Hello everybody

Hello all my name is Florie I am new here and I am soon to stop smoking I just started back last year and I am getting ready to stop for good all tips are welcome thanks

Hi there!  Good for you on making the decision!  Tomorrow will be four weeks for me--and I am praising God!  I started searching around on the Internet for some helpful advice when the "stop smoking drug" made me depressed and anxious and I had to stop taking it.  I knew I could not stop by myself, so I just prayed and searched. 

I found something called Smoker's Helpline--they gave me a homestudy course, free phone counseling, and a low copay supplement plan for six months, and it's FREE!  The homestudy book helped a lot with coping skills and planning what to do in the "heat of the moment".  The phone counseling hasn't been all that necessary really, but they really helped me prepare to face my quit date with confidence--still I wasn't confident since I have tried so many times before, some successful for a period of time and some not.  I'd say the most important thing is really wanting to put it in the past even if you know you're going to miss it. 

Since I had tried everything except nicotine replacement (because I thought that was actually silly since I was trying to break an addiction to nicotine), I let myself be open to using the lozenges.  The phone counselor explained that nicotine isn't the harmful part of cigarettes at all--yes it is an addiction, but that the lozenges would allow me to detox from all the harmful drugs and overcome the habit without having to deal with that and the physical withdrawals as much.  And it has worked beautifully--in fact now, four weeks later, I find that I am forgetting to take the lozenges because I am getting past it!  Praise the Lord!  Anyway, if you haven't tried nicotine replacements, I would go for the lozenges--they take like 30 minutes to dissolve and you can't use them until 15 minutes after you've eaten or drunk anything, and that has helped me with something to do with my mouth and it has helped me not to compensate by eating--in fact, in the four weeks since I've quit, I've continued to lose--a total of 13 pounds .

If I were you, I'd look up "Smoker's Helpline" online and see if you have one in your state.  I also post on a Nicotine Anonymous group site occasionally called Lobbyville, and posting here, using my journal, and maintaining a focus on overall health has helped tremendously.  Not sure what your faith is, but I tell you I could not do it without a lot of prayer--God is strong when I am weak.

Good luck and if you want to chat more, go ahead and send me a message!

Best,

Amanda

Thanks for the tip I just called the quitline here in ohio yesterday and I am set up for a phone consult on may 15th I have tried the gum and patches so Im am glad to hear that the lozenger work I plan on trying them and wow you lost 13 pounds thats even better news I started my workout routine so that when I am quit I can keep up with my health overall thanl you so much for the information it is so helpful.

I also have faith and thats how I quit the first time God is awsome!

thank you amanda

Right on!  God is the key--I can't understand how people could stop smoking without His help! 

I am glad to hear that you called the local helpline.  They really can make a difference, and if they are like the one I used, they really support the spiritual side of it. 

You can do this!

I quit smoking 56 days ago. I quit with Nicorette gum and used it for only about 2 weeks. Proud to say I have not had a single puff. I good website to check out is quitnet. There is a lot of good support there. I have been going to the gym for a number of years now and have not gained any weight from not smoking. I know there are alot of people worried about that. If you just watch what you eat and excercise, that should not be a problem..

Quitting smoking is the best thing you can do for your health...I smoked for 26 years and I feel so much better now. I am running 4 miles every day, I can sleep without coughing and hacking all night and I do not get winded when I go up one flight of stairs...

YOu can do it...

Brad