Quitting smoking - give me tips!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
41

A friend of mine, who was not even 50 at the time, had a serious heart attack. She was a smoker. She survived the attack, but the doctor told her she had to quit smoking, it wasn’t a choice. He told her husband if he wasn’t going to quit, he had to smoke outside their apartment. Her jackass husband was still smoking inside sometimes, which pissed me off to no end, but, not my problem.

Her doctor was going to put her on Chantix, but wanted to wait until she was as recovered fro the heart attack as she was going to get. In the meantime, he told her she could either have ONE cigarette a day, I she absolutely had to, or she could try switching to vaping, and use non-nicotine containing, or extremely low-containing fluid diluted with the “non” stuff, and she could do that several times a day.

She started out trying to make one cigarette last a day, by taking a couple of drags, then putting it out, and relighting it later. It was making her crazy, though. She found out it was easier to use low-nic vape, and have just one measure, or whatever a day, an she could stretch that out a whole day.

Fortunately, the Chantix worked like magic for her. She lived across the hall in our old building, and I used to go on the doctor-ordered walks with her, with my dog, so I got the whole story, blow-by-blow.

42

Congrats. I’m 51 and am currently 1 year, 2 months smoke free. Longest I’ve ever gone since starting in my early 20s. Lots of advice already, not sure what I can add. I’ve tried chantix and patches in the past for quitting and had varying levels of success. What always threw me off was getting back into situations where my judgement was compromised (hint: alcohol) and easy access (hint: being drunk w/friends who smoke at a bar). I sincerely think a large part of why it stuck this time was due to Covid I’ve not been in a bar for over a year and my wife is working from home now too which makes it far harder than in the past to sneak out to the garage and cheat. So I’d simply recommend know your triggers for smoking. Is it that morning cup of coffee and a smoke? Driving in the car? Alcohol (social or alone)? Know them and put controls in place to identify and mitigate them.

43

Here’s one trick, and it helped me quit, some 45 years ago. At the time, I had briefly quit several times. “Try this,” somebody said. Instead of throwing away your last pack, leave it open on a shelf somewhere. Cigarette tobacco gets stale, accelerated by those sneaky flavorings they put in it. Then, when you succumb to temptation, grab one of the old stale cigs. Light it up, and take a big fat drag, like a pot smoker honking on a joint. The intensity of the stale tobacco will make you wonder what you ever saw in the stuff.

44

I know a lot of people who had tried to quit in the past, and not been able to, who finally did when restaurants and bars in Indiana were forced by statute to go non-smoking. Apparently being in a bar is a big trigger for a lot of people.

45

I quit after 35 years of smoking. At the end I was over two packs a day. I used the nicotine patch for two weeks. Every time I had a craving, I would work out how many seconds it had been since my last cigarette in my head. Math has never been my strong suit so it took enough time to let the craving pass. After two weeks I had the cravings under control. I also know that, even if it has been twenty three years since I quit, I can not try to smoke an occasional cigarette. I do not believe that I have the will power to smoke a couple of cigarettes and then leave them alone again.

46

I quit 2 years ago. Also gave up drinking as well.

That was due to a stroke I had. And I had been smoking a cigarette outside at work on break when it happened. Was told I had to quit. Spent a few weeks in the hospital and a few weeks in a physical therapy facility. Since I couldn’t smoke at either place, it was much easier to quit. And I declined the patch when I was there.

I no longer really miss it, but there are times I do have a craving, but it quickly passes. But I keep going on for a few reasons:

  1. I don’t want another stroke
  2. I am saving a shitload of money from quitting smoking and drinking (around $400 a month)
  3. I feel way better.
  4. My clothes, apartment, and new car don’t smell like an ashtray.
47

I quit smoking a little over 5 years ago and I agree with all the tips given by the others here. My tip to you if you need some extra motivation is not to be afraid to reward yourself for reaching milestones. It can be as simple as getting your favorite treat when you hit your first month smoke free. I personally got myself a lightsaber at Savi’s workshop at Disneyland when I reached my 5th year. It feels so great to be free. Hang in there.

48

So it’s day one of my planned quit date. I haven’t had a cigarette since 7pm last night, so that’s about 21 hours so far.

I’ve certainly been twitchy and having major cravings - I realise now how many things are my trigger to smoke - end of every zoom call, for instance. But I’ve been exercising more recently, and that’s helping my mental stamina. Lots of deep breaths, cold water and sugar free mints (don’t want to pile on weight while I’m quitting).

Luckily we’re still in lockdown here, so the pubs are shut and I’m not anywhere near any smokers.

49

Be aware of the sweetener in those or you may end up with digestive issues-diarrhea being most common.

Cut back on calories somewhere else perhaps and go for regular mints/lifesavers (and keep up on brushing your teeth, which in its self can help break the habit).

I’m rooting for you-just didn’t want you to have a nasty surprise.

50

Good luck. Realize the first few days are BY FAR the hardest. Once you’ve made it past them, why waste that effort when things are getting easier?

Each time you get the urge, just say “No.” And then repeat the next time you get the urge. Each time you succeed, makes it easier the next time. And each day the urges get further apart and easier to deny. Some people do things like snap a rubber band on their wrist, but I never found that necessary.

IMO/E, the entire thing boils down to how do YOU react when you get the urge. Do you stick a smoke in your mouth, or do you just say no? Surely you are able to deny immediate gratification of other urges, no?

Don’t try to pretend today doesn’t suck. This is a tough thing you are doing. But feel free to treat yourself to something, or do something else to distract yourself, or involve friends/family for distraction and support.

51

I smoked a pack a day for 40 years. I quit November 2, 2019 because I got bronchitis that landed me in the ER at 1:30 on a Sunday morning. I could have started smoking after I felt better but I’m not an idiot. I now have COPD with a lung capacity at 52%. That’s what will kill me, not cancer. EVERY smoker ends up with COPD. Period, end of discussion. And not a day goes by that I don’t want to smoke. I’ve saved $4K for my next vacation though.

52

Yep. If health is a real motivation (sorry if this is a downer) think hard about emphysema/COPD. I spent years not quitting because all I worried about health-wise was lung cancer, and I believed that the lung cancer risk was overblown in the media and pop culture. One day, walking up stairs, I realized I could go my whole life without cancer, yet still die of smoking. Kind of dumb to not think about that side of the risk for so long.

53

Good for you! The first few days are the most critical, so keep up the good work. You will probably be pretty distracted for the next couple of days, but you will settle down quickly. Do you have a pet and a pet brush? If so, go to town! Buy a sickly houseplant to fuss over. If its not too much of a trigger, go outside and walk around the block every time you get the urge to smoke. (Going outside was too much of a trigger for me, but others seem to think its a good idea.)

Whatever you do, just keep on not smoking. You can do it!!!

54

YOU CAN DO IT! Chewing fingernails adds no calories, jus’ sayin’.

Kidding!

55

Not EVERY smoker ends up with COPD. So it’s not period, end of discussion. Around 10-15 percent get it.

Congrats on quitting. I quit myself January 2019. Sorry you have COPD and lung capacity at that level.

56

Here’s the skinny on sugar-free mints/candies/foods. Sorry it took awhile to find it. As in most things, moderation is key.

57

That link isn’t scary enough. This one might be more effective.

58

Oh, that’s a wonderful link, JaneDoe42! I’m tempted to buy some of those “for the office”.
I actually learned my lesson about sugar-free candies long ago. I was running a register at Eckerds while working the night shift, and thought I’d have some nice “healthy” Russell Stovers…turned out they were not good for my health, nor the health of anyone for miles around.

SanVito, best of luck!

59

Damn you, BippityBoppityBoo, I need something to take my mind off things.

Day two. I’ve been for a run to remind myself why I’m doing this, and eaten a healthy breakfast (no mints). I normally get a raging craving this time, ten minutes before my first zoom call of the morning, but so far, not too bad. Have developed a very small phlemmy cough.

60

My 2¢ on sugar alcohols:

I have IBS diagnosed by a blood test-- it is mild, but it is there; I also have reactive hypoglycemia, so I need to avoid added sugar as much as possible, and even need to be careful about fruit on an empty stomach. I have problems with malitol and mannitol; I can eat sorbitol as it occurs naturally in fruit, but not as an added ingredient. Sucralose, or Splenda, which is also an alcohol sugar, does not bother me. It also tastes good to me, which was my dilemma before it was invented.

NutraSweet/aspartame and saccharine taste just awful to me. Before they were on the market, I used to sweeten things with a pinch of NutraSweet, a pinch of either malitol or mannitol, and a pinch of real sugar. It wasn’t totally satisfying, but it was better than nothing, and I had to limit how much I could have at a time. It was frustrating.

Stevia tastes all right to me, albeit, it isn’t as sweet, or something, as Splenda. But I mix the two, just for the sake of avoiding some sugar alcohol, even though I don’t seem to get any symptoms from Splenda.

I don’t chew gum much-- mainly if I can’t brush my teeth for a while, for some reason. This is the only time I get xylitol, pretty much, but it doesn’t bother me either. It’s not a lot, though. I did just get a caution from the vet about dogs and xylitol-- not for anything I do in particular, she was just pointing it out to everyone. Anyway, if you have a dog, make sure you keep all your sugar-free stuff out of the dog’s reach, because xylitol is really bad for dogs.

I hope that doesn’t count as a hijack-- the OP brought up sugar-free products, and I thought that information could be useful.