Just stop smoking. The worst of the symptoms will be over in four days.
Had an old coworker years ago use hypnosis. All I know is that it worked for him.
MY sister and I quit 12 years ago using this method. It was the only thing I tried that made withdrawal tolerable (I had a 25 year, 2 packs a day habit). I recall being told that it works for about a third of the people. Keep trying different methods; there’s one out there that will work for you.
Thanks for all the information, voltaire. I’m going to chew the gum every half hour to an hour for the next three-four days, then reduce from there for a week or so. If I feel the need for something more, I will definitely try the dissolvable tobacco.
I feel if I can go until Thursday, when I start my new job as master of the cashier at Carl’s Jr., then I will feel it is a success. I also believe that one of the biggest issues with this addiction, is that I am at
home all day with my obnoxious Grandma (who spent all night last night trying to convince me to walk to the store and buy cigarettes.. no help…No joke, as I typed that, she asked again:smack::smack::smack::smack::smack::smack::smack::smack:!)
I will report back Thursday with an update.
Anyways, feel free to post your experiences, and what worked for you when kicking the habit. I’m sure it is not only a huge help for me, but for those who are also trying to quit.
Thank you all for all your help!
Or have a heart attack. Worked wonders for me. At age 28, only 47 years ago.
I had a 38 year habit, initially cigarettes at up to 20 a day, then for 30 odd years, a pipe. I tried quitting cold turkey a couple of times, but caved in after a few days. Finally, I used patches for 4 weeks and then lozenges for the remaining times I felt the need for a drag. The NZ government funds a quit smoking programme so the NRT patches and lozenges or gum, your choice, are available on prescription for the patches and the lozenges. Normally, I would have gone from the initial patches at 21gm to the taper off patches at 14gm, but after 4 weeks I didn’t need them any more.
I will say I had extremely vivid dreams while using the patches. Normally, they advise removing them at night because of the dreams, but I left them on, partly because of the dreams!
I’ve been a non-smoker for 2 years 8 months, and intend to continue. I’ve not had a cigarette, cigar or puff on a pipe and not really been tempted, knowing that I have saved a metric buttload of money in not smoking.
IANAS, but I’m surprised no-one else has posted this yet as I heard about this guy right here on the dope: Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking, which several dopers found actually works. As did, to my surprise, Ruby Wax, Richard Branson and Anthony Hopkins. It has a 3 month 100% money back guarantee, so what have you to lose?
Don’t be put off by the site looking like yet another health scam, BTW. Also available as a book for like $10.
I started smoking at 14 and quit when I was 26. I did it cold turkey, after getting a horrible cold and bronchitis (I was physically unable to inhale smoke for the first couple of days anyway). I’d been a three-pack-a-day smoker for about 8 years. It took at least a couple of weeks for me to stop thinking constantly about smoking; it was about five years before I realized the craving was almost all gone. Now, 25 years out (wow, I’m old!), I can honestly say I don’t ever want a cigarette.
Mr. Legend started smoking at about the same age that I did. He didn’t smoke quite as much as I did, but he didn’t make a serious attempt to quit until he was in his mid-40s, and he had a terrible time. Cold turkey didn’t work for him at all, so he tried the lozenges, but they gave him a very bad sore throat after a couple of days. He switched to patches, but he was almost 50 before he was able to cut the cigarettes out entirely. He’s been an ex-smoker for almost five years now, and he still gets cravings.
I suggest that you consult your doctor. It may be swapping one drug for another, but the drug therapies they’re using now are way more successful and less brutal than the non-therapies we had when I quit, and there’s no reason to make the process harder on yourself than it has to be. You’re going to have to address the addiction from both a physical and a behavioral point of view, and I’d suggest using all the tools that you can find to do it. You CAN do it, though. Good luck!
In line with what other people have said: Kicking addictions are damn hard, and I’m told cigs are one of the worst. (Shopping, apparently, is also right up there.) You might consider talking to a counselor for a few weeks - no, I don’t think you’re mentally ill, but I do think you’re fighting a tough battle and they make great allies. In my case, I had to fix some of my underlying issues before I could drop my endorphin delivery mechanism of choice. (I also think SSRIs are a gift from God, though I understand people’s reasons for being wary of them.) I believe there are also support groups, if peer pressure works for you. It’s a good time to rally Team You.
I smoked my last cigarette New Years Eve 1999. At that time, I was smoking 3 packs a day. I couldn’t breathe very well. This was in the by-gone days of ‘cold turkey only’.
It was not my first attempt at quitting. Nor the 2nd or 3rd or 4th or 10th. It was just the one that worked.
I tell people to realize going in that it is going to SUCK! And I mean it will suck HARD. It will be an excruciating couple of weeks. Do not smoke no matter what. Eventually, the need will get less and less. The desire will still pop-up occasionally. Just don’t smoke. Talk to somebody who cares until it goes away.
Stay away from things that make you want to smoke. Don’t drink, hang out in bars, strip clubs, card games. Keep busy. Exercise as often as you can. Eat whatever you feel you have to. Regardless, you will put on some weight…and it will come off again
Yeah, I gained two pounds already, which REALLY sucks… I’m eating wayyy more than I did before.
Either way, still smoke free, but noticing that the gum is becoming a habit, going to start titrating that
immediately
Hmm…I tried Wellbutrin and I am prone to panic attacks and Wellbutrin gave me the scariest panic attack I’ve ever had. It was AWFUL. My doc said that if you’re prone to them Wellbutrin can bring them on.
They did make me gag at the smell of cigs. But I got off the Wellbutrin right after the panic attack.
Years later (2 years ago) I did Chantix and it didn’t make me anxious at all. In fact it made me slow, fuzzy and a bit dumb. I loved it - it was like my brain turned off. I didn’t care if I smoked. I also didn’t care if I ate which was sort of crappy but I got through it.
I think it permanently turned something off in my brain, cuz I am still super mellow. Or the lack of nicotine did. Or I just got older.
Chantix never made me turned off of smoking like it did for Alice The Goon, though. I can still smoke (I’ve had the occasional hit in 2 years) but I can still let it go.
I came in here to recommend Swedish snus, and I’m please to see that someone beat me to it. I smoked for ten years, tried cold turkey, gum, lozenges, and Chantix. Nothing worked until I started snusing instead of smoking, then tapered off the snus into a nicotine-free lifestyle. A couple of notes:
Consider buying Swedish snus. I found the domestic brands unsatisfying. They just don’t have much nicotine in them, and are only available in portion form. Maybe I got bad portions, but they always tasted spoiled as well. Real snus is temperature and humidity sensitive and can’t just be left on a convenience store shelf for a month without going bad. Luckily it can be stored in the freezer essentially forever.
If you’re seriously addicted to nicotine don’t bother with the portions, especially the white portions. Unless you absolutely have to be as covert as possible, buy some Skruf Stark lös or some other strong loose snus and learn to bake a pris. You’ll get enough of a nicotine hit that you won’t want to smoke, and with a decent stark pris it will last quite a while. I used Skruf stark and General extra strong to keep the craving at bay. Don’t be intimidated by the video; after a couple of days it will be muscle memory.
Where did you get yours? I thought they all required cartridges.
I quit once with hypnosis – that lasted for about ten years and it was easy. Quit another time after reading Allen Carr’s book – also easy, lasted for three years. Quit briefly after Wellbutrin.
I’m thinking e-cigs would work for me but don’t know which one to try.
I would second this. I quit over six years ago after reading this book. Probably the best $15 I have ever spent. It might seem hokey that a book will help you quit, but the author puts the habit of smoking in a perspective that makes it much easier to quit.
Good luck.
I smoked from the age of 14 to 24.
I’m 25 now.
Gradually decrease how much you smoke.
Eventually you’ll get down to one a day. Maybe two a day.
Maybe 3 one day and none for a week after that. And so on.
It’ll get sparse.
Until eventually you’ll go “this is gross…” or “why the hell would I ask that cashier If I can hand them 5 dollars in exhange for me being stinky and less healthy?”
it’s really very simple. hang out with smokers less, too. at the end of the day it’s all about how you identify yourself for yourself. everything is.
if you eat fast food 10 times a week it probably won’t bother you.
if you eat it once a month in between really healthy vegetarian meals… it’ll probably make you feel like shit.
same for cigs. used to them? ok. used to poison.
cut back in order to make your body realize how impactful they are.
worked for me.
Mihai my heart goes out to you! Its hard hard hard to quit, no doubt about it.
What worked for me after 15 years of on/off smoking, pack a day was this:
The facts that the Smoker’s Lines above the lips only get worse, the skin gets sallow, the collagen breaks down and its irreversible (unless you go in for cosmetic surgery). Vanity is the best incentive for me anyway! I had to WANT to quit smoking more than wanting to escape the anxiety of quitting, if that makes any sense.
Strange that the threat of cancer didnt worry me enough to quit but the threat of ugly telltale smoker’s face did.
I used patches. Pretty effective, though I kept the last one on for weeks. (What can I say? I needed a crutch!).
Mind you, my doctor saying to me: “You have a choice. You can stop smoking right now, or you can die” probably helped.