Trying to quit smoking

[Eyebiter]

Realized today it's been 20 years since I quit smoking cigarettes. Recall waking up one morning hung over with raw lungs from a 2 pack night, having chest pain and coughing up green stuff. Back in those days your only option was to go cold turkey and tough it out. Now days they have all kinds of programs to help you quit. 24x7 free telephone support, the state government here will even pay for the medication here to help you quit. http://befreesd.com/quitline.html Is this just a local thing or is it nationwide? Does the UK have a similar stop smoking program available?

[Tricky]

There is all sorts of programs out there, but to be honest I think the easiest way to quit smoking is to just not put another cigarette in your mouth. I still quite like a cig when I'm out drinking, I dont have many, just the odd few, but I can go months without having one and dont find it a problem. I used to smoke a lot more when I was in my early 20's (showing off and trying to look cool) but I didnt find that it took any special effort to cut down when I got sick of it. But then I see people at work who cant go more than 30 minutes without having to go out and have one I think the real problem is that people know they should quit, but they actually dont really want to and if you dont want to then you'll never stop. No willpower these days!

[Legion2213]

The key is that you really need to want to quit, you have to have made the final choice and be ready to wave them smokes goodbye. I smoked for around two decades and made various half arsed attempts at quitting and always failed, because deep down, I just wasn't ready to (I enjoyed the act of smoking, hated the smell it left on me and my clothes, the way it left me hacking and coughing and wheezing when I woke up or went to bed...but by God,I loved the actual smoking bit). I was simply ready to quit when I did. I don't think support groups or the like come into it, you just need to be in that place where you know it's time to end it. I have a mind that there are quit smoking groups all over the place now, it's been heavily pushed and promoted by the gov and various health bodies.

[MikePizzoff]

I went cold turkey after 15 years of smoking. Haven't smoked since 3:30 PM on January 1st of this year. Decided to take one drag off a friends' smoke the other night just to see how harsh it is for me now and I nearly coughed up a lung immediately. It feels good being smoke-free but I can't say I don't miss it. I still have dreams of going to the store and buying a pack. I'm sure they'll continue for some time.

[Neil]

I went cold turkey after 15 years of smoking. Haven't smoked since 3:30 PM on January 1st of this year.. Well done! You must believe you're over the hardest bit of it now, which must surely be the first couple of weeks/months? An associate of mine is currently at home in effect waiting to die. He's got bone cancer almost certainly caused by smoking (the doctors say). From what I understand bone cancer is one of the most painful and long drawn out types? He's generally bed ridden and most of the time pleading with his carers (nurses) to make him "sleep". Yes, the pain is so great, and the pain relief getting less and less effective, he's pleading to end it... He's not eaten for well over a week now, and is on a drip to keep him going. Smoking... NOT GOOD!

[EvilNed]

I quit smoking earlier this year as well. Cold turkey, yeah, but I replaced it with heavy duty training and now I just can't go back to smelling like a fucking ashtray and having rotten, decaying lungs. I can't go back because smoking just disgusts me now.

[Mike70]

i quit smoking almost a year ago. i simply threw the pack away and have never smoked again. no patches, no drugs, no support groups. i was done with smoking and haven't had the urge to smoke since. it was like a light switch being turned off. i no longer have any desire to do it and frankly, it really frikking disgusts me now. not as much as dipping snuff or chewing tobacco but it is disgusting. interesting to be able to smell things again and to be able to taste (i mean actually TASTE it) food again. you really have no idea how damaging those things are until you stop. oh yeah, i know now what having lungs full of oxygen is like too and i feel physically better.

[LouCipherr]

The key is that you really need to want to quit, you have to have made the final choice and be ready to wave them smokes goodbye. This is the key. It was the only way I was able to quit when I did. I've always told people who asked me (as some people would ask how I did it) is that the very first step is you have to want to quit. You have to be fed up with those goddamn things and are willing to just throw them out the window. Once you are in that mindset, I personally found the only way to quit is cold turkey. "Weaning" yourself off cigs just prolongs the agony and if you just quit and get it done with, it's all over a lot quicker than if you try and slowly stop. You'll always have that "well, I only have 3 more days to go 'till I quit.." then it's "only 2 more days..." etc. Why go through that? Just quit and be done with it. Here's my personal observations after I quit: 1) The first week wasn't too bad, as I was gung-ho about quitting. I was indeed ready. I went to sleep VERY early every night because in my head, if I was asleep most of the time, I couldn't crave a smoke! 2) The second week was a bit more difficult. My "gung-ho" attitude became "damn, this is hard, but I'm going to do it! I said I would, and I'm not going back on my word and looking like a fool to everyone!" 3) The third week was a mofo! This is where if I was going to fail, I was going to fail. I just kept telling myself, whenever I had a craving, "I CHOOSE NOT TO SMOKE!" I kept that running through my mind, because it was indeed a choice and I was sticking with it. After that, I fell out of the "habit". And I think that's the hardest part. People and advertisements and doctors all said that it's "getting over the nicotine" that is difficult. Bullshit, i say. The hardest part for me was the "habit" I created - ie: when I left the house I would always have my mental checklist: "keys? check. wallet? check. Smokes and my lighter? check!" and having something to do with my hands. Lots of gum and toothpicks helped me too. Also, I will say this: even years later, the cravings become less and less, but I don't think they ever "totally" go away. It's a conscience effort to not light up, even a year or two later. To all who are trying to quit: good for you! Stick with it, you can do it. Ignore your brain when it screams for a cigarette. You're stronger than that, and I am proof it can be done - and I do not have a "will of steel" that's for sure. To those who have: Congrats! You probably removed one of the worst monkeys off your back anyone could have. I read an article years ago about lab rats and these scientists testing them to see what drugs they would continuously go back for over and over and over again until they killed themselves from overdose. There were only three that the rats would do this with - care to take a guess which drugs they were? Cocaine, heroin... and nicotine. Scary.

[Mike70]

To those who have: Congrats! You probably removed one of the worst monkeys off your back anyone could have. yes. congrats to anyone who has kicked the habit. and to those who haven't: the clock is fucking ticking on you and you don't even realize it. as far i'm concerned tobacco should be banned completely. smokers and fat people are the two groups doing the most damage to the health of americans. never fails to make me chuckle that the two WORST things you can possibly put in your body, alcohol and nicotine, are perfectly legal and available just about everywhere.

[White_Zombie]

I'm actually trying to quit smoking as we speak. The funny thing is i was going to post a thread here about quitting cigs and there was already one, what a coincidence. When i was a kid my dad started smoking and i hated it!! I hated the smell it use to make me sick. I even got made fun of in middle school by kids saying i smelled like an ashtray, and i use to get shit from teachers who thought i smoked. So i was really turned off by tobacco in general most of my life. Around the time i turned 18, it was a stressful time for me and i needed to do something to take my mind off things or i was going to go crazy. I then did the unthinkable and put a cigarette in my mouth from then on we were best friends. It's not so much the withdrawal symptoms that get me, it's the habit and rituals. Sipping a cup of coffee with out a cigarette to go with it is just not the same, or the times you feel the aggravation or anxiety coming on and you have no cigarette to ease the tension for the moment. In ways like that it's pretty much torture. But I'm done with it all, I'm in my early 20's i want to live a long healthy life with out the complications of asthma or cancer, e.t.c.

[Mike70]

that's the funny thing i've always found about cigs: nicotine is actually a rather powerful stimulant but people turn to smokes to calm them down. which really makes very little sense when one thinks about it; using a stimulant to calm yourself down. (let's not turn this into a discussion of how ADHD is treated. i'm very much aware of how that works). nearly on the level of drinking espresso in an attempt to get to sleep. anyhoo, quitting smoking was the best thing i've done in eons. i think that being of a scientific bent and fully understanding: a. what i was doing to myself b. what i was doing to myself being totally reversible once you stop. that's the thing that really motivated me and what should motivate everyone attempting to quit - the damage you've done smoking is all completely reversible and in a couple of years, it will be like you never smoked.