smoking

[jenna]

Anyone out there a smoker or ex-smoker? Got any tips on a good way of quitting?

[FFC]

Anyone out there a smoker or ex-smoker? Got any tips on a good way of quitting?

I just quit in April. One good way is to develope an irregular heart beat and be told by you doctor to quit or have a stroke. It's not funny but it is.

Actually what i did was try the new stop smoking pill that you have to have a prescription for called Chantix. You smoke while on it for a week or so and then eventually quit. For some people it makes the cigarettes taste terrible. For me it took the cravings away along with the withdrawel symptoms...the problem is that it is very expensive so I stopped it after being off of nicotine for a month. You are supposed to be on it for about 6 months I think. I figured if the nicotine wasn't completely out of my system after a month it never would be...so I quit taking the pills.

I have been smoke free ever since.

[JCSx2]

I dipped for about 15 years.

I took a smoking sensation class while I was in the military. My dipping habit was equal to a 3 pack a day smoking habit.

They started me out on the biggest nicopatch there was.

I was on the patch for about 2 weeks before i rationalized that I had not had a dip for 2 weeks and I was still getting the nicotine. So I stopped cold turkey

Lots of candy later I was officially quit.

I had urges for the first 3 or 4 years.

10 years later I am clean

The main thing you need to do is change your habits, when you feel most like smoking i.e. after dinner, lunch etc. do something different.

Take a walk, suck on a lollypop do something to fill in for that lost cigarette.

It takes a HUGE mental effort on your part. I quit for my wife not for myself. I figured if I died on my own that was not as bad as leaving a family behind.

One thing also…YOU MUST WANT TO QUIT!!!!!!!

This is not a do ½ way type of deal it is all or nothing.

If you relapse then just start over. Do not dwell on the relapse.


Good luck and God Bless.

Jim

EDIT:

That oral fixation will be a bother. You will want something in your mouth or in your fingers. Find an alternative i.e carrot, celery swizzle stick what ever.

You will gain weight that just means start walking or exercising more. It is way healthier anyhow.

[jenna]

Yes, that it is biggest problem, finding something to "replace" the cigarette. I just don't feel "right" without it. Unfortunately I'm replacing it with food. A carrot or celery stick is a good idea, though. Had'nt thought of that. Thanks to you both.

[FFC]

I did actually dip too and that was the hardest for me. You can do it Jenna! Think of all the benefits vs. the consequences. I'm rooting for you.

[jenna]

Thanks.

[JCSx2]

Keep us posted on your progress. We can kick you back in to line when needed.

[jenna]

Keep us posted on your progress. We can kick you back in to line when needed.

Ha! Thanks. I may need a good kick frequently!

[Silvertusk]

Anyone out there a smoker or ex-smoker? Got any tips on a good way of quitting?

The way I quit was to work out exactly how many I smoked during the day and then over a number of weeks dropped them off one by one -so I was starting later and later. I feel it is always the first cigarette that sets you going. So for instance

C1 - On the way to the bus
C2 - From the bus to work
C3 - When the food van arrived
C4 - 11.15am break.
C5 - Lunchtime
C6 - 15.00pm break
C7 - After work.

So that was 7 cigarettes during the day. I had a few more in the evening and lots more when I drank. So for the first week i kept to the routine - smoking, even if I didn't want to. Then the next week I stopped C1, then the following week I stopped C2 and so on. I was essentially starting later and later, building up a resistance. It worked for me. After seven weeks I had quit.

However different methods work for different people. It is all moot point if you don't have the will power in the first place though.

Silvertusk.

[Byblos]

Anyone out there a smoker or ex-smoker? Got any tips on a good way of quitting?

When you're seriously ready to quit you will (that is when you have the proper motivation). I started smoking at 15 (right about the time my father died of lung cancer at 53). I starting quitting at 25. I tried every trick imaginable but nothing worked. Not until I was 37 and my 5-year old son asked me how my father died. After I told him that he was a smoker and died of lung cancer, the kid did not sleep for a month. He would wake up in the middle of the night come into our room hysterical crying, asking when I was going to die of lung cancer. I quit because I just could not see him suffer like that. He was my motivation.

[jenna]

Excellent reason. I have had 2 family members die from cancer also.

[FFC]

Keep us posted on your progress. We can kick you back in to line when needed.

Ha! Thanks. I may need a good kick frequently!

I would be glad to do that, sister.

[jenna]

Yeah, I bet you would!

[JCSx2]

so how goes it ...........