Quitting Smoking Ciggs!

[shurgold]

Started taking Zyban to help me quit smoking...

Who has quit recently and what helped you quit? just looking for a bunch of ideas so i never find an excuse to smoke!

Thanks guys n gals

[DY]

Started taking Zyban to help me quit smoking...

Who has quit recently and what helped you quit? just looking for a bunch of ideas so i never find an excuse to smoke!

Thanks guys n gals

i quit this july cold turkey. i got tired of it and just said screw it. the 1st three days were hell, 7 days a bit better. 2 weeks alot better. 2 month later, phenomenal.

it was getting expensive and it was money i could put towards the bike. $10/pack = 200km on the bike!
they stink and i was losing my sense of smell and taste.
girls think theyre disgusting.
hated going outside in the winter to smoke.
hated how i have no energy all the time.
hated how i was confined in the stupid routine.
my brain felt slow all the time.
hated the fact that it no longer felt good like it was supposed too. it felt like nothing at all.
couldn't exercise because lungs were shot.






My personal experience:

Don't do the: okay, i'm just gonna finish this pack and quit. okay, i'm quitting this friday. The anxiety leading up to it just makes it that much harder. i knew i was going to quit that week eventually...one day going for a smoke, i just threw the pack in the garbage and said thats it.

the more you plan it out, the more your assuming what its going to be like. the first couple days will throw curveballs at you, so i tried not planning it out as much as possible. assuming stuff just makes it harder for you when it doesn't go as planned.

Distraction is by far the most important thing. keep yourself so occupied that you don't have time to think about it. it still gonna get to ya but doing nothing will just make it go by longer.

the MOST important thing for me, was to know that its gonna feel like absolute ****. a reason why alot of people don't succeed is because they didn't think it would feel that bad.

I just set my expectation that it will be the shittiest couple days possible. once i came to terms with it, it was alot easier mentally. you will be angry at life and your body will feel like crap but it only lasts three days. you will get aggravated easily but that is just the chemicals doing the talking.

switch up your schedule. really switch it up so you're less likely to get the mental trigger.

thats all i can think of for now. Keep us updated on how its going!

good luck!

[RonnieRev]

Your health and the high cost of smoke's should be a good enough excuse not to smoke.
Plus they stink !

[Fingolfin]

reasons i quit


1- I tried to run 3 kilometers... threw up...
2- Getting cold..... my fingers can't take it
3- Smell makes me nauseous now (really helps to quit)
4- those pictures on the packs are really starting to get to me
5- tired of everyone telling me i smell

number 1 was by far the biggest factor that made me quit.
I went 90% cold turkey..... I've had maybe 5-10 in the last 2 months, so I'm doing really well now

[[evo]]

Everyone I know who has successfully quit has done so cold turkey. No messing about, no quitting, but the attitude I've quit.

[El Zilcho]

Everyone I know who has successfully quit has done so cold turkey. No messing about, no quitting, but the attitude I've quit.

Such an attitude doesn't come from nowhere. One has to be really fed up with it. Struggle with an addiction is not really messing about, it may be a part of the process.

[AC]

Everyone I know who has successfully quit has done so cold turkey. No messing about, no quitting, but the attitude I've quit.

I quit cold turkey. over 3 and a half years ago. First couple times I "quit" I told myself after it had been so long that I could have just one...lol didn't work. feel so much better now. went from a pack and a half a day to nothing.

Like others said, first week is ****ing hell. after that it gets better

[shurgold]

I am going to quit...just figured i would do everything I can to make it easier.

The Zyban helps with the cravings, everytime I want a smoke I just stop for 5 minutes and the Zyban makes me completely forget about the craving. Its pretty neat!

The winter is another big motivation, I play a lot of hockey and cardio gets a good beating from my smoking. The smell is gross too.

[bgfa]

I had smoked for many, many years and was definitely hardcore. Hooked on Popeyes and literally bought a pack of real ones when I was 8. Started by 12. Used to never go to bed without my pack and lighter next to me for when I woke up.
Gave it up coming on three years now. I had quit for different lengths of time, sometimes up to 6-8 months. I can guarantee you will be successful if you follow what worked for me, I have absolutely no desire whatsoever to return to it.

1) Have a real reason that works for you. For me, it was simply the fact that so many people die from something they don't chose and I was choosing this. I was done with the excuses. I thought how would I feel if I left a doctor's office and was told I had 6 months? Find your own reason, maybe you want to be there for your kids, etc.

2) Quitting means quitting. No one drag...period, ever! You're done and you don't "deserve one" after quitting and suffering for a few weeks. (this has tripped me up in the past). Use the patch or whatever helps through the physical part.

3) Don't hang around with people that smoke. You will eventually go back because it's in your face all the time. I knew a guys quit 11 years and started doing side jobs with a smoker. Started again. It never goes away so always be on guard.

4) You will hit some stress turbulence, maybe a divorce, etc. Have a plan! Do anything other than have that "just one". My plan was to go to Dairy Queen and eat anything I wanted. At least I could walk it off. It never happened, but the important thing is the plan was there.

5) Make yourself accountable. Promise yourself, and mean it, that if you start again you will give up ____. For me, I would have sold my bike.

6) Accept that you will gain some weight no matter what. Don't worry, it'll come off eventually with excercise. Try not to eat more than you used to.

7) Reward yourself at milestones like 6 months or yearly. Go on a vacation, etc. Hey, you've worked hard and the light at the end of the tunnel is motivating.

I can assure you, these things will help you overcome the times when you are most tempted. These guidelines I have learned by failing first.
Stick it out and I guarantee you will feel sooo much better, look younger, and not be tired. You will not be short of breath anymore
I think it's 10% physical and 90% psychological.
Best of luck and anyone that genuinely is trying and needs some support, feel free to PM me.

[yettiman121]

Yetti quit when Evidence of the first Yetti-ling appeared.

Yetti didnt really want to quit. Yetti enjoyed smoking, But smoking around
a pregnant wife and unborn baby is not cool.

Yetti also quit drinking ( only once in awhile ) and using other illegal substances at the same time. which actually made it easier

Like what has been mentioned before, Cold turkey is the only way. People that say they are going to " cut down slowly " are just fooling themselves. People that buy the gum, or use the patch will probably be addicted to them, as well.

Get ready for the weight gain, Yetti was told it would probably happen, and it did, probably because food tastes so much better now.

Many times, yetti still has the urge to light one up, and will even try to stand beside people who are smoking at a party, thats when you know you're addicted.

[bassguitar]

I quit back in April cold turkey after 15 years or so. I'd been thinking about it for a long time and finally got the motivation when I got really sick. Crazy stomach bug that had me off work as close to the washroom as possible for a week. I have quit a number of times in the past, but I really want to make it work this time. I had a drag a month ago and it almost made me puke so that was good!

That's my advice - get really sick. Puke your guts out for days kind of sick. So sick that you won't want to smoke!

[shurgold]

Thanks bgfa! lots of great ideas there. I have a vacation planned for the winter probably in february so I'll make that my reward

And Taco Bell will be my go to "smoke" lol

I hope I gain weight though, I'm in the gym 4-5 days a week go figure that I smoke too haha, aside from my smoking I am super healthy and only 21, lots of time to reverse the effects. Only smoked for about 5 years now.

And Yetti, its really funny you mentioned the standing near people who smoke thing. My friend and I quit last october, he stuck with it while I didnt. Whenever I smoke though he huddles around me just to smell it lol but like I mentioned earlier I am 21...quitting drinking is not an option as of yet! lol

[daught]

Sunflower seeds help with the habit of doing something.

[Edders]

3) Don't hang around with people that smoke. You will eventually go back because it's in your face all the time. I knew a guys quit 11 years and started doing side jobs with a smoker. Started again. It never goes away so always be on guard.

I had quit for almost 10 years, until one day I decided to have just one.

I've been smoking for almost three years now! It's amazing how fast easy it is to get back into it!

PS - During those 10 years while I quit, I had this reoccurring dream where I would smoke, and it would feel so good like I was smoking crack (or so I would imagine).

[stank killa]

A buddy of mine got a quitting smoking App for his Iphone. It would tell fun facts like you saved 100 dollars or whatever per week. Also it would say things like you will start getting your sense of taste / smell back etc.

Also those mock cigarette nicorette thingos...

[yettiman121]

I had quit for almost 10 years, until one day I decided to have just one.

I've been smoking for almost three years now! It's amazing how fast easy it is to get back into it!

PS - During those 10 years while I quit, I had this reoccurring dream where I would smoke, and it would feel so good like I was smoking crack (or so I would imagine).

you bad, bad, man.

[FullMotoJacket]

I quit back in March. I used Nicorette gum. It tastes like licking the dead bugs off your shield (I imagine), but it really did help me, probably because of the physical action of chewing along with the nicotine. I tried Zyban years ago, but it made me stir crazy and didn't do anything for my cravings, and patches didn't do it either.

I can smell people smoking in cars that I aproach on my bike. It's a strnge sensation riding along and all of a sudden catching a whiff of tobacco. Carry some regular gum around with you for a few months, because you will get cravings at the strangest times. I get them when I stop during group rides if someone else is smoking.

[Dave_Stumph]

A smoker for 16 years:
I really had no personal reasons to quit smoking except for the obvious. My work offered to cover the pills and as cheap as i am i took em. I found that champax did some weird things to my body. I couldn't sleep at night without crazy nightmares/dreams, figidity, anxious and all of a sudden I had a really bad/quick temper
I gave up a week into it!!
1 month passes and tried it again just for the hell of it....I took the pills in the morning and latest by 1pm in the afternoon and by night time I had no problems sleeping....I drive all day long pretty much so I bought the gum and chewed. I also kept an open pack of smokes in the van with me!! Its been a year this Oct. My wife smoked the whole time and just quit a month ago so....I'm assuming she wants kid(s) soon

Funny thing is that she found the pack of smokes in the van (A year old) and light one up....LOL stale as hell. I never seen her turn green before till that day She comes inside the house thinking that shes dying.....with the pack of smokes she found and I just started Laughing!!!!!
She's still struggling with it but I understand the process so a slip here and there is ok....as long as the intervals get longer!!!!

Good luck to whom ever is quitting. Every one has a different experiance and struggle to curb the habit.
Its the best decision you've ever made in your life!!

[Jayv]

I get them when I stop during group rides if someone else is smoking.

I went cold turkey over the winter period a couple of years ago. Everything was going great until that first stop for gas on the first group ride of the year......i think i smoke more now than before i went cold turkey.

ps one of my buddies went thru that nicotine gum at such a rate that was costing him more to chew than smoke lol

[Vlad]

I quit about seven years ago, but was a heavy smoker for twenty years before that - two packs of Lucky Strike's a day for the last 5 years or so. I did not quit due to any health reasons, I just realized it's a waste of my time, money and ultimately health. I tried to quit only three times: cold turkey, Zyban and the patch. Here are my observations:

Zyban is great for casual/social smokers that are not really addicted to nicotine. It really makes smokes taste awful, so you won't continue to smoke if the pleasure of smoking was what kept you from quitting. It's also a mild anti-depressant and it made me dream in technicolor. No bad side effects on me, and the doctor told me I can take it indefinitely. I continued to smoke despite the horrible taste because I needed my nicotine fix and Zyban is not a nicotine supplement. Cold turkey didn't work for me for the same reason - I was ready to cry after just a few days.

The nicotine patch is simple to use. It can be quite itchy for the first hour or two, something I took care of by slapping . I applied them on my shoulders because the skin moves less there and I'm pretty hairy almost anywhere else . You have to alternate between spots to stick the patch on because the skin can get pretty irritated and needs time to recover. It worked for me because it significantly reduced my nicotine cravings.

You can combine Zyban with the patch, but you can't combine nicotine supplements like the patch and the gum together. You also cannot smoke with patches/gum or you can really poison yourself with nicotine.

All in all, like getting rid of any addiction it's a struggle that will last quite a while. There are a few other things/thoughts/techniques that can help:

- Keep in mind that after the relatively short but intense detox period cravings will gradually become less frequent and less intensive.

- You don't want to go through this torture ever again, do you? Unless you plan to die a smoker do yourself a favor and kick this habit for good.

- Treat yourself. You are saving a bundle by not smoking, so why not use it to award yourself for all the effort?

- Distract yourself. Whenever you get a craving just give yourself ten minutes and go do something. It can be an activity you enjoy, like riding for example.

- Some say that you should avoid situations/things that are associated with smoking and tend to induce the craving. I did almost exactly the opposite and it worked for me. Went out to bars, drank coffee and Coke, hang out with people that smoke when they smoke... Changing one major habit is hard enough, concentrate on that.

- Don't worry about gaining weight. If chocolate or ice cream is what will keep you from smoking - go for it. You would have to get really obese to offset the positive effects of quitting smoking, besides, you can deal with that later if it becomes a problem at all.

- Don't forget that you will remain an addict even after you successfully quit, i.e. you will never be sure that you quit for good. I'm just a smoker who does not smoke any more. Just like a recovering alcoholic cannot have a glass of beer, I cannot have a single puff of smoke ever again. That applies to cigars, pipes, chewing tobacco and possibly pot as well.

- Don't expect anything to happen overnight and take it one day and one craving at a time. It probably took you months or even years to become addicted, so don't expect that recovering period will be any shorter.

- It helps a lot to have supportive friends and family. They'll have to endure your mood swings and irritability, so make sure you acknowledge that. It also took a lot of love and devotion and sacrifice to stand by and inhale your second hand smoke for years.

Remember, you'll have one big reason to be proud of yourself. Best of luck!