Stopping smoking - any suggestions? (page 2)

be wise

Hi Englishman, you bring new meaning to the phrase 'gagging for a fag' - you never know though, I may get desperate enough eventually.

Thanks for all the advice so far everyone!

I'm gonna really try. Thanks for the suggestions.

be wise.

pandora

I quit on October the 7th. I started using the patch. Then I read the following words at a website about quitting.

http://www.quitsmoking.com/info/articles/spitzer/quitcold.html

"Cutting down on cigarettes or use of nicotine replacement strategies throws the smoker into a chronic state of drug withdrawal. As soon as the smoker fails to reach the minimum requirement of nicotine, the body starts demanding it. As long as there is any nicotine in the bloodstream, the body will demand its old requirement. Smoking just one or two a day or wearing a patch which is gradually reducing the amount of nicotine being delivered will result in the smoker not achieving the minimum required level, creating a chronic state of peak drug withdrawal.

This state will continue throughout the rest of the smoker's life unless one of two steps is taken to rectify it. First, the smoker can stop delivering nicotine altogether. Nicotine will be metabolized or totally excreted from the body and the withdrawal will stop forever. Or, the smoker can return to the old level of consumptions accomplishing nothing.

Therefore, cold turkey is the method of choice. Once the smoker stops, withdrawal will end within two weeks."

I stayed on the patch for only 4 days. Two weeks to the day after I took that patch off, the worst was over. I feel great now .

Mulan

An older friend of mine quit a year ago after smoking for 36 years, two packs a day. She had terrible withdrawal, and spent days in bed, but after two weeks, felt better and better. Everyone I know who has quit smoking, after a heavy smoking habit, say they had bad coughing and some even thought they had pneumonia. Must be the lungs clearing out.

30 years ago there was a book called How To Stop Smoking. I am not sure it is even for sale anymore, but it gave a day by day affirmation for you to read each night. The main comment was "I am not a smoker". My husband and brother in law used that system, very successfully. Brisk walking was part of it too.

Good luck!

Englishman

Pandora,

That is superb advice, I can really relate to that.

Englishman.

MrsQ

I was up to two packs a day--three if I was really partying. I have to put a vote in for COLD TURKEY.

Also, my husband and I quit together, and that really made a difference. Both of us are so stubborn and neither of us wanted to be the first to give in.

Another VERY important point: I cheated a couple times--but when and if you do, don't just start up smoking again. Remind yourself that you want to quit and get back up on the horse. The first inclination if you fall off the wagon is to just say 'aww, screw it' and go right back to it.

Good luck!

Q.

mattnoel

I used to smoke a pack a day but stopped in september. Go to Holland and Barrett and get some herbal ciggies £.1.75 ish, vile but you dont want to smoke after them. Also there is usually a stand in some town centres where they have a black looking drink that is free and apparantly makes you stop - probably a pure mixture of tar and nicotine !

I have kinda started again on a few a day but aim to stop next week, believe me I can feel the difference in my health already !

Good luck !

aunthill

I quit smoking 34 yrs ago next month to become a JW. My husband and I quit cold turkey together, which was helpful because I didn't have to endure his smoking while I was trying to quit. After about 6 months, I tried having a cigarette (this was before smoking was a disfellowshipping offense) at a couple of worldly get togethers and the next day I wanted one just as bad as if I had never quit, although I didn't have the same withdrawal. I recommend that once you have quit NEVER smoke another one! A co-worker just quit about 3 months ago using the nicotine patch & Wellbutrin, and she is doing fine.

Aside from leaving the bOrg, quitting smoking was the best thing I ever did for myself.

libra_spirit

After 3 days the drug has worn off. Your body gets over it real quick. It is the mind and the emotions that want to go back and smoke. I agree with the people who recommended the "cold turkey" approach as I have seen this work the best. I believe that smoking is an emotional and mental crutch. A place to put your pressures of life. There are other tools you can find to reduce these pressures and bring a quick relief but they are a little harder to achieve.

You can find a group that is going to do it together, set a date to quit, then view it as passing an exam or achieving a level of profiency at life. Take a class on accupressure and learn to raise your chi, learn breathing techniques that can clear your mind and lower your frustrations. Try yoga and learn to achieve very tranquil states of mind and body. If you are a more intense person try karate, it can become addictive too.

Lots of ideas to replace what smoking does for you, but they require a little mental programming and a some effort. If you find one that you enjoy then success is almost guarenteed.

If nothing works then try to enjoy every smoke as if it were your last one, this will at least slow you down a bit and make the smoke into something more conscous rather then just a habit.

Dawn

I quit this last December - I also went cold turkey. I tried the patch and the gum but neither really worked for me. Cold turkey was hard but it worked. I also started exercising a lot more during that time and made a conscious effort to eat really healthy. Images work well with me so I imagined what my lungs looked like after smoking for so long - and then what my heart and lungs would look like once I had healed. That encouraged me to keep going and to eat healthy.

I also think it helped me not to tell myself I was NEVER going to have another cigarette. I'm one of those people that MUST have whatever she's told she can't. So I made a deal with myself, I would go one week and then I could have ONE cigarette (the corner store sells singles). Then I had to wait another week and I could have ONE. Then it was 2 weeks, then 3...and so on. I still occasionally want one - but the urge is not as strong as it used to be and if I get busy with something else it will pass before I know it.

Also - it helps to know that nicotine will leave your body within 4-7 days. So after a week without cigarettes, the physical withdraw is over and it's just a mental battle from there on. That info helped me a lot.

Good luck!

ADubsFriend

I quit 17 years ago. Had been a 2 pack a day smoker for 8 years. Cold turkey is the only way. I also decided the first week was gonna be hell so I might as well also set up the first week to put myself in every situation where I most feared I would want to smoke. That, way, after the first week I could say I made it through those situations once, so I could do it again.

I went to a bar with a friend and sat and drank, went and shot pool, went to a rock concert and danced, went to a poker party.

I did alot of swimming, had sex alot (have a husband) and slept alot for about 3 months.

YOU CAN DO IT. Just remember that after 3 weeks the physical addiction is gone. The mental addiction is what is left. Just take it one day at a time.

Stopping smoking - any suggestions?

Share this