Tips for quitting smoking!

Aaron Smith10 said:The biggest "paranoia" I get is this nagging feeling of "I am NEVER lighting up another cigarette again"—but then again, maybe one day I will... for now, I’m just here to cheer you guys on... keep going, people!
you guys can totally do this!! 👋

Why paranoia? I mean, once you get stronger and actually focus on what matters—once you break free from being a slave to it—you can probably afford a tiny little slip-up here and there... if it even feels like a big deal.

Take me, for example. I’ve counted myself as a non-smoker for these last 5 years, though I did "allow" myself a stray cigarette every now and then (maybe a pack would pile up over a whole year, and usually I’d just crush it halfway through because it wasn't even that great)—just a smoke with dinner & good company & some THC (tobacco-free) once in a while.

What helped me back in the day—and what I’m trying again now—is not just setting one single goal, but rather "raising the stakes." Basically, I set these extra little side goals for myself; nothing too crazy, nothing too easy either, and they have to be simple; the main focus has to stay on the tobacco.

For instance, my secondary goals right now are cutting back on soda (like Coke) and most of my coffee—so, basically reducing caffeine and sugar. Once we master that, I'll come up with something else, etc.

If there were actually an easy way to quit nicotine, someone would have patented it and sold it for a fortune by now..

By the way, I’m all too familiar with that "NEVER AGAIN" paranoia—though it’s much more practical to just say "not today" or "not this week." Or, if I find myself hovering on the edge of death, I might light up (but let's be honest, we aren't reaching that threshold anytime soon). Anyway, those Sajko Spike things didn't do a thing for me.
I’ve got ten years of smoking under my belt and two serious attempts at quitting; both times, the absolute worst withdrawal hit me right around the four-month mark, and that’s when I finally buckled.

It’s tough—this habit is vicious, and the addiction is even worse. For me, the mental battle is the hardest part; physically, you eventually clear the system and it isn't quite as unbearable... but that craving...

Regardless, I’ve decided I’m going to give it another shot.

Who’s joining me?

Incidentally, some people swear by tapering down, but I could never make that work—all it did was leave me feeling deprived.

Then again, it varies from person to person; some can slip up after a few months without falling back into the cycle, whereas I relapsed after just a couple of drags at a party, which quickly spiraled back into a full-blown pack within days.

Hmph. I’ve only got a few millimeters left of this cigarette. I wonder if this will be the last one—you know, the final one before the next attempt to quit, hehe.👋

Patrick Williams said:Do you want to quit smoking? I do, but I can't seem to manage it. If anyone else shares this desire, perhaps we could use this thread to support one another and share our experiences. Right now, I smoke about a pack and a half of ultra-lights. I have been smoking for 15 years and I am fully aware of the health risks, but the habit is simply too strong. I once managed to go two weeks without smoking, but the cravings were unbearable, and I relapsed. Still, if I succeeded once, I know I can do it again... it just requires strengthening my willpower and motivation. What has your experience been like?

I am in the same position; I have smoked for 15 years, currently about a pack and a half, and I once quit for two weeks using Hypnotizer.
I believe the most critical factor in deciding to quit is truly wanting it. Methods such as hypnosis, nicotine gum, or patches can certainly assist, but they will fail without genuine intent. At that time, I was not strong enough.
I remember it wasn't all those cigarettes I smoked daily that I missed, but rather just that one single cigarette. That craving for just one was what broke me, until I finally gave in. And after that one, came a second, then a third...
I still have some supplies left, and I have decided to quit once they are gone.
Perhaps it will be easier here on the forum, where we can exchange experiences and offer support.
I am in. 🙂 👍

I honestly thought the whole thread had vanished while I was busy gathering my strength and overthinking everything...

So, this is my very first real attempt at quitting after nearly 15 years... though, to be fair, I’ve decided to go with a slightly less painful route by tapering down slowly.

I’ve set specific time windows where I actually allow myself to have "just one"... since today is day one, I find myself checking my watch way too often, it’s becoming a bit of an obsession, really.

Does anyone here have any experience using different nicotine replacement therapies—you know, those gums, sprays, and all that other stuff?

Aesop said:A colleague at my office told me, "I just said 'no thanks' and that was it." And she was only smoking maybe three or four ultra-lights a day.

😂

Look, I quit too. And I never even took a single puff. 😍

I remember seeing this story in the news about some Japanese man who was over 100 years old. They asked him, if he’s made it to all those years, what's his secret to such a long life? The guy just looked at them and said: smoking. 🤔 🙂

I’ve been cigarette-free since March 1st (or was it April 1st? 🤔—honestly, I can't even recall anymore) back in 2002. Before that, I smoked for about five years, though not excessively; at most, I hit a pack a day during one specific stretch, but on average, it was more like five or six cigarettes daily... still, I must say, quitting wasn't exactly a walk in the park, even at those levels...

To this day, I occasionally dream about smoking... about having a cigarette... and then my conscience just starts burning me up right there in the dream... 😁 It’s quite terrible...

But you can do it if you truly mean it... For me, hydration was the key. I had attempted to quit so many times before, even buying those ridiculous nicotine gums, but they didn't do a thing for me... Then, one Friday, I found myself out of cigarettes and I simply couldn't bring myself to drive to the convenience store just for them. So, I thought, let's see how long I can hold out, without any heavy-handed pressure or an intense internal command to quit... It’s not that I didn't face cravings—heaven knows I did—and I still get that occasional urge to light up (especially when I'm enjoying a good craft beer 😁)—but here we are, nearly two years later, and so far, I haven't touched one...

My advice? Don't tell yourself "never again." Instead, try telling yourself you'll just make it through one day, or one week, then maybe one month...

Nothing from my end... I managed to hold out until 11:00 AM... and then everything just fell apart. Nothing

It didn't matter what I did—I felt absolutely wretched, and I immediately chalked it up to nicotine withdrawal. By the way, that Allen Carr book is decent; it makes quitting seem easy enough. It has its merits, certainly, but it didn't actually kick my nicotine addiction for me—it’s not some kind of miracle cure 👋

Patrick Williams said:Do you want to quit smoking? I do—but I can't seem to make it happen. If anyone else is looking to quit, maybe we could try using this thread to support each other and swap stories. Right now, I'm at about a pack and a half of ultralights a day. I've been smoking for 15 years, so I'm fully aware of the health risks, but the habit is just too strong. I managed to go two weeks without once, but the cravings were brutal—so I started again. Still, if I did it once, I suppose I can do it a second time; it’s probably just a matter of strengthening my willpower and motivation. What has your experience been like?

I smoke. I don't have any desire to stop right now.

lonetinker9 said:Does anyone have experience using different nicotine replacement products, like gum, sprays, and stuff?

I do.
To be honest, the things I used don't even contain nicotine. I never wanted the nicotine versions... mostly because of that constant social pressure where people judge you, saying, "Well, there's nicotine in that gum, so you shouldn't be smoking." With what I used, that restriction doesn't exist. There's no pressure to stay away from a cigarette if you aren't technically "replacing" one.

Two years ago, I quit using Ziban. It took three months. Then a major health issue hit, combined with all that stress, and it pushed me right back to cigarettes. (Supposedly Ziban is pure chemicals; I heard about a few fatalities and some weird side effects...) 😲

Fast forward two years, and I heard about SmokeAway. Herbal tablets that supposedly "cleanse" the system of nicotine and break the addiction.
I started on October 3rd. By the second day, I hadn't touched a single cigarette.
On October 11th, my husband started too. He didn't light up once the next day either. It was unbelievable... like the craving just washed away. I still can't quite believe it, especially since my husband has been a smoker for over 30 years and never even tried to quit. Now, he's wondering why on earth he bothered smoking for three decades in the first place.

We've been smoke-free for three and a half months now. We're happy. We're finally breathing deep... food tastes amazing again (well, he's enjoying it more than me) and we've both put on some weight. Now we're trying to lose it together and get some exercise in. But honestly, we're just too happy and proud to care about the truth. 👍

Stormynomad602 said:So where can I actually buy those pills??👋

If you’re talking about those herbal SmokeAway ones, you can try looking online at

www.smokeawayonline.com

Here in the States, they even have them in those late-night TV shopping channels.

Dammit, I feel like I've already brought this up three times on Health forums, across three different threads... like I'm working their marketing department or something.😁

But seriously people, the stuff actually works.👍

analogwolf26 said:We’ve officially been smoke-free for three and a half months now. We’re happy, we can actually take a deep breath (finally!), food tastes incredible (oh man, it's good), and both of us have put on some weight... so now we’re collectively trying to lose it and get back into shape through exercise. But honestly, we’re just too happy and proud of where we are to even care about that right now. 👍 [/B]

Thanks for the advice. 🙂

Unfortunately, I’m running headfirst into that very well-known reality where it feels nearly impossible to kick the smoking habit without every other little routine in your life shifting along with it...
It really requires a bit more of a total overhaul of your daily activities—or rather, your daily inactivities...
Did you find that magic pills were all you needed to make it happen, or did you actually have to go out and change other parts of your lifestyle too? (I mean, I doubt anyone sets out with the specific goal of opening the fridge every twenty minutes...)

Honestly, I feel like I’ve brought this up on the Health & Wellness board three different times now, across three separate threads... at this point, it feels like I’m working pro bono for them or something.😁

😲 Yeah, you totally did... you went and broke Rule #5 of the House Rules.

lonetinker9 said:For crying out loud, I’ve already brought this up three times on the Health board, across three different threads... honestly, you’d think I was on their payroll.😁

😲 Yeah, sure! You totally broke Rule 5 of the HOUSE RULES.

I did not. 😁
I’m just recommending what worked for me. And it wasn’t just me. We passed the word along, and it helped others too. I’m not joking around here. 🙂

They aren't some "miracle" pills, even though they felt that way to me. Check the website—the ingredients are listed right there. I actually asked my primary care physician for his Amen—he agreed the formula was perfectly fine.
There are plenty of future doctors on this forum... we can debate the chemistry if you want.

As for my motivation... there had to be a reason.
For me, it was health. And then there was the massive amount of money saved (two smokers' worth). There's more to it.
Mentally, I prepared myself for about a month. It was a bit harder with my husband—he was pretty skeptical. In thirty years, he’d never even tried to quit. So, we decided I’d go first, and if it worked for me, he’d follow suit. Turns out, we both quit within a week of each other.
Yeah, we put on some weight. Now we just watch what we eat and hit the gym more. A few extra pounds is nothing compared to the favor we did for our bodies in the long run.

🙂

I started smoking when I was about 13 or 14, and by the time I hit my late teens, I was easily doing 40 to 60 a day.
By the time I reached 45, I was hitting 80 cigarettes a day... I’d have one lit in an ashtray and completely forget it was there, lighting up another. My job was incredibly high-stress, and I rarely even took a lunch break.

My older son followed suit, and my younger one started picking it up around age 13.
My wife hated it; the whole kitchen and half the house smelled like smoke, and she had to breathe that polluted air constantly—especially when the kids were little and breathing in all that nicotine too.

Then, news stories about health and smoking started popping up everywhere, and schools began teaching kids about the dangers and how it affects your body.

So, back in 1987, I realized I couldn't exactly tell my son not to smoke
when I was smoking right next to him.
It was the same at work, too. During a meeting about workflow and wellness, they told us we could get help from the local clinic
in the form of nicotine gum (I’d tried cutting back before, but I always ended up sliding right back into old habits).

That was the moment I decided to quit right then and there and never light up again. I had a carton of 250 cigarettes in my bag,
which I gave to a friend, and I had five more cartons at home that I sold off to others.

I went to the clinic to pick up some gum, and that same evening, I went to see a Hypnotizer (I ended up going five times total).
I gave myself every tool possible to succeed. The hardest part was definitely having coffee without a cigarette... for the next five years, I just used nicotine gum with my coffee.

My son is nearly 30 now and has never touched a cigarette. As for me, I've been smoke-free for 17 years. It helps a lot that I don't go out to bars or drink much anymore.
In those early days, I'd occasionally spot where someone left a pack and feel tempted to try just one, but I never did.

Even after 17 years, I think if I lit that first one today, I might fall back in.
Believe me, if you haven't quit yet, nicotine is the root of so many illnesses,
not to mention how much we poison our children and everyone around us.

I won't list all the diseases—I'm sure you know them—but it is never too late
to stop.

When you hear stories about old people who smoked and lived long lives, I honestly think they were smoking pure tobacco. In the last 30 years, what we smoke is full of filters and all sorts of chemicals added to the tobacco.

If I could quit after being such a heavy smoker since my early 30s, then I truly believe anyone can. With enough willpower, a desire for health, and the modern tools available to replace nicotine, it's doable.

I wish everyone trying this the best of luck. And don't fall for the "I'll just cut down" trap; it's better to just quit cold turkey and never touch it again.

🙂 😉 😎

So, today marks exactly two months since I quit smoking. It’s funny how you wake up one morning and suddenly start respecting yourself a little more than you used to. It’s actually decent character building. That constant craving? It dies down a little more every single day.😉

Greetings to everyone!
It has been quite some time since I last checked in, but I am still pushing forward with my efforts. 🙂 I have successfully managed to scale back to just ten cigarettes a day, though the journey hasn't been easy; I recently came down with a nasty flu, dealt with a throbbing toothache, and the sheer irritability has been nothing short of maddening. Yet, I can't help but wonder—is this not precisely when one ought to begin the process of quitting? Shouldn't we be learning how to navigate life's daily stressors without leaning on a nicotine crutch? Regardless of the difficulty, my mind is made up, and I am taking this step by step.
I would actually suggest a little experiment for those of you struggling: try drinking about two liters of water every single day. Water flushes out the system, combats fatigue, and provides a genuine sense of revitalization. When I compare that feeling of freshness to the heavy, sluggish sensation I usually endure after a full day of smoking and coffee, I have to admit that the change is becoming increasingly pleasant. Even when you are merely reducing your intake, if you pair it with increased hydration, the results become apparent within just a few days. One must simply replace a destructive habit with a beneficial one. That being said, I am in complete agreement with those who argue that merely cutting down isn't a permanent solution; if one isn't careful, it can become an endless cycle where a person inevitably slides right back to their old habits.
Ultimately, we must persevere. My support goes out to everyone who is fighting this battle, refusing to give up, and finding their way through. 🙂

Michael Sanchez7 said:Today marks exactly two months since I quit smoking. You wake up and actually start respecting yourself more than you used to. It’s good character building. Every single day, that craving just dies a little more...😉

Right?
I feel the exact same way about myself. Maybe it sounds silly, but whatever...
I watch smokers on my way to work, shivering in front of those massive skyscrapers... shaking, clutching their coffee in styrofoam cups, pacing back and forth while they frantically try to catch those last few drags... That was me four months ago. Now I just look at them and think—they look ridiculous. Then again, you realize a cigarette isn't just a habit; it's an addiction. You can't just say "bye-bye" and walk away. Very few people can...
In the beginning, the mornings were the hardest part. Right when I'd wake up. That’s when the urge hit the hardest. Coffee without a smoke? No chance...
God knows how many times lately I’ve wanted one, especially after finishing some heavy physical labor around the house and thinking, "Alright, time to sit down and light up 🙂." And then it hits me: "Crap, 🙂 I don't smoke anymore... 😢." It was rough. But now, the thoughts are getting rarer as the time passes... 👍 🙂

I’m in total agreement with everything said above, and you definitely have my support.👍

Honestly, someone should just go take a look at what the lungs of a chronic smoker actually look like—maybe then people would finally get the hint and quit. Besides, I truly believe that if a person possesses enough willpower to walk away from something, they can make it happen...🙂
And let’s call a spade a spade: cigarettes—specifically nicotine—are a drug, no matter how much they try to sugarcoat it in society.
If you ask me how to actually put an end to this plague? Well, I’d suggest hiking up the price of cigarettes by several times over—just watch how quickly everyone suddenly decides they don't smoke anymore.
Personally, I don't smoke, and I don't have a problem with smokers—provided, of course, they aren't poisoning me with their damn smoke and all those other carcinogenic, lethal substances.
I seem to recall reading somewhere that a single puff of cigarette smoke contains traces of mercury, cadmium, lead, and all sorts of other heavy metals... so, if you're all hell-bent on continuing to poison yourselves, be my guest.🙂

Patrick Williams said:Generally speaking, tapering down your cigarette count isn't some infinite process... I tend to agree with the folks who argue that sooner or later, a person just ends up sliding right back to their old habits and that original dose.
[/B]

I suppose it can't last forever, though I think it’s a solid starting point because you begin to flex that self-discipline muscle, and smoking stops being this mindless, automatic reflex—I'm becoming acutely aware of every single cigarette I light, which actually helps me map out more clearly which specific situations are going to be the hardest to navigate once I finally quit for good.....

Maybe I'm just kidding myself, but I have a feeling that if I tried those much more aggressive methods, I'd probably just throw in the towel way sooner than I would now.