spearmint gum helps too.

 

[group captain mandrake]

Thanks.
When I'm working I don't really miss smoking that much. It is when I'm relaxing on my couch (like right now), and my brain is in neutral is when I have problems.
My brain: "Hey, I'm bored. Let's have a smoke!"
Me: "Shut up brain! Just enjoy the Chargers beating the Patriots."

 

[flyfisher11]

I hear you brother. I've been down this road too. I even quit for 8 years once only to pick it right back up like I never quit. I watched my dad die an excruciating death from lung cancer from smoking and still the urge was great enough for me to pick it up again. I'm a sick mother fucker. I'm with you I need to hang it up for good. My goal is this week to hang it up forever. If it helps I'm with you.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[WNYDiscoIIErik]

When youre sitting on the couch, and want a cig, take a straw and take random breaths through it. It works for me.

 

[group captain mandrake]

Wow Mike, sorry to hear about your dad. That's what I'm trying to avoid, that or having throat cancer.

Personally, I've always thought I was a habitual smoker-not addicted to nicotine.
I finally swallowed my pride, went to my doctor and said "I want to quit-what is this Chantix all about?" He gave a prescription (expensive, about $130 a month-not covered by my insurance), after about three days of taking the pill, smoking began to be not enjoyable. Whatever little lift I got from the nicotine wasn't there any more.
Go see your doctor.

 

[Ray Wallace]

Hang tough and stop no matter how much it "pains" you. You do NOT want to end up with emphysema and live the rest of your life lugging an oxygen tank around, and even then are always short of breath. STOP, STOP, STOP.

 

[abrooks]

See your doctor about going on Chantix. I'm now 16 months off of nicotine and couldn't have done it without the prescription. And I can't believe how worth it it was.

 

[DiscoJen]

Good luck Rick, you can do it! And while $130 for a prescription may seem like a lot, calculate how much you were spending on cigarettes in a month. It's probably a wash. And the reduced long term medical bills have already made up for it.

You already know people die all the time from smoking related diseases...but I lost my mom and my dad from diseases directly related to smoking...and both of them before their 55th birthdays.

Keep up the great work, 4 days may not seem like a lot but I bet it feels like a lifetime right now.

 

[btp98w]

Hang in there, you can make it!

Cold turkey isn't as hard as everyone makes it out to be(if I can do it anyone can). Stay away from stuff that will give you the itch to smoke. Good time to get alot done around the house or on your truck. Down time is a killer! Stay busy.

 

[rmuller]

x3 on Chantix.. I smoked for 15 years... have tried to quit on various methods, wellbutrin/zyban, the patch, the gum, cold turkey, etc.. all worked in their various degrees, but never fully. Did Chantix in the beginning of this year.. as mentioned above, it just makes smoking not enjoyable... you basically just get a shitty taste in your mouth and an inconvience to smoke the cigarette.. it took me about 2 weeks from the time I first started taking it until I had my absolute last cigarette.. I continued on the pills for another 2 weeks or so, then stopped taking them.

I haven't had a cigarette in 9 months now, and I honestly don't miss it.

Also, some insurance plans cover Chantix, most do not though.. but the 130/mo is nothing compared to cigarettes... I have a 'quit calculator' i downloaded off the net, and here is how much ive saved with life&$$ [3/4 of a pack a day, ~$6.50/pack in Jersey];

Smoke free for 8 Months, 24 Days, 23 Hours and 38 Minutes, while extending my life expectancy 13 Days and 22 Hours, by avoiding the use of 4020 cigarettes that would have cost me $1,320.92.

 

[brianhoberg]

I used the quit calculator a long while back when I quit cigarette smoking. I had quit cold turkey as well and yeah it was tough for the first week and a half or so, and then you begin to feel like you can breate fuller and taste food a bit better. I occasionally (like once a month) will have a cigar, but it's a far cry from my pack and a half a day cig habit I had seven years ago.

 

[ptschram]

A year ago Friday, I quit smoking tobacco. I promptly got sick and was sick for what, eight, maybe ten months? Damned near died.

If I had it to do over again, I'd still be smoking and would not have gone to the doctor for the cold I got. How much could it have been? I missed three months of work and spent a week in the hospital.

My 86 year-old father has been smoking since 1934 and the VA radiologists tell him he has the lungs of a 65 year-old non-smoker. Go figure!

November 22 will be another big date for me. Clean and Serene (well, maybe cleaner and serener) for eight years November 22. That took me three tries but the third time's the charm I guess. Not completely C & S but no more of the bad stuff!

 

[rmuller]

pt -- Happy to hear that you're now mostly C&S

As far as being sick from quitting, that is one positive thing for me at least... one of the main reasons I quit was because last year I got bronchitis 3 times... in your mid to late 20s, you shouldn't be getting it that much.. I haven't (knock on wood) been sick once since I quit smoking, almost 9 months now..

 

[ptschram]

pt -- Happy to hear that you're now mostly C&S

There are things that will make you forget what's right and wrong and there
are things that allow you to get past a bad day.

Learning which is which is important.

 

[LRflip]

Im 22...Im been dipping copenhagen snuff for almost 4 years now. My cousin quit when he got back from Iraq. Im looking for a good reason but, I havent found one yet. It sucks....Its easy to do at work (construction), and everybody around me dips....

 

[brianhoberg]

I have honestly never dipped in my life. While I smoked for almost 10 years, having quit about 8 years ago, I've never dipped. I think the only reason was, the girls I dated would never kiss me had I done that. then again, kissing a smoker was also like licking an ashtray...either way, it sucked and was a good reason to quit .

 

[HunterAK]

I've been off the sticks for over 2 years now. I NEVER thought I would be able to quit. I had tried so many times before, but to no avail. I think moving away from the South helped Not a lot of people smoke in Alaska and they don't allow smoking in bars/restaurants. That helps too. My GF doesn't like it either which equated to a big negative for me in other respects.

Anyways, keep it up. Kicking the addiction of just not having anything to do when you're bored was just as hard as the physical addiction.

 

[Onionman]

Good luck, Rick. My Dad was a smoker from his late teens until late 40's. Then quit cigarettes, but still used a pipe for another 10-15 years. Then quit completely. When he died last year just shy of 81, it had nothing to do with his smoking.

Stick to it.

:victory:

 

[MUSKYMAN]

the move effective method proven over time is very simple

take a paper and write the 5 most important reasons to quit to you personally.

everytime you crave a cig pull the paper out and read over those reason (aloud if you can ) dont stop for at least 90 seconds.

do it everytime you feel the urge.

I know this sounds stupid and simple but it is the most proven method and has been working for about 60 years.

good luck!