[PinkFloyd]

These things are always better done in "groups" as you can pat each other on the back and offer encouragement so......... does anyone want to join me in stopping smoking?

I'm armed with a load of nicotine patches and propose stopping next Monday (30th October) so if anyone else wants to join me this could turn into a big Smoke-Fi thread where we can all share our cold turkey and tips for making the whole process easier.

So, come on, sign up here and let's get rid of the poison from our bodies!

 

[nfusion770]

My wife just quit today- she is using that new drug (not sure what it is called).

I quit a few years ago after reading Allan Cars book.

Good luck to you, its a great thing to be rid of.

 

[jpelg]

I don't smoke, Mike, but we will pull right along with you.

Congratulations on making a decision that will both lengthen and improve your life.

 

[Duggeh]

Im trying to give up fried food. Since the start of the month, I've not been to the chippy once, and that was hard going a couple of times. As of the end of the month, I want to extend that to fried bacon and eggs and such too. I only smoke abotu once every 2 or 3 weeks, so sadly I cant join you in quitting that in the same way. I do wih you good luck with it thoguh Pinkie. If cold turkey is harsh on you, try displacing the activity to something else. Lollipops perhaps. Or radishes?

 

[Roasty]

congrats on taking the first step and all the best. i really wish i had as much will power as you.. you'd think if you had a dad like mine who had smoked all his life, quit cold turkey and ended up in hopsital for a week, you'd think i would've thunk twice before starting smoking..

 

[gmoffatt]

You can do it, dude -- 10 months here and it's no problem now. Good call on the patch.

 

[jpr703]

Congrats on deciding to quit. You've got some good tools at your disposal now. When I did it, they didn't have patches and the gum tasted like crap.

One of the tricks I used was to start rationing my cigs. In other words, I just said to myself, ok these are my last two packs ever. I smoked the first pack pretty slow. Then when I got on my last pack, I refused to fire one up until I was really jonesing. Finally, when I got down to the last handfull, I'd only smoke half of one at a time and then save the other half for later. Eventually, I ran out and didn't start smoking again.

For me the gradual decrease was more effective than trying to stop all at once. I still chewed up a pack or two of that nasty gum, but eventually I lost the craving.

 

[Scotty757]

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=200766

I'm right there with you.

 

[Denim]

Good Luck !!!

The key is to not give in ... ever!

I quit about 4 years ago and did a bit of research at the time. As I read up on it, I formed a list of reasons to help give me strength through the rough moments. I don't know if it will help you, but I'll list a few of what I used as crutches for me.

1) For some strange reason, I was confident that I would quit for good when I read that almost no one quits on the first attempt. I use to think that because it didn't stick before, that I would never kick the habit.
2) I knew I had an international flight in a few months also that was now non-smoking.
3) A pack of smokes in the US would be about 6X what I was paying in the Philippines.
4) I knew that the US would have lots of smoke free areas and it would be a hastle to keep smoking. Manila didn't care where you enjoyed your cig.

I set a date to quit, as I see you did. Very good idea! Everytime I lit a cig, I looked at it and tried to tell myself that it tasted bad (somestimes it did, but most of the time it tasted good), was killing me, a poison that my body should be rejecting, and so on. Eventually, my brain started to catch on and smoking started tasting bad.

After you quit, don't give in! If you want a cig, go do something, anything. Showers help. You should probably take 3 or 4 a day for the first few days.

The nicotine will be out of your body after only a couple days if you don't use a patch. Keep telling yourself that fact and that you control your brain, not a cigarette company. Use whatever means you like to get over the withdrawls.

I expect at least a few posts from you when you are at your worst. Banging away on the keyboard is better than lighting up. Get lots of sex too, if you can.

 

[1967cutlass]

I'm not going to stop smoking! Sorry.

I don't think you should stop smoking cold turkey. I'll explain. Most of the reason it's a problem is because you're smoking cigarettes. Cigarettes have a high nicotine content, tons of chemicals, are expensive, &c... They are the FAST FOOD of tobacco. There are plenty of other forms of tobacco that are more enjoyable to smoke and aren't as bad for you. Mostly what I have in mind is pipe tobacco. Pipe tobacco is very natural and isn't full of chemicals, it smells and tastes good, is inexpensive, and you DO NOT inhale pipe tobacco. You will get your nicotine so you don't get cranky or irritated, but you won't have the issue of poison being sucked into your lungs. Sure, it's not "good" for you, but it's certainly better than cigarettes, and it's only marginally addictive since you don't generally chain-smoke bowls of pipe tobacco. A well packed bowl of pipe tobacco will last 45+ minutes, that's long enough to sit and relax and have your fix. Just try that a few times a day. It'll make the loss of cigarettes significantly easier to deal with, then eventually you can just quit pipe tobacco, which I guaruntee is easy. I smoked consistently for a whole summer, then once I got to school, just dropped it like that. You can also consider cigars, which are more expensive, or even a hookah, which is too exotic for most people, but it does give an AMAZING smoking exprience.

Feel free to agree or disagree with me.

 

[caramelsoul]

Ill put my name down for this one too. I think about it everytime i light up a cigarette. I have stopped before for six months using the Allen Carr's book The Easyway, and would recommend it to anyone. I only started again when i thought smoking joints would be ok, well it wasnt. I was just basically putting the nicotene back into my body, hence the cravings started all over again. For some reason the Easyway just didnt seem to have the same punch when i tried it again. But i am going to give it another good shot this week. My date is Thursday, when i go back offshore to work. Good luck...

 

[bpm2000]

I've been back on for a while - third time "relapsing" in ~5 years

Sucks when I'm out fishing and there's nothing to do while waiting... giving up that smoke seems like an impossibility compared to the last couple of times I did it (and they were cold turkey).

 

[pne]

congrats on the decision pinky! I remember not too long ago when you said no one would stop you from smoking, telling non smokers you would blow smoke in their faces, and posting pictures of chimmey stacks!

I wish you the best of luck and will be rooting for you. This is definately the lifestyle change you want and you will see and feel the effects of cutting off poisons from entering your body!

 

[YamiTenshi]

Wait, give me a few days to start up and get addicted then I'll try quitting with you. J/K

But you have my support (whatever that is worth

). Quitting smoking is a hard thing to do. My grandfather quit at age 70+ after a life time of smoking. And he did it cold turkey.

So I have faith in all the younger (and older) people out there being able to tough it out. Good luck everyone!

 

[saturnine]

Heh, I just started back 2 weeks ago

I enjoy smoking too much to quit, but I only smoke maybe a pack a week. Nothing like a good Nat Sherman MCD when taking a break during a stressful workday

More power to you though Pink. You gave up the booze, giving up smoking shouldn't be too hard.