Quiting Smoking...What Helped You?

Chantix was a terrific help for my husband. He'd tried at least 3 times before but never quite made the break. Unlike some other posters, he had very, very few side-effects from it (which is unusual for him -- he reacts to most everything!). As I remember, dreaming was the worst and even that wasn't terrible. He's been a non-smoker now for over 3 years -- andI am so very proud of him!

Good luck to you!

I don't agree with taking Chantix. But, thats my personal opinion. I tried it two different times. It works to quit smoking, most definately. But even in normal people it *can* cause nightmares, bad thoughts/actions...among lots of other different things.

They banned pilots from taking it and a few other ocupations.

From experience, it's a very dangerous drug. I would rather die slowly from smoking, then commit suicide quickly by taking that drug.

Chantix!!!!! I cannot recommend this enough. It actually made it easy. It somehow breaks the pleasurable feeling that you get from smoking and makes you feel like you are sucking on dirt. You will go to light up and then snuff it out right away b/c it doesn't do anything for you. You won't even want to have a smoke with a drink on this.
Please do not let the negative press on Chantix stop you from using it. It is well worth the side effects to quit I promise you. And the side effects are not that bad at all. I would get an upset stomach so I would eat...take the pill...and then eat a little more. This padded it into my stomach and made it feel better. The other effect is crazy dreams. Very vivid and actually really interesting!!

Please try this...it WILL work-I promise.

I'm not a smoker so no help to you there (just played around with it in my younger years but never addicted).

Just wanted to say - - - - GOOD FOR YOU!!!!

You have kids, right? If they are old enough, can you involve them somehow? Counting down your days.... etc.. You HAVE to do this. If not for yourself, for your kids and their kids... My friends Mom recently passed away from lung cancer and she suffered greatly. The sad thing is my friend still smokes :-(

I'm sending postitive vibes your way - surround yourself with like-minded friends, make sure your support is in place and get er' done! You can do it!!

I'm also trying to quit. I've been smoking for 30 years now. I quit for my 1st pregnancy and picked it up again 2 years after....then quit for my second pregnancy and picked it up AGAIN 1 year later. Went back to 1 pack a day and now proudly saying I've been working on 1 pack every 3 days. I hate my cigarettes and what it is doing to me...how my children will suffer if I have cancer! I wish you so much luck in quitting. I believe at this point you have to remind yourself day in and day out that we are burying ourselves lighting up a cigarette and we are just setting up the nightmare our chidren do not deserve to go through! Obviously we don't care about ourselves...that much is true....but if you have kids....LETS QUIT NOW! THINK ABOUT YOURS/AND OUR CHILDREN LOOKING AND CRYING AT OUR GRAVE SITE BECAUSE WE COULDN'T STOP THIS FOOLISH HABIT!!!!!

I agree with the other mom's on American Spirits. When I smoked those, I couldn't stand the smell of the other cigs. Don't know why, but smoking those made it easier when I decided to quit. Probably due to the lack of additives. Anyway, I weaned myself. It started with no smoking in the car, then work, and eventually I was only smoking 1 before I left for work and 2 when I got home. When I eventually quit cold turkey, it wasn't so bad. Also, when I felt like smoking, I would clean- scrub the stove, sweep the floor, etc. That helped take my mind off the craving until it passed (a crave only lasts a few minutes), and my house looked great! Hope this helps!

I found the patch worked the best for me. I had tried hypnosis and the gum, but the patch was the most effective.

My long-term motivation was health, but in the short-term I thought of all the money I would save by not smoking. Especially in California. Also, I didn't like feeling like a slave to the cigarette - wanting one the first thing I woke up or needing one so bad that I would huddle under a little awning in the rain just so I could smoke. I always thought people who did that looked kind of pathetic, and I knew that I looked just as pathetic when I did that.

Good luck! You can do it! Drink lots of water, take deep breaths, and daydream about all the money you will save by freeing yourself of this nasty habit.

ETA: Also, I heard that it really only takes your body three days to rid itself of nicotine, so afterward, any "addiction" is purely behavioral or social, not chemical. If you can get through the first three days nicotine-free, you can definitely do the rest. That was also a big motivator for me. I didn't want to have wasted those three days and start over again. Mind over matter, girl! You will do this!

The biggest motivator for me, aside from getting lung cancer and dying, was, believe it or not - getting smoker's wrinkles.

My journey to quitting began when I decided to smoke no-additive cigarettes (my brand of choice was American Spirits - my husband chose Winstons). Anyhow, I went this route because I noticed that when I bummed smokes from friends, their cigarettes left me with a strong desire to smoke the following day - it was very noticeable since I wasn't a heavy smoker at the time. Anyhow, since my American Spirits allowed me to smoke, but didn't leave me with a craving to smoke, I often would only take a few puffs and then save it for later...I eventually weaned myself from there. Even now, if I am having an unusually stressful moment, I can take a drag from one without reigniting the love I use to have for smoking. I smoke maybe a total of 1 or 2 cigarettes a year now...if any.

My husband, who smoked for 20 years, quit cold turkey by reading the book "the Easy way to quit smoking" by Alan Carr. He got it at the library. He read it in 3 days and that was the end. He said he cant expalin what the book did to him, but it worked. He tried the gum, the pills, patches etc. This was the only thing that worked. He was just ready to be done.
Good for you to taking the steps you need to make yourself healthier.

I stopped buying them and quit cold turkey. I smoked about 4 years. If anyone ever smoked around me I quickly left the room, didn't go places where lots of smoking temptation would be present for a long time. A few months later, I had a very stressful day at work day and borrowed a cigarette from a coworker. I went home and threw up, it made me so sick. Never had one since, it's been about 8 years.

You have to remember, in addition to the nicotine addiction, it's social as well as a coping mechanism. The taking a quick time out form work, taking deep breathes to inhale.. all of those things are other reasons people smoke. So, continue to take small meditation breaks, go and do some deep breathing when you are stressed, surround yourself with supportive friends who don't smoke. Treat yourself to something, figure out how much you spend on cigarettes a month. At the end of the month, figure out how much you've saved and get a nice treat for yourself with that.

I smoked for 21 years and at the time of quitting I was putting away 2 to 3 packs a day. No lie.
What helped me was taking the time to sit down with myself and realized that smoking was a lie from the pit of hell. It was doing nothing to benefit me and only was killing my health and costing me a bundle. It was one BIG big habit that's all. Didn't help me one bit when stressed, which I thought it was.
The bottom line was when I realized just how much time was wasted puffing them. I also believed that getting right with God a few months earlier helped me to really see the truth about this and other things as well ")
Put my last one in my ashtray without taking one more puff. Didn't plan it at all, just did it. Took all my smokes, ashtrays and lighters and put them in a trash bag and drove to a local dumpster and threw them in. Haven't looked back since. That was 15 years ago. As with anything that 's in your control in life if you want it, you can get it.
Best Regards,
C.

My husband quit (6 months ago) by using the Nicorette lozenges. It was very hard for him because everything that could possibly go wrong did and it was not his imagination. I am proud to say that he is still smoke free, even if he is still using the lozenges. The reason my husband decided to quit was that he saw my son pick up a cigarette but and pretend to smoke
"like daddy". Then our daughter announced that when she grew up she was going to smoke so that she could go to the garage with daddy (the garage is where daddy went to smoke). Hearing and seeing these behaviors in his children broke daddy's heart and he decided it was time to quit. So when you are having a hard time not lighting up, ask yourself "do I want to picture my kids doing this, because mom always did". I too used to smoke and quit because I was tired of always smelling like a cigarette. I love the smell of my shampoo, perfume and fabric softener, but was never able to smell them on me before because they were always clouded by the smoke smell.
You Can Do This, it is a mind set and you have to be ready. No date on the calendar is going to be final until you determine for yourself that you are really done smoking.
Good Luck

Sheer will power. That's how I did it. No patch. No gum. No turning back. I made my decision, chose a date (American Cancer Socitey's Great American Smokeout), and did it. My motivation? I was sick of smoking. It has been over eight years now, and I never miss it.

Best wishes!! Good luck!!

I'm an executive coach and have never quit smoking but I thought I would give you helpful ways on how to accomplish your very noble goal! For the record, I have read (and witnessed) that nicotine is a very powerful addiction and you will need to arm yourself with ways to beat that addiction.

Right now I can tell you are super committed - the tricky times will be when you are tired, frustrated, have low committment (like after a cocktail or around someone who is smoking), etc. Make a plan for those vulnerable times, for example: think about when was your favorite time to smoke and pick something (that is a reward for you) you will do to replace that: maybe go for a walk with your kids, look on-line for a fun hobby you can take up, dive into your family picture project.

Also get a support buddy that you will report to every day who can listen to your good days & bad days, etc and encourage you - tell you how proud they are of you!

Another idea is to think of something that would be a negative reinforcement: like if you smoke, you will have to write a check for $500 to a charity that you don't believe in...

I beleive you won't smoke again, but if you fall off the wagon, forgive yourself & get back on!!

Congratulations!!

I debated responding, because the truth is I still smoke whenever I have drinks. That means I usually smoke once or twice a week -although sometimes I'll go two weeks or so (and through both pregnancies I didn't smoke or drink). I used to be a pack a day smoker for about 13 years. I finally gave it up and broke almost all of my "habits" that made me want to smoke by chewing the gum and taking Zyban. However, I always told myself I could have cigarettes whenever I drank. It's still not healthy or okay and I'm not fooling myself and telling myself that it is, but smoking 1/2 a pack to 1 pack per week is FAR better than a pack per day. So, I guess I'm saying to completely give it up if you can, but if you are really having issues, tell yourself that there is ONE time (and preferably not a time that occurs every day) that you can have a smoke. You'll also find that severely limiting it really makes you break your other smoking habits. I can't stand to smell it now unless I'm having drinks and in the "right" atmosphere. If I'm walking into a building or behind the car of a smoker, the smell is really annoying and the thought of lighting up first thing in the morning turns my stomach. Hopefully I'll finally be able to give up smoking when I drink this year, but I don't know -I thought pregnancy would cure that, but it didn't!

-One day at a time, (one hour at a time, one minute at a time, one second at a time).
-This too shall pass.
-It's not worth it (when I wanted to have just one drag).
-My body is a temple. I am giving my child and myself a gift by not smoking.

Good luck, it's a tough one but you CAN do it!

BTW I was totally quit for a couple years and started back up. My body simply doesn't feel as good as it did when I was quit.

My motivation was to get pregnant again, after I get married I had a miscarriage and that make me realize that my body needs a break and I wanted to be healthy for my DD, DH and for me.....
It's was very hard, I even gain 10 pounds on a year but its worthy .....
Is been 3 years since then, and I can say I'm totally out of it, now even the smell bother me.
The only secret to win this battle is really want to quit, if you mind is ready your body will accept it too....
Good luck !!

looking forward to responses ..

CHANTIX!! My hubby was a smoker for 20+ years. He took Chantix and it literally made him not want to smoke. He even tried to smoke and it made him feel sick. He has been a non-smoker for 3 years now.

We have two little girls and walking them down the aisle was a mental goal he kept in his mind while he was quitting. The Chantix made it super easy, though. My 9 year old still tells him how proud she is of him for "quitting for her." Melts his heart every time.

Congratulations on your smart decision - good luck!!!

There is a book called Allen Carr's Easyway to Quit Smoking. It made so much sense and really worked. I haven't smoked in over 14 years! I don't think patches or gum work because they keep the nicotine in your bloodstream. Good luck!

Hey there....
I have been smoking since I was 17 Years old I am now 28...
My friend Recently started using the E cigs....
She quit smoking. I tried them and you can take your level down from 18 mg of nicotine to 4 or so... I have completely stopped I haven't smoked for 6 months now and still going strong once you quit you will smell things and taste things so differently. Cigarette smoke makes me sick now I can't stand the smell of it and I can't believe I ever smelt like that!
You can do it!