Quitting smoking!

[Luddly Neddite]

For those who are trying to quit smoking and for those who have quit but are finding it difficult, this thread could be a source of encouragement and support.

I smoked for over 40 years. On New Year's eve of 2009, I was watching t.v. and every time I had the urge to have a cigarette, I would sniff the cigarettes but not light up. I was determined to quit smoking the following morning, New Years Day.

The next morning, I went out for coffee at a coffee shop rather than having coffee at home. I did this every day for several weeks in order to break the habit of having a cigarette with coffee. I quit drinking beer altogether at home for approximately three months since beer and cigarettes go hand in hand. I did not substitute the cigarette with food or sweets and lost weight because I had so much more energy to do things.

I am now off the cigarettes for almost four and a half years.

I am going on three years after having smoked for over 30 years. Last Thanksgiving I ran our local Thanksgiving Day 5K and came in fourth out of eighty in my age group. Now, I run 20 to 25 miles per week and lift weights every third day. I'm in the best shape of my life. Most importantly, I'm enjoying all the things that I can now do that I could not as a smoker. It's not just about living longer; it's about living better.

That's really the bottom line for me too.

I like living well better than I ever liked smoking.

 

[asterism]

I quit cold turkey, too, PredFan. No patches, no gum, etc. I tried quitting a good many times before I finally ran out of excuses.

I have never regretted it either. Occasionally I will have weird dreams that I started back up again, only to be depressed that I "couldn't do it" after all. Then I wake up, lol.

In truth, I've actually thought briefly about taking up smoking those electronic cigs. Only vapor, seems harmless.

I have those dreams too. I dream that I get caught sneaking a cigarette, then everyone is disappointed in me for seeing me smoke again.

As for those electronic smokes, why mess with them? Nobody knows what the long term consequences of smoking them will be, and you haven't smoked in years. While there is evidence that some people are using electronic cigarettes as a step toward quitting, there is also evidence that some people are staring out smoking electronic cigarettes and then moving up to the real thing. I see this as a big danger for ex-smokers.

There's no evidence of anyone starting out with e-cigs and moving onto burning cigarettes. All studies that make reference to this say that it's a risk factor according to someone's analysis, not that it has actually happened.

 

[Katzndogz]

I quit cold turkey, too, PredFan. No patches, no gum, etc. I tried quitting a good many times before I finally ran out of excuses.

I have never regretted it either. Occasionally I will have weird dreams that I started back up again, only to be depressed that I "couldn't do it" after all. Then I wake up, lol.

In truth, I've actually thought briefly about taking up smoking those electronic cigs. Only vapor, seems harmless.

I have those dreams too. I dream that I get caught sneaking a cigarette, then everyone is disappointed in me for seeing me smoke again.

As for those electronic smokes, why mess with them? Nobody knows what the long term consequences of smoking them will be, and you haven't smoked in years. While there is evidence that some people are using electronic cigarettes as a step toward quitting, there is also evidence that some people are staring out smoking electronic cigarettes and then moving up to the real thing. I see this as a big danger for ex-smokers.

As an ex smoker there is no danger. Quite the opposite. I could not smoke tobacco now. The taste of that smoke alone would make me nauseous. These kinds of comments normally come from people who don't know the first thing about vaping. They hear something, or make some extrapolation from what they do know, then think this is real. Like assuming that because a flavor is "chocolate fudge" the liquid really tastes like chocolate fudge.

 

[Katzndogz]

I know quite a few people who never smoked but took up vaping. They don't use the liquid with nicotine in it. There's no indication they would move on the tobacco cigarettes any more than chewing gum would lead to chewing tobacco.

 

[BillyV]

Nicorette Inhalers

Main ingredient: Nicotine

Pitch: Scientific proof that smokers are twice as likely to quit with use of this product! Look at the healthy lungs; that's how you do it! Congratulations!

E-cigarettes

Main ingredient: Nicotine (or not)

No scientific evidence that it helps smokers quit, and may make things worse! Poisons children! Normalizes the smoking "activity"! Will lead to increased tobacco use! Big tobacco is trying to get everyone hooked again!

This is the hogwash the media is selling right now. E-cigarettes are of immeasurable benefit to current smokers in reducing or eliminating their tobacco habit, yet the media and government want them eliminated because it "looks" like smoking. The alternative is for all those benefiting to go back to tobacco; is that the right answer? It would be like banning diet soda because it looks the same as its high-sugar counterpart. Absurd.

 

[Katzndogz]

Why ever not?

Do I need a reason to meet with your approval? I didn't like it. I was not pleased by being a non smoker. After six years I said to hell with this noise.

IOW, the cravings got the better of you.

I'm really not criticizing. I'm exactly the same way. If I were to smoke one now, I'd be right back to a couple packs a day in no time.

I remember reading where Judy Collins said that after many (don't remember exactly how many she said) years of not smoking, she still missed them. Day to day, I don't miss them but I still consider myself an addict.

OTOH, our cleaning woman smokes and I can't stand the way she smells. Luckily, that smell leaves with her so its not a problem. As much as I like her and the job she does, if that smell lingered, I'd fire her.

Years ago, at a business I owned in Denver. There was a woman who worked for me who would hang her coat or blazer outside the office because of the smell. Because I smoked at that time, I really didn't understand how bad it makes your clothes smell. Everyone was required to keep their desks clean and clean the ashtrays, coffee pot, etc and I always told everyone that she was not required to ever even touch an ashtray.

After six years without a cigarette, the cravings were gone. I just didn't like not smoking. For one thing, I HAD been very active. As a non smoker I became far more sedentary. My energy was just gone. Six YEARS of being gone. I believed that food would taste better, my sense of smell would be heightened. That didn't happen either. After six years, I had to ask myself "Is this worth it?" The answer was no. The day came when a group of friends wanted me to go on a bike ride along the Strand at the beach. I was just too tired to go. I was always too tired to do anything. After they left, I just gave it up and went down to the store to get a pack of cigarettes. Two weeks later I was back on the bike rides.

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

Do I need a reason to meet with your approval? I didn't like it. I was not pleased by being a non smoker. After six years I said to hell with this noise.

IOW, the cravings got the better of you.

I'm really not criticizing. I'm exactly the same way. If I were to smoke one now, I'd be right back to a couple packs a day in no time.

I remember reading where Judy Collins said that after many (don't remember exactly how many she said) years of not smoking, she still missed them. Day to day, I don't miss them but I still consider myself an addict.

OTOH, our cleaning woman smokes and I can't stand the way she smells. Luckily, that smell leaves with her so its not a problem. As much as I like her and the job she does, if that smell lingered, I'd fire her.

Years ago, at a business I owned in Denver. There was a woman who worked for me who would hang her coat or blazer outside the office because of the smell. Because I smoked at that time, I really didn't understand how bad it makes your clothes smell. Everyone was required to keep their desks clean and clean the ashtrays, coffee pot, etc and I always told everyone that she was not required to ever even touch an ashtray.

After six years without a cigarette, the cravings were gone. I just didn't like not smoking. For one thing, I HAD been very active. As a non smoker I became far more sedentary. My energy was just gone. Six YEARS of being gone. I believed that food would taste better, my sense of smell would be heightened. That didn't happen either. After six years, I had to ask myself "Is this worth it?" The answer was no. The day came when a group of friends wanted me to go on a bike ride along the Strand at the beach. I was just too tired to go. I was always too tired to do anything. After they left, I just gave it up and went down to the store to get a pack of cigarettes. Two weeks later I was back on the bike rides.

You know that doesn't make any fucking sense at all.

The only thing I can think is this...there are three "hooks" to smoking. They are:

1. Nicotine addiction
2. The "habit"
3. Psychological addiction

It sounds to me like you never got past the psychological addiction. Doesn't make you a bad person or anything, it's just a shame after you did such a good job of not smoking for six years.

Oh, well, ever since my beloved dog died there's one thing that's been heavy on my mind. We're ALL gonna die anyway, of something. So enjoy your smokes. And if there is an afterlife...well, I don't think the repercussions for having had a smoking habit in your physical life will be that big of a deal.

I am very glad I quit, but when I quit I promised myself I wouldn't become one of those asshole ex-smokers who think they're superior. My husband really appreciates that since he is still a smoker. I buy cigarettes for him when I go to the store, I never give him a hard time about it. I am grateful that he confines his smoking to one room of the house and opens the window and blows the smoke outside, though. Mutual respect.

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

I will say this...I used to have a drinking problem also. You could say I'm an alcoholic. If I hadn't quit drinking I don't know that I could have succeeded in quitting smoking. I've know people who did quit while still drinking, but I'm too "addictive" to pull it off.

Actually, that's one thing that helps me in my resolve not to drink. I know that if I were to have a couple of drinks, I'd probably start smoking. I don't need either of those habits back in my life.

Once I told my husband that if we were to find out that a nuke was coming our way from North Korea (we're in Alaska, so well within range of North Korea...or Russia) and we were all gonna die shortly, I would run and get some beer and cigarettes and sit out in the back yard drinking and smoking and watching the dogs and cats play and waiting for the nuke to hit. Just kind of celebrate the end, you know?

But my husband said he wouldn't drink (he used to have a bad drinking problem, too). He said he doesn't want to die drunk. And I thought, you know what, I don't either. So we'll just hold hands and watch the animals play and wait for the missile to strike.

 

[Katzndogz]

I don't smoke any more and haven't for three years. I vape. No withdrawals, no loss of energy. Nothing. From my first vape I never wanted a cigarette. It was like UGH. I don't always use nicotine either. Mostly it's peppermint. And no the liquid does not taste like peppermint.

 

[Vandalshandle]

I became a non-smoker cold turkey after 37 years. I discovered that while I could not visualize myself successfully quitting smoking, I could easily visualize myself as a non smoker, like most of my friends and family. After three days of going without, it became a little easier, because I had invested too much discomfort in the project to back out now. Within three weeks, I knew that the toxicity was gone. All I had to do now was the psychological part. Then, I took the step of no return. I told my 11 year old daughter that I was never going to smoke again, as a testament of my love for her. After that, I could never back out.

That was in 1993. At 2 1/2 packs a day, I would have been dead by now.

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

I became a non-smoker cold turkey after 37 years. I discovered that while I could not visualize myself successfully quitting smoking, I could easily visualize myself as a non smoker, like most of my friends and family. After three days of going without, it became a little easier, because I had invested too much discomfort in the project to back out now. Within three weeks, I knew that the toxicity was gone. All I had to do now was the psychological part. Then, I took the step of no return. I told my 11 year old daughter that I was never going to smoke again, as a testament of my love for her. After that, I could never back out.

That was in 1993. At 2 1/2 packs a day, I would have been dead by now.

Yeah, my Mom died when she was just about a year and a half older than me...from lung cancer. She smoked all her life, from when she was in her teens. If I had continued to smoke 1 1/2 packs + per day the past 12 years, I would be really worried about getting lung cancer now. Of course, it's still possible that I will, or that something else will kill me. But I'm still glad I quit smoking. And drinking. It improves the odds a little.

But now that I'm almost the age Mom was when she died...I'm realizing how damn young she died. Because of cigarettes.

 

[specklebang]

Ecigs saved my life.

Not sure they saved your life, but they have to be better than real cigarettes. Maybe at some point you will be able to wean yourself off of these.

Actually, I'm pretty sure they did. I had a lot of trouble breathing. This would trigger Panic Attacks. Don't know what you know about Panic Attacks but believe me when I tell you that suicide is a nearly delightful alternative. Imagine you accidentally fell off the roof of a 100 story building. Now, imagine you never land, just the horror of the fall itself. You are falling, falling, falling, falling. That's about what a Panic Attack is like. Doesn't matter that part of you knows this isn't real.

Ecigs don't impair breathing at all. No heat, no smoke, no cough. So, yes, saved my life is accurate. All Ecigs do is feed you a little nicotine to calm the addiction.

 

[pacer]

specklebang, nowhere in this thread did I say ecigs saved my life. I don't know how I came to be misquoted. I quit smoking cold turkey and never looked back.

 

[whitehall]

You gotta wonder how inhaling a poison (nicotine) vapor can be a reasonable substitute for smoking. The TV is full of ads for prescription drugs that claim to stop smoking but the side effects include thoughts of suicide or murder. I never smoked but it's interesting how the hard core USMC treated the smoking habit among recruits. When I was in Parris Island in the early 60's it was tough and physically and mentally challenging but Drill Instructors allowed time every day for smokers to get their fix. Even military C-rations had a package of cigarettes in every meal.

 

[Katzndogz]

Nicotine in the trace amounts in an Ecigarette is as dangerous as the caffeine in coffee. You do know that in large amounts caffeine is a poison don't you? It will stop your heart. Do a little search on red bull deaths.

 

[asterism]

Nicotine in the trace amounts in an Ecigarette is as dangerous as the caffeine in coffee. You do know that in large amounts caffeine is a poison don't you? It will stop your heart. Do a little search on red bull deaths.

So 3 cups of coffee a day is harmless and the nicotine from an ecig a day is harmless too.

Notice how the same people who talk about burning tobacco are silent on burning marijuana.

 

[Katzndogz]

The people most against smoking tobacco support marijuana legalization. There is no tobacco in Ecigarettes.

 

[emilynghiem]

1. For physical nicotine addiction and withdrawal, someone told me about LOBELIA a liquid licorice extract you can buy at the GNC or other herbal health stores.
I bought some for two friends, but only one tried it and said it tasted like a very strong bitter tea.
It is supposed to kill the nicotine withdrawals and cravings, with this natural herbal extract.

The friend who recommended it said all 5 times he quit smoking this is how he did it.
So obviously it helps with the physical part only, but doesn't help with the mental process of breaking the addiction and pattern of habits.

2. Ellen Degeneres quit smoking instantly by going to a hypnotherapist.

I looked into this.

The hypnotherapist I consulted with (who helped a friend to get over an eating disorder I think) explained that it involves finding all the triggers that make you smoke (or rely on another habit or addiction),
and all the emotions and associations, and replacing that whole pattern with focusing on solutions or some substitute for smoking. And teaching yourself a new pattern.

One option is using self-hypnosis only, where you replace your negative attached memories and mental habits with positive mantras to reprogram the tape in your head.
So it is like overriding the track. See also Daniel Amen "Change your Brain Change your Life" -- similar concept.

The other method that has faster results is combining hypnotherapy with acupuncture.

The hypnotherapist explained that with the acupuncture it only takes 1 or 2 sessions to break the habit, 3 at the most,
while the purely conscious route of training your brain to choose to think differently works over time and varies for each person.

Not only do the associations need to be replaced or removed for the original stress trigger,
but for every memory of every instance of gaining pleasure, relaxation or escape by relying on the habit instead of solving the problem,
that adds a layer of perception the mind and emotions are attached to, so all of those layers have to be cleaned out also.

Every time the impulse or habit is triggered, it has to be "replaced" with the new list of thoughts or focus points you program yourself to work on.
I find a lot of the self-help gurus focus on affirmations and repeating success slogans to tell yourself you are going to be successful and make it happen by limiting yourself to those choices.

I think the acupuncture hits this spot in the brain to change it instantly, but doing the conscious route takes going through all those layers.

I prefer the natural route, it takes longer, but all the changes are conscious, so you know what is changing and "why and when you are choosing to change at that point"
so you understand the process, how the changes are connected to events and people in life motivating the changes,
and can help yourself and others by being fully conscious of which specific thoughts, perceptions, or memories are changing.
(I think this helps more because people influence each other to change, so if we can see where we have mutual connections or conflicts,
we can choose to change mutually and can compare the difference in attitudes and perceptions, before and after.)

For those who are trying to quit smoking and for those who have quit but are finding it difficult, this thread could be a source of encouragement and support.

I smoked for over 40 years. On New Year's eve of 2009, I was watching t.v. and every time I had the urge to have a cigarette, I would sniff the cigarettes but not light up. I was determined to quit smoking the following morning, New Years Day.

The next morning, I went out for coffee at a coffee shop rather than having coffee at home. I did this every day for several weeks in order to break the habit of having a cigarette with coffee. I quit drinking beer altogether at home for approximately three months since beer and cigarettes go hand in hand. I did not substitute the cigarette with food or sweets and lost weight because I had so much more energy to do things.

I am now off the cigarettes for almost four and a half years.

3. My experience trying to replace a bad habit with anxiety with constructive focus instead:

I had a habit of picking apart erasers and anything rubber when I was stressed out about money or problems I am trying to solve all by myself that involve other people in conflict with each other. the stress on me feels really negative, so I was picking apart things like a nervous habit. so the exercise was to try to replace all those thoughts and negativity with focusing and working on solutions to these problems. I noticed the habit went away when I was busy with stuff, but when the stress was greater than any progress, then I would go into stages where this habit would come back and I would just rip things apart.

I even ripped up all the rubber off a steering wheel in my old car from worrying while driving or sitting in traffic.

For a while I substituted keeping old shoes under my desk at work, and limiting myself to just picking and ripping the rubber off the soles, until the habit went away.

I figured it would go away over time as I solved problems or let go of the stress.

It hasn't come back in a while, but things can trigger the urge and I can tell it could come back if I got into that situation again.

I have a joke that maybe I was a dog in a past life and loved to chew up shoes!
It is like a mix between having a rubber fetish and a nail biting or skin picking habit --
Anxiety that is taken out by having a manual addiction to picking on something, and I happen to pick on rubber things. Very weird but interesting to study the process and understand how the mind works.

That is the closest I can understand to breaking an addiction, this weird karmic thing or anxiety-based habit of taking out stress by picking rubber to shreds!
I tried to look it up online but couldn't find that specifically. I think it is a mix of different things.

 

[jillian]

For those who are trying to quit smoking and for those who have quit but are finding it difficult, this thread could be a source of encouragement and support.

I smoked for over 40 years. On New Year's eve of 2009, I was watching t.v. and every time I had the urge to have a cigarette, I would sniff the cigarettes but not light up. I was determined to quit smoking the following morning, New Years Day.

The next morning, I went out for coffee at a coffee shop rather than having coffee at home. I did this every day for several weeks in order to break the habit of having a cigarette with coffee. I quit drinking beer altogether at home for approximately three months since beer and cigarettes go hand in hand. I did not substitute the cigarette with food or sweets and lost weight because I had so much more energy to do things.

I am now off the cigarettes for almost four and a half years.

congratulations. I went for acupuncture to quit. it was 6 years on march 2nd.

 

[daws101]

Nicotine in the trace amounts in an Ecigarette is as dangerous as the caffeine in coffee. You do know that in large amounts caffeine is a poison don't you? It will stop your heart. Do a little search on red bull deaths.

So 3 cups of coffee a day is harmless and the nicotine from an ecig a day is harmless too.

Notice how the same people who talk about burning tobacco are silent on burning marijuana.

just burning weed is such a waste!