Smokers?

Hi. I stopped for good just over 4 years ago after smoking about 20 a day for about 30 years.

I had tried a few times before using Nicotine replacements e.g. patches, gum etc but they never worked.

I then read a book called The "Easyway to stop smoking" by Allen Carr (NO not the comedian ) and something just clicked and i stopped.

(Sorry mods if showing the name of the book is against the terms etc. If so please delete but it will make my post pointless :cry

I also found it really quite easy to stop at the time. I think the book uses some form of NLP? but it worked for me.

Also have a look at "whyquit.com" as it is full of great information on stopping, what to expect, how to deal with it etc.

Good Luck

Oh and what someone else said "stop now!!"

 

Forgot to add.

Nicotine leaves your system after three days or so. If you use Nicotine replacement, it won't leave your system.

Also, remember, the desire for a smoke will go away whether you smoke or not.

:hat:

 

I have recently begun my own journey to quiting this terrible but enjoyable habit. Hasn't been easy quitting tobacco (I dip and chew too) but I am finding the Nicorette brand of nicotine gum to be extremely helpful. Doesn't take the craving away, but helps take off some intensity of the craving. I find it is helping me to exercise my mental discipline better in denying giving in, and the time between needing a piece of the gum to help me out is already getting longer inbetween.

I think actually wanting to quit and beliving you want to quit is the biggest part. Took not being able to breath after a cig. to make me want to quit smoking, and then my gums hurting all day to stop chew/dip. I'm just so tired of it and the smoking part really makes cardio a session of torture for me.

It's been a couple days now, so I can't give any real volume of advice. But I did happen to kind of make a "journey to mecca" type thing with the quitting smoking bit unintentially today. I drove up to Washington DC from Florida for the last time today, took a different route then usual and ended up passing Phillips and Morris. Got to throw the finger at their fortress of a building to further set in stone my conviction of quitting smoking. Felt pretty cool. (P&M are the people who make some of the popular brands of smokes here in the US)

 

The detox and withdrawal symptoms for nicotine lasts for three to four days. After that, the cravings and symptoms are habitual. I haven't smoked routinely for almost ten years and haven't stolen a cig for just over one, since the pregnancy really, but I still get the occasional craving- usually associated with a bad day at the hospital or going out with friends. Sooooo- the biggest part isn't withdrawals, but the psychological addiction.

For a while, avoid activities and people with whom you would smoke. Purposefully create new habits that had nothing to do with cigarettes and then go from there.

 

Well, my insurance is double if your a smoker so my co-workers who do smoke have a big incentive to quit. I live where its about 80 every day and we all wear shorts to work anyway, so every time he wants a smoke he goes out and jogs around the building a time or two. Doctors say that the actual craving only lasts for 7-10 minutes for the average smoker so my friend kills two birds with one stone, exercising and overcoming his craving...works for him at least.

 

^I've done that before.. or something like it. If I crave one sometimes and I'm trying to cut back, I'll do a few minutes of bag work to get my mind off the craving.

 

Tried to quit starting yesterday. Got a pack this morning. This is a lot harder than I remember.

 

well ive stopped smoking now for 5 weeks and the reason was for training and its really something if you say your gonna try and stop its not gonna work but if you say your gonna stop and mean it then it becomes easier i used lozenge's for a few days and the rest was just will power. goodluck

 

My uncle who is now in his 40s and has been smoking since he was 14, (over 20 a day). Gave me the news yesterday that he has quit smoking, it has been over two months now and it's all down to something called Champix. I was shocked.

 

What did it for me was a shift in mental attitude. I stopped seeing myself as someone who was trying to quit and instead saw myself as an already ex-smoker who just had a few annoying cravings to ignore for a while. I regarded the cravings in a similar way to cold symptoms - something annoying that would go away on their own in a bit.

 

Go to a martial arts class that includes a hard aerobic workout and contact and spar others (preferably non-smokers themselves). Worked for me.

 

I've noticed a change in my attitude/mindset is a big help.

I'm hoping to start TKD again soon so that'll be a big motivation. Until then I'll be biking, training, hiking, etc., so hopefully those things will remind me I can't afford to keep smoking.

 

Sure it wasn't Chantix? That's the route I went 6 years ago. I'd been smoking a half pack or more a day since my teens. I got my physician to prescribe me Chantix (she was more than happy too), and I'd stopped completely within two weeks of taking it. No withdrawals. Really strange. Just didn't smoke. I'm truly grateful to my doctor.

 

Nop, it was Champix, but a quick Google reveals Chantix is what it is called in the USA.

Really something worth looking into. http://www.champixtablets.org.uk/