Cold Turkey

Tried tapering off the cigarettes for the past 2 months or so. No good.

Today is my last day. Going cold turkey tomorrow.

Good for you!  Good luck!  You can do it!

But I was totally excited to talk about deli sandwiches :(

I've been doing the same thing. Tapering down, that is. And then I go right back up to where I was, back down again.

I need to do the same thing. Just go cold turkey. But I'm terrified of the weight gain.

Stupid cigarettes.

Yay!

I know it's hard, girl.  Believe me, I know.

Good luck!

I tried tapering off before I went cold turkey and I ended up smoking more, like substantially more. I quit 7 weeks ago.

So far, it's not really been horrible. I've slipped up once or twice, but not bad. I haven't bought a pack, I won't buy a pack. It's hard at first, but it's worth it, and before you know it, it's hard to remember what it feels like to want a cigarette.

PS - I love that my car and clothes no longer smell gross!

Good luck!

My dad did it 6ish years ago. Still waiting on my mom to give 'em up.

Good luck

CDC

I know you can do it!!

Im currently on day 3 of no candy.

Was a little bit bitchy this morning  :(  my kids werent too happy about me yelling at them

thanks!!!

I'll be waiting on DH to give them up too. *sigh* that'll be the hardest part.

I'm kind of making it a whole "HEALTHIER" focus, so I will stick to my calorie count too. The last time I quit I didn't gain (I quit for 6 months! and went back because DH was supposed to quit a month after me and never did)

So i've learned alot from the last bazillion times I quit! This has to be the last time, I"m tired of spending the money and smelling like smoke and having to go out in the cold for my fix. And OMG have you ever been stuck in an airplane on the runway? If you don't need a smoke, its probably not hell in a plane.

So glad you are quitting. Sounds like you are really sick of it, so I know you can do it! (And stay slim.) Yay for you!

You can do it.  And yeah, plane flights for smokers are the SUCKKKK. 

Try 14 hours from LA to Sydney and then when you get off the plane you have to wait another 1.5 hours to get through customs before you can light up!!! 

I quit cold turkey, but the hospital stay for chest pains was a good motivator.  I used patches for a couple of weeks, and they really helped for me. 

I don't know where you live, but some states will send them to you free if you want them.  Oklahoma has a "quit smoking" hotline that offers them. 

Original Post by crazydiamondchrysalis:

thanks!!!

I'll be waiting on DH to give them up too. *sigh* that'll be the hardest part.

that IS hard - it's much easier when you're both doing it BUT maybe this will encourage him too

This sounds very simplistic but it helped me just to think of it as, "I ran out of cigarettes."

good luck : )

Original Post by crazydiamondchrysalis:

thanks!!!

I'll be waiting on DH to give them up too. *sigh* that'll be the hardest part.

I'm kind of making it a whole "HEALTHIER" focus, so I will stick to my calorie count too. The last time I quit I didn't gain (I quit for 6 months! and went back because DH was supposed to quit a month after me and never did)

So i've learned alot from the last bazillion times I quit! This has to be the last time, I"m tired of spending the money and smelling like smoke and having to go out in the cold for my fix. And OMG have you ever been stuck in an airplane on the runway? If you don't need a smoke, its probably not hell in a plane.

If I can do it, you can do it!  I quit about 3 years ago.  The thing that's good is it sounds like you're READY...this is the most important part.  I tried quitting a bazillion times too (I think all smokers do), but was only successful because I really, really wanted to quit. 

And yes, I HAVE been stuck on the runway in an airplane during my smokie days...STABBY!

Good luck!

I went cold turkey almost a year and a half ago.  If a self-indulgent, willpowerless girl like me can do it, then any one can!

I also saved over $100 a month, and after the first few months the savings became a HUGE motivator to stay smoke-free.

Good luck!

My mother decided after smoking since a teen to quit cold turkey. And she did. This woman has no willpower, she just didn't buy cigarettes, you can't smoke what you don't have. She said it got easier after the first month.

Cravings (for anything!) only lasts a short time, although it feels like an eternity, but if you try to keep your brain busy those craving thoughts will go away.

Also, for every pack you would buy, save up and buy yourself something else with it each time. Reward yourself for not giving in. You want something? Think of how many packs of cigarettes said item would cost. When you save up x amount of packs worth of money, go out and buy that item!

And like someone else said, the money they (parents) were saving kept her away from the cigarettes.

thanks!! good advice!! Yes I'm so mad at the smoking... I am breaking up with it!

Back in college I tried smoking a couple of times and didn't like it (thankfully!). I had a gf that smoked and I thought about how much money she spent on her habit--that was when cigs were $.50 a pack or less! I decided that I saved about $4/wk NOT smoking, or about $200/year. Every year I went out and spent about $200 on myself and called it my smoking ____ (jacket, boots, sweater, etc). When I told people that "These are my smoking boots" they would look at me funny and say, "But you don't smoke" and I would respond, "You're right! That's how I can afford $200 boots!" I can't believe how expensive cigarretts are. I don't know how people can afford to smoke! No wonder they can't afford health insurance in the US! I heard a pack is about $4-5 at a pack a day that is about $1600 a year! I think I am going to go on a "smoking SCUBA diving trip to Roatan, Honderus" with my husband!

Quitting smoking is all about getting an education!  There are tons of cold turkey articles that really, really help at www.whyquit.com.  Reading there, you will learn that tapering down does not help and that in fact nicotine is an addiction like any other and needs to be treated like an addiction. 

You wouldn't tell an alcoholic to taper down the drinks.  Anyway, check out the site.  Same kind of info as Allen Carr's Easy Way to Quit Smoking.  Whyquit.com was very helpful for me in explaining what I would be going thru each phase of the process. 

The only way to quit is to break the addiction.  Only one puff of tobacco would put a quit smoker back on the smoking track.  You can do this!

From my quit-meter:

I have been quit for 1 Year, 5 Months, 1 Week, 6 Days, 21 hours, 10 minutes and 31 seconds (531 days). I have saved $3,324.26 by not smoking 13,297 cigarettes. I have saved 1 Month, 2 Weeks, 1 Day, 4 hours and 5 minutes of my life. My Quit Date: 4/16/2008 5:00 PM

One of my favorite articles from whyquit.com - Joel's Library - Joel is ok with anyone copying to help others, just by posting where it came from!  

By Joel:

How do you feel about a friend who has to go everywhere with you? Not only does he tag along all the time, but since he is so offensive and vulgar, you become unwelcome when with him. He has a peculiar odor that sticks to you wherever you go. Others think both of you stink.

He controls you totally. When he says jump, you jump. Sometimes in the middle of a blizzard or storm, he wants you to come to the store and pick him up. You would give your spouse hell if he or she did that to you all the time, but you can't argue with your friend. Sometimes, when you are out at a movie or play he says he wants you to go stand in the lobby with him and miss important scenes. Since he calls all the shots in your life, you go. Your friend doesn't like your choice of clothing either. Instead of politely telling you that you have lousy taste, he burns little holes in these items so you will want to throw them out. Sometimes, he tires of the furniture and gets rid of it too. Occasionally, he gets really nasty and decides the whole house must go.

He gets pretty expensive to support. Not only is his knack of property destruction costly, but you must pay to keep him with you. In fact, he will cost you thousands of dollars over your lifetime. And you can count on one thing, he will never pay you a penny in return.

Often at picnics you watch others playing vigorous activities and having lots of fun doing them. But your friend won't let you. He doesn't believe in physical activity. In his opinion, you are too old to have that kind of fun. So he kind of sits on your chest and makes it difficult for you to breathe. Now you don't want to go off and play with other people when you can't breathe, do you?

Your friend does not believe in being healthy. He is really repulsed by the thought of you living a long and productive life. So every chance he gets he makes you sick. He helps you catch colds and flu. Not just by running out in the middle of the lousy weather to pick him up at the store. He is more creative than that. He carries thousands of poisons with him which he constantly blows in your face. When you inhale some of them, they wipe out cilia in your lungs which would have helped you prevent these diseases.

But colds and flu are just his form of child's play. He especially likes diseases that slowly cripple you—like emphysema. He considers this disease great. Once he gets you to have this, you will give up all your other friends, family, career goals, activities—everything. You will just sit home and caress him, telling him what a great friend he is while you desperately gasp for air.

But eventually your friend tires of you. He decides he no longer wishes to have your company. Instead of letting you go your separate ways, he decides to kill you. He has a wonderful arsenal of weapons behind him. In fact, he has been plotting your death since the day you met him. He picked all the top killers in society and did everything in his power to ensure you would get one of them. He overworked your heart and lungs. He clogged up the arteries to your heart, brain, and every other part of your body. In case you were too strong to succumb to this, he constantly exposed you to cancer causing agents. He knew he would get you sooner or later.

Well, this is the story of your "friend," your cigarette. No real friend would do all this to you. Cigarettes are the worst possible enemies you ever had. They are expensive, addictive, socially unacceptable, and deadly. Consider all this and NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF!

Joel

thank you for that site!

Dammit. I quit 10 years ago.

Can I have a hot turkey sandwich mashed potatoes, veggies & gravy?