Quitting Smoking, this time its for real.

Just smoked my last cigarette an hour or so ago, took all 17 other cigarettes in the pack and destroyed them.  I am serious about quitting this time, it will be probably my third attempt.  But every time before I didn't have a support forum like CC.  Probably not the best time in my life to quit, what with the "recovery" and all, but I need to find control inn something other then calories in my life, so why not control the urge to smoke?  If you guys have any advice for the endeavour I am about to go on, please fill me in.  thanks in advance.

I found that quitting was a skill. It took me maybe 20 attempts before I finally quit smoking (as of December 2007) and I just got better and better until I was able to do it. There's no telling if this is your final quit, but it most certainly may be. I'm glad you're doing this and I applaud you.

There are all sorts of methods nowadays - I used the Patch. I found it was very hard to get off the patch because they are quite addictive but I finally did it last June. I could get no sleep at all if I went cold turkey which is why the Patch saved my butt. Your mileage may vary.

I have a very close friend who quit smoking,her ed,and drugs. It was hard but she was trying to focus on feeling healthy and to accomplish her goals. Maybe if you can have a focus so to speak and remind yourself it will never be easy to quit an addiction. You want to be fully healthy. It is almost like just ripping of a bandade instead of slowly doing it. I will say that she is having to face a lot of scary and har feeling because she was so numb for so long with her addictions but she is doing it and using healthy coping mechanisms. You can do it and reaching out here is a great tool

I used to smoke a pack a day and what I found in the end that 99% of quitting is truely being READY to quit. Once I was really ready, I used Welbutrin and had no problem AT ALL...and have not touched a cig since. (That was Sep. 2006) It is the best thing I have ever done for myself and now I can't imagine why I smoked for so long.

Another big thing that I tried to keep in mind is that it takes about 72 hours for toxins like nicotine to leave your body, once you pass the 72 hour mark it is all mental. That helps toget past the first couple of days and then the self accountability kind of helps to keep you on track after.

Good luck!!

72 hours....  Its been about twelve and a half so far and I am ready for one...  Its a good thing I broke all the remaining cigarettes from my last pack and tossed them.

i quit smoking a few months ago. i'd never really tried before that but i'd considered it and just never even had the strength to try. The odd thing was i hadn't even been thinking about quitting. One day i just decided i wasn't smoking anymore. For three days after i took one hit a day. each time it didn't do anything for me, i totally didn't even like it anymore. i did actually slip up during spring break two nights in a row because i was incredibly drunk, but i'm happy to say when i woke up in the morning.. no cravings. I'm sure you can do it. Once you quit for real it seems so much easier then you'd expect. and it gives you a real feeling of strength.

good luck, I'm sure you can quit:)

READ ALLEN CARR'S EASY WAY TO STOP SMOKING!

It is the greatest thing I've ever done for myself.  You can pick up that book with absolutely no desire to quit and by the time you finish, not only will you quit, but you will enjoy quitting (mostly anyway )!

You can even find it in a lot of libraries now.  Seriously, check it out!

http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Way-Stop-Smoking-N on-Smokers/dp/1402718616/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=U TF8&s=books&qid=1240277305&sr=8-1

Thanks for the link to the book.  I'll look into picking up a copy.

I'll try not to go on too long about this, but it's one of those topics for me so here goes:

After smoking about 1 to 1-1/2 packs a day for about 10 years, I quit smoking. I started quitting when I was 31 and it took me about a year to completely and entirely quit. I'm now 47, so it's been a while.

I absolutely loved smoking. Loved it, remember it fondly, and don't mind saying so. Unlike many, I didn't quit because I wanted to or because I was ready, I quit because I finally accepted that I should.  And I figured there wasn't ever going to be an easy time or a time when I'd really want to do it --  but I was getting older,  and even though I felt fine and had no health problems, I knew I wanted to have kids, I knew I was (at the time) unable to run more than a block, and I figured I'd have to quit eventually. So I just a picked a day and decided to go for it.

Of course it was really, really hard. Prior to smoking I'd been a nail biter, so I'd always had some sort of put-something in-my-mouth habit. I found that once the need for nicotine was gone (which is pretty quick) I was left with the much harder part (at least for me), which was the actual habit and the the way my day and many of my activities had been ritualized around smoking. 

It really helped me to think of quitting as a process, and that may help you, too. You didn't start smoking overnight, you started slowly I suspect, so expect the process of quitting to take a while, too.

You might be surprised at how much time you'll seem to have on your hands. Try to remember what kind of things you enjoyed doing before you started smoking; you might rediscover an old interest. Create some projects for yourself, especially things that will be difficult to do while smoking. I ended up painting a bathroom, refinishing a bunch of furniture, and doing a lot of sewing. You'll need to do things that can keep your mind and your hands occupied for large chunks of time.

Much like advice given for overeating, don't let one slip up ruin your whole day or your ultimate plan. Don't go buy cigarettes, but if you bum one from somebody, and you really feel like you have to have it, just go ahead and smoke it and move on. Eventually, the times when that'll happen will become fewer and farther between.

And don't, don't, DON'T be discouraged if someone you knows sees you have a smoke and starts in on the teasing and the "OOooo, I thought you quit" and the "Having a nicotine fit?" and all the other annoying comments that might derail your efforts. Just tell them you're in the process of quitting and it takes a while, and then try to change the subject. (I remember that kind of thing really tested the limits of my tolerance!)

You weren't born smoking and you don't have to be a smoker forever. I'll wish you luck, but you don't need it because this is something you can do.

You are doing an AMAZING thing.  Keep it up.  Quitting smoking was the hardest thing I've ever done- harder than 4 years of architecture school, harder than my worst break-up, it really makes you a stronger person getting through this.  I would like ot reccommend www.quitnet.com because it has an awesome calculator that tells you how many cigarettes you haven't smoked, money saved, and how much of your life you've gained.  :)  There are great forums and people CONSTANTLY posting facts about what your body is doing right now, a month from now, etc to heal. 

It gets a little bit better every day.  At first you think about smoking every 15 seconds.... after a couple weeks its once every half hour.... after a month its once an hour.... it keeps getting easier and easier, and I knew I was in the clear probably 6 months after I quit.  I didn't hang around ANY smokers though, and I worked out 5 days a week for an hour or so because I had all this extra time I didn't know what to do with.

Stick with it!!  Chew gum, chew on straws, drink tea (I thought it was gross but I couldn't drink coffee because fo the triggers and the herbal taste of tea is like a ciggie to me), chew on cinnamon sticks, but expensive, great smelling lotions and bath soaps... do WHATEVER you need to do!!  You have earned the right to be cranky too, and you need to tell everyone around you to expect you to be irritable. 

You will be SO GLAD you stuck with it though.  After one yera, I KNEW I would NEVER smoke again.  Now it just smells like crap to me- probably how nonsmokers smelled it all along.  ;)  GOOD LUCK!!!!  :) 

Original Post by marissa_lily:

You are doing an AMAZING thing.  Keep it up.  Quitting smoking was the hardest thing I've ever done- harder than 4 years of architecture school, harder than my worst break-up, it really makes you a stronger person getting through this.  I would like ot reccommend www.quitnet.com because it has an awesome calculator that tells you how many cigarettes you haven't smoked, money saved, and how much of your life you've gained. 

A week ago I quit my 2pack daily habit.  Had to go cold turkey to remove nicotine for pending surgery. 

The daily email I get from www.quitnet.com have been amazing!!

With the cumulative totals of how many cigarettes I havent smoked, how much money I havent spent, how much time Ive added to my life - its my feel good email of each morning!

Granted I almost always have gum in my mouth - sometimes chewing sometimes sitting in my cheek, always pacifying. 

sun123- that's awesome.  I lived on that website for the first 3 months.  What a great place to go when you're jonesing.  You get to talk to other people feeling the exact same thing.... there's nothing better.  I loved having other people there with me, and all the information you get on quitting and how good it is for you helps so much.

It's hilarious you're a gum fanatic now!  I was until my jaw started hurting.  I think I still chewed anyway though.  :)  I was a cold-turkey case too.  I was just ready, Arizona was raising the tax 80 cents and I was too cheap!

Thank you all, for all the advice, I registered at quitnet.  And I really do enjoy reading the success stories and whatnot.  I am not going to lie, I had to bum one today.  And I will try to not bum any as much as possible, but I definately will not buy another pack.  Thanks again, to everyone.

Lily, it was actually on someone's profile here (forget who) I saw mention of the site.  Although gums always there, proactively not chewing ALL the time because was afraid of nonstop strain on my jaw.  Im as cheap as they come so people couldnt believe that didnt make me quit.  There wasnt anything I wanted more than to keep that screaming nicotine demand in my brain turned off well, until the surgery (which is to remove excess skin) - yay, hoped but finding I do want that more!  Ideally 4weeks prior & 6weeks after will have me on track to staying off.

Osainto, I dont have that option.  Having one cigarette would have me back on them completely as this has happened in the past.  Ive been envious of those who say they smoke when theyre drinking or socializing, thinking "..and afterwards you can just 'not' smoke?  Wow!"  That one cigarette helped you through and knowing you'll be getting stronger and stronger to resist.  My first 3 days were the worst. 

Favorite tools -
Gum
Screaming (in prviacy of my own garage :D)
Taking and HOLDING that deep breath

lol