quitting smoking

as of about 25 minutes ago i smoked my last-ever cigarette. i'm going cold turkey because i've been trying to "cut down" for the last 3 years and it just never happens. patches and gum and shit don't work for me, and that pill that supposedly makes it really easy to quit also has the side effect of exacerbating existing depression issues, of which i have many. so. yeah.

has anyone quit cold turkey? any tips or advice on dealing with what i am assuming to be near-menopausal levels of mood-swingery? tips and tricks? anything?

on the plus side i have only one roommate who smokes, and he makes smoking with him unbearable by talking nonstop about world of warcraft for the entire duration. also, a statewide smoking ban just went into effect. so no smoking when i go out i suppose. though i don't think i'll be drinking much until i get past the first massive wave of BLAAHHHHHHH because i smoke a lot when i drink.

You're going to take up WoW just so you can smoke.

Nah, good luck always good to see.

i did it but i guess i was never addicted, though i've smoked for... 8-9 years?

don't really know how i did it, everyone else around me smokes, except for my girlfriend

Take up something else to replace your "needs".... like fightin, or shoutin, or spittin, or ball n' cup :D

No seriously... I haven't got any better ideas. Maybe take up drawing/sketching, but thats only cause I like to doodle when I'm bored.

Its a tough road for sure. My wife has tried many times, one time making it 4 weeks without one. The breaking point has always been some kind of stressful situation at which point she convinces herself all she needs is a few drags to overcome, and soon it becomes the occasional cig, and then a pack a week (at least Im doing better than before!), before eventually coming full circle. Don't fool yourself if you are in a similar situation, if your that addicted one drag is all it takes.

I quit about 10 years ago, cold turkey. One day while smoking with some friends I just decided enough was enough and put it out and have been good ever since. I still have the occasional smoke when I'm inebriated enough, or a cigar here and there but that amounts to probably fewer than 2-3 smokes in a year. People always ask how I'm able to do that...The secret weapon for me was getting my hate on for the taste, which was sparked by a foolish experiment in which I rolled a cig the thickness of my index finger and got wicked sick from smoking it. Ever since then the taste has been so off putting I get nausea just thinking about it. The smell still brings back a lot of nostalgia though, so I don't mind being around smokers. I always joke with my friend that as soon as the Japanese invent a smoke that tastes like ganja I'm doomed.

mmmmm turkey

I like the occasional cigar.

i did it cold turkey about 2.5 years ago. ill have a cigar here and there but cigarettes taste like crap now no matter how good they smell. the most important thing to remember is that nicotine is out of your system in 7 days. so after a week its all mental. that helped me a lot. plus there is always going to be a reason to have just one. cant let it happen or you syart at zero. hopefully thar makes you feel guilty when it happens and makes you push harder next time.

  On 7/20/2010 at 11:56 PM, Drahken said:

Its a tough road for sure. My wife has tried many times, one time making it 4 weeks without one. The breaking point has always been some kind of stressful situation at which point she convinces herself all she needs is a few drags to overcome, and soon it becomes the occasional cig, and then a pack a week (at least Im doing better than before!), before eventually coming full circle. Don't fool yourself if you are in a similar situation, if your that addicted one drag is all it takes.

 

I quit about 10 years ago, cold turkey. One day while smoking with some friends I just decided enough was enough and put it out and have been good ever since. I still have the occasional smoke when I'm inebriated enough, or a cigar here and there but that amounts to probably fewer than 2-3 smokes in a year. People always ask how I'm able to do that...The secret weapon for me was getting my hate on for the taste, which was sparked by a foolish experiment in which I rolled a cig the thickness of my index finger and got wicked sick from smoking it. Ever since then the taste has been so off putting I get nausea just thinking about it. The smell still brings back a lot of nostalgia though, so I don't mind being around smokers. I always joke with my friend that as soon as the Japanese invent a smoke that tastes like ganja I'm doomed.

yeah, i did the same thing when i was 16. i smoked pretty heavily from 14-16. i was at a concert with a friend (oh man it was stabbing westward, they were SO terrible) and he mentioned that i'd smoked a whole pack that night and said i should quit. i was like "yeah, not a bad idea" and threw the rest of my pack into the crowd and didn't smoke again until i was 19 and in college and hanging out with a bunch of smokers outside in cold wisconsin winters anyways, so i might as well smoke while im at it. goddamn if i could go back in time i would kick myself in the cunt.

also i will never play WoW again either, that's just as bad as cigarettes. i hit a pretty major depressive streak and started playing it and before i knew it i was playing like 12 hours a day and ignoring everything else about my life. i was just starting to get serious with this guy (online which is stupid i know but whatever, he was an amazing guy) and i stopped talking to him entirely because LOL I HAS RAIDS TO DO. so yeah. never playing that piece of shit game again.

if it seems like i'm being overly open and honest i blame lack of nicotine.

after buying a few musical weapons I am broke as hell, can't afford to smoke right now and have been wanting to quit smoking for the last 2 years. I'm going to try my best, my father wants me to train him everyday to hike up Mount Rainier in practice to go to base camp at Everest. Wanting to be extremely health nut die hard machine human in shape and not wanting to waste money on unnecessary temporary bullshit like cigarettes, beer, hard alcohol, energy drinks, expensive food I think will be enough excuse to help me quit smoking for a while. I just really don't want to start up again and be like oh fuck it and start buying a pack a day again. If I relapse I'm going to hopefully just think that its no big deal breaker and that I wont give up and go straight back into wasting my health/money on death sticks.

I'm proud of you for quitting, best health decision a cigarette smoker can make. Lung cancer is not cool, it has the highest death rate of any cancer. Basically they're not kidding with the phrase 'smoking kills'. Stick with it, or without it I guess.. I believe in you

I smoke 1 or 2 self make cigarettes per day. Sometimes I love smoking and almost admire the taste, most of the time its just smoking, for the act of it. I'm not sure I'm addicted, maybe. Once, when I thought about not smoking I eat carrots. Made me all calm and stuff being like Bugs Bunny lol

yeah you need to have a substitute activity lined up.

you could try smoking crack, making 5 page posts on wattum and threatening IDM musicians...

  On 7/21/2010 at 12:12 AM, gaarg said:

I smoke 1 or 2 self make cigarettes per day. Sometimes I love smoking and almost admire the taste, most of the time its just smoking, for the act of it. I'm not sure I'm addicted, maybe. Once, when I thought about not smoking I eat carrots. Made me all calm and stuff being like Bugs Bunny lol

This actually makes sense.

yeah the oral fixation part of it is probably a lot of the reason i've had a hard time quitting before, tbh. huge oral fixation.

Good luck, disparaissant!

Some of my family/friends have wrastled with quitting something fierce, and I wish I had some insight into what works, but I don't.

I smoked minimally in social settings back in college and a bit off and on thereafter, and I still get massive cravings now and again. And it scares the bejesus out of me. The only thing that really keeps me away is the rates of smokers getting the Big C in my family, and the knowledge that I'll surely become addicted if I ever take it up again.

i've been thinking about quitting

I don't know how you feel about pharmaceuticals.. but champix worked quite well for a couple friends of mine who had been chronic smokers for years. The downer is that it makes a small percentage of users depressed.. so yeah myself I'm kinda leary about it because I tend to be prone to serious funks. It's kind of a william gibson neuromancer solution (where they make the main character's body unable to respond to his little octagon speed pills)

And of course, after quitting for six months, I just started again a few weeks ago. Very stressful period, around lots of smokers, before I knew it.. I'm back to half a pack a day. Speaking of which, time for another death stick...

(By the way for the record, the way I quit six months ago was by getting intensely ill with the flu and bedridden for about three months. I'd advise going against that route..)

Female Watmmer Confesses She Has A Monstrosity Of Addiction To Oral Fixation

  On 7/21/2010 at 12:20 AM, disparaissant said:

yeah the oral fixation part of it is probably a lot of the reason i've had a hard time quitting before, tbh. huge oral fixation.

  On 7/21/2010 at 12:26 AM, TwiddleBot said:

I don't know how you feel about pharmaceuticals.. but champix worked quite well for a couple friends of mine who had been chronic smokers for years. The downer is that it makes a small percentage of users depressed.. so yeah myself I'm kinda leary about it because I tend to be prone to serious funks. It's kind of a william gibson neuromancer solution (where they make the main character's body unable to respond to his little octagon speed pills)

 

And of course, after quitting for six months, I just started again a few weeks ago. Very stressful period, around lots of smokers, before I knew it.. I'm back to half a pack a day. Speaking of which, time for another death stick...

 

(By the way for the record, the way I quit six months ago was by getting intensely ill with the flu and bedridden for about three months. I'd advise going against that route..)

one of my friends took chantix for a bit... we have very similar mental health histories - lots of depression, previous suicide attempts, self harm, crazy shit like that, and it made her very nearly lose it all over again. so i'm staying well clear of that stuff. i'm too old to be acting like 14 year old me all over again just so i can quit smoking. I CAN DO THIS ON MY OWN DAMMIT!

Good luck quitting!

i've stopped smoking for months at a time. i've never "quit" as i always smoke again eventually, but i can go days without smoking easily. when i drink is when i tend to desire it most, but i can honestly just not smoke.

i think i need to quit smoking. at least round my pc, which was overheating badly:

ahaha grody. when i was with my ex my pc got like that, but we also had 2 cats.

i used this med to stop and it was so easy but they don't prescribe it anymore cause it made people suicidal