Posted on 01/09/2006 5:26:22 AM PST by wolfcreek
After nearly 30 years of cigerette addiction, it's time to quit. Please, provide useful tips and testimonials. PS: Wife is a part-time smoker also!
I've never smoked (except for an occasional cigar). Good luck.
Check with your doctor. Zyban worked great, and I understand there is even better stuff out there now.
First tip. Tell your wife to stop also. Second tip, cold turkey. You have to get the nicotine out of your system.
Cold turkey - it's rough - but it is necessary but after thirty years he must have tried to quit before, if not well that is another story for sure.
Lung cancer is a bitch of a way to die the worst part is that you die, game over, everything is lost - plus what it does to your family - most die drowning in their own blood sounds like alot of fun, real sweet final memory for the family.
Case in point, 17 years ago I was up to almost a pack a day. One day I decided to QUIT. Not, just try to quit, but QUIT. Now. Period. No more smoking ever, amen.
So, I broke up all of my cigs into a trash can at work. I made sure my co-workers knew what I was doing. I was very public about the whole quitting thing and it worked. I never smoked another cigarette in my life. I chewed a hell of a lot of Juicy Fruit and put on 20-30 lbs, but I totally quit.
Over the last 17 years I've put on some weight. My job is sedentary except for when I travel and even then it is sitting in the airport, in the plane, on the shuttle, etc. Not much activity at all. Obviously, I needed to exercise and diet but I never made my mind up to do so until last September.
So, I quit the behavior that was causing me to gain weight. I didn't just try to quit, I QUIT. I bought a treadmill so that I could regularly exercise and I started eating right. I tracked all of my food intake (using www.fitday.com), cut my caloric and fat intake, started exercising, and changed my lifestyle again. Over the past 4 months I've lost nearly 40 lbs. I didn't need some diet like Atkins to drop the weight, I just needed to commit to eating right and exercising.
You can do it. Just commit and be strong. Remember that you're in control, not your addiction or habits.
I have found Nicorette (or its generic equivalent) a good way to cut down, especially when I don't want to join the crew huffing and puffing at the back door during working hours.
I haven't yet tried to quit completely, but when I do I'll definitely use Nicorette for the first 30 to 60 days.
I didn't find the patch to work at all, the gum is better. Your mileage may vary.
It seems to me you have to get the behavior of reaching for a butt out of your system first.
After 2 times trying to quit, I finally quit 8 years ago.
This worked best for me:
1. cold turkey - "tapering off" doesn't work
2. never, ever allow yourself "just one", no matter the circumstances
3. be especially careful of being tempted in settings where people commonly smoke: bars, concerts, etc. You have to give it up completely. This desire has to trump your desire to smoke.
Although I enjoyed smoking, and have fond memories of it, I am very glad I quit. I sleep better, smell better, food tastes better, and I rarely get sick. I am much better off.
Congratulations on your weight loss!
Step one: Quit cold turkey
Two: Wife quits too
Three: Arrange a week long camping trip with no smokes
Four: If you haven't killed each other, you are free of your addiction
1)Do it one day at a time...or one hour at a time...or one minute at a time.Say to yourself "I won't have a smoke *today*....or *this morning*....or *right now*.Don't look at in terms of "never again" because that's too "threatening".As time passes,it will get easier...little-by-little.
2)I wish you could have seen the exhibit they once had at the Museum of Science in Boston.It was a display of two human lungs side-by-side...one from a non-smoker,the other from a long time smoker.The obvious differences in appearence (the smoker's lung was totally black and brown) was enough to get anyone to quit,IMO.
Wife has to quit with you. Eat chocolate when you crave cigs.
Exactly. If you commit yourself, you will change your behaviors, habits, etc. and avoid anything that would possibly get you to falter. With smoking, you may even need to find a new set of friends who are not smokers. That's what I found when I quit.
It sounds like you and I found out the same thing the same way. Congrats on kicking the habit like you did.
I have been on oxygen for almost two years due to smoking. Lung cancer is not the only reason to quit smoking. In fact COPD is pretty bad too.
Just remember - after 21 days you will probable lose your physical addition. It is mental after that. Just keep your eyes on the 22nd day.
Try to think of yourself becoming a nonsmoker - not someone trying to quit. That helped me. I imagined all of the places and things I could do without cigs.
Had I not stopped I would be dead today. My lung disease has stablized.
Also demand a Pulmonary Fuction Test from your doctor. It is the only way to tell if you have non cancer lung disease. The earlier you have the test done the sooner you will know if you will have problems later on.
Just think of me with an oxygen tank hanging on my shoulder and a stupid nose tube on 24 hours a day.
gayle
You don't smell it anymore, but the stench on you is so foul it drives away friends and family. I cannot stand to be around my chain-smoking brother or his girlfriend for this reason.
switch to cigars. that oughta shut her up.
Nicotrol Inhalers AND Zyban. I smoked for 30 years and that combination worked for me.
The inhalers have nicotine-impregnated sponges that give you a "hit" just like a cigarrete.
I ignored the insructions and just used them when and where I wanted (it was great for flying). Eventually I tapered off -- but I kept them on hand for a year just in case.
That was 4 years ago, so it WORKS. Don't waste your time with patches or gum. They don't do anything for the psychological (oral) part.
Ignore the cold turkey crowd and take my advice.
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