Nicorette gum tastes like flaming mint-flavored excrement! The patch will only work if you asphyxiate yourself with it. Zyban turns you into an insomniac chain-smoking eunuch. Somehow, the smoking addiction cures make lung-cancer and emphysema look attractive. Hell, they make Janet Reno look attractive!
On the positive side, in the past nine days I’ve smoked about 2 packs of cigarettes instead of about 14. So I’ve saved about $25 on cigarettes and chewed $35 worth of gum.:rolleyes: So who else has some “I quit smoking by …” or “I couldn’t quit because …” or “I’ll stop smoking shortly after I die” stories to share with the rest of us unfortunate addicts? Please share.
BTW, the gum simply WILL NOT stay lit!
Firstly, congratulations on cutting down so far. Secondly, it’s inadvisible to be smoking and using the gum. Thirdly, thousands of people quit smoking every year. It’s hard but it’s not impossible.
I quit smoking on News Years Eve (the most recent one). I did it cold turkey after 11 years of smoking. It is possible to do it, you just got to be willing to fight. It’s damn hard work, and reading Alan Carr’s Easy Way to Quit Smoking did help, although I don’t subscribe to his philosophy 100%.
What’s best for you is whatever works for you. Have you got a stubborn streak? Call it into play. What are your reasons for quiting? Write them down and remind yourself of them often. Do some research on the net, find a support forum for quitters.
Most of all, and as lame as it sounds, you just have to do it. Sit on your hands, eat carrot sticks for as long as you need to, ride out the hard times and I promise, swear, vow to you that it will get easier. I had to sit through two weeks of a constant internal dialogue of;
“Can I have a smoke now?”
“No.”
“Now?”
“No.”
“I really want a smoke”
“I know. You can’t have one.”
“Can I have a smoke now?”
But I sat it out and eventually it went away, and damn am I glad. I can breathe! I don’t cough in the mornings! I don’t stink of cigarettes! I’ve significantly reduced the risk of an early death (death!) through cancer or the myriad other nasty things cigs can do to you.
The benefits FAR outweigh the difficulties. I hope you succeed on quitting eventually. Good luck!
I quit smoking after 15 or so years and yes, it’s hard, but not impossible.
Are your companions still smoking? that was the toughest part. I had to hang around non-smokers or I would have never quit. I also had to quit going to bars and drinking beer.
After watching my dad die last year from emphysema, I wish everyone I know would quit. Not very realistic, I guess, but I can tell you first hand, it’s a helluva way to live.
Good luck, my friend. Quitting is a very personal decision. One that only you can make. You have to remember you are the one in control. You make the choice to smoke or not to smoke every minute of every day.
And yes, the benefits do far outweigh the difficulties, but it can be a long hard road to get there.
Good Luck!
Congratulations! I’ve been smoke free 2 1/2 years now and believe me, it’s made all the difference in the world.
My secret? No gum, no patches, but it worked for me, and I can make no guarantees over whether it will work for you - so get ready - here comes the never before revealed Famous Rico Quitting Smoking Secret:
**Carry a half pack of cigarettes with you. **
Yes, that’s right - and I am not weird. In examining my smoking habits, I found that the only time I really HAD to have a cigarette was when I didn’t have any (i.e. I was out, I was trying to quit and left them home, my SO threw them out the car window, etc.). So I carried my last half a pack around with me for 6 months. If I really felt that I HAD to have a cigarette, I would take one out, hold it, put it to my lips, inhale the unlit cigarette, but NEVER light the sucker. When I felt better, I’d put it back in the pack and back into my shirt pocket.
In other words, you have to analyze your smoking habits, and see when the urge is strongest, and have a substitue available during that time.
Oh yes, and Wintergreen Life Savers are wonderful during this time - heck, I’m still hooked on them.
However you do it, good luck and remember - it DOES get better!
I’ve been advised that the method I used should NOT be used, so I will not mention it - can cause death, in some.
So -
I saw both parents die of lung cancer - what is your motivation?
Keep that in mind!
Good luck
I quit smoking over a year ago. Every other time I quit, it was really hard. I was constantly craving a smoke, and I always broke.
I read Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking. I had two minor twinges (like a twinge of hunger when you’ve worked through lunch, and realise that you’re hungry) and that was the only problem I had. It was ludicrously easy after the agony of my other attempts. I completely quit mentally, with the book, before quitting physically.
YMMV, it’s not for everyone. The way I look at it though is, besides cold turkey with no support, it’s the cheapest method, so I’d be giving it a chance before I went for the more expensive treatments. If it doesn’t work for you, you can sell the book and try another method.
Good luck 
Today is my 3 month anniversary as a non-smoker. Prior to that, approx 15 years of 20-40 per day.
Didn’t use gum or patches, and don’t get even twinges of desire for a cigarette.
You may have heard the old chestnut about you can give up if you really want to give up? Well after years of trying, I found out that the old chestnut is true.
But the trick is, you can’t just reason yourself into not wanting another cigarette! What permanently changed my perspective was having bronchitis for a month, a disease caused by my constant smoking.
I can’t begin to adequately express what a miserable month that was. Can you imagine what it’s like to be coughing for almost every waking second for weeks on end? It seriously weakens you. At night it takes hours and hours to get to sleep, no matter how tired you are to start with, because the wretched cough won’t let you. And worst of all was the constant nagging fear of developing the Big C.
That did it for me. When I was finally on the mend, I concluded that I would never smoke another of the damn things. After what they did to me, how could I think otherwise? I fully realised, for the first time, what a terrible con smoking is.
After quitting, life got a little scaly for the first couple of weeks. My hands still wanted something to do, all the damn time. I found it a tremendous help to take up more activities that kept the hands busy. I concentrated on playing guitar, also I bought a bicycle (lots more spare cash when you quit!) and go for long rides on that frequently. I started gardening too - growing vegetables on an allotment.
One thing I didn’t do - and this was a mistake I made on previous short-lived attempts in the past - was try to quit drinking at the same time. Instead of this, I switched pubs to one with a dart board (a pool table would have done just as nicely) so my hands would have something to do while drinking a pint. Keeping the pub as a fun social activity was hugely important, possibly crucial, to my success at quitting smoking.
I’m far fitter now than I have ever been in my life (I have real muscles now thanks to the cycling and the gardening!) and far happier too.
One other nice consequence worth mentioning is being the envy of one’s smoking friends. Some of mine justified their own smoking habit with “Well at least I don’t smoke as much as Reuben”. One of the heaviest smokers I know has been inspired to give it a go; he’s now in his second week and doing really well.
To sum up, you really will be a lot of all the following : (a) healthier, (b) richer, © nicer-smelling (apparently), (d) happier.
There is no down side.
Cold turkey. It’s the only thing that’s worked for everyone I know.
Quiting smoking aids just give you an excuse to keep smoking.
Do you see yourself as smoking forever? No? Then stop. Now.
Stay strong.
It’s been almost 5 weeks for me and I feel AWESOME.
Cold turkey really is the best way to go. It’s been almost 2 months for me and after about 2 weeks it got really easy. I’ve tried to quit on the gum before and for me it just prolonged the withdrawal, plus it was really expensive! If you ask me the nicotene replacement therapies are just another way to get your money, they try to convince you that you need something to help you through, but I think it’s all in your head.
My Dr. told me it only takes 3 days to get all the nicotene out of your body and after that the physical withdrawal stops. That helped me get through the first few rough days, but if you have even one, you have to start over again. After that it’s all the psychological addictions you have to deal with. (which can feel just as bad, or worse, but hey, it’s all in your head and can’t hurt you.)
Just tough it out, it gets easier really fast. It’s worth it, even just for the money.
Cold turkey is the only way. The gum tastes like mint-ass or orange-ass. The patch kept my brain switched ON all the time (even when sleeping). I do chew gum like a wild person.
I don’t feel better.
I still want a cigarette.
I loved to smoke.
I like people who smoke.
I seek out second hand smoke.
I sit in the smoking section in restaurants.
I am a smoker who is just not smoking for the rest of my life.
Do cigarette companies really make the nicotine patch and gum? They gotta make money somehow. A conspiracy? I think so.
ZYban worked for me, plus a new Girl as well. I can’t smoke around her, and really have no desire to anymore. I just reminded myself that I am stronger than my addiction.
All,
Thanks for the support. You’ve confirmed what I’ve feared all along, that it’s going to be hard to quit, no matter what. But I am determined to be done with it for good.
I was hoping to get a few “I’ll quit smoking when they pry the last smoking butt from my cold dead hands.” stories. I know they’re out there, because I used to tell them:o. So goodbye to Nicorette, Nicotrol, Zyban and RJ Reynolds. You can all kiss my smokefree ass:D!
I’ll just keep telling myself “You have to get over this sooner or later, so why not now.” (Thanks to Larry Niven)
<shakes Rhubarb’s formerly nicotine-stained hand> Congratulations! Need support? My email is public on the board, drop me a line if there’s any rah rah support I can offer!
Ric
Bollocks to this “cold turkey is the only way to go”. There was not a snowball’s chance in hell of me quitting cold turkey. I could never make it past the first day when I tried. If you can do it, great, but if not there’s absolutely no reason not to try a stop-smoking aid (I used the patch myself).
One more strategy that worked for me in the first month:
When I woke up in the morning I would say, “I’m not going to smoke today”. Then when I would crave a cig, I’d say to myself, “no, not today”. This way I wasn’t looking at not smoking FOREVER, just not smoking for one day. And once that one day turned into a week, then two, etc., I got a lot stronger.
Now I usually don’t even think about smoking unless I’m at a bar or really bored.
I quit 18 months ago after 7 years of smoking at the most 30-40 cigarettes a day. It wasn’t that bad. What worked for me was the decision that I was going to quit on such and such day and deciding that I would never buy another pack of cigarettes. My grandfather had emphysema and after seeing him struggling for air, I knew it was time to quit while still healthy.
The first few days are the worst, If you can get past the first 72 hours, you’ve beaten the worst part of the addiction. On my last smoking day what I did was smoke a pack of cigarettes in a few hours. This made me quite ill. The residual nausea effect got me through most of the next day. I kept myself supplied with several snacks, such as almonds or even gum.
The worst part was looking through a jacket on the third day because I was going out and finding half a pack of cigarettes. I forced myself to crumple them up into the garbage. After that, it was much easier.
If you have really decided it is time you will be able to quit without too much struggle. I think that the worst part of the addiction is not physical but rather psychological. The physical cravings are gone after a few days, it is the force of habit that gets you. I had to stop drinking beer for a few months since I always had a cigarette with beer.
I’ve quit on many occasions, but the last time finally seems to have stuck. It was Nov 2000, and I came up with some marketing slogans for myself:
“It’s not really quitting, if you’re having a cigarette”
and I forced myself to have to find a very good reason why I would be smoking in the new millenium.
A lot of people describe quitting the bar scene and stuff, but I was fortunate to be able to go out and hang w/my friends without relapsing (this time at least)
It is a tough road, but it is doable. Good luck!
Congratulations to all who have managed to quit smoking permanently.
One question for all of the cold-turkey advocates (I’m going luke-warm turkey myself), how many times did you try to quit before you actually made it? I only ask because I seem to know a lot more people who have tried to quit than have succeeded. It seems the recidivism rate for nicotine addiction is pretty high. A pulmonologist told me that the success rate for Zyban is only 40-45%.
On a personal note, all of this support is helping. I smoked even less over the past few days and will not buy any more cigarettes or gum (after I use up what I have.) I feel that I can permanently give it up this time. My new slogan is “Smoke-free at 43!” Not too inspiring, but it rhymes!