QUIT SMOKING

[luvdolphins58]

Hi all. I'm  trying  quit smoking. I have  smoked for 38yrs. It feels like a best friend  so to speak. Is there anyone  here quit after this many yrs smoking. How did you deal with the mental?  So much is just habit routine. Help!!#  any ideas?

[VICourageous]

Hi
We have a smoking community and I went there yrs ago. Someone put up a poem called my "Best Friend"..It was SO SO true and it did have a since of humor.
I did not start smoking until my later 30's. Then it was only when I would go and play pool and have a drink. It was the nursing days about 20 plus yrs ago that I started to buy ciggs and smoke on breaks. I was using meds to get me Buzzed, so the more Buzzed the more I smoked..Ha!!

Had 2 stents put in my Heart a yr or more ago. Now I HAVE to stop..Went c/t from 3 meds almost 3yrs ago and these Cigs are a Big Pain in the Ash!! They do the same Addiction issues in the Brain as other substances. They also cause more Anxiety. AND!!! What they do to the Physical part of the Body!!!!

I called 1-800-quitnow. They send info out. This info also talks about the triggers and so forth just like going to meetings. They give you a choice between the Gum, Patches or Throat Loz to suckkk on. They also will call you weekly for a meeting of support. This is all FREE!!
I found that taking a straw and putting some cotton at the end has helped. I will puff on it like a cigg. You can put some flavor on the cotton. I also put these in a empty pack of cigs. Even Toothpicks help a bit...WE all have to change our Behaviors and Triggers. This is the BIG thing. Maybe give them a call. GOOD LUCK TO US ALL!!!!
Bless
Vickie

[luvdolphins58]

Hi all. Thx for responding. I'm  still at it. I  wear the patch  not sure bought the right one. Anyway any and all  support  is appreciated. Thanks

[real_jimmy]

Morning walks can work magic. But make sure you do not smoke during the walk and immediately after you finished your walk. Once the habit of maintaining and enjoying good health plus the purity of nature starts building up, the pleasure one attains through smoking automatically start to fade. The motto is never to quit attempting to quit, as any attempt could be the final.

[againnot]

I smoked for 23 years.  All smokers know what you mean about them being your best friend.  I sure felt that way.
I wore the patch. ( it was about 12 years ago). Back then you needed an rx for it!
Then....and this saved me....I cut straws in half and chewed them.  Same size as cigarettes.  I chewed them in the car, after I ate ....all the times you want to smoke.  Chewed straws for a year I think!
But it worked.  I could imagine life without smoking.  But now I can't stand the smell of them.
Also, my old neighbor told me " you'll never meet anyone that wished they didn't quit".  That really stuck in my head!
So, yes, it's totally doable!

[spider6]

Keep your hands busy.....reach for something else...something to fiddle with.  Drink water ...reach for glass..bring to mouth.......for me it was all that reaching for....going to get.....feeling and motion.  I used tactile things to handle and fidget with, like satin ribbon, marble glass or stone.....

Good luck...I'm going for it again soon too. ((((8))))

[bBarry]

sorry about the spelling, the word is falls into "perspective".

[bBarry]

Hi Luv! I started smoking when I was about 10, quit when I was 50. Got a carton for my 13th birthday. One of the 50 times I quit smoking I was sitting there wearing a patch on each arm, chewing a piece of Nicorette, puffing on a Marlboro all at the same time. It's rough!! It finally took. What bothered me the most at first was people smoking, but I made an oath that I would never be a reformed smoker that looks down their nose at smokers. One of the times I failed we went to the Casino. There's a lot of smoking at the Casino! Now it actually smells not too bad, doesn't bother me,, much. lol  Another time a buddy gave me a "It's a Boy!" Cigar. Failed again. I think nicotine replacement makes it harder, at least it did for me.

They say and I did this as much as possible, to stay in places you can't smoke. go to friends houses that don't smoke. The movies, the mall, shop till you drop! Stay in bed (if you don't normally smoke there), take a lot of showers. Sorry, this is all just common sense things I'm pretty sure everyone knows.

The best way to quit smoking IMHO would be to get on Valium or oxy for 15 years and quit. Then it kind of falls into prospective. You have a bad week with smoking, after that you get the cravings for a long time, once in awhile only, but like I said for me 1 week of torment and I was good. I know it's easy to talk about, but doing it is another matter. It's horrible, but very doable, especially for us that have stopped something real hard to quit. For me it was the motion of patting my shirt pocket. I did that for a year after I quit. Oh, I almost forgot, I took the money I saved and put it away. It would build up for awhile and I'd go guy myself some piece of electronics I couldn't live without!

Just hang in there Luv! We learned how to tell ourselves NO! under much worse circumstances.  You can do it!!!! Just say no!


:>)   Barry