Quitting Smoking

Hey how did you guys quit smoking? It’s a mother.

Does the urge ever go away?

If you go out drinking, you’ll have to stop for at least a couple weeks. Also it’s good to do it over a three or four day weekend if possible cause you’ll feel like shit and it’s good to just spend the whole day in bed…otherwise you’ll just have to man up and do it…I quit 5 years ago and it was a pain in the ass at first, but eventually it got to the point where I think it’s disgusting.

First of all…good first step by wanting to quit. Congrats on that.

Now comes the hard part. Personally, I had it kinda easy. But I had to leave ALL the reasons behind that made me want to smoke. (Old freinds who still smoked, drinking, etc). I found a new activity to cease the “boredom smoking” which meant less time of sitting, and more time of not thinking about smoking.

I used the gum for 2 weeks initially (and it always gave me nasty tastes and the hiccupps)…but after that, i didn’t even need that.

I think the most important thing for me was to stay busy doing other things in order to not think about smoking…and leaving behind old habits that reminded me of smoking (yes, I quit coffee also for a while). It sucks at first but it DOES get better.

Let me repeat that…it SUCKS to quit by about the 3rd day…stay strong…it WILL get better by week 2.

And I still occasionally have the urge…sometimes strong…to smoke. But as long as I find something to do, it goes away. But SOME things, like drinking, STILL bring back the urge…and it’s been about 6 years since I quit.

I won’t wish you luck, because there is no luck…only YOU vs. yourself. One side of you is under control…do you like that? NO? Good.

Do something about it. Don’t be weak, like 95% of all the other people who say: “I’ve tried to quit but…”

Shut up and do it…it really does feel good to stop.

If there is anything I can do to help you, feel free to PM me at any time.

Visualize yourself not needing to smoke and FEEL how happy you are as a result. Your subconcious is listening . . .

Well, Ive quite smokeing and dipping.

dipping was the hardest. But, I got some free help when i was in Iraq. They where giving out free patches to people who wanted to stop. I used the patch for 8 weeks. It was hard at first but the patches really help. I had to chew gum and eat candy to get me over some of the cravings. But the first 4 days was the worst. After that it was easy.

If i was you I would buy some fruit to eat when you think that you are hungry it help with the cravings.

because your gonna eat alot more trying to stop smokeing.

I actually replaced smoking with lifesaver mints…I bought those big backs and carried around a pocketful everywhere I went, anytime I felt like smoking I popped a mint…I went thru a shitload of mints.

I quit smoking because one day i found myself really sick, and was in a way, forced to stop. after that, I just didnt want to anymore. i do occasionally light up, as in very rarely like say at a party or something and find myself feeling like its just not as good. Sometimes after I eat a big meal, then someone lights up, and boom that urge is there! but its controlable.

The sooner you quit the better, and the longer you go, the easier it gets to stay off. like all drugs, once you brain knows it, it is always gonna be there.

good luck!

Seems like the euphoria of ND doing so well under Charlie Weiss should replace that smooth robust flavor of a Winston.

quitting tobacco is a mother though, smoking wasn’t my thing, it was dipping. I went through a lot of gum, beef jerky and mints as well and still couldn’t kick it all the way until my GF moved in…

And I still do it on occasion, it’s a bitch to quit completely.

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
Hey how did you guys quit smoking? It’s a mother.

Does the urge ever go away?
[/quote]

I quit with the patch. It works for me. I also had to do some behavior modification.

Does the urge ever go away…yes…but it takes a few months to fully crush it. Caffine and alcolohol will intensify the urge.

I used to be like this:

Come home from work, pop a beer, have a smoke, pop a beer, have a smoke. The smoke makes you want more beer and the beer makes you want a smoke…up, down, up, down. Your body is addicted and you need to change the behavior.

Go for a walk. Golf, ride a bike, lift, EAT MORE!

You have the perfect opportunity to start eating instead of smoking. smoking also supresses appetite.

You know what you need to do. Smoking is the absolute worst thing you can do for your body, and so is heavy drinking.

My decision to stop smoking and cut way down on drinking was one of health. I’m 35 and want to be around to see my grandkids.

By the way I know you drink regularly from your other posts, and if you stop smoking, drinking will lessen as well. =

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
Hey how did you guys quit smoking? It’s a mother.

Does the urge ever go away?
[/quote]

The urge will go away eventually. It took me a year or so before I never really wanted one again.

I, too, like Rockscar, had to do behavior modification. I had to quit drinking, too. Well, you know, they don’t call it a beer belly for no reason.

I also have an addictive personality. I had to replace the one addiction with another in order for it to work. I managed to replace smoking with going to the gym. Not a bad swap, eh? But, now, I’m fanatical about going to the gym. I get irritated when I can’t - sort of like when you can’t get a smoke.

Odd, but it works.

RB

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
Hey how did you guys quit smoking? It’s a mother.

Does the urge ever go away?
[/quote]

I’m right there with you, FI. Quit two days ago. Got the patch, plus sugar-free lollipops. (Wish that Tootsie Roll Pops weren’t so full of shit, but…)

Been going nuts, but it’s gettin better. After three days, all the nicotine is out of your system, so just make it 72 hours. Hell, after a day, your lungs start feling better.

It also helps to give yourself a reward. I’m putting the money ($6.50 for all of those who don’t live in Jersey) I would spend every day on butts in a tin. Gonna spend it on something stupid and/or flammable.

Good luck, man.

I stopped 5 years ago when I was smoking thirty/forty cigs a day.

Cold turkey. No nicotine replacement : no patchs and no gum.

Mostly, I slept through the first three days.

A week or two after that, I started telling family/friends/co-workers that I had stopped smoking.

That helped me a lot because I really wanted to keep my word.

Understanding how DEMANDING smoking is helped me a lot too.

And evertime I wanted a cigarette, I would drink some water.

I kind of quit.
I wanted to quit about 3-4 months ago. I had a pain in my chest and I had a hard time breathing. Prayers helped me.
I had a few cigarettes on Saturday but that was it. I still have cravings though. I still receive coupons from Marlboro saving $1 off per pack. I hate to let it go to waste but…j/k

[quote]harris447 wrote:
FightinIrish26 wrote:
Hey how did you guys quit smoking? It’s a mother.

Does the urge ever go away?

I’m right there with you, FI. Quit two days ago. Got the patch, plus sugar-free lollipops. (Wish that Tootsie Roll Pops weren’t so full of shit, but…)

Been going nuts, but it’s gettin better. After three days, all the nicotine is out of your system, so just make it 72 hours. Hell, after a day, your lungs start feling better.

It also helps to give yourself a reward. I’m putting the money ($6.50 for all of those who don’t live in Jersey) I would spend every day on butts in a tin. Gonna spend it on something stupid and/or flammable.

Good luck, man.

[/quote]

Haha. Yea well I’m all about the flammable thing, that’s a good idea. Make the payoff worth it.

And yea, NJ is the worst besides NY…5.50 is what I pay average. Its ridiculous.

Good luck. My g/f quit smoking a month or so after we started dating. I gave her the choice ME or the Marlboro Man. She’s only fallen of the wagon once since August 04. She gets NO MORE chances and she knows it. I’m quite proud of her.

[quote]Rockscar wrote:
FightinIrish26 wrote:
Hey how did you guys quit smoking? It’s a mother.

Does the urge ever go away?

I quit with the patch. It works for me. I also had to do some behavior modification.

Does the urge ever go away…yes…but it takes a few months to fully crush it. Caffine and alcolohol will intensify the urge.

I used to be like this:

Come home from work, pop a beer, have a smoke, pop a beer, have a smoke. The smoke makes you want more beer and the beer makes you want a smoke…up, down, up, down. Your body is addicted and you need to change the behavior.

Go for a walk. Golf, ride a bike, lift, EAT MORE!

You have the perfect opportunity to start eating instead of smoking. smoking also supresses appetite.

You know what you need to do. Smoking is the absolute worst thing you can do for your body, and so is heavy drinking.

My decision to stop smoking and cut way down on drinking was one of health. I’m 35 and want to be around to see my grandkids.

By the way I know you drink regularly from your other posts, and if you stop smoking, drinking will lessen as well. =[/quote]

First of all, don’t ‘try’ to quit. If you can’t say I AM QUITTING, then you probably aren’t ready to quit. You have to mentally prepare for the day you’ll stop. Go about the day before normally, and smoke just like always. If you really crave a cigarette the morning after drinking, then maybe try not to drink the day before you quit.

I HAD to quit drinking, and once I had been ‘sober’ for a couple of months, I decided it was time to quit smoking. Everyone thought I was crazy, because I had just quit drinking. But I knew the time was right, because I was in a quitting mood, and not drinking really helps to quit smoking. Once you have a couple of drinks in you, your will power is all but shot. You should try to modify habits that go along with smoking, at least for awhile. You will find that if you have a drink, or go to the bar, that the cigarette cravings will be bad. Also, coffee drinking and cigarette smoking tend to go hand in hand.

Use any crutch that you think may help. I was already taking the odd Ativan 1mg ( a very mild tranq ) to ease the tensions of alcohol withdrawl, and that helped with nicotine withdrawl as well. I also used Nicorette gum.

Like Rockscar says, going for a walk, riding a bike, any kind of mild cardio should help. You will probably find that you have no wind to speak of, and you should NOT overdo the cardio to start.

My buddy quit smoking, and took up running almost immediately. He had a heart attack in bed, and died at 37 Yrs old. This was a guy who had the world by the fucken tail, and had everything to live for. But that’s for another thread.

I quit 14 years ago, and I still like the smell of cigarette smoke. I’d still like to have one, but I wouldn’t say they are cravings.

Hang in there, it’s the smartest thing you’ll ever do.

|/ 3Toes

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
Hey how did you guys quit smoking? It’s a mother.

Does the urge ever go away?
[/quote]

Absolutely. I smoked for 10 years, more than a pack a day for many of those years, and I absolutely despise those evil f’ers now.

Have no illusions, you are addicted to a drug, you will have no control until you absolutely give them up, and, if you truly realize this, quitting is the easiest thing in the world.

I would say, with all due respect to them, don’t listen to the posters who talk about the hell it was to quit. They made it so. It doesn’t have to be at all. When I smoked my last cigarette, I absolutely knew it was going to be the last one I would ever smoke, and quitting was the most liberating experience of my life up to that point. And I never had another urge.

Second, go here

My dad was the heaviest smoker I have ever known, 40 years, upwards of 3 packs a day, and about 3 months ago he read this book, quit, and hasn’t looked back since. No withdrawal, no urges, no crutches. I hadn’t read the book at the time I quit, but I read it on my last trip to visit my folks, and it turns out the method I used was very similar.

You can even continue to smoke all you want when you read the book.

Good luck. Anyone can do it, you just have to have some leverage on yourself, and realize that you will NOT be missing out on something when you “give up” smoking, but that you are right now missing out on a far, far, far more fulfilling life.

1 Like

http://images.t-nation.com/forum_images/./1/.1127955616195.Smokers_Lungs.jpg

Dude, some motivation.

How can you even build your body when you are doing this to the inside of it?

DO IT. Us former smokers are the worst, but we feel better because of it. Imagine feeling like 75% different. For me I really did feel 80% better. I had the combined drinking thing too, so cutting that helped as well.

Honestly Rockscar - My parents showed me those same type photos - only in my case ot was the ones of the guy with half his face cut off from mouth cancer. They don’t really help.

Maybe they work for some, but for me - they do nothing.

[quote]rainjack wrote:
Honestly Rockscar - My parents showed me those same type photos - only in my case ot was the ones of the guy with half his face cut off from mouth cancer. They don’t really help.

Maybe they work for some, but for me - they do nothing. [/quote]

I had the same dipping problem @ 15-20 years of age…I grew up in da hills.

You are right. Each person needs to find their own reason to quit. Looking at these definately makes me feel better that I’m not doing it to my lungs anymore.