Quitting smoking?

[omegapd]

Like a few others have said- Pray hard for help.

I’ve been addicted to alcohol and nicotine and have quit both. With both addictions, I relapsed quite a few times before I came to God for help. The Rosary was a big help in getting my mind off the idea of using it again. Find hobbies and people that don’t smoke to keep you occupied, too.

Good Luck, I’ll be praying for you!

EricW.

 

[Tradycja]

I am on day #5 of no smoking. Today was a rough day, lots of depression and headaches.

I find it funny that people on here are recommending e-cigs. E-cigs are what got me back into smoking in the first place 6 months ago. There is no government regulation whatsoever of these products. Granted that FDA approves a lot of harmful stuff (contraceptives), but still they also prevent a lot of other harmful stuff from being on the market. The most that can be said about e-cigs is we do not know what long term effects they have.

 

[ringil]

I am on day #5 of no smoking. Today was a rough day, lots of depression and headaches.

I find it funny that people on here are recommending e-cigs. E-cigs are what got me back into smoking in the first place 6 months ago. There is no government regulation whatsoever of these products. Granted that FDA approves a lot of harmful stuff (contraceptives), but still they also prevent a lot of other harmful stuff from being on the market. The most that can be said about e-cigs is we do not know what long term effects they have.

Oh you are right in many ways and I agree with you. I am just a non-smoker and have just seen them “work” for some aquaintances who are unwilling to quit outright. I am also coming at it as someone with a mother who is literally dying from smoking and am searching for any option.

And you must agree that the e-cigs likely have fewer side-effects than straight-up smoking.

Congratulations BTW!

 

[LSK]

OMGOSH you are almost out of the woods!

As an ex-smoker (twice now - first time 11 years and now over a year after relapsing and smoking for about 4 or 5 years) what I know is

YOU CANNOT AVOID THE DETOX

And the detox will be uncomfortable and painful and you will get through it - it only lasts about 10 to 14 days…the first 5 to 7 are the absolute worst.

Start calling yourself an ex-smoker RIGHT NOW because, guess what? YOU ARE!!!

And for those who want to know - I am a recovering alcoholic (20 years sober) and anytime it is a choice between drinking and a cigaret I will take up cigarets again. That’s what happened last time - at 11 years clean from nicotine and 13 years sober I suffered a tough personal loss and picked up smoking.

NOW I don’t think (hope! Hope!) that will happen again…I think my spiritual program is stronger and I have better tools in place…but in case it is ever a choice between a smoke and a whiskey…guess what?

 

[bouncebanana]

I didn’t think I could handle the idea of quitting smoking. I had smoked a pack a day (at least) for 15 years and tried to quit for about 2 years. So what I did is; I quit buying** cigarettes. I had to stay away from friends and family who smoked for several months. There was also a whole lot of praying, asking God give me the strength and willpower that I didn’t have. It’s been 3 years this month since I’ve had a cigarette. Now I can be around it all the time and not want one at all. Praying for you.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

No matter what you do, *don’t smoke once you have quit. *Do not smoke even one cigarette!!! That has messed me up every time I quit, and now I am still smoking. But the next time I quit, I will remember *not to smoke!!! *Don’t think you should smoke one to celebrate quitting (how dumb was that of me???); don’t smoke one because you want to see if you can smoke sometimes; don’t smoke one as a special treat at a wedding; don’t smoke one because you miss smoking; don’t smoke one *for **any ***reason *at all!!! *

This is good advice. I quit once for a year, and my sister asked me to hold her cigarette for a minute, I took a puff and started smoking again! Took me another year to quit for good! And I wasn’t even as addicted as many people are.

Avoid all of your triggers, and do as many of the things that you can’t do while smoking. I could not drink sodas for a long time while I was quitting. Many people can’t go to bars or drink alcohol. I never smoked in the bathtub so I took a lot of long baths when I was quitting (also helps get the nicotine out of your skin). I drank milk, a beverage that does not go well with smoking. Caffeine and nicotine go so well together! Try not to drink coffee while you are quitting, it will make the craving so much more intense. I never smoked while I was walking so I would walk a lot too.

My sister just used Chantix and stopped smoking for 3 mos. But when she had to stop taking the pill she started smoking again.

I think it’s very important to be in smoke-free environments only - if you live with other smokers, you are going to have a hard time quitting. You can do it, but you will still have the after-effects of being around the smoke, which eventually gets too difficult (the smell, the damage to your lungs, throat, etc.).

 

[Rose71]

My Dad quit after over 40 years and several failed attempts after getting accupuncture! I have no idea how it worked and nor has he!

He says that it still required huge ammounts of willpower, but it was worth it.

Another thing to do may be to look into NLP - Neurolinguistic Programming. This is all about learning to think positively. For example, the brain focusses on the verb, so if you say “I will NOT smoke” - the word your subconscious fixates on is still the ‘action’ word i.e. ‘smoke’.

Far better to say “I will drink a glass of water / listen to something on the radio / go for a run…”

Good for you anyway! Best of luck!

 

[chazk728]

Any advice on how to quit smoking? I just had what I hope is my last cigarette. I had a stressful job last year and used smoking as a way to deal with stress, then I ended up getting addicted. The longest I have gone without smoking for the past 6 months is two weeks. I’ve tried like 4 times to stop.

Along with the other great suggestions by other posters, consider asking your doctor about wellbutrin? It helps to decrease cravings, and I would say use all the help you can get (electronic cigarettes, nicotine patches, medicine, etc). Good luck

 

[LSK]

I didn’t think I could handle the idea of quitting smoking. I had smoked a pack a day (at least) for 15 years and tried to quit for about 2 years. So what I did is; I quit buying cigarettes. I had to stay away from friends and family who smoked for several months. There was also a whole lot of praying, asking God give me the strength and willpower that I didn’t have. It’s been 3 years this month since I’ve had a cigarette. Now I can be around it all the time and not want one at all. Praying for you.

GREAT IDEA!!!

 

[jmcrae]

In addition to the great advice above - don’t buy cigarettes, don’t smoke “just one for old times’ sake,” start to consider yourself a non-smoker, and carry a water bottle - another thing you can do for yourself is clean your house thoroughly, until there is no more nicotine in the walls, drapes, or rugs.

Not having the smell around your house will make it a whole lot less tempting to want one when you’re relaxing after supper.

Another technique that helped for me when I quit was instead of saying “never again,” I just would say “Not right now” to my cravings. They seem to lessen more quickly if they think you will give in the next time - and after a while, they just quit coming, any more.

I have been a non-smoker for 20 years as of last February.