I've tried so many different methods I could probably write a book. All have failed. I love smoking but I know I need to quit. Tried patches, gum, lozengers, microtabs, cold turkey, all in different combinations.

Anyone quit and have any tips? I guess the main reasons I start again is boredum, alcohol, and stress.

my only story is of my dad quitting..

he was a 4 pack a day man.. (his morning coughing hack made me never smoke)

he got a new wife who told him to stop smoking

he quit the next day after 25 years of 4+ packs a day


the moral of the story if you want to quit you will quit

Nobody likes a quiter.

There is only one surefire way to quit smoking and thats to not want to smoke anymore.
Untill you realy, realy, realy don't want to smoke anymore, so called quiting is just you lying to yourself.

Some handy tips once your commited is to instead of having a smoke try drinking some grape juice and then going and brushing your teeth.

Grape juice as a wives tale takes the raw edge off of the withdrawal feeling and brushing your teeth gives your hand to mouth addiction some interaction.
Might be hard to do at work but will help when your at home.

Best of luck.

Superform knows where it's at. You just have to want it bad enough. My mum used Super Mario Bros on teh NES to quit smoking. Every time she wanted a smoke she'd just play Mario.

Funny story..

A friend of mine was a smoker, he wanted to stop so he tried the gum. It worked really well except now the problem is he is addicted to the gum. It's nearly as expensive as smoking...

And yeah, i realised its not that funny.

I found not smoking anymore was a good way to quit. If you want to quit you will, if you don't, then whats the point of trying.

As mentioned, you really really need to want to quit and I believe it helps if you consciously replace the habit with another such as chewing gum for example.

I quit using patches and by chewing regular gum (extra or whatever) whenever I wanted a smoke. Result now is I dun smoke, but go through about 7 packs of extra a week, I figure the health effects of artificial sweetner are way less than smoking.

Also, the first 2 weeks are the worst so if you can get through that you have dang good change of being a winnar

Also, you mentioned boredom - that was my biggest killer. I had to virtually change the way I did tons of stuff to remove the boredom and break habits. For example I stopped watching tellie cos every add break i'd go for a smoke (habit), and whenever I had 'nothing' to do i'd have a smoke etc etc. So it would help if you got a new hobby or something else to do that is different to what you do now.

I used patches, and some determination.

Even now I'd love to have a smoke but I just don't, because I'm not piss weak like you gimpy.

Anyone quit and have any tips? I guess the main reasons I start again is boredum, alcohol, and stress.

I stopped smoking when I started uni. I bought some chubba chubs (like six) and a bit of focus.

It isn't that hard, if you really want to.

Here's an idea, go to a hospital and find someone caughing up pieces of their lungs. You'll want to quit after that.

^^ Not really, the adds they show on tv did nothing for wanting to make me stop.

Just quit - not hard; just stupid.

Here's an idea,dont start in the first place....s***s me to tears when people start smoking,then try and stop then expect everyone around them to tell them how good they are for doing it.

pay someone to follow you around and punch you in the mouth every time you reach for a ciggy.

I smoked pretty heavily for around 9 years or so. Kept saying Id only quit when I knew I really wanted to after seeing others keep trying to quit then starting up again when drinking or under stress etc.

Eventually I got tired of coughing up s*** all the time and seeing how much money I wasted on smokes. Around that same time I talked to this guy who had been to a woman who did hypnosis for a few things including smoking and he gave her big wraps and suggested giving it a go.

1 trip to her and I no longer smoke but drink a fckload of water instead. That would have been about a year and a half ago now.

last edited by Lunch at 22:05:10 26/Oct/05

hahaha, that's great Reload. And actually true, another person supporting you (firmly) is the best single way. For anything really. If you have only yourself to make yourself quit an addiction it's terribly easy to give up just cause you "cbf" or some other weak excuse. You need someone in your face and proactive about it since your too easily corruptable during the process by yourself.

And nobody loves smoking, that's an illusion you think is reality. It's all pure chemical addiction. You don't like smoking. period. you just can't stop yourself.

Yeah I know, and it sucks, I hate myself for doing it and starting etc..

Thanks for the advice guys. I guess I need to go to ICU and be shocked into it. That will really make me _want_ to give up. My cousin saw her grandma in ICU and hasn't smoked since, get into fitness and stuff to try and clean her lungs out.

I just get so tense and frustrated and make excuses that I'll give up when things aren't so stressful, but it's probably just the fact I'm giving up that things are stresful...

I guess if I had a reason to give up I'd be more motivated, at times I've just thought, what's the point. But that is probably another issue I should deal with first.

You don't like posting s***, you just can't stop yourself.

I think not F'ing your life up in your later years is enough motivation. or having the fitness level of an old person NOW. How often are you short of breath through standard normal exercise gimpy?

Nice self reflection there Bah. Being truthful is the first step during any form of support discussion.

last edited by A_W at 22:33:42 26/Oct/05

I do lots of exercise so I'm not too bad..

I could be better obviously, but the pleasure of smoking is what keeps me doing it. I just love a drink and a cigarette after work.

Herorin addicts keep going cause of the pleasaure too. Then they OD at some stage and die. No longer pleasurable.

It's what will happen to you in the future you need to be worried about Gimpy, not now. Maybe you should find another pleasure.

On a non-good-advice-lecturing note: I hear most of the problem in quitting is the physical interaction of holding a cig suddenly being abscent. And so it's recommended you hold any object of similar size and weight in place of cig to fix this. And you should wean yourself off it eventually.

ive got 2 main groups of mates

1st group - uni guys/girls doing science
- we have all seen the effects of smoking and peer pressure in that group is totally against smoking, so no-one starts


2nd group - bunch of mates who all finished school together
- a couple started smoking, eventually filtered out now all but me and 2 others smoke


morale of the story, a lot of starting/quiting depends on the ppl u are around

Mate I gave the fags up about 5 yrs ago, and had been off them for about 10 yrs before that, with sparodic times when I was on them big time.

I just spent 3 weeks in a respiritory ward at the Wesley, although my recent prob was not smoking related but mate go for a walk thru that ward and you wouldnt touch the f***ers again.

The object in the hand thing is a good suggestion, either that when you get the urge go sit outside and take a few deep, smoke free breaths and do a bit of meditation, talk yourself thru the desire and reward yourself that you did a good job each day you are free of the things.

Put $11 each day into a container and take yourself on a holiday at the end of the year with the several thousand dollars that will be in there.

good luck..you can do it if you really want.

Not really, the adds they show on tv did nothing for wanting to make me stop.

erm, seing something on tv and seing something in real life are definantly 2 diffrent things.

seeing a car crash into a poll at full speed while not breaking and the driver not wearing a seatbelt, then just watching him remain almost perfectly still in an upright position just breathing and looking at the same spot in the steering wheel is going to freak you out so much f***ing more than seeing it on tv

as if my response will still be

LOL WTF WAS THAT? AHAHA WHAT A DUMBASS

HAY GUYS LOOK AT THIS JACKASS RIGHT HERE

you know you don't really quit... you just stop smoking till it takes over again ;)

Whitewolf is kinda right.

I've worked in a respiratory ward a few times now and each time I've not touched them..
I leave the ward and back onto em ~_~

Others are right, I don't believe you can give up unless you want to... and boredom is a big thing as well, that's a big time i'll have one - or just when a mate does, really the only two times i feel the need.

The thing you need the most is willpower.

I smoked really heavy for 7 years (pack of 30/day, 12mg smokes). I bought a pack of this stuff called "QuitX Gum" I think it was 4mg. You just chew on a piece of gum every time the craving gets really bad. 3 months on the gum, f*** if I want a cigarette again.

Of course, you have to WANT to quit. Don't bother with anything if you don't actually want to stop smoking.

Lunch

Give details of this hypnomotiser person!

he got a new wife who told him to stop smoking

Thats how I quit, my girl said no more "snuggles" unless you quit, not because smoking kills you she said, because she hated the smell.

I quit when I fell pregnant.

The biggest help other than the life of my child was that I also gave up coffee.

Even for years after I couldn't have a coffee without craving a smoke.

Isn't it just a case of just not smoking any more? It sounds like it would be really easy. Instead of lighting a cigarette and putting it in your mouth, you don't!

Isn't it just a case of just not smoking any more? It sounds like it would be really easy. Instead of lighting a cigarette and putting it in your mouth, you don't!

Smoking, in my opinion, is a habit not an addiction. You get so used to going through the motions of smoking that you get conditioned.

As a smoker it was never the taste that kept me coming back... honestly it does tastes like licking an ashtray... it was the comfort I got from the habit I had built up.
So it become just another thing I did... like breathing.

It is breaking the reliance of the habit, not actually stopping lightening up.. that is easy

I smoked a pack a day for 7 years. 2.5 years ago i bumped into some old friends i used to smoke with at school. I was amazed when i reliesed they no longer smoked. I asked them how they stopped and they said they read a book.

The book is "Allen Carrs Easy way to stop smoking" I strongly urge anyone seriously wanting to stop to go any buy it. Just like them it worked for me and has been the best $25 ive ever spent.

How does it work....its not doom and gloom stuff. Hard to describe really, you read the book and rewire your brain in how it thinks about smoking. If you are serious about stopping, this is the way to do it. Nicotine gum/patches just make you more dependent on nicotine. I read this book and spent all they money i was saving on nice orange juices and im still free from this horrible habbit today.

http://www.dymocks.com.au/ContentDynamic/Full_Details.asp?ISBN=0140277633

I smoked 35-40 ciggies and about as many cones a day for about 10 years.
Tried cold turkey a few times and lasted about 2 hours. Then tried a hypno-therapy session which seemed to work, but went back to the old 40-40 a day thing after 3 weeks.
Someone gave me this book and CD thing which I decided to have a crack at one night when I was bored.
Strangely enough its methods worked and I haven't smoked anything at all for nearly 3 years (yes, even penis)
Sells for about $30 at plenty of bookshops afaik

Allen Carrs Easy way to stop smoking

Seconding this. Bought this book for a friend who was trying to quit & it worked a charm.

There seems to be a lot of info about quitting and how to quit etc, but I would be interested to know how people started? you know it's bad for you, so why do people start? anyone here care to share their stories?

peer pressure + coolness ftw

peer pressure + coolness ftw

Man, with all the books you guys had to buy, no wonder you were able to quit smoking, you wouldn't have been able to afford cigarettes any more!

Shad's first comment is right on the money.

If you want to quit you will.

I got sick of being sick and paying money. So I quit and went cold turkey.

I gave up when i was pregnent

Smart woman.

It would be unwise to F up a persons entire life in advance just cause you were selfish and careless with a very bad habit. It's your own children for flips sake.

Okay... who wants to impregnate me.


last edited by gimpy at 18:42:21 27/Oct/05

Bubba does

Actually Trog is more on the money than anyone, it really is as easy as just not lighting up.

I smoked for a few years, quit for a few years, and recently started again just for something to do. I realise it probably sounds silly but I can quit any time, I know that because it's how I did it the first time :).

It's just something to do, it can also be very social. Think of it like a hobby.

There seems to be a lot of info about quitting and how to quit etc, but I would be interested to know how people started? you know it's bad for you, so why do people start? anyone here care to share their stories?

I was raised in a family of smokers, a heap of my friends where smokers ...It was only natural to start smoking.

Sure, smokers know that smoking statisticly is bad for you, just like how Motor cyclists know that statisticly riding a bike is more dangerous than driving a car. f***, people do all sorts of f***ed up s*** that we know can't be brilliant for us all the time.


last edited by typo at 00:21:57 28/Oct/05

Sure, smokers know that smoking statisticly is bad for you, just like how Motor cyclists know that statisticly riding a bike is more dangerous than driving a car

Smoking is bad for your body, fullstop. There's no statistics or arguing involved. It's nothing like riding a bike. You can ride a bike your entire life and if you are careful and lucky to avoid accidents, there is no impact on your health or well-being whatsoever.

The same can't be said for cigarettes. It's impossible to smoke carefully and safely. You damage your body no matter how little or how much you smoke. You might be lucky and not die early in your life, but you WILL pay for it sometime.

There seems to be a lot of info about quitting and how to quit etc, but I would be interested to know how people started? you know it's bad for you, so why do people start? anyone here care to share their stories?

I came from a family of smokers too, everyone in my family smoked, it was a natural progression I suppose. There used to be a kind of 'tradition' where after dinner we would all stay at the table and have a smoke and a coffee and talk – was the only time we ever really did talk… Wasn’t an organised ‘lets sit down and smoke and talk’ event, but if just always seemed to happen. Also, the reason for my parents smoking in the first place was for cultural reasons imo, I don’t know about here in AU, but in France (myself and family are French) when my parents were teenagers everyone smoked and as such they started smoking when they were about 14, they were allowed to smoke in the classroom in the later years of high school ffs !!

I didn't start smoking because of the peer pressure stuff as I was the only one in my group of friends who ever smoked. However, my dad is the only one in our immediate family who smokes now.

It's impossible to smoke carefully and safely

whatever, I can smoke 8mg instead of 16mg smokes :p

last edited by rodo|phe at 08:18:53 28/Oct/05

Superform knows where it's at. You just have to want it bad enough. My mum used Super Mario Bros on teh NES to quit smoking. Every time she wanted a smoke she'd just play Mario.

what a crack head

Smoking is bad for your body, fullstop. There's no statistics or arguing involved. It's nothing like riding a bike. You can ride a bike your entire life and if you are careful and lucky to avoid accidents, there is no impact on your health or well-being whatsoever.

I knew I would get at least one person crying about how safe bikes are. Statistics don't care how careful you are. Statistic cares about everything else that can cause an accident.

The same can't be said for cigarettes. It's impossible to smoke carefully and safely. You damage your body no matter how little or how much you smoke. You might be lucky and not die early in your life, but you WILL pay for it sometime.

People can live until they are well and truely old and still smoke a pack a day. It isn't even a statistical blip or something like that ... Sure, most smoker die early, 10 years early according to most statistics. The ten worst years, the ones at the end. The wheel-chair adult diaper years.

People can live until they are well and truely old and still smoke a pack a day. It isn't even a statistical blip or something like that ... Sure, most smoker die early, 10 years early according to most statistics. The ten worst years, the ones at the end. The wheel-chair adult diaper years.

haha


let's not forget about all those +50yr old bikers who die of cancer bought on by prolonged exposier to carcinogens

I started up because my friends at the time smoked, also my sister did and still does smoke so that was an easy way to get cigarettes. Even after about 5 years after I quit I still get the occasional craving to have a cigarette. I remember how good they use to be, not the disgusting tasting smoke that would make me want to throw up that they would be like now.

It's all in your genes imo. Take these 2 examples:

Sir Winston Churchill, lived till he was 91. Drank like a fish and smoked 8-10 cuban cigars a day. The man was a legend and this quote sums his attiture up perfectly:

As prime minister, he hosted a luncheon in February 1945 in honor of King Ibn Sa'ud of Saudi Arabia. Churchill wrote about one aspect of this luncheon in his war memoirs: "A number of social problems arose. I had been told that neither smoking nor alcoholic beverages were allowed in the Royal Presence. As I was the host at the luncheon I raised the matter at once, and said to the interpreter that if it was the religion of His Majesty to deprive himself of smoking and alcohol I must point out that my rule of life prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite smoking Cuban cigars and also the drinking of alcohol before, after and if need be during all meals and in the intervals between them. The King graciously accepted the position.

Then take Linda McCartney (wife of Paul):

hardcore vegetarian, exercised every day, did yoga and generally lived the healthiest lifestyle possible. Dead at age 57 from breast cancer.

I gave up smoking around 13 years ago. The wench I was engaged (thankfully I avoided that bullet) to at the time.

I spent prolly 2 weeks trimming down from 30 ciggies a day down to just a few.

First thing I did
1: Don't smoke with a roof over your head (this is a real bitch when it's winter an raining)
2: Next time you want a ciggie, put it off 5 minutes, then 10 (I waited 5, I can wait 10), then 20 (I waited 10, I can wait 20), then have it if you can't hold back.
3: Never put a ciggie into your mouth th e same way twice for the duration of the ciggie (ie, if you have a drag an hold the ciggie between thumb an forefinger, remove the ciggie from your mouth with the thumb and a different finger (even if you end up using both thumbs at some stage, just do it an don't use the same combo twice as I said.

This last one sounds really stupid ~ an looks hella funny =) when in fact what this is doing is making you conscious of the hand to mouth activity that you perform without realising.

I did this over a 2 week period an gave up.

PS, I also went out drinking that final night in a pub an didn't have any ciggies, just sat back an enjoyed the passive cancer...

The next hurdle or goal I set was to not have a ciggie for two days, then 2 weeks. Once you have gone 2 days without a ciggie, you've cracked your physical addiction an all you have to deal with is the next 12 days an you'll have an edge on your psych addiction.

Whenever you feel the need to have a ciggie, just remind yourself, f*** it, I 've gone this long without one, I can wait another 5, 10 minutes and generally by then the craving will have passed an you continue on.

Best thing I ever did. Believe it or not to this day, every now an then I will smell a ciggie that smells f***ing amazing an I'm almost tempted to try it then I remember how f***ing fould those things taste an I don't bother

Try it out

Sells for about $30 at plenty of bookshops afaik
the best $25 ive ever spent

PS
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last edited by HERMITech at 10:16:47 28/Oct/05

I knew I would get at least one person crying about how safe bikes are. Blah blah blah [broken analogies] blah blah.

blah blah

Ahuh...

*lets natural selection do its work*

last edited by parabol at 10:14:10 28/Oct/05

Sure, most smoker die early, 10 years early according to most statistics. The ten worst years, the ones at the end. The wheel-chair adult diaper years.

Doesn't mean smokers miss out on the wheelchair adult diaper years (as you so eloquently put it). In fact I think you will find that it is mostly smokers who have created the wheelchair, O2 bottle, adult diaper years. So not only do you get 10 less actual years, the last 10 years that you actually do get are the sux.

also, I knew this girl who wanted to quit, so every time she got cravings, she went to the gym. She quit AND she got hawt.

last edited by hUON at 10:27:32 28/Oct/05

Saw an interesting article about a Nicotine Inhaler that has apparently been produced by Phillip Morris. Gives you the nicotine hit to satisfy any craving but doesn't give you the carconogens. Still under wraps at the moment.

I can't believe some of you retards are actually arguing that smoking is in any way good for your biological system (the body). Its all about quality of life. Sure you might live until you're 60, but you're missing one lung thanks to cancer, or you cant speak anymore because you got throat cancer at age 40...

Desperate moves by a time limited industry. NI, what a stupid idea. That'd be like inventing non-lethal heroin for other addicts, still gives you the "hit" , but won't kill you.

i have one of the NI's. they dont work for s***.

ps. i havent had a ciggie in 4 days. its very diffcult.

In fact I think you will find that it is mostly smokers who have created the wheelchair, O2 bottle, adult diaper years. So not only do you get 10 less actual years, the last 10 years that you actually do get are the sux.

Living in LA is as bad as smoking a pack a day. I don't seem to see the apocolyptic results you are talking about.

Sure, smoking is bad for you. Sure, you would have to be a moron to start now; heck it is pretty stupid to keep smoking now. But please, smokers do not make the majority of sick f***ers at the end of their lives.

In fact I think you will find that it is mostly smokers who have created the wheelchair, O2 bottle, adult diaper years.

Now that is a big call...