ok, by “no clue how”, I can’t find that spark of motivation. I’m only 39 and have been having heart flutters for a year, and now have bronchoconstriction and am taking singulair due to chest tightness. CLEARLY, I need to quit smoking. (FTR: have smoked around 6-10 cigs/day for 20 years). I’ve tried numerous times in the past: nicotene gum, lozenges, patch, cold turkey, gum, straws, Alan Carr’s book). Everything short of stapling my lips together or wearing a straightjacket. I fear that I may have the early signs of (dare I say this… emphysema). Can someone is their 30’s get this?
I did the exercise/lose weight thing and stuck to it, getting healthier and losing weight. (oddly enough, when I started that is when all of this chest tightness started). But I digress.
I subject myself to scare tactics daily, I think of my kids, my future, etc. but some little voice in my head keeps convincing me to get out to the garage for that cigarette, that little slice of heaven.
If you have never smoked, please don’t assault me with logic. I know the logic of WHY to quit. I. need. that. internal. WANT. Wonder if I need to just wait for it or what.
If you have quit successfully after beating yourself up for not knowing where the hell to even start, I’d love to hear your story.
That’s how addiction works. You can’t ask for advice on how to not be addicted to something anymore. It doesn’t work that way. However, you can ask for advice on how to stop smoking. That won’t give you the want you’re looking for, but it’s honestly the only answer.
First, if you actually physically can go into the garage right now and have a smoke, you’re doing it wrong. You’re trying to quit smoking, but you have cigarettes in the house? You need to take away that ability for instant gratification. Get rid of the cigarettes. That way, you have to actually take a trip to the store if you want to satisfy a moment of weakness. That alone will help you get through the surges of craving. If you do break down and buy a pack of cigarettes and then smoke one, throw the pack away as soon as that craving is satisfied. Don’t enable yourself.
That’s all I’ve got. I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful.
I’ve had a lot of friends find success with hypnotism… I tried to quit several times… i mostly smoked at work… i started going to the gym five days a week… when i would work out I felt like I was going to die… that motivated me… now… Its just tired… recup…
I did it this time successfully (four months counting…) by chewing a shit load of stride rite gum… keep trying… keep positive…
I know this is probably going to get poo-pooed by some, but the book “How to Quit Smoking The Easy Way” by Alan Carr got me mentally prepared to quit. He even encourages you to smoke as you read it. It doesn’t use scare tactics, etc. to get you in the right frame of mind, it just explains the power addiction has over you and how to recognize it.
It might not be THE way to quit, but coupled with e-cigs or Chantix, I’d bet it’d make it a helluva lot easier.
Like any other addiction, there’s no miracle cure. It’s one day at a time (or one hour at a time) until the cravings are gone. I quit cold turkey, and it wasn’t as bad as people make out. Deep breathing, drinking a glass of water when the urge hit helped. Also, I made a point of eating/drinking the things I associated with a smoke. Each time I was able to beat the urge in those situations, I considered it a triumph.
Here is an ebook. Not Alan Carr stuff, but seems well researched and is specific to nicotine addiction.
Scroll down to see the Table of Contents.
If you try e-cigs (and are serious), then buy a decent one. Many people try the cheap ones that don’t work well, then give up on the concept. Here is a site where a guy does reviews of the various brands and has a ‘where to begin’ section if you don’t want to sit through all the stuff:
Finally, here is a 3 hr ‘program’ where most of it is an interview with a Greek cardiologist who has conducted comparisons between tobacco smokers and e-cig users. The first two hours are about studies that have already been done on tobacco smokers, etc. The last hour is about his study and findings: - YouTube
One thing I learned in a “neurology for laypeople” seminar is that there is a very specific circuit of areas in the brain that are activated when an addictive substance is used, and there is an extremely Pavlovian reaction created by the environmental stimulus when the substance is used.
There was a chart of dopamine production showing “stimulus+drug” versus “stimulus/no drug”, and it was brutal. Basically, there’s a baseline amount of dopamine in your brain, but once you’re addicted to something like nicotine, it runs lower all the time. If you encounter the environmental stimulus associated with the drug (coffee, eating, sex, drinking at a bar…), your brain gets a small hit of dopamine. If you use the drug, you get a surge of dopamine and feel great until it tapers off and are returned to your low-normal baseline. BUT, if you encounter the stimulus and don’t use the drug, your dopamine levels plummet. Lack of dopamine is very unpleasant - lowered threshold for pain, extreme cravings for what your brain knows produces more dopamine, distractability, discomfort, and so on.
It’s when you’re around the situations and environments you used to smoke in when you experience the greatest cravings, followed by the worst sufferings if you don’t give in, so your best bet - along with all the excellent advice given here - is to consider where and when you smoke, what you see, hear, smell, and feel in those circumstances, and do your best to rearrange things so you don’t encounter those triggers.
I’m on my 22nd day of quitting! What is helping me keep my brain from roaring for cigarettes is switching to e cigs.
I found my resolve to quit by listing all the things I hated about cigarettes. Not just why I should quit, but the things that I actively hated about it. For me, it was the taste, so that was #1 on my “Why I hate smoking” list. #2 was “I hate standing out in the cold by myself when all my friends are inside and I’m missing the fun.” #3, it makes my clothes stink and I can see people edge away from me. The list goes on; the health concerns aren’t at the top of the list for me, but it sounds like they are for you. So #1 on your list might be “I hate the feeling of being out of breath”. It works much better than thinking “I should quit because blah blah”, because you can always counter the latter with “Buuuuuuuuut…” With the former, I try to argue with myself about it and it always land on “Well, if you hate it, why are you doing it? Don’t be a masochist.”
Also, find people who will support you with the quitting. I mean, actual people who are going to say “Good for you!” and not people who say “Good for you… if you think you can do it. I hear it’s hard.” Yes, it’s hard… but hearing people tell you it’s hard is eventually going to lead you to think “Too hard. I quit quitting.”
This book worked like a charm for me. I didn’t use anything else with it either and I smoked while I read it. Last day, last page, last cigarette and never smoked again.
I like this. I am buying an e-cig on my way home since I’m almost tearing my face off with cravings. I like the idea of the list, too… what I hate about it. I hate (almost) everything about smoking but apparently I need to be reminded OFTEN.
I’m a smoker. I quit once for a guy, started back up when we broke up, quit again last year, and restarted 6 months later because my QA scores tanked at work (practically flawless since, I have trouble focusing without cigs). I tried the E-cig. They have helped a lot of people, and the liquid comes in a lot of awesome flavors. I don’t want to quit badly enough to use mine, but they worked for my mom and various family members.
You need something to want to quit for. If health problems aren’t sufficiently motivational, think about the way it makes you smell, or how much better food will taste when you quit. Or how much more your partner will want to kiss you. Or how much less out of breath you’ll be after exercising. How much money you’ll save, etc
I tried a couple of different methods halfheartedly, none worked because I was not serious about quitting. I could go a week or two without smoking, and then start right back up again like nothing. I was down to about half a pack a day and I was seeing a therapist and spoke to her about wanting to quit permanently. She told me that I would quit smoking when I didn’t need to smoke as a emotional crutch. I didn’t believe her and continued on my way. About a year later, I finally stopped smoking when I no longer enjoyed it and I really realized that I was poisoning myself with each puff. For me, it just had to be the right time to do it and my therapist was right, I didn’t need them as an emotional crutch anymore.
Looking for some reason to give up is procrastination. If you want to give up, that is the reason.
If you want to succeed at stopping smoking, you will at some point have to cease smoking. I have no great faith in nicotine replacements (especially when they are advertised in a way that emphatically says “giving up is hard!”) - maybe it helps some people to be able to ration out the effects of withdrawal across time, but for many, it delays the inevitable long enough that they change their minds and fail.
You can just stop smoking and you will have given up. If you continue to refrain from smoking, you will be a non(or ex) smoker. You won’t die - you can just stop smoking by stopping smoking. I did.