I QUIT! My experience and encouragement

[Swiss1960]

So... having smoked for 40 years (yep, started with 16 in high school...), minimum 1 pack per day and many failed attempts to stop (with various excuses why I restarted again), I finally managed to stop smoking and want to share few thoughts about how I did it.

 

What I did in the past was using nicorette chewing gums and other nicotin replacement things (spray, plasters etc) in order to "fight" the withdrawal symptoms - what a bullock doctors and pharmacists tell you... how do you "fight" a withdrawal symptom when you do NOT withdraw but rather feed the nicotine addiction just by another means?

 

What I also did was using Champix for non-smoking (there are other drugs, but that one works pretty well for many people), but the thing is that I was not really mentally / psychologically "prepared" for the time after stopping the meds... so sooner or later back to my first cigarette.

 

What I also did was thinking "well, I am over it, so just one cigarette to "prove" how horrible they smell and that I can do it without - bulls**t, one cigarette is enough to  get you back to your nicotine addiction and you can start the whole withdrawal process from start.

 

So my solution was a book that my friends recommenced to me - Allen Carr: Easy way to non-smoking - which I used in line with Champix to help with the withdrawal symptoms. And I tell you: The 7 Euro invested was the best money ever spent! All the things he writes about, i.e. your cigarette not being your best friend but your worst enemy, about the withdrawal symptoms that really are NOT very difficult to overcome, the examples he gives - all this helped me to just say "hey, how comes I was such an idiot for the last 40 years..." After I read the book, I stopped taking Champix immediately and since that time, I did NOT have a single craving for a cigarette and I feel better with each day passing in every aspect (health, sex, energy, interests etc). 

 

What ever you do, how every you try - I recommend the book (not any seminars or other stuff), it is available as e-book in various languages and cost you 1 pack of cigarettes... you have nothing to loose, but THE WORLD TO WIN when you stop smoking!

[ezzra]

Ahh... quit smoking is very easy thing to do, I quit smoking a 100 times already.....

[Swiss1960]

9 minutes ago, ezzra said:

Ahh... quit smoking is very easy thing to do, I quit smoking a 100 times already.....

 

ezzra... I used to say exactly the same thing... I quit 30-40 times every day, after every cigarette... used the standard redderick like "everybody has to die one day" or "just have to find the "right day" for my next attempt... and even before I started my next attempt, I was convinced that i will fail anyway.

 

I can only again recommend to you to read the Allen Carr book. I have no affiliation with the company, don't get a single cent for mentioning the book, but it helped me setting my thinking straight and get rid of some really forcefully implemented fears that I had about stopping. And on top of helping me, I know it helped a few friends of mine who stopped before me. 

[billd766]

I started smoking around 13 (I am now 72) by picking dog ends out of the gutter and re rolling them. I quit the first time when I was about 15 1/2 after joining the military as a Boy Entrant, Started again at 19 in Bahrain where they were duty free, stopped and started around 23 and stopped again.

 

I started again 1970 due to boredom (Singapore and duty free again) and finally quit in 1971 and have never smoked since. No tablets, meds or books to help me. I just quit cold turkey 45 years ago.

 

Was it easy? The truth is I can't remember. I am not a rabid anti smoker and I am trying to get my wife to quit. She hasn't yet but she has cut down a lot. IMHO you and only you, have to WANT to stop and your family and friends will help wherever and however they can.

[evadgib]

I smoked for 18 of the 25 years between 15 and 40 before quitting overnight. I haven't had one in 16 years.

[bigtrouble]

I was a big drinker 30 years back and doubled my smoking on those nights. Hang overs we're hell when you add smoking to the mix.

It was the ciggies or the booze. Booze won

[Panda13]

I used to smoke 2 packs of cigarettes a day, but since I lost one of my lungs, I've cut my smoking in half !

[boorsd]

You will have to go through some pain, but it will be worth it 

[ben2talk]

On 5/20/2017 at 10:35 AM, boorsd said:

You will have to go through some pain, but it will be worth it 

It's not 'real' pain - you drive yourself stupid. It's always your own mind coming up with reasons (gf pisses you off, so you smoke one just to show her what she's made you do... or you just put off quitting until you get past this stressful argument).

 

I started by telling my son that smoking is killing me - then I asked him if I could smoke another. He helped a lot.

I also warned him, and his mother, I might get crazy and <deleted> kill someone

They respected my space and left me alone. I did feel rather stressed and a little angry for a month or so, but if u survive a week, then you can survive 2...

 

Was it worth it? Heck NOOOOO. I miss smoking - life isn't worth living without a smoke. Actually I started to forget, sometimes when I finish eating, that I'm supposed to go outside and smoke. That's kind of weird...

 

6 months later it's better. I still keep a box of sweets around (candies and mints) and scoff maybe 4 or 14 of them. It's no longer a replacement - I need to cut down on Halls now.

 

My wife tells me I don't stink like a pig any more - which is kind of comforting. Good to know that my personality is so great that she'd marry a stinky pig in the first place really.

[MuntyC0re]

i smoke seldom and usually hookah