Well, I’ll be 35 in a few weeks and it’s time to quit smoking. Again. I’ve had limited success in the past: once for three months, once for six weeks.
I smoke, on average, a little under a pack a day. The worst thing is, I find myself having three or four before I walk into the office in the morning. There is no smoking in my office so I venture outside a few times during the day and I smoke like a chimney at lunch and during the drive home.
I don’t smoke much at home but when I do, I go out to the garage. The house doesn’t stink but my clothes do, as does the interior of my car. I also run two or three times a week and have begun to notice my lungs aren’t what they used to be.
So, any suggestions from any quitters out there? I’ve picked a target date, I’m stocking up on hard candy (butterscotch) and my wife is on full alert. At this point I’m not overly concerned about weight gain, but I have experienced the need to choke the shit out of someone when I tried quitting before.
Start running. By mile number 2 you will be chanting - I will never smoke again, I will never smoke again. It sounds funny, but it worked for me. It hurts to run when you are a smoker! After about three weeks, you will be annoyed if you miss your run. This method takes awhile, and you do need the initial will to quit, but it is one method with positive side effects! (Oh, one more thing, I mean running - not jogging.)
I made probably three serious attempts to quit, this last time I’ve gone 11 months (one year December 16th!).
The first time I quit cold turkey, and only made it three days. The second time I used the nicotine gum, and I got around three months. This last time I used the patch, which worked surprisingly well. The nice thing about it was that I virtually unaffected by nicotine withdrawal for the first two weeks, so that I was able to get a start on the oral fixation.
There were many times of course when I had to fight the urge to smoke, things I found that could help are vigourous excercise and deep breathing excericses. Also, I have found that the urge to smoke lasts far longer than anyone tells you (at least for me). As long as six months after I quit I had regular cravings, and some days months afterwords it felt like I wanted a cigarette all day. For awhile I thought I would just want a cigarette the rest of my life, but it has gotten better.
Once I quit the patch was the hardest time to get through, even with the step down dosage thing. It was however very much easier than cold turkey, and I was already habituated to being a non-smoker. It was the same with the gum, really I think they both work about as well the only problem I had with the gum was that you couldn’t eat or drink anything while you used it.
If you are serious about succeeding I don’t think it makes sense to do anything but getting one of the nicotine aids. Although they seem expensive, they really don’t cost more than a pack-a-day habit (and less, depending on where you live).
Would you like me to describe in graphic detail the black, gooey junk they pumped out of my dad’s lungs in the weeks before he died? (Through the hole they had made in his neck.) Fortunately, the throat cancer killed him before the lung cancer could finish the job.
He was 66, and I’m pissed as hell that he wasn’t there to walk me down the aisle, or hold my first son, who is named after him. I was only 27 – too damn young to lose my dad. DO IT – not for yourself, but for the people who love you. How I wish Dad would be here at my table this Thanksgiving.
Shit. As many years as it’s been – and I’m crying by the end of typing this post.
As one who has quit several addictive substances I will say this, above all:
You will NOT quit until you WANT to quit.
Fear, guilt, love, disease, expense, intellect, imprisonment, etc…none of these things will make you quit anything you really want (or feel the need) to do.
Now, do you really want to quit? Okay, then:
At less than a pack a day your nicotine intake is not very high, unless you’re talking nonfilters. I wouldn’t go through the hassle of adopting the new habit of gum or patches and then having to quit that. Just set your date and do it. The nicotine is out of your system in less than a week. The rest is all in your head. Chew gum or eat mints, give your hands something to fiddle with. Do things you don’t associate with smoking; running is a good one, so run more.
The most successful quitters I’ve known have done the cold turkey routine, but all started several times before it took. I’ve quit many times and went 9 mos. at the longest, with the gum. I’m on the verge of another right now, too, sly. I haven’t set the target date yet, but I think what I’m going to do this time is have the gum available and, as every time I quit before, when I started again was an evening when I was out drinking with somebody who had ciggies, this time I’m just going to say, OK, when I go out for drinks I can have’em, but we re-quit the next AM. That means, if I’m successfull, I’ll continue to have ciggies 3 or 4 nights a month. Beats the hell out of every day.
I have waxed and waned on the workout front over my life, but have found when I’m in peak condition, the cigarettes don’t appreciably affect performance. They do significantly affect performance when you’ve been slack.
Also a sign in your office/cubicle that says “Remember … Workplace violence is grounds for dismissal” should help keep the annoying co-workers at bay (the smart ones anyway). The freeware quit meters also can help with a constant cyber-ata-boy.
I’ve quit cold each time (once for 9 years) and I’m 10 weeks smober this (final) time. Had a friend that used the nose spray and he has made it 2 years, plus it is a prescription drug so his insurance paid for most of it. He liked the fact that you still got the cyclical high/low nicotine level with the spray as opposed to the more constant patch/gum replacement therapies. Hope this helps, and good luck, you can do it
Oblio
A point in every direction is like no point at all
Manny people have manny different experiences, so this may not apply to all. The nicotine alternatives I’ve used (gum and inhaler) convinced me that it is the drug. What I mean to say is that, when I was on the gum (this back when it was 'scrip) I never worried about having a cig. The whole thing about something to do with your hands, etc., just did not apply to me. I was getting my nicotine and didn’t worry a bit.
I forgot, sunflower seeds helped me alot. And it pisses off tailgaters to get splattered with the chaff Of course it took 2 weeks for my tongue to recover but it was worth it.
Good for you Sly! Just do it! Don’t be afraid to get help, friends and loved ones can help keep you honest, if ya know what I mean. I’ve tried quitting several times, the most successful was using the patch. The time has come again though. I am getting sick of jumping on my bike and being winded after the first few miles. I’m with ya bro, just haven’t built up the resolve yet.
Beatle, do whatever it takes to quit. Especially forgiving yourself after a weak moment where you give in and have a smoke. There’s no reason for that to destroy all your hard work.
TennHippie: Actually, I have two good friends who smoke only a couple nights out of the month(usually while drinking w/ me, I’m such a bad influence!)
Good luck to everyone trying to drop this nasty habit. Hope you can give me some encouragement when it’s my time! (New Years?)
“Teaching without words and work without doing are understood by very few.”
-Tao Te Ching
Woo hoo, sly! I have been quit for about a month and a half. I used the patch, which helped me over the rough spots. One tip that I had never heard of is to “puff” on cinnamon sticks. I still gnaw on them while I’m on the computer.
There is a really great site: http://qsn.ori.org/qsn/index.cfm . There they can help you set up a quit plan, and they have pages and pages of tips. It is part of a study by the Oregon Research Institute (they even send you a $10 check for participating!) . I still port to the message board there. Its full of really great, very supportive people.
Whatever you do to help yourself quit, good luck!
-Meredith
I have been Quit for: 1M 3W 3D 5h 10m 40s. I have NOT smoked 1214, for a savings of $151.84. Life Saved: 4D 5h 10m.
Well, the first time I quit it was for a year and a half. I started again mainly to piss off my (then) boyfriend. The second time I quit was 3 years later, when my hubby and I confirmed that I was going to have a baby. (This time it’s for good)
Both times I quit cold turkey, but the trick for me was to find a way to otherwise occupy my hands and brain when the craving hit. I know you are a guy, so this probably won’t appeal to you at all, but I learned how to knit. The first time I quit smoking was the first time I had ever knitted. I didn’t make anything worthwhile. The second time, I knitted baby sweaters, blankies and booties.
If knitting isn’t your thing, try to find something else that will occupy your hands and mind for a few moments. (Of course this is probably bad advice for when you are driving… sorry!):0
Otherwise, just remember that you can darn well do anything you put your mind to, and you are a lot smarter than the tobacco companies! Good Luck and good health to ya!
Meg
And chew sugarless gum, not butterscotch candies… Your dentist will find groups of gum line cavities - happens so often they are apt to ask if you have just quit smoking!
Wrigley’s Extra Sugar-free gum is extra soft chewing so you don’t get “cramps” in you jaw muscles.
A bunch of us quit on a bet/dare and it took a couple of years before we could give up sugar-free gum but it sure beats smoking.
I’m gonna have to agree with Satan I’ve been using Zyban, and it REALLY inhibits the desire to smoke… I’ve dropped from 2 packs a day to 1/2 pack a day. My quit date is fast approaching (Dec. 18th)… and for the first time in all the times I’ve tried to quit, I feel positive that this time I’ll succeed!!
TennHippie, you sound like you speak from great experience… so tell me, If I wanted to quit having sex… would I take up smoking along with the meditation? And what about the all time mother of addictions…this message board? Sex, smoking and meditation? I bow to your experience =)
“Only when he no longer knows what he is doing, does the painter do good
things.” --Edgar Degas
Some cool helpful people post to the message board…morning stats parade helps a lot. Unfortunately, i’m too ashamed to show my face there …my weakness for nicotine beat my desire for life again.
I, on the other hand, am a fully rounded human being
with a degree from the university of life, a diploma
from the school of hard knocks, and three gold stars
from the kindergarten of getting the shit kicked out of me.
I’ve tried quitting several times, the most successful was using the patch. The time has come again though. I am getting sick of jumping on my bike and being winded after the first few miles. I’m with ya bro, just haven’t built up the resolve yet.