Quitting Smoking: How long does this suck?

[Wandrin*]

I'm 4 days away from 1 year.

Not that bad....the first 5 days was by far the worst. I used a herbal "Stop Smoking Drops". It's a spray with lobelia root and some other shit in it...one of those, an altoid and some water is all I used.

Congratulations on quitting for three people. The chances of your kids smoking someday if you do when they are young is pretty high. It is really cool that you could quit when you had a 2 yr old and younger. Hopefully she will forget that you ever smoked.

Good job, everybody!

[OldLarry]

I'm super-proud of my hubby, who has been smoke free for almost two months now. He's been a smoker for 25 years, so yeah, this is really good for him. I'm so happy to not have to smell his clothing or stinky breath- he's fresh now!

The only problem now is that he feels justified in toking on a big fat cigar. Isn't that still nicotine? I mean, I know he doesn't inhale, but I really just can't stand to see him do so well not smoking cigs only to replace it with an even stinkier habit. I can understand special occasions, hanging out with the guys or toking with a very nice scotch from time to time, but to just step out on the back porch every night to smoke a stogie seems like he is cheating.

Is he? How can I approach him without sounding like a nag? Again, I'm super proud of him for not smoking cigs. But cigars? Should I just by him more ganj?

more ganj less stogies- slippery slope from stogies to cigs in most cases...

[MOHSHSIHd]

Hmmm. My dad quit smoking and then steadily moved onto cigars. Just about ANYONE who smokes cigars for any period of time will begin to inhale them. Little by little you will get used to the smoke and begin to inhale some of it.

My dad got to the point where I was like, "Just smoke cigs or don't smoke anything. Inhaling big stogies all day is probably much worse on the lungs."


Now he rarely has a cig, but is 98% smoke free.


I will be at 2 years tobacco/nicotine free on 7/10/2008.

Everyone trying to quit keep it up!

[ski_adk]

Yup...quitting smoking is a bitch. I know. Last year, I cut myself down from 1-pack per day to about 5 or 6 smokes a day. This year, I went onto the gum and I've only smoked about a total of 4 weeks between Feb & March (way to stressed b/c of family shit). The gum definitely helped take the edge off and I really credit it for helping me quit. I could have it whenever I wanted and it only took about 5 minutes to take effect. The thing is, after a while, the gum lost its appeal after about 3 weeks, I had gone from chewing 6-8 pieces/day to none. And, somehow I wasn't going completely psycho, jonesing for a cigarette. If any of you quitters haven't tried this method and are looking for something to help you through, give it a whirl.

[yodaottis]

Update:
I've had my ups and downs, made a couple mistakes in times of stress or weakness but haven't let them turn me back into a smoker.
One thing if anyone has advice is how to explain how irritable/crazy my mind feels to my girlfriend. I have blown up or acted like an angry child about little, insignificant things and today she went off on me about it. The way I acted, she was justified too now that I think back. If I don't have a patch or gum (or even better a cig,) I am a complete basket case.

I told her in the beginning I wouldn't be myself for a while and do try extremely hard to be reasonable but when your mind is screaming for a cigarrette even the most inconsequential annoyance feels like the whole world is crashing down.

[OldLarry]

if at all possible just try to remove yourself from everyting and everyone when this happens. Litterally go to the men's room for 5 minutes and just sit there. Spash some cold water on your face, wash your hands, whatever. Unfortunately for me I didn;t always realise I was having a nic fit at the time. I thnk youshould tell her this, too.

I have literally had peopel tell me I need to START smoking again because I was such an asshole. Same thing happened to my cousin.

Exercise helps a ton, too, as has been mentioned.

[fallin]

Seek out people in your life who will help you. Plan on having someone to call in a weak moment who will say the right things to you. Good luck and more power to you. Your life is worth it!

[ANON-505]

heh. cool to see this thread bumped.

i'm almost 14 months cigarette free now, and I'd say I'm "cured". I'm back to drinking coffee (in a big fantastic fucking way) but really have no desire to smoke cigs. Exercise really helps, and my cardio on the mountain bike is through the roof. Quitting smoking absolutely increased my lung capacity and power. I didn't think it affected me at all until I quit, but now i see that it was really holding me back.

congrats to all and stay strong.

[Core Shot]

I'm super-proud of my hubby, who has been smoke free for almost two months now. He's been a smoker for 25 years, so yeah, this is really good for him. I'm so happy to not have to smell his clothing or stinky breath- he's fresh now!

The only problem now is that he feels justified in toking on a big fat cigar. Isn't that still nicotine? I mean, I know he doesn't inhale,

Heh.
Bet you also believe him when he says "I did not have sexual relations with that woman . . ."

He's inhaling.

[Huckin eh?]

You have to figure out how to make yourself believe you won't have a cigarette. I can't tell you how to do that, I wish I could.

Put your pride on the line! Tell everyone you know that you ARE quitting! LOUDLY!. Do so in a manner by which if any of them ever see you or hear of you smoking, that your pride will take such a hit that you will do anything to avoid that happening!
Instant and recurring motivation!
Worked for me.

Kinda like this

This is going to sound hokey but the way I stuck with quitting was I promised a friend I knew I couldn't let down that I wouldn't chew anymore. He told me I was a big pussy if I didn't go through with the quitting. It was definitely tough for the first few months but every time I wanted a chew I pictured him calling me a big pussy and that pissed me off. It's worked for this long.

Now for those of you who are going through the worst of the early stages!

Smoking is like alchoholism, You are never really "cured". If you are...then you weren't much of a smoker before. It is an insidious habit that follows you forever. I have quit for as long as two years and started back up. The moment you begin thinking you are "over it" or "cured" you are in big trouble...

I beg to differ. After 5 weeks, and after passing all of the situational tests, I came to the realization that I was in control now.
That realization was like a natural cocaine high that lasted for about 2 weeks.

Though I was only a 1/2 pack a day smoker so Maybe I wasnt a REAL smoker as per Telehoars definition???

[Caucasian Asian]

I started smoking at 14. When I was 21 I decided that I didn't want to be a smoker anymore so I quit. I quit cold turkey. When I stopped, I also stopped drinking coffee because when I had a coffee, I wanted a smoke. After about three days of horrid withdrawl symptoms from the loss of caffeine and nicotine I thought I was gonna die. Then I had a cup of coffee. Made things waaaaaay better. Shakes went away, fog lifted from my brain, but I didn't want a smoke.

I also kept a half pack of smokes in my glove box for the next few weeks, as a reminder to myself that I could have a smoke anytime I wanted one. Like a reminder that the only thing that was keeping me from smoking was my will to quit.

[OldLarry]

I started smoking at 14. When I was 21 I decided that I didn't want to be a smoker anymore so I quit. I quit cold turkey. When I stopped, I also stopped drinking coffee because when I had a coffee, I wanted a smoke. After about three days of horrid withdrawl symptoms from the loss of caffeine and nicotine I thought I was gonna die. Then I had a cup of coffee. Made things waaaaaay better. Shakes went away, fog lifted from my brain, but I didn't want a smoke.

I also kept a half pack of smokes in my glove box for the next few weeks, as a reminder to myself that I could have a smoke anytime I wanted one. Like a reminder that the only thing that was keeping me from smoking was my will to quit.

Nice work, but this last part would be a HUDGE no no for me.

[philippeR]

It's been 15 months. I still got the occasional cravings, but nothing I can't handle.
The extra lbs are still here, but so does the extra lung. And a nice feeling of success. All in all, life's good.

I'd say : No cigars ! Pishshow's right : Cigars are nicotine and he will inhale. I know, I did.
That's the only thing I really regret : a big fat cigar. But I know I'd got hooked again if I ever smoke another one...

[flatNshallow]

I quit several times alnog the way... each time cold turkey and each time it was surprsingingly easy. Maybe thats why it sook so many time to make it stick?

For me the craving will reappear at random intervals but always associated with "trigger events": In the bar when I've had one too many... in hunt camp (of all the places NOT to smoke!) and the worst jones of them all: On the golf course. At one point I thought I would have to give up golf to stay off smokes... it remains my biggest challenge.

It doesn't "suck" forever... but never make the mistake of thinking you have it beat and "just one won't hurt".

[OldLarry]

This has probably been mentioned but quitting also makes you wicked horny...

[ArmadaBC]

I'm three days out, the cravings are fine as long as I can keep the stress level kind of low. I'm actually king of suprisied how easy it is when I'm busy doing something. Yesterday I sat in an ass ton of traffic and by the time I got home I was real pissy.

I fucked up and burned one but I figure as long as I quit for good that one fuck up won't be a big deal.

Like everyone said it gets just a tiny bit easier each day. Unlike some others though, I'm trying to keep it on the DL. In the past the more I talked about it the more I thought about it, which for me was a big problem.

x2 on the horny, its like my brain is on overdrive. I saw some chick at the store downstairs in my building that I have seen everyday for the last two years. Never even though twice about her until today.

Nicotine is one fucked up drug.....

[Chugachjed]

I'm 4 years quit after smoking for 12 years. It took a healthy dose of spite for me too quit and some indignation. My best friend had recently found religion and quit smoking (everything) and drinking, he came over and told me that I would never be able to quit smoking if I didn't quit drinking. I quit smoking the next day and drank every single day for the next month. To this day I have not had another cigarette and my buddy fell back into it. He's working on quitting again.

What it takes is a mental shift, you have to become a non-smoker mentally. And then don't try to quit, like Nike says just do it. If you think the word try you leave yourself an option to fail.

[OldLarry]

I'm 4 years quit after smoking for 12 years. It took a healthy dose of spite for me too quit and some indignation. My best friend had recently found religion and quit smoking (everything) and drinking, he came over and told me that I would never be able to quit smoking if I didn't quit drinking. I quit smoking the next day and drank every single day for the next month. To this day I have not had another cigarette and my buddy fell back into it. He's working on quitting again.

What it takes is a mental shift, you have to become a non-smoker mentally. And then don't try to quit, like Nike says just do it. If you think the word try you leave yourself an option to fail.

isn;t there a Yoda quote along the lines of "there is no try; there is only do"? or is that Yogurt from spaceballs?

[Caucasian Asian]

What it takes is a mental shift, you have to become a non-smoker mentally. And then don't try to quit, like Nike says just do it. If you think the word try you leave yourself an option to fail.

You can't think of it as trying to quit smoking, but as quitting.

[ANON-505]

the big thing for me was not telling myself "I Quit Smoking"...becasue (if you trust all of The Secret wackjobs) you're body will only here "I Smoking" and you'll continue to smoke and be a smoker.

My little mantra that I kept telling myself over and over and over again was: "I breathe only air....and a little ganja". "I breathe only air" just keep saying it and believe it.

[GiBo]

Bump.

Day One.

I didn't want to admit I was a smoker, but I was. Smoked other peoples cigs here and there when I was in high school and then dipped for about 8 years during and after college. I quit cope and was nicotine free for about 20 years. Then about 7 years ago an old buddy moved back to town. I started drinking and playing guitar with him one night a week and there was always a pack on the table. One night I said, "Give me one of those," and that was it. It was a real slow increase, but after about 3 years I was smoking 5-10 a day. Last Sunday I smoked 15 cigs while out fly fishing and throughout the evening. Lungs were hurting Monday. When I got to work I heard that a friend's 41 year old sister had stage 4 lung cancer (was a very sometimes smoker, but second hand exposure as a child). And I said, that's it, I'm fucking done.

I did quit for about three months 3 years ago, but started up again. I know it's going to suck, but it's just about the stupidest thing a person could do. I tell people, "But man, it's sooooo enjoyable!" But then I realize, it's only the additcion that makes it so enjoyable. You feel like you are being relaxed because you are getting a fix.

Anyway, I think I've got my head right. I was tempted to go the cope route, but I'm be a full time dipper if I did. It read this story on Giants manager Bruce Bochy quiting cope through hyponisis. He was taught to say, "I don't do that anymore." That's my mantra now...

[systemoverblow'd]

Good for you! It's a PITA but it will be the single healthiest decision you will ever make. I finally just said "I can't believe I'm paying a company for the privilege of slowly killing me". That realization was enough. Stick with it!

[SkiBall]

I am been smoke free since Memorial weekend. I have been sucking on the lozenges since, so at some point I am gonna have to make a clean break. It's my last vice nowadays. I still get a longing for a coffin nail once in awhile, but I realize it wouldn't turn out like I would want.

[Tunco]

You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.

[Caucasian Asian]

Quitting isn't the hard part. Staying quit is.