Quit Smoking: Tips

[Archie_tect]

My mum [who was a district midwife... not that that's relevant but it's surprising how many nurses and medical people do smoke] once saw the lung section of a [dead] smoker and never smoked again.... lungs are incredible organs and recover incredibly quickly even though they appear saturated with glutinous black, sticky tar and greasy deposits... Put anyone off smoking yet?

 

[ComedyPilot]

Watch a loved one slowly kill themselves over 42 years.

Worked for me watching the mess my mum made of her health before she died of cancer.

I have gladly never smoked, but don't know what damage was done to me as a child living with parents that were 20 a day-ers.

 

[Bman]

Luckily(?) I've only smoked for about 10-12 years. When I was at school I told myself I wouldnt be the same as my friends who started smoking fags. It wasnt until a few years after school when I started smoking the "other" stuff...

The problem only started when I ran out and found I was addicted to the nicotine. Suffice to say there wasn’t a shortage of "mates" around to offer me a fag.

I've heard very good things about Champix, but isn’t it relatively new? Do we know if it has any long-term effects? That’s why if at all possible; I would like to avoid anything like that. If I fail without it, I would re-consider.

 

[Archie_tect]

Good luck Bongman.... best things aren't necessarily the easiest but enough people have said it was the best thing they ever did, so it will be worth it. One day at a time. An habitual smoker told me that when he stopped he expected everything [taste, smell, fitness levels...] to seem better but he was quite disappointed.... so don't expect your life to be that much different- just be happy in the knowledge that it is.

 

[jeltz]

Try to look on quitting as a positive thing of gaining health and control rather than as making a big sacrifice.

Having the right frame of mind is 60% of the battle, remember that smoking never makes anything better and the only way to stop is to actually stop. No odd one here or there!

Good luck.

 

[Hacienda71]

Think about your daughter without her dad. My kids were my motivation to stop. If you relapse keep trying. Natural aids include fresh orange juice and sunflower seeds. I have stopped for over a year after smoking for twenty years

 

[Sam Kennedy]

I have never smoked and never intend to, but one thing to think about is that you're tobacco's bitch, fight it! Imagine that each time you smoke, you are giving in and becoming less of a man, and you can't even control yourself, you let the tobacco rule you, FIGHT IT! (sorry if this made it worse, but if you think of it more as a fight than leaving something behind it might be a bit easier)

Also, when you get cravings, its probably best to find something else to occupy yourself with, do you enjoy doing anything else other than cycling? Do you have a punch bag? Treadmill? Weights? Whenever you get cravings just take it all out on the punch bag, or sprint on the treadmill, or lift the heaviest weight you can. Just do something to distract you from wanting to smoke and something which will make you feel good at the end.

Someone I know said they really enjoyed it when they smashed a chair off the ground(argument ) Maybe you could find something which you could smash, and whenever you get cravings just smash it to bits.

I've sorta babbled on here, hopefully it helps, I've never been addicted to anything, but those would be the steps I would take if I did get addicted.

Good Luck! You don't need luck, you can do it through willpower alone!

 

[dellzeqq]

give up in company. See if there is someone else around you who wants to give up. Make a pact - and then when you weaken (as you will) you can go to somebody and that mutual desire will send companionship endorphins round your head and your desire to quit will be refreshed.

The closer you are to the other person the better, but anybody's better than nobody.

 

[Garth]

Get the Allen Carr book, worked for me, I smoked for 22 years (from the age of 12) and tried on and off to stop for about 10 years, tried everything, patches, gum (disgusting), Zyban etc. Nothing touched it. Got the book off Ebay for £2, read it, stopped, never looked back, no substitutes, pills etc and no cravings at all, stopped on the 25th January 2008, looking towards 2 years smoke free

Just remember, you are smoking to feel, for 10 minutes or so, the way that a non smoker feels all the time.

 

[phaedrus]

Allen Carr's book worked for me as well. I've been clean of nicotine for over ten years now as a result, and I am a *total* nicotine addict.

I tried the lot - hypnosis, acupuncture, NRT, you name it. The only thing that did it for me was insight into how the addiction process works, and I got that from Carr's book. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Good luck.

 

[goo_mason]

I decided 6 months before I stopped that I was going to quit on the first day back at work after New Year in 2004. I told everyone during those 6 months that I was going to do it, and I spent the time going over the reasons why I was kicking the habit for good (mainly for my daughter who was 4 at the time, and who used to howl when I nipped off for a fag in the kitchen where she wasn't allowed).

4th Jan 2004, I woke up and started my new, smoke-free life. Never smoked again nor even been tempted. Apparently people at work had bets on that I wouldn't even last a day - the person who believed I could do it made a fortune the next morning!!

It's all a matter of getting to grips mentally with it, so I think my 6-month lead-in time was the reason I succeeded where I'd failed in the past.

 

[Fab Foodie]

The most hardened smokers I knew who had tried almost every method to quit over the last 10 years or so have all suceeded are now 100% non-smokers due to one treatment only and that's Zyban. I was one of them, did patches, inhalers, accupuncture, Allen Carr, heart-attack, counselling and none of them worked, eventually relented and tried the Zyban, it was instant, painless, easy and effective with no side effects. One of the worst cases was a customer of mine, when I last saw her she rushed up to me to thank me for suggesting Zyban as it was the easiest thing ever.
Don't discout medication... a better life through Chemistry.

 

[joolsybools]

I stopped after a health scare, I thought I was going to die. That did the trick!

Whatever you do, remember that stopping can have ups and downs and don't beat yourself up if you don't manage to stay stopped first time around. They key is mental, you want to stop (and yes it is stopping not 'giving up'). This is also quite a good read

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stop-Smokin...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254836540&sr=1-2

Good luck!

 

[jay clock]

apart from the health stuff, I just worked out that if I had smoked from age 18 to now (47) it would have been around £36k spent (based on £2.12 in 1980 and increasing by 3% pa... that is a lot

 

[Cubist]

The most hardened smokers I knew who had tried almost every method to quit over the last 10 years or so have all suceeded are now 100% non-smokers due to one treatment only and that's Zyban. I was one of them, did patches, inhalers, accupuncture, Allen Carr, heart-attack, counselling and none of them worked, eventually relented and tried the Zyban, it was instant, painless, easy and effective with no side effects. One of the worst cases was a customer of mine, when I last saw her she rushed up to me to thank me for suggesting Zyban as it was the easiest thing ever.
Don't discout medication... a better life through Chemistry.

Yo Bongman, the Champix I used is a newer version of Zyban, but with far fewer side effects. Don't discount it, I was hopelessly addicted before I used it.