Quitting smoking

[302GTS]

Sorry if this is in the wrong section. If it is, mods, please move it to a correct one.

Tonight I threw out the two remaining packs of cigarettes I had on me, and smoked the last of a third pack. I've been smoking 2 packs a day for a few years, and around 1/2-1 pack a day for a year or 2 prior. I finally made the jump to quit with my bandmate who also smoked roughly the same amount/time. Any stories of fellow quitters? I'm sure tomorrow I'll need all the support and suggestions I can get.

 

[donkey_punch]

I tried quitting a bunch of times, but i always go back to the dark side. The best i could do was cutting down on the amount of smoking, but i still smoke.

 

[Chythar]

Never smoked myself, but a few former smokers i know highly recommend the "e-cig". It's basically a nicotine delivery system that sorta resembles a cigarette. Since it's the highly addictive nicotine that makes quitting difficult, the e-cig makes quitting smoking easy.

Of course, you'll still have the nicotine addiction to deal with but no more cigarettes.

 

[BlownFiveLiter]

I quit 12 weeks ago. I'm not going to sugarcoat it, the first day sucks balls. Big hairy ones. I felt like a tweaker that needed their meth fix, but I've been good since. I used nicotine gum for a few weeks as needed, just when I'd have a bad craving. I still have more than half the box left, actually. Even after 12 weeks, I'll still catch myself going for my non-existant pack when I get a certain taste, or smell a cigarette burning. The smell of a freshly lit cigarette still bugs me on occasion, but it's all mental now. The funny thing is, in 12 weeks I've put on 22lbs because of eating constantly. Some of it is muscle because I also started working out, but some definitely landed on my mid section, too. If that's the worst thing that happens to me after smoking for 15 years, I'll take it.

 

[Adam95GT]

Friends have used vaporizers to slowly cut down their nicotine levels.... just a thought

 

[xr8d302]

Alright, here's how you do it.

Champix. I believe it's mildly pricey, but trust me on this one.

First off, dont' quit yet. You're going to fail if you try. Most of us do. I hope you can prove me wrong but if not, use this method.

Set a date, as everyone tells you. Buy the Champix starter pack now. You may need to get a prescription for it.

Start taking the champix for about 7 days before your quit date. Smoke while you take it, it's recommended, even says it on the box.

On day 4 of taking the Champix, you move up to 2 pills a day. Keep smoking.

On day 7 or 8, you won't WANT a cigarette. Seriously. I'm as heavy a smoker as they come, and I stopped wanting a cigarette, and didn't even have cravings.

Now, bad side. They're about 6 cycles to this, each one costing a few bucks. Not sure how much, my job covered it.

As well, if you've had any suicidal tendencies in the past, they advise you don't take these. Not sure why, but I haven't attempted to end myself so I was good to go with it.

You'll notice your balance will be a little bit off for a few days, but not so much that you can't fully operate like you do day to day.

Other than that, nothing. You just quit. You don't even go through the cravings, you just.....quit.

The hardest part, and this is what did me in, was after the final cycle. Everything went fine for me for a while, girlfriend was super happy, then we had somebody break into our place and steal alot of stuff, and in an attempt to not hunt the kid down for supper, I had a smoke instead. As it was however, I quit smoking for 5 months before I screwed it up myself. A stronger person could have lasted a lifetime

That said, if you use the Champix program properly, AND AS PER SCHEDULE, and don't try to fool yourself by having "emergency cigarettes", you'll be as clean as a newborn in about 6 months

Hope that helps

 

[Dizzy_ax]

Just think of all the extra cash you can save up for mods!! Wish you luck!!

 

[302GTS]

Appreciate all the replies, and they're all extremely helpful. Unfortunately though, I refuse to use that pill, the patch, the gum, or anything. If I'm gonna do this, I wanna prove mostly to myself that I can do it myself. I'm gonna try hard with it, it's the second time I've quit but I just wasn't serious about it last time. And as for money saved, I can't wait. A local tuner's working on fabbing up a turbo kit for me actually, so my smoke money can now go to that.

 

[yukisho]

Well I didn't read the whole thread, was a bit long. But check my signature out. I am gonna try quitting again, for the 100th time. I'm gonna try these things. They are like e-cig's but with flavors and such. Same thing with the nicotine addiction, but hey it may work.

//Edit

BluCig is back-ordered till the 20th. Plus that ecig one sounds better lol.

 

[94GTCoupe]

i've never smoked,so i dont know what you will be going through.
but,i wish you good luck.
dont get too hard on yourself if you slip up.
like anything else thats worth doing,
if you fall,get back up and keep trying.

 

[BlackVert]

dang, 2 packs a day ... so you are basically paying like $10 per day to line your lungs with nasty black soot. i don't know how old you are, but think about when you are 60 and your lungs are damaged from smoking for all those years. my mother in law had emphysema, probably from smoking, and let me tell you, if was no fun watching her sitting in her chair, resting, gasping for air because her lungs weren't doing their job like they should.

i was a swimmer and had gotten up to a pack a day or so. then one time i got a cold and after the cold was gone, i had a nagging dry cough that wouldn't go away. after i quit, the cough went away and i dropped 2 minutes off my mile time. i was in my early 20s then ... that was like 25 years ago now. i haven't smoked since.

when i was 25, i didn't think about what it would be like when i was 50. then i got married and had kids. that was when life got busy and now all of a sudden, the kids are grown up and going off to college and i'm pushing 50. it's not as far away as i thought it would be.

so i say get into running, biking or swimming (or all three). smoking while doing that stuff makes you really realize that your lungs are not happy and provides more incentive to not smoke. you also have more energy, can eat pretty much whatever you want, and you get lean and mean, which can never hurt with the ladies.

 

[revhead347]

Alright, here's how you do it.

Champix.

Hope that helps

You mean Chantix?

Kurt

 

[Dizzy_ax]

good to hear, im sure that turbo is going to be awesome. Id think thats awesome motivation to stop smoking. not going to be easy as you have already witnessed but its going to be worth it when you hear that BOV between shifts ;p


Keep up the good work and try to have tons of stuff lined up to do. to keep your mind off of the cig

 

[Black Stampede]

Just start chewing.

 

[yukisho]

You mean Chantix?

Kurt

That stuff is no bueno. I have seen the side effects hurt some close friends. I'd say not to use it.

 

[302GTS]

Yeah, no Chantix for me. Friend's mom got real depressed on that stuff. And BlackVert, I'm 18 and lost my grandfather 4 months ago to a strong case of lung cancer. He had a 6 inch mass in his left lung, and died within 3 weeks of diagnosis. I'm making a plan right now on how I'm gonna kick this habit, and how I'm going to keep busy. Already stocked up on gum, and preparing for the next hard few weeks to go by should be tough but doable. Thanks for all the replies!

 

[Black Stampede]

No offense to the OP, but I don't really understand people that say quitting is so impossible. I used to chew a tin a day (chew has more nicotine than cigs do) and cut back a bit from that but still do quite a bit. But the thing is if I don't have any for a day, few days, a week I don't freak out and wanna kill somebody. Say what you like but I think its kinda a joke to say its so hard. So what, you get a little pissy here and there. I learned that its far more about the act then about the nicotine. Get a big bag of sunflowers seeds and go to town. That makes me forget about it.

Another thing to consider. Quitting 100% seems to be kinda dangerous. Cause if you slip then you are going to really get pissed. If you can progressively cut back its going to be alot better for you mentally. Get down to having only a few a day and you will be in good shape.

 

[revhead347]

That stuff is no bueno. I have seen the side effects hurt some close friends. I'd say not to use it.

My old lady went on it about a year ago. It made her dizzy and gave her bad headaches. Not to mention bad gas. It didn't work anyway. Chantix has been taken off the FAA approved meds list for pilots, because of the side effects.

Kurt

 

[302GTS]

No offense to the OP, but I don't really understand people that say quitting is so impossible. I used to chew a tin a day (chew has more nicotine than cigs do) and cut back a bit from that but still do quite a bit. But the thing is if I don't have any for a day, few days, a week I don't freak out and wanna kill somebody. Say what you like but I think its kinda a joke to say its so hard. So what, you get a little pissy here and there. I learned that its far more about the act then about the nicotine. Get a big bag of sunflowers seeds and go to town. That makes me forget about it.

Another thing to consider. Quitting 100% seems to be kinda dangerous. Cause if you slip then you are going to really get pissed. If you can progressively cut back its going to be alot better for you mentally. Get down to having only a few a day and you will be in good shape.

None taken, Black Stampede! In my opinion it's just a big mental fight mostly. This has been done and can be done, so I have no problems quitting. Not saying it'll be easy, but it's not gonna be a life or death battle in my opinion. I'm getting plans in line to keep me off of them for good and unfortunately, I can't cut back. I've tried but I'm kind of an all or nothing person. When I drink, I HAVE to at the very least catch a good hefty buzz. When I smoke I HAVE to smoke a lot. It's just one after another, not one every 6 hours or so. It's in my best interest just to cut them out completely instead of slowly, because I really doubt I could do it gradually - I've tried it before and ended up failing miserably.

 

[Black Stampede]

None taken, Black Stampede! In my opinion it's just a big mental fight mostly. This has been done and can be done, so I have no problems quitting. Not saying it'll be easy, but it's not gonna be a life or death battle in my opinion. I'm getting plans in line to keep me off of them for good and unfortunately, I can't cut back. I've tried but I'm kind of an all or nothing person. When I drink, I HAVE to at the very least catch a good hefty buzz. When I smoke I HAVE to smoke a lot. It's just one after another, not one every 6 hours or so. It's in my best interest just to cut them out completely instead of slowly, because I really doubt I could do it gradually - I've tried it before and ended up failing miserably.

Yeah I hear ya on the all or nothing thing. When I am at home I can not really want a chew all day. But for example when I plowed snow last winter it would be one after another all night pretty much. It really does come down to what your doing. I find myself chewing when I just want something to do haha.