How Did You Quit . . .

[night_son]

SMOKING . . .

While in the damn middle of a major—um—professional project?

Because at the moment I've got a Nicorette Lozenge shoved down one lip, and a pinch of Kodiak Wintergreen down the other lip side, and, and, and . . . not working.

Will return later. Heading out for another smoke break.

 

[Oddball]

Focused my attentions on all the things I got by being an ex-smoker.

You'll move towards that which you want and value far more strongly than you'll move away from what you don't want.

 

[AsianTrumpSupporter]

I quit for 7 years once. It started when I got so sick that I was coughing like crazy for about 3 weeks. I thought I might have tuberculosis or something, so I went to the doctor. The doctor said I just had a cold and prescribed me some hydrocodone.

For those 3 weeks, I was going to law school and coming home to sleep a lot on the hydrocodone. I also couldn't smoke, because I'd start coughing like crazy if I even took a few drags off of a cigarette.

Eventually, the cough went away, and I decided to see if I could go a month without smoking. After a month, I tried to see if I could go 2 months without smoking. During those 2 months, I did not drink any alcohol or go out to any bars or restaurants that served alcohol.

Aside from the hydrocodone, I quit cold turkey. After 7 years of not smoking, my lungs healed a lot. I eventually started smoking again, but now I know that it's mostly just the first 1 1/2 to 2 months that are the hardest when quitting.

 

[Stratford57]

My husband has been smoking all his life and his heart got weak, so he needed a stent. Before the surgery he promised himself to quit smoking if he survives the surgery. So, he did and still is keeping his promise. And now he's so happy he quit and can't stand smokers and their smoke.

It's a lot better to quit before something bad happens because after you will have to do it anyway. Easier said than done, I know. Russians have a good saying: a man won't cross himself until he hears the thunder. So true.

 

[EvilCat Breath]

I was a heavy smoker. Then an employee asked me to try his ecigarette. That was my last cigarette. I never missed it either. Over the years I cut down on the nicotine. I've been at zero for a couple of years now.

 

[JustAnotherNut]

Damn good question, but don't just focus on treating the physical addiction because it is more of a mental habit......have a cup of coffee, have a smoke...after supper, have a smoke...on the phone, have a smoke.....just before bed, have a smoke, etc, etc, etc. You get the idea. These are what & how we've conditioned ourselves and that is much of what needs to be addressed to successfully quit.

Best of luck in your endeavors

 

[JustAnotherNut]

I was a heavy smoker. Then an employee asked me to try his ecigarette. That was my last cigarette. I never missed it either. Over the years I cut down on the nicotine. I've been at zero for a couple of years now.

are you still smoking the ecigs???

 

[Penelope]

Me and my siblings smoked in the womb. We all smoked, and only 1 brother has not quit. Did you know patients use smoked in their hospital beds even up till the high 1980s and I worked at a major hosp in WI. It was very widely accepted.

Well anyway, I quit with the patch long ago, I had tried several times before I finally did, its hard to live with someone who smokes, every time I'd quit I'd take his cigs and start again.

Finally I wore the patch, for around 5 months. My husband is not allowed to smoke in the house, he smokes in the garage. He has his computer, desk, and frig out there as well as heat. It pissess me out on how much he spends on cigs and that he continues to smoke.

It affects everything, life ins, health ins, and his health.

I did put on 5 lbs but lost it. Your metabolism naturally slows down but you adjust. If you drink you might want to quit before , as they go hand in hand, but I don't drink.

You can and should quit.

 

[night_son]

Me and my siblings smoked in the womb. We all smoked, and only 1 brother has not quit. Did you know patients use smoked in their hospital beds even up till the high 1980s and I worked at a major hosp in WI. It was very widely accepted.

Well anyway, I quit with the patch long ago, I had tried several times before I finally did, its hard to live with someone who smokes, every time I'd quit I'd take his cigs and start again.

Finally I wore the patch, for around 5 months. My husband is not allowed to smoke in the house, he smokes in the garage. He has his computer, desk, and frig out there as well as heat. It pissess me out on how much he spends on cigs and that he continues to smoke.

It affects everything, life ins, health ins, and his health.

I did put on 5 lbs but lost it. Your metabolism naturally slows down but you adjust. If you drink you might want to quit before , as they go hand in hand, but I don't drink.

You can and should quit.

Thank you, Penelope.

My fiancé despises smokers. She won't allow me to smoke indoors either, which I really can't stand myself so no problem there. For me—in addition to the nicotine addiction itself—smoking is about exploiting a self-justifiable reason, or an excuse more like, to go outside at work and just enjoy the day for a few minutes. I also don't smoke in our vehicles, either. My biggest problem with smoking seems to be I can either slip outside wherever it's forbidden, or do smokeless tobacco until I get the chance to light up again. Yeah, with the whole metabolism, thing, that's kind of funny. I workout daily at a gym on base and then smoke a few immediately afterward. When I run PT with the NG or whatever active duty unit I happen to be training with, I smoke in formation. In other words, I often exercise and smoke the same time. Not cool, I know.

 

[Wyatt earp]

SMOKING . . .

While in the damn middle of a major—um—professional project?

Because at the moment I've got a Nicorette Lozenge shoved down one lip, and a pinch of Kodiak Wintergreen down the other lip side, and, and, and . . . not working.

Will return later. Heading out for another smoke break.




View attachment 220435



View attachment 220435


View attachment 220436

Smoke cigars like I did .

 

[night_son]

Damn good question, but don't just focus on treating the physical addiction because it is more of a mental habit......have a cup of coffee, have a smoke...after supper, have a smoke...on the phone, have a smoke.....just before bed, have a smoke, etc, etc, etc. You get the idea. These are what & how we've conditioned ourselves and that is much of what needs to be addressed to successfully quit.

Best of luck in your endeavors

Thanks, JustAnother,

I first started habitual smoking around 1992 while stuck in an extremely high stress environment. Psychologically, my best guess is I associate the nerve soothing memory of that first puff with relief from current and future high stress issues. We watched Office Space the other night. Maybe hypnosis is the way to go?

 

[WillMunny]

I'm still wandering through that Twilight Zone between smoking and quitting, for years. Sometimes I go awhile without smoking any cigarettes with nicotine patches (which substantially help for awhile), but then I fall back to Ms. Marlboro and start lightly smoking half a pack a day for awhile. Then I make up my mind to take a long cigarette break, and so on and so forth. At the very least, I'm giving my respiratory system a good amount of time to recuperate from smoking from time to time.

 

[night_son]

I quit for 7 years once. It started when I got so sick that I was coughing like crazy for about 3 weeks. I thought I might have tuberculosis or something, so I went to the doctor. The doctor said I just had a cold and prescribed me some hydrocodone.

For those 3 weeks, I was going to law school and coming home to sleep a lot on the hydrocodone. I also couldn't smoke, because I'd start coughing like crazy if I even took a few drags off of a cigarette.

Eventually, the cough went away, and I decided to see if I could go a month without smoking. After a month, I tried to see if I could go 2 months without smoking. During those 2 months, I did not drink any alcohol or go out to any bars or restaurants that served alcohol.

Aside from the hydrocodone, I quit cold turkey. After 7 years of not smoking, my lungs healed a lot. I eventually started smoking again, but now I know that it's mostly just the first 1 1/2 to 2 months that are the hardest when quitting.

Thanks.

I've briefly quit a few times largely due to running out of cigs somewhere I couldn't buy more, until the moment I could, and then went right back to it. Other times I tried throwing the pack away only to backtrack and retrieve it. I think perhaps the fiancé has acted as my best anti-smoking panacea yet, with her demands for self-imposed limitations on my habit. But when she's not around . . .

 

[night_son]

I'm still wandering through that Twilight Zone between smoking and quitting, for years. Sometimes I go awhile without smoking any cigarettes with nicotine patches (which substantially help for awhile), but then I fall back to Ms. Marlboro and start lightly smoking half a pack a day for awhile. Then I make up my mind to take a long cigarette break, and so on and so forth. At the very least, I'm giving my respiratory system a good amount of time to recuperate from smoking from time to time.

Thanks.

I tried the patch. It gave me severe stomach cramps for some reason. I've still got stacks and stacks of them hidden somewhere around here. When I have managed to go off smoking, I also go right back to smokeless tobacco, unless I'm in my current situation of doing both at the same time.

 

[Wyatt earp]

I'm still wandering through that Twilight Zone between smoking and quitting, for years. Sometimes I go awhile without smoking any cigarettes with nicotine patches (which substantially help for awhile), but then I fall back to Ms. Marlboro and start lightly smoking half a pack a day for awhile. Then I make up my mind to take a long cigarette break, and so on and so forth. At the very least, I'm giving my respiratory system a good amount of time to recuperate from smoking from time to time.

Thanks.

I tried the patch. It gave me severe stomach cramps for some reason. I've still got stacks and stacks of them hidden somewhere around here. When I have managed to go off smoking, I also go right back to smokeless tobacco, unless I'm in my current situation of doing both at the same time.

The patch for me gives me a major nicotine high, I can't use it

 

[WillMunny]

I'm still wandering through that Twilight Zone between smoking and quitting, for years. Sometimes I go awhile without smoking any cigarettes with nicotine patches (which substantially help for awhile), but then I fall back to Ms. Marlboro and start lightly smoking half a pack a day for awhile. Then I make up my mind to take a long cigarette break, and so on and so forth. At the very least, I'm giving my respiratory system a good amount of time to recuperate from smoking from time to time.

Thanks.

I tried the patch. It gave me severe stomach cramps for some reason. I've still got stacks and stacks of them hidden somewhere around here. When I have managed to go off smoking, I also go right back to smokeless tobacco, unless I'm in my current situation of doing both at the same time.

Nausea is a common side-effect of a sudden nicotine jolt. But luckily for me, nicotine never bothered my stomach very much. I can say that nicotine patches are a merciful blessing on extremely long, multi-hour airplane rides in which you can't smoke at all. It makes your physical nerves so much gentler and more "comfy," if you know what I mean.

What always amazed me about cold-turkey nicotine fits is how they can put me through so much utter torture when there's nothing physically wrong with me!

 

[WillMunny]

I'm still wandering through that Twilight Zone between smoking and quitting, for years. Sometimes I go awhile without smoking any cigarettes with nicotine patches (which substantially help for awhile), but then I fall back to Ms. Marlboro and start lightly smoking half a pack a day for awhile. Then I make up my mind to take a long cigarette break, and so on and so forth. At the very least, I'm giving my respiratory system a good amount of time to recuperate from smoking from time to time.

Thanks.

I tried the patch. It gave me severe stomach cramps for some reason. I've still got stacks and stacks of them hidden somewhere around here. When I have managed to go off smoking, I also go right back to smokeless tobacco, unless I'm in my current situation of doing both at the same time.

The patch for me gives me a major nicotine high, I can't use it

But isn't that what the patch is supposed to do? So you don't have a compulsion to light up in the first place?

 

[petro]

I have the same issue of on again off again.
Weekend bonfire cocktail parties don't help, since everyone I know smokes at get togethers.
Yeah, yeah, I should know better, but I just goddamn enjoy it with a whiskey and conversation.

 

[gipper]

I had an uncle who grew up on a tobacco farm. He started smoking at around 12. Non filtered cigarettes. He was a chain smoker. At around 60 came the heart attack and bypass surgery. He quit smoking and started walking miles a day. Lived healthy for another 20 years.

The human body has amazing abilities to repair itself.

 

[Wyatt earp]

I'm still wandering through that Twilight Zone between smoking and quitting, for years. Sometimes I go awhile without smoking any cigarettes with nicotine patches (which substantially help for awhile), but then I fall back to Ms. Marlboro and start lightly smoking half a pack a day for awhile. Then I make up my mind to take a long cigarette break, and so on and so forth. At the very least, I'm giving my respiratory system a good amount of time to recuperate from smoking from time to time.

Thanks.

I tried the patch. It gave me severe stomach cramps for some reason. I've still got stacks and stacks of them hidden somewhere around here. When I have managed to go off smoking, I also go right back to smokeless tobacco, unless I'm in my current situation of doing both at the same time.

The patch for me gives me a major nicotine high, I can't use it

But isn't that what the patch is supposed to do? So you don't have a compulsion to light up in the first place?

Not like that, it makes me sick, it's almost like when I shot up heroin for the first and only time.