Stop smoking

[AmericanManiac]

I was wondering how many of you smoke or did smoke ? I'm in the process of stopping, I was wondering what did you guys do to help stop ? Should I buy the patch, or just try to cut down every day or what ?

[bwind22]

I smoke.

Here's the key.... You have to actually want to quit. Because if you don't desire to stop, then all the patches and gum in the world aren't gonna help ya. I get badgered at least a couple times a week (usually by family) to quit smoking, but I honestly have no desire to. I like it. I know if I tried to quit right now, it'd be unsuccessful simply because I don't desire it. Now, if one of those family members were to offer me 1 million dollars to stop smoking tomorrow, I'd quit, but it'd be because I had motivation to do so. Personally, I don't see myself quitting until some day when I have a kid. At that point, I'd hate to be setting a bad example for them so I would then have the desire to quit.


All that being said, if you really DO want to quit, I'd say just go cold turkey and stop (mind over matter) or else try the gum. My cousin did that when he quit and it seems to have worked for him.

[The Mothman]

remove yourself from temptations
(friends who smoke)

[Shazbut]

Originally Posted by The Mothman

remove yourself from temptations
(friends who smoke)

Easier said than done - you cant hide away from it - either the desire to give up is there, or it is not. Personally, giving up smoking and sitting in a room with people still not having the desire to give up would give me a kick - I could gloat quietly at how *weak* my buddies are!! :p

[Phalanx]

Never smoked...I mean, I have no idea what it could've been to stop me getting right into this hugely tempting habit...the burning eyes, the throat, the congestion, the breathe of most smokers...really, I have no idea:confused:

But seriously...
My chick used to smoke, she had some gallstones removed, and was on some pethodine for a while, and something stronger, and when she came out, had no urge to smoke and got sick when she did...so, unless it was about having the gallstones removed, I'd assume it was something to do with a competing chemical forcing out or overriding residual chemicals? Either that, or, it was because the simple circumstance of having no option to smoke for a few days while in hospital?
A combination perhaps? Worked, all the same...so I guess you better think about ways to hospitalise yourself?

MY theory?
Take a couple weeks off work/study.
Buy about an ounce of weed and roll joints.
Roll yknow 15 with a bold tobacco mix, then roll another 10 with a little less, and so on, and so on, keep them in a place where you can go from high tobacco, to medium mix, to low mix, then none.
Smoke a joint whenever you get the urge to smoke...you'll be forced to cut down in public of course, but follow along here...At the end of this process, you'll have less money to buy cigarettes, you'll be too stoned to really give a shit, hm? Even if you crave for more'n one, you probably wouldn't get too far beyond 2 at a time, right?
Gradually, the tobacco content will become less and less, weening you off it...
Sure, you could end up with a bit of a pot habit, but in my experience, unless you're a serious stoner that can't moderate for shit, it's easy enough to drop whenever you like. Besides...and I'm being totally serious here...I've known smokers and I've known weed smokers...tobacco smokers end up spending more per week in almost all cases.
Irresponsible? Maybe...
Effective, for sure.

Other than that...I'd personally say:
Fuck the cravings. Quitting isn't easy...you'll be that much more satisfied with your efforts (I reckon) if you went cold turkey. I've got it from good sources that these supposed cravings only last up to five minutes...if that's true, good, if not, deal with it. The longer you keep at it, the less the urge will become.
Sleep when you're at a loose end with it, and excersize like crazy...sweat it out and exhause yourself, give your lungs a taste of fresh air....won't be pleasant at first I'm sure...but you'll get past it once you cough out the ick that your lungs are full of...

I cannot reccomend any "replacement" products...well, legally available ones anyway...for I have no experience with them.

I think the important thing is...stop buying, go through your last pack, and fucking ditch it, do NOT buy any more. Try to be on your own for a bit if lots of your friends smoke.

Easier said than done - you cant hide away from it - either the desire to give up is there, or it is not. Personally, giving up smoking and sitting in a room with people still not having the desire to give up would give me a kick - I could gloat quietly at how *weak* my buddies are!!

While sucking down secondary smoke? Doesn't exactly help towards ones target to remove the chemical intake...



That'll do me...

[Shazbut]

Originally Posted by bwind22

I smoke.

Here's the key.... You have to actually want to quit. Because if you don't desire to stop, then all the patches and gum in the world aren't gonna help ya. I get badgered at least a couple times a week (usually by family) to quit smoking, but I honestly have no desire to. I like it. I know if I tried to quit right now, it'd be unsuccessful simply because I don't desire it. Now, if one of those family members were to offer me 1 million dollars to stop smoking tomorrow, I'd quit, but it'd be because I had motivation to do so. Personally, I don't see myself quitting until some day when I have a kid. At that point, I'd hate to be setting a bad example for them so I would then have the desire to quit.


All that being said, if you really DO want to quit, I'd say just go cold turkey and stop (mind over matter) or else try the gum. My cousin did that when he quit and it seems to have worked for him.

It's different for everyone. I know people who couldnt do it without weaning off or substituting with gum or patches. Other friends used mind over matter with incantations like "I do not smoke, I do not smoke" for many weeks until one morning they woke up and lost the desire to smoke again. A couple of other friends just gave up like *THAT* - just woke up and never touched a fag again! (Fag = slang for Cigarette here in the UK - okay??!!) :D

[Phalanx]

I suppose the following will depend on how much credibility you put in it, but, my sister who was (maybe is again, I dunno, haven't seen the bitch in a couple years) quite a heavy smoker, claimed that she'd quit after seeing a hypnotist.
Said the idea of smoking felt foreign to her, and that there was no urges to speak of. Said she felt a bit fatigues for the following week, but that's the only negative she spoke of...

See, me...I don't put too much stock in the hypnotism thing, maybe I'll have an experience with it that'll enlighten me one day...until then, I'm like...surrre...my initial impression was that the stubborn bitch just decided to quit smoking after her "session" to save face after coughing up that amount of cash...
But yknow, this is up to you to decide.
It's an option that APPARENTLY works.

[AmericanManiac]

@Phalanx - I like how you are trying to get me on another drug, as if i'm not on it already :D , Although i stopped doing that easily. I spend about $50 a week on "fags" :D (sorry I never heard that one before). One of the reason's I want to quit is because i'm in the middle of buying a house, and I know I won't be able to afford it. A few other personal reasons, my dad died at a young age from smoking, and my fiancee's dad is now fighting cancer caused from smoking. I was 10 years old when I seen my dad laying in the hospital bed with his chest cut open, due to smoking. That right there should of made me not start, but once he seriously started having health problems I got stressed, my life got hetic and that's when I started. Now it is like a best friend to me, I've just read a web site where it says the craving only lasts about 5 minutes.

Going cold turkey sounds great, no money needed to spend on the patches :D

[_____V_____]

I dont smoke, dont drink, and dont do drugs.

[Papillon Noir]

Originally Posted by AmericanManiac

I was wondering how many of you smoke or did smoke ? I'm in the process of stopping, I was wondering what did you guys do to help stop ? Should I buy the patch, or just try to cut down every day or what ?

I smoked for seven years before I quit and have been smoke free for two years now.

I really enjoyed smoking and smoked about a pack a day. I would normally smoke Marlboro Lights and was still smoking a pack a day when I was waiting tables and working as a baggage handler for an airline.

It wasn't until I started working desk jobs and was trying to get into the Air Force that I started exercising and running more, and the Lights just felt too strong. So I switched to Ultra Lights for two years.

Working in an office cut down my smoking even more and it just didn't really feel good anymore and even the Ultra Lights felt too strong. Once you can get down to a few cigarettes a day, you can get to one and try to smoke every other day until eventually you won't want to do it at all.

It took me about three months to ween myself off. I never used the patch because nicotine is out of your system in five days. You'll get headaches for two or three days and then you are fine. The only thing that gets you is that you're just so used to smoking, especially at a bar or after dinner or whatever. That's really the habit you have to break.

At any rate, you don't realize the extent of the negative effects of smoking on your body until you quit. I used to get colds several times a year and most of them would be pretty severe. Since I quit, I've gotten one maybe two over the past two years, and I didn't even have to take off of work.

Also, you don't realize how much you can't smell or taste untill you quit. I remember eating cherry pie about a month after I quit and I never knew cherry pie tasted so good. It was amazing and still is. My teeth looked much whiter too without having to whiten them.

So, my advice, if you want to actually quit for you and no body else you can do it. You just have to want the change and you will be able to cut back and then quit. But you have to stick with, if you can do five days you can do two weeks, and if you can do that, month is easy and then a year will pass and you won't even notice.

Somebody once said, "You know what's harder than quitting smoking? Starting to floss." And it's completely true.

One more thing, that whole gaining twenty pounds thing when you quit is completely true. I gained twenty pounds in a few months after I quit and it took me three times as long to lose it again. And I usually have a pretty steady weight. But I tell you that's a great deterrent to not to start again.