Still trying to quit smoking.

[Rhiamon]

So many of you know I have been trying to quit smoking for a while, I can make it a day even two sometimes then I always cave. I know I can quit I did it for ten years. But I can't seem to make it over the hump. Any ideas? What have you done to make it over the hump?

I don't want to give up trying, I don't want to get lung cancer but even that thought doesn't even seem to scare me enough to quit.

[newstudent]

I did quitt a little over 2 month ago after over 30 years.
What helped was Nicorette gum, quitting drinking coffe also, because of the strong association of cigarettes and coffe.
It was not easy and there are still cravings sometimes but it's worth it.
Good luck to you.

[MaryCarney]

My patients who have been successful have been very cerebral in their approach - figuring out what they associate smoking with and SUBSTITUTING a physical activity for it.
For example - if you smoke after a meal, get up and take a walk in it's place.

[craftypam]

I'm not sure if this will work for you, but I have a ds that I thought would never be able to quit. He used wellbutrin and quit the first time. The whole family is still so surprised that it worked the first time he tried.

[Droppedonmyhead]

I wrote this originally in the "Butts Out" thread. I have copied it for you to read. I failed to mention when I wrote it that I had tried everything to quit smoking. . .pills, patches, switching cigarette brands, weaning myself, etc. I even tried a computer device that tracked my smoking then in order to wean me off of them, it told me when I could have a cigarette. Nothing worked until I did this. . .

I have been smoke free for 5 years now. At the time I quit, I was smoking 3 packs a day. I had smoked for 27 years. For me, there was no weaning myself from smoking. It had to be cold turkey. Very effective method for me.

A month before I stopped, EVERY TIME I lit up a cigarette, I would tell myself out loud how disgusting it was, how expensive it was, etc. . .all the reasons why I wanted to stop smoking. When I finally quit, I would tell myself constantly that "as long as I don't take a puff, I'm smoke-free".

I rarely ever have a craving. . .maybe once a year for a minute or two and then it leaves as fast as it hit. I never think about smoking unless it's mentioned and I can be around other people smoking and it doesn't bother me at in any way. I was very lucky that it wasn't a painful process for me.

[craftypam]

CONGRATULATIONS Good job!!! Way to go!!!
Thank you for helping anyone else who wants to quit!!!!

[Russ]

I quit cold turkey many many years ago.

Sitting in the chair one day, watching the idiot tube, I picked up the pack, looked at it and said... WTF Am I doing?

1. burning up money. At the time, they were about $2.50/pack.
2. teaching my child it was ok to smoke.
3. stinking up the house
4. subjecting my child to 2nd hand smoke.
5. looking cool (NOT)

I have not had a smoke since. I ate a lot of jolly ranchers, for some reason they helped.

Staying busy is the best thing you can do. Think of the times when you are not smoking, what are you doing?

[MomToTwoBoys]

I quit cold turkey the last time I tried to quit smoking. You really have to have the willpower to quit. If you don't, that makes it harder. There's no amount of patches, gums or medications that are going to make up for a lack of willpower.

DH keeps telling me he's tired of the wheezing and the being breathless, so I told him that I'd be more than willing to help him quit... just give me the debit card and the pack of smokes. LOL

I would, if you have been trying for a year now, check out the new anti-smoking medications. It may be a bit more expensive than a pack of smokes, but in the end, the cost is worth it.

My father passed away from lung cancer a few years back. Even though I didn't have good relations with him, I don't want something like that for my DH. Btw, I quit eight years ago this past February.

[freebs]

I also quit cold turkey 14 years ago! I was thinking about what i was doing to my unborn child by smoking and quit right then. YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!

[Russ]

I don't want to give up trying, I don't want to get lung cancer but even that thought doesn't even seem to scare me enough to quit.

This statement, to me, tells me you don't *want* to quit even though you *know* you should.

You HAVE to WANT to quit. When you are quitting and someone asks you why, you have to be able to look them straight in the eye and say: "because I want to".
Doing it for all the right reasons isn't going to give you the motivation to stick to it.

[craftypam]

Russ,

My dh quit smoking and ate jolly ranchers too!!! And pretzel rods.

[pinetree]

My DS and DIL just quit and used Chantix, it costs about the same as buying a carton. Within a week they had both stopped smoking. Its been 60+ days now. They also have jolly ranchers!

They still want one every once in awhile, but grab a peice of candy and the craving goes away.

[Molemommy]

I have a friend who used the new eciggs and she quit with not to much hastle... I went and got one and let me tell you they are great... I have not fully quit smoking yet as i just aint ready... but I only smoke about 5 a day now.. I used to smoke about 10 so i have cut in half. and the nice thing about eciggs is that you can get lower and lower nicotine for them and then you can get the juice with no nicotine so if you just have the desire to puff there it is.. no bad chemicals. I got the joey and i use johnson creek smoke juice. they have the red oak brand that is a veggatable base and there is no added chemicals so allot better then conventional smokes. do a you tube and google search for ecigg I found a wealth of knowledge there.
you will not quit till you are ready end of story...
When i got pregnant with my two i quit asap cold turkey with no side affects because i wanted to more then anything...

[Droppedonmyhead]

My thing was the "hands" thing. Every activity I did, I smoked. Watching tv. . .being on computer. . .drinking coffee. . .cleaning house. . .etc. You get the picture. I didn't know how I was going to do things without smoking. But when I did do them without smoking, I was okay. It was just fear on my part. I feel like I've never smoked at all.

[MaryCarney]

Congrats to all you guys who have quit. I've never smoked (grew up around smokers who died of heart disease and lung cancer)- but I know how hard it must be.