giving up smoking

[Dak]

anyone got any tips? i smoke between 6 and 10 grams a day* which equates, due to the microscopic thinness at which i roll them, to about 50 a day. iv tried before, even successfully, to give up but i reached a point when i was about 16 when i just found it extremely hard to quit (im 23 now and started when i was 14).

 

im going to give up at some point in the very near future, and just wondered if anyone has any hints to make it easier? i wanna go cold turkey, rather than using gum/patches. using nicotine to break a nicotine adiction seems a bit counter-intuitive to me, and the reason that i started rolling uber-thin fags is to lower my nicotine intake - so i dont think that approach is going to work, id just end up with about 20 patches stuck all over me

 

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*drum rolling tobacco - it comes lose in pouches for all you americans who are wondering, as i believe that only pre-roled are available out there

[YT2095]

set a firm time and date, and list your reasons for wanting to stop, keep this list with you always!

 

secondly, don`t get rid of all your cigs, keep one! then throw the rest away, incl ashtrays etc...

I find that when I don`t have any cigs, I want to smoke more (strange but true), put that cig somewhere safe and out of sight.

 

the rest is pure will power and no mystery attatched.

 

Good Luck!

[husmusen]

I don't smoke so I don't speak from personal experience,

but ex users of alchohol and tobacco have told me that

increasing your caffiene intake(strong, black, sweet, coffee, seems

to be the preffered source), at the time you stop smoking or drinking

helps.

 

Cheers.

[BenSon]

I know how hard it can be i'm 17 and have been smoking for two years this is my third attempt to kick it. I've so far gone two weeks with only two smokes. As far as tips go I went cold turkey and so far so good I tried the patches the first time but they were sh!t. The hardest bit is walking past the shops and not going in to buy more but if you can get past that then it makes the whole day easyer, good luck.

 

~Scott

[atinymonkey]

anyone got any tips?

Breaking your routine helps. Don't have a cig after a meal, put off having one for 20 min or so. Put your tobacco in one room and sit in another, so if you want a cig you have to expend an effort to go and get one. One of the hardest parts about quitting is getting out of the routine.

 

*drum rolling tobacco - it comes lose in pouches for all you americans who are wondering, as i believe that only pre-roled are available out there

Nope, they have hand rolled too. In fact, the hand rolling thing comes from the US and cowboy types.

[YT2095]

actualy, I`m dead against the drinking coffee post

 

not to be disagreable at all, but simply that it`s the worst thing you can do! and all specialists will advise against it also, besides, why replace one addiction with another and secondly what if Coffee was his trigger to smoke?

 

removing situations where a cig was nornaly associated with is the best thing to do.

sorry Husmusen.

[Dak]

about a year and a half ago, a bout of food poisoning triggered some IBS, which made me miss lots of uni, which stressed me out, which made the IBS worse, which made me miss more uni, which made me more stressed, which made the IBS worse etc ad nausium (BOOM BOOM!).

 

having just had to succum to the illness and quit uni, im first looking therefore to chill for a while for medical reasons, then once iv destressed a little, to give up smoking (generally bad for the bowels), so 1/i cant set an absolute date. ittl be when im less stressed. destressing is more important at the mo (shouldnt take more than a month tho), and 2/upping my caffien intake is a no-no. actually, i was going to give that up aswell and alcohol (OMG OMG OMG, this is going to suck)

 

for the mo, i guess while im waiting till im calm enough that the added stress of giving up smoking wont make my head explode, i'll cut out the fags that i have as soon as i wake up and, lesse, within 30min of eating, to try and break the routine (cheers ATM).

 

any and all sujjestions are mightily wealcome, as is any info on what effect giving up smoking has on the digestive system. i know that last time i tried i eat absolutely loads... any tips on avoiding that, or do i just have to pig out for a month or so?

 

Nope, they have hand rolled too. In fact, the hand rolling thing comes from the US and cowboy types.

couldnt find any when i went out there. i had to smoke mulborou of death. i swear, i could actually feel my lungs bleed

[BenSon]

and 2/upping my caffien intake is a no-no. actually, i was going to give that up aswell and alcohol (OMG OMG OMG, this is going to suck)

Yeah well thats a bit extreem isn't it.

any and all sujjestions are mightily wealcome, as is any info on what effect giving up smoking has on the digestive system. i know that last time i tried i eat absolutely loads... any tips on avoiding that, or do i just have to pig out for a month or so?

I have realy noticed that i'm eating more these last copuple of weeks. I find instead of somking after eating i'm eating after eating get my drift...Wanna know how to curb your appitite... start smoking Seriously though i think everyone eats to replace smoking when they quit the only way not to is replace the cigs with something other then food, what that is, is up to you.

 

~Scott

[Phi for All]

What worked for me was a total clean break. As YT said, set a date and do it and make a list of all the reasons why your life will be better.

 

I wouldn't keep any cigs around though. That's just leaving the door open. The real trick is not to close or even lock the door, but to make the door go away, make smoking not an option in your life. Remember, you still have to live in a world where other people smoke. It's just not right for you.

 

As atinymonkey mentioned, change your routine a bit. You need to break the patterns that made you reach for a cig. The physiological crave goes away pretty quickly. Behavior modification will help you with the psychological bits.

 

DO NOT substitute one habit for another! Candy, coffee, extra food, toothpicks, forget it. Don't swap a thing for a thing. Use the extra $ for an activity you couldn't afford before (exercise will help your metabolism through the change).You can do this without crutches.

[-Demosthenes-]

DO NOT substitute one habit for another! Candy, coffee, extra food, toothpicks, forget it. Don't swap a thing for a thing. Use the extra $ for an activity you couldn't afford before (exercise will help your metabolism through the change).You can do this without crutches.

I knew someone who quite smoking by eating candy, he has diabeties now , and no more candy.

[RedAlert]

I knew someone who quite smoking by eating candy, he has diabeties now , and no more candy.

 

Well what's wrong with video games?

[j_p]

Change the routines; smoke only in uncomfortable places, like alleys and poorly ventilated basements; quit drinking first; keep a bottle of water with you at all times, as sports bottle you suck on is best.

[Dak]

video games sounds good. and i think ill start going out into the garden to smoke from now untill i quit.

 

actually, i always thought that nicotine free tobacco would greatly aid giving up. anyone know of any? iv looked in herbalists etc but can never find anything that tastes like tobacco.

 

cheers all for the sujjestions.

[fuhrerkeebs]

actually, i always thought that nicotine free tobacco would greatly aid giving up.

 

Don't bother...I bought a pack of nicotine-free cigarettes of the internet before and all they did was make me want to smoke a real cigarette even more.

[Hellbender]

Oh man, Dak. Quitting smoking is hard, and I did it "cold turkey". You just have to go day by day and not smoke. Nicotine is so damn addictive, that every once and a while you will still crave it, but smoking is just so bad for you. I can't really suggest anything, I got into a mindset where I just didn't smoke, but whatever you can find that helps, by all means use it.

[invert_nexus]

Start chewing tobacco instead.

Ha!

Kidding.

 

I smoked for 15 years. A pack a day, minimum. Many days, a pack and a half, two packs.

 

I quite last year. July 15th.

 

Why? I'd been building towards it for a while. Realizing that so many things that I had been doing to myself were such a waste of life. Smoking cigarettes. Pot. Alcohol. All these self-destructive ways to fill space and time. All pointless (well. Not completely. All of them serve particular purposes and serve them quite well if kept to limited doses, but the problem lies in maintain said equilibrium. The habit tends to grow. And grow. And grow.)

 

Anyway. I was building towards it, but then I met somebody. A wonderful person who lived a life devoted to her body. To her health and to her self. She inspired me to do that which I had never seriously tried before. I had made half-hearted attempts in the past (which I'll relate in a moment) but this was no half-hearted attempt. This was the real thing. And is the only way one can quit (not method but intent. You have to want it. You have to need it.)

 

So. She inspired me. And I quit.

How?

Cold turkey.

I had a pack. I finished that pack. Spent about three days stretching out the pack and finishing up the butts in my ashtrays and from there just stopped. Stopped. The first few days were hell. Constant jonesing. I made sure to keep myself hydrated. And suffered. I told no one what I was doing. Except for her. She knew. And some online friends. I didn't tell anyone else for fear of failing. For being one of those. People love to laugh at people who say they're quitting. And then don't. They love it. Love it. More than anything else... except smoking, that is. And they hate it when people escape. Where they are unable.

 

Anyway. I just quit.

First few days were hell.

Then it began to diminish. Enough for me to notice a strange phenomenon in my addiction.

I wrote a thread about it somewhere else. About addiction and reaching. I found that I'd be sitting there and I'd automatically reach for my cigarettes. And then I'd remember that I have no cigarettes and the addiction would swamp me with frustration and I'd clench my fists a moment and suffer. This was expected and nothing unusual. But what is interesting is that the reverse was also true. I began to notice that craving would often hit after I reached for something. Water. Remote control. Mouse. Pencil. Whatever. I'd reach and then I'd crave. The act of reaching is mentally conditioned to the addiction. It's not surprising if you think about it. What do you reach for most when you are a smoker? How many times a day do you reach for your cigarettes as opposed to anything else? Day in. Day out.

 

Anyway. I suffered. After a week the cravings began to subside. I still craved a bit for several weeks afterwards, but the initial week was the worst. After that was over I knew I had won.

 

I'll never smoke again.

Never.

 

 

I've tried to quit in the past but I was never serious about it then. The main reason for quitting was money and that just wasn't enough. The closest I ever came was by partitioning the cigarettes. First once an hour. Then hour and a half. Then two hours. Etc... I had myself down to only a few a day. But those few a day was all that was necessary to maintain the addiction. And there will always come a time when you just can't help but smoke more. High stress. Party. Whatever. And once you do you're at square one.

 

No. The best way to quit is to just quit.

But you have to want it.

You have to need it.

There is no halfway. It's all or nothing.

 

 

Wanna know how to curb your appitite... start smoking

 

Absolutely. Tobacco is an appetite suppresent and that is one of its beneficial uses. It also has some laxative qualities. And of course there is the stress relief, but when one becomes addicted the buzz is no longer even felt so this effect is only for light smokers.