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Quitting smoking

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ILoveLife

MyPTSD Pro
Anyone quit smoking here and has tips?

I need to quit smoking without crumbling into a big ball of anxious mess, to pay my university tuition.

I'm smoking less but my brain keeps thinking how unfair it is that I don't get my hourly nicotine supply.
Patches don't work. Lozanges just increase cravings. All the pharmaceuticals are too expensive anyway, or contain sugar which I don't eat, or contain sugar and are too expensive.

I need psychological tips.
One that works well, but I eventually cave, is to delay the smoke for 15 minutes at a time. It works well for about an hour, then I start getting nervous about it and cave.

I tried cold turkey like I did with booze and drugs, but didn't work. Really, you really wouldn't want to meet me in that state.
So I figure the only way is reducing it, one at a time. :confused:

So.. if you quit smoking how did you do it?
 
I smoke now so might not be best person to answer but I quit from 2011 til about a month ago so I'll answer from then.

I kinda quit cold turkey, like I researched a crap ton of distractions and replacements, ended up using very little of them. My weird cheesey mantra was just "will it make me happy though?" N it just worked to take a minute to decide if it was really what I wanted. Like I nearly bought a few times but I was more worried I'd smoke again and be mad at myself so hard that the minute to think helped me.

I know friends who've done well with vapes and stuff but I'm pretty sure they contain sugar, initial cost is quite high n it's not exactly ideal. Just make sure you have reminders for why you're doing it cos it's easy to be like "yeah I know I said this but one would be fine!"
 
Last two times i quit smoking i used a method from drug rehab

The craving hits, you have to consciously aknowledge it, recognize it's okay to have the craving then remind yourself that it will pass.
So like I would say to myself "hmmm... craving nicotine because i used to smoke, it will pass soon" or "hi there craving, how long are you going to hang around for this time before you pass?"
And i would also try to find something to do with my hands that i could also concentrate on like coloring or chopping food or painting etc.

Good luck @Sietz , i need to quit too- costs waaay too much here. $19 for a pack of $25. :eek: No wonder im frikin broke!
 
"will it make me happy though?"
That's a great mantra, Chrissy.
Just used now, was here aching for a smoke and it worked to diffuse the thought

"hi there craving, how long are you going to hang around for this time before you pass?"
:roflmao: This one is awesome too.
You guys are full of great ideas, I wish I asked sooner! :D
 
I quit smoking, one cigarette a day. If I go somewhere and do something, I smoke more. Like when we drove cross country, I chain smoked, totally fun. Once I was in AZ it was one a day again. I don't really know how or why I'm able to do this. I know I smoke technically but at that level? I had a cardiovascular surgeon tell me he would gladly smoke like I do but couldn't. (lately, things have escalated all the way up to two, I actually feel bad about this) Even my wife, who really has discouraged the idea over the years, finally figured out that I can maintain this level and I don't really have to hide it anymore. I don't think it's control? It's some weirdness in my psychology. I have them with me always btw, I have to. I just don't smoke them. One pack every fourteen to twenty days.
 
Did you look at the side effects of this one JL?
Yeah, I did - they actually look quite like all the side effects for stop-smoking aids. It's a little harder to collate reliable info, since it's not available in the US.

When googling, the wikipedia excerpt that shows up is in e: the side effects if one is taking the active substance (cytisine) recreationally....which is definitely not advisable. But on the dosing schedule for stopping smoking, the side effects are pretty negligible. If you smoke while taking it, you're at risk for some dangerous things...it works a lot like nicotine, which seems to be why it's been such a reliable stop-smoking option in other parts of the world.

ETA: I never took it, no. Just looked at it.
 
I finally quit 11 years ago after smoking some of my pre-teen and all of my teen years and beyond. I was up to at least two packs a day when I quit. Three or more if I was drinking, too. I tried the patches and gum multiple times to no avail as they made me feel jittery, made my scalp crawl, and made me feel sick to my stomach. I ended up doing it cold turkey after setting a date. May 1, 2007. I smoked my last one that morning with my usual coffee fix. I was not a pleasure to be around, at all, for at least the first 2 months. I went out the night I quit and bought a pack of the strongest menthols I could find (hated menthol) and put them on top of my fridge, as I felt it necessary to have an emergency pack on hand just in case, but wanted to make sure I wouldn't enjoy the taste and such.

However, I couldn't sleep knowing they were there....so I got up, grabbed the pack, opened them, took one out and started smelling it from one end to the other, grabbed my lighter, and a-l-m-o-s-t lit it up....but then decided hell no....I wasn't going to let the cigs kick my ass so I took them out to the dumpster, crushed the pack, and tossed them in. I was determined not to go dumpster diving for a smoke. It was a real bitch living close to a convenience store.

The whole time leading up to my quit date and while I was still trying to fight the urges, I kept looking at graphic photos of what long-term smoking does to my innards and such, as well as a list of all the chemicals in the typical cigs....as that stuff had always been out of sight, out of mind...and ended up making those kinds of things my screensaver/background pics so I'd see it every time I logged onto the internet. I also read horror stories of smokers who didn't quit in time to prevent severe and irreversible illness.

I'd make notes on post-its that said, "Breathing....is not overrated." "You are worth the effort." "Your lungs, and everyone else's, will thank you." etc. It was also nice not to have to miss significant chunks of social things due to having to go outside for a smoke break, or for fear of smelling too strongly of the smoke to be welcomed by non-smokers, or being given the evil eye by those who didn't want to smell my smoke as they passed by me. I always hated that, but was convinced I HAD to have my smoke, more for everyone else's benefit as my moods would be unbearable otherwise.

I also kept lots of gum/mints/candy/celery sticks/carrot sticks/bell pepper sticks/cucumber slices/etc. handy at all times to keep my hands and mouth busy. I gained some weight then, too, as the candy seemed to be my favorite addiction replacement....especially Hershey bars, as I'd eat one little square of it at a time when I was craving a smoke....on a good day....other days, I'd buy the family size bar and eat it like someone was trying to take it away from me.

Stress balls, or stress balloons made with sand, pens, pencils, string, silly putty, a ring that spins that I'd wear on my thumb, coloring books, audio books, books that taught me something new and cool, crafty shit that I enjoyed doing, more nature time to appreciate the little things I so often overlooked, kept up with how much money I was saving each week, then "treating" myself, and I don't remember what all else it took to keep my brain off the cigs, but the combinations of all my choices worked and have kept me cig free, so far. Many folks, especially at work where I had to be immersed with the heavy smokers, were offering to buy me cartons if I'd only start again since I was pretty much a royal moody bitch for a while...but glad i didn't take them up on it.

I was still employed at the voc. rehab at the time and had to walk through many smoking sections during all my shifts each day, lived in an apartment complex full of smokers where the smoke would come into my apt. from all angles, and felt like giving up every single day I caught a whiff of the smoke.....but once I cleaned my entire apartment and saw the gross yellow film that was left on everydamnthing, and having to wash the clothes/curtains/etc. multiple times to get the stink out, I was determined not to start again.

I was also convinced giving up the cigs was the absolute hardest thing I'd ever attempted and managed to accomplish until I drastically changed all of my consumption habits 3ish years ago. I didn't have to consume tobacco products multiple times a day to stay alive or use them to clean with, bathe with, and such....talk about a whole new challenge that had more levels than I cared to imagine. All big changes are difficult, most especially when trying to kick addictions. Wishing you the best in whatever choices you decide to roll with.
 
3 days on benzos, sleeping = my fav way to quit.

I’ve done it a couple times, and stayed off for years each time. Going back to smoking after that has always been a conscious decision, rather than FFS I wanna damn cigarette now! Which I’ve also done my fair share of times ;) Like most of us, yeah?

I have to up my stimulant use, after I quit. Whether by exercise & coffee (adrenaline & caffeine), or ADHD meds. But that’s a seperate issue along the lines of why I smoke to begin with, and what I get out of it. Similarly, because smoking means I’m literally taking a few minutes every hour or two to regulate my breathing & ground/center... I have to add that into my routine not-smoking. Without the excuse of needing a fix to sort. But purely out of self interest.
 
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