To Ex-Smokers

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I've tried quitting since I started smoking. The longest i've stayed quit was for probably 2 months. I had swine flu and my husband got me the nicorrette gum. The only problem with the gum is that when I tried to get off the gum I went through widthrawl and became a raving as*hole. And of course everyone was confused "I thought you quit smoking months ago how are you nic-fitting" DUH! The gum has niccoteen in it... I gave up cigarettes not niccoteen! My problem is that everyone I know smokes. I have no problems quitting, I just can't stay quit. I could stay quit if I could just stay away from smokers for awhile. If there's no cigarettes around then when something happens that makes me want to smoke then I physically won't have access to cigs. My husband is in the army and he's deploying soon... when he goes I think i'm going to try to quit again. My sister in law is coming to live with me while he's gone and she smokes but I think i'm going to make my house non-smoking. That way if I really really want a smoke I have to go stand out in the cold.

It seems to me - and this works for my dad - that it's a matter of recognizing your priorities:
When you want not to smoke more than you want to smoke, you'll quit.
The trick is to realize what you want before lighting up.

I've never actually wanted to quit - it helps way to much with my ability to focus - but I do run out; if I've been using high doses (chew or pipe tobacco) I don't crave it at all: I just get really hyper and happy.
I use that to my advantage sometimes because it makes social interaction easier; I'll chew or smoke a whole bunch and then quit like six hours before wedding receptions and stuff.

If I've only been smoking cigarettes, though, I go crazy after about three hours. So maybe the trick is to adjust to a higher dose and then go cold turkey?

Also, it's much harder with cigs containing other stuff, as opposed to the naturals; maybe try switching to Nat Shermans or American Spirits first?
(For instance: if I've been smoking Camels, I will still crave them in the very act of puffing on a natural. I think the chemicals are more addictive than the nicotine.)

Ive been taking chantix for three days now and I am still smoking but not nearly as much. I am down to about half a pack a day. I have felt the cravings and urges to smoke have not been nearly as bad. My problem now is that I need something in my hand and in my mouth. I have been chewing a lot of toothpicks and gum. I really do hate smoking. It tastes horrible, its unhealthy and its really expensive. I am looking forward to having some extra money in my pocket now that I won't be spending 6 bucks a day to kill myself.

I quit 7 years ago and have no cravings or desire to smoke again. I used the patch and was successful after a week of cheating (the first week I wanted to "cut back" but that wasn't going to work). I ended up forgetting to put my patch on in the morning a lot, and I would remember after most of the day had gone by. When that started happening a lot I just stopped buying patches too.

I was ready to quit- there was no magic cure for me. I had been telling myself for a while that I was going to quit when I tirne 30, and that is what I did- it was my birthday present to myself that year. It was not easy- I gained some weight at first and had a couple months of hacking and feeling like crap, but that is all in the past and very much worth all the effort and discomfort.

I wish you luck!

I quit smoking 37 years ago. It was a piece of cake for me. I stopped cold turkey on Jan 15, 1973, and never looked back. But there's more to the story than that.

I was in the military at the time. The job I was in was very stressful and I could easily go through an entire pack of Winstons during a four-hour watch period, then a second pack during the remainder of the day. That's a hell of a lot of puffing. This was back in the day when you could buy a carton of cigarettes for $2 in the PX.

Late in 1972, a few days after my annual physical, which included a routine chest x-ray, I was called back in to the clinic. "We made a mistake on the x-ray", they said, and took a second one. Even in my aspie-fueled naivete, I knew that "we made a mistake" stuff was BS.

That afternoon, they called me back again. "We're sending you to Oakland Naval Hospital. Get in your car and drive to the airport. Now."

What they didn't tell me was that they were totally convinced, based on the chest x-ray, that I had the Big C. Then, as now, lung cancer is one of the worst, if you have to choose one. Well, that's not what I had, as it turned out, but I was in Oakland for six weeks until they figured out what I did have.

The day I was discharged from the hospital, I woke up and realized I'd dodged a bullet. Suddenly, the realization hit me full force that even though I'd gotten a reprieve this time, I was going to kill myself if I kept smoking. There was no doubt of it in my mind. They say there's nothing like facing death to make you appreciate life. I think that's true.

I never smoked another cigarette, from that day to this. No cravings, no backsliding, no nothing. This is just one man's opinion, but I think the key to quitting smoking is a realization such as the one I had. It has to slap you in the face and convince you to your core that you simply cannot continue smoking.

If you're trying to quit because someone else wants you to -- your spouse or your parents or whoever -- it won't work. If you're trying to quit because you think you should, that won't work either, because deep down you'll always be wanting another cigarette. You have to do it for yourself. For me, it was actually very easy. After my "realization", I never wanted another cigarette in the least.

Well, thanks for listening. As I say, this is just one opinion, but I think the only "method" that has a high chance of long-term success is one that convinces you that you have to stop.

I really want to quit because cigarettes taste disgusting. Today is the 9th day I have been on chantix and the 3rd day that I haven't had a cigarette. I still have cravings but I am finding ways of coping with that. I have found that toothpics and gum work for the oral fixation and I'm still working on something to keep my hands busy. I have been cleaning, doing laundry and other stuff around the house to keep my mind off of smoking.

Tobacco-free and proud, for 52 1/2 years.

I quit once for 5 years and then again 2 years ago. Both times the way that worked for me was to chew nicotine gum for the first 3-4 days to get past the worst of the withdrawl.

Here's the important thing that really did the trick: Both times it was absolutely necessary for me to go outside in the sun every day for at least 30 minutes. The first quit I took up jogging with a friend and the second quit I just went for really long walks at lunch time. Also when I got stressed out or angry I would go for a walk. I don't know if it was the exercise or the sunlight. Maybe I was vitamin D deficient or something, but that's the only thing that works for me.

i noticed that when work dropped to very very low levels, like only 2 to 3 shifts a week, I might smoke 1 ciggerate that week, maybe 1 every week and a half. I now work 3 jobs, 1 is almost at part time, the other two are slightly below part time, and I'm smoking at least 3 to 4 ciggs a day. I don't have the time to walk, but I'll try to find other destressors, other then WP, smoking, or making music.

Easyway - http://www.allencarrseasyway.com
BEST THING EVER!

It has a 90% success rate, no willpower needed and with no withdrawal, rather than other methods that deal with the chemical addiction Easyway deals with the emotional/mental addiction which is the more important aspect to focus on, so you no longer have the need to use smoking as a social crutch so you're more confident/less anxious and the method removes the addiction.

You can buy an Easyway book from Amazon for a few £'s - the book has all you need to use the method, but if you find the book doesn't work for you then take your book to one of their clinics (there are Easyway clinics world-wide) and they'll give you 20% off the cost of the clinic. The clinic will cost around £200 but there is a full money back guarantee, so no loss, the clinic is simply a guided version of the book so you'll only need to be there a few hours, and you can get one-to-one follow-up consultations with their advisers if needed.

I quit one year ago via one of their clinics - I have zero desire to ever smoke again and I know that I never will, in fact I don't even understand smoking any more as it's like I've totally forgotten how to smoke and no longer have any sort of motivation to smoke. There is absolutely no feeling like you're deprived, no willpower, no cravings, no withdrawal, no trying hard to quit or having to take it one day at a time feeling like you need to smoke...with Easyway you are instantly a non-smoker, it's like you had never smoked.

I'll point out that I always hated smoking and that Easyway was the only thing to work after trying almost everything else; nicotine gum, nicotine patches, nicotine lozenges, nicotine spray, nicotine inhalator, plastic cigarettes with nicotine capsules, mouthwash/spray that made smoking taste unbearable, e-cigarettes, hypnosis, cold-turkey using various methods to help put me off the taste of smoking or keep my hands and mouth busy, herbal cigarettes, changing smoking habits, Zyban (the same thing as Chantix), etc.

Nothing else worked - quitting had always felt like a slow torture, denying myself a smoke through cravings and social awkwardness, none of that with Easyway, honestly it's the best thing I ever did. When I see smokers struggling to quit over days, weeks, months, years and even decades it's really hard because here's a method that makes it so easy that would save them all that torture, once you've read the book or attended a clinic you're a happy non-smoker. I ask smokers to please give this a try - quitting CAN be easy!