Replies

I started smoking in my early teens and quit at age 37

I used the Nicotine patches to taper down, then used the Nicotine gum on occasion to finish tapering down and to quench the occasional nicotine urges I had.

The process took about 4 months, but I also exercised and as mentioned above, tapered off of nicotine slowly.

It may take 6 months for you, or maybe 3 months - everyone is different.

I also didn’t consume any alcohol during the time as I would have smoked for certain as the two tend to go together.

That was in 1997 and I haven’t smoked since.

I hear cigs are also quite expensive these days too, so not only will you be doing your health a favor, you’ll be saving about $5.00 a day or more, depending on how much you smoke and how much your state taxes cigs.

But it’s also one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself.

1. Taper slowly.
2. Don’t drink alcohol while quitting and afterwards as long as you are having nicotine cravings. Alcohol will derail your efforts to quit faster than anything.
3. Exercise, even if it’s a short walk after dinner and steadily increase your distance to keep the weight off.
4. Keep some sugar-free hard candy and nuts like almonds, cashews, etc...on hand to have around when the nicotine urge strikes.
5. Once you are off of the nicotine substitutes, get a big glass jar and put the amount of money you would be spending on cigs in that jar so you have a visual reminder of how much money you were spending. At the end of each month, invest, save, or buy yourself something nice as a reward for quitting.

After you quit and get your lungs clear, you will feel great, have more energy, have extra cash and will prolong your life and will improve your overall health.

Just remember, you didn’t become dependent on nicotine overnight, so it will take some time to undo that dependency/addiction, so don’t rush it, but set a reasonable timetable, including goals such as tapering to a lower-strength nicotine patch and avoid any self-rationalizations to smoke (I had a bad day at work, death in the family, fight with my spouse, etc...)

Just take it slow, don’t beat yourself up if you relapse and think about how much better you will feel and how many years you will be adding to your life as well as the quality of your life and any other positive aspects of quitting smoking.

And you won’t stink like stale cigs anymore.
I didn’t realize how bad smokers smell until I quit.
I’m a single guy and my “social life” with the ladies improved quite a bit after I quit smoking because I didn’t have that “smoker’s stink” anymore, plus I began exercising to avoid weight gain and ended up getting into pretty good physical condition. It felt nice to have pretty girls staring at me and was extra motivation to stay smoke-free and to exercise and to eat a fairly healthy diet.

If you really want to do it, you will.

And remember, there are plenty of ex-smokers here to support and to help you.

Good luck.

I know you can do it.