How did you quit smoking?

[Mulligan]

I smoked maybe 2/3 packs a week for 15 years and quit over 10 years ago. I don't have a hand/mouth urge, but I do like my nicotine, so I have taken the mints for over 10 years. Nicotine in this form is not considered really to be a health hazard. Doc told me I may need to consider not using them when I turn 65 in another 15 years as they are a mild stimulant. But since BP is fine he said not to worry about it. If you have hand/mouth urges these won't work for you though. I haven't had an urge to smoke in 10 years since I snack on these. If you fall off the wagon, maybe go the Ecig route instead of hitting the sticks again.


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[Looking4Ward]

I smoked a pack a day for 35 years. One day, cigarettes went up by $1 a pack overnight.

That was 5 years ago. I haven't smoked since.

[tmm99]

Cold turkey, but fortified my resolve by watching Allen Carr's webcast ($150).

[Janet H]

I watched endured managed not to divorce my DH as he quit (several times) over many years. Each time he would quit for a year or more and then return to his beloved cigars. What finally seemed to work for him was a combination of determination, patches (with aggressive tapering down) and cinnamon sticks.

He had these stashed everywhere.....

cinnamon.jpg

and chewed on them regularly. Lots of benefits from the cinnamon - he was tasty and kissable, they are cheap, socially acceptable and there are some studies out there about cinnamon reducing the growth of cancer cells, which made him feel extra good about choosing to beat tobacco.

Good luck

[robnplunder]

Find someone close who is dying of cancer due to smoking. Learn what they are going through on daily basis. This may give you the motivation you need.

I quit smoking cold turkey after I've learned that my brother is diagnosed with cancer. My grandma quit smoking at age 60 when she learned she has a heart disease. 33 years later, she passed away but never smoked another cigarette for those 33 years.

[Sue J]

DH smoked from before I met him at 16 to age 29 when we had our first child. He quit repeatedly, and always started smoking again.

Our baby was 5 months old when we traveled to see DHs parents. I was so busy with traveling with a baby and dealing with in-laws that I didn't notice that DH wasn't smoking. We had been there a few days when he announced it, which was tough because DHs Dad was a smoker and we were staying with them.

I didn't think he would quit forever because he quit all the time and always went back to it. But this was the one that took. He never smoked again.

This was in 1984 before patches, lozenges or e-cigs. It was THE BEST THING he could have done.

The hand reaching into the shirt pocket thing took a loooong time to go away.

Dec. 20th, 2014 will be 30 years since he quit. What an accomplishment.

Good luck to the OP.

[calmloki]

Was just remembering the trigger times that I would want a smoke - times and circumstances that the mind ties to smoking. A year after quitting, and many months after random cravings, I was in the woods in the evening with friends and that combination, along with the smoke smell from the campfire and the scent of the trees and earth, triggered a very strong desire. Quite interesting. Put me in the never - ever - another smoke camp

[bamsphd]

One simple trick that helps is to take some DEEP BREATHS when you have a craving.

When I quit, I had smoked for half of my life, most of it around a pack-a-day. What finally worked for me was chewing the gum and going to a stop smoking support group through a health center. The support group is where I was told that for many smokers a slight oxygen deficit could be a trigger, and that a few deep breaths could help. I'm pretty certain I was getting more nicotine from the gum per day than I ever got from cigarettes. Eventually I started to crave the gum instead of the cigarettes.

Step two, was to switch from the nicotine gum to regular gum. Nowadays I would use the patch for that step, but only the gum was available when I quit, so I switched cold-turkey. Though I did join a second stop smoking support group for that step as well.

The final step happened a few months later when I was chewing regular gum one weekend and it pulled out an old filling. I quit the regular gum cold turkey immediately.

Nowadays, I mostly find the smell of cigarette smoke offensive. On the rare occasions I feel a craving (like while reading this thread) a few DEEP BREATHS seem to be all I need to move on.

Good luck. Quitting probably won't be easy, but you can do it if you want to do it.

[robnplunder]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Looking4Ward I smoked a pack a day for 35 years. One day, cigarettes went up by $1 a pack overnight. That was 5 years ago. I haven't smoked since.

You fit right in to this forum!

[mystang52]

I lost quite a bit of weight many years ago. I had a scare thinking I was having a heart attack (it was just mild food poisoning), but it gave me incentive to eat better. I'm not equating dieting with quitting smoking, but there are some parallels.
The urge to eat more, eat too many desserts etc linger for a very long time. Positive incentives helped me: I took up running, and as I was able to run further and the weight started to come off, that gave me more incentive to continue.
I think an exercise regimen can help you quit smoking as well. As your stamina increases, that might be at least a partial incentive to stay away from cigarettes.
Good luck and I wish you success.

[Gumby]

I quit smoking "cold turkey" in August 1984. Here are some things that helped me.

1. Increase your physical activity. I started running.
2. Don't drink for a couple months. For me having a drink was a trigger for picking up a cigarette.
3. Don't hang out with friends who are smoking.
4. Tell everyone that you are quitting.
5. Try to sleep on a regular schedule.

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby 4. Tell everyone that you are quitting.

Immediately after I stopped smoking I'd tell anyone who offered me a cigarette that "I don't smoke"........i.e. I wasn't quitting...I'd already quit.

[heeyy_joe]

I substituted sex and exercise. Worked like a charm!

[Elbata]

I was one of the lucky ones. Cigarettes quit me. I realized I just did not enjoy it, and quit.

[Buckeye]

Quote:

Originally Posted by drb391 pack-a-day for 45yrs. last Aug picked up a one use ecig. stretched a pack to 3 days. next day went & got an ecig system (rechargeable, refillable). haven't had a cigarette since and don't care. ecig satisfies 1. nicotine addiction 2. feeling of inhaling smoke (but it's vapor) 3. the hand reaching toward my pocket urge. I know the arguments against and the uncertainty of long term effects, but considering 9months ago I swore I'd never quit, I (and my doctors) are happy with this move. <ducking the expected barrage of chastising/nay-sayers>

I'm a big supporter of e-cigs for smokers of 'real' cigarettes. My mother quit the real ones (after 60 years) about 6 months ago but she still puffs on an e-cig now and again. The improvement in her health is phenomenal. Nicotine may not be the best for you, but it is far, far better for you to ingest it via an e-cig versus a burning cigarette, at least from what I've seen with my own eyes.

My sister also smokes and the use of e-cigs most of the time has made a tremendous improvement in her health. She had a very scary cough for a couple of years and it's now gone.

I think e-cigs should be distributed to all smokers for free or a nominal fee. IMHO, transitioning smokers to e-cigs would reduce our national healthcare costs significantly.

[Sarah in SC]

I started around age 15. Quit in my 20s for 7 years and then quit again 10 years ago. Would you believe I just picked up the habit again a month ago?
Haven't made a plan to quit again, but I could kick myself for starting it back up after so long.
I did buy an e-cig but just not there yet.
And boy, if you thought they were expensive back in the day...

[splitwdw]

I quit twice. The first time I tried a spur of the moment group hypnotist gathering. Started smoking about 2 weeks later. The second time I quit cold turkey and didn't have much of a problem quitting. The ease surprised me.
I was also lucky because when I decided to quit smoking they started restricting where you could smoke at work. I volunteer at a historic site and you can't smoke there. We're all different in what works for us.
1) You have to want to quit.
2) I didn't tell anyone I was quitting the second time. The first time I tired to quit, I told everyone. Then everyone kept asking me if I was still quit, which reminded me I WANTED a cigarette.
3) Get rid of all ash trays and if you use the ash tray in your vehicle.....clean it really well.
4) EXERCISE and don't chew gum or candy. Keep bottled water handy. Weight gain can be a problem.

[Dreamer]

I smoked from 1971 until 12/31/85. I had tried quitting a few times before, but quit cold turkey the last time. I smoked 1 to 1 1/2 packs per day, depending on if I was playing cards at night or socializing with friends. I used regular chewing gum and hard red and white mint candy. My brother quit about 2 years before he died of lung cancer at 45. I have no desire to ever smoke again. I don't like being around smoke now.

[Buckeye]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC I started around age 15. Quit in my 20s for 7 years and then quit again 10 years ago. Would you believe I just picked up the habit again a month ago? Haven't made a plan to quit again, but I could kick myself for starting it back up after so long. I did buy an e-cig but just not there yet. And boy, if you thought they were expensive back in the day...

Please stop again!

I find it really interesting it isn't a 'no brainer' for smokers to switch to e-cigs. E-cigs give you the 'smoke' and something to do with your hands and the nicotine. This difficulty in switching from one nicotine delivery method for another really lets us know there are other chemicals in the smoke that must be addictive.

It's sad to know my mom regrets smoking and ruining her health. Her health has improved since quitting but, although the calendar says she is 80, her body says she is 90. It's so terribly sad.

[Helen]

I was really addicted to nicotine. I started smoking in my teens. The first time I quit was in college and I only made it a couple of days. After graduating I quit for 11 months. I continued to start/stop until I was 43.

I used every trick I could think of: the patch, the gum, identifying triggers (like drinking alcohol), and finally I told myself if I started again I wouldn't wait months to quit again, I would jump right back on the non smoking bandwagon after a few hours/days.

I have been cigarette free for over 14 years, but I used nicotine gum for probably 5 of those years.

Best of luck to you OP and Sarah. You can do it!