55 replies to this topic

[Dillinja]

Just wondering....any of you guys and gals ever give up smoking successfully?

Im about to try for the third time now in about 10 years of smoking, so if I seem to be a bit wound up in the coming weeks, you'll know why!

If you have a success story (or even if you tried and went back on smoking), do share!

[andydis]

good luck Dillinja,

my bro stopped smoking and put on 5 STONE!!!, lol
i had to quit abit for a while too and i tried just drinking a bottle o cherry coke everytime i needed a fag helped, but that was proberly more of a caffine overload.

[Dillinja]

5 STONE???

Oh Christ!

LOL @ cherry cola idea....Id be on 20 bottles a day....and farting a cherry smell!

Cheers for that andy!

[Dillinja]

i have heard just smoking the green stuff pure when you need a fag help's but then you will spend most of your time mashed on the sofa

Now that I can live with!

[Faceless Master]

hmm..well Dillinja
Try menthol cigrettes.
They will help.
Regards
~Faceless Master

[Thom]

try snus, just available in scandinavia though and its still addicting but it wont give you cancer, www.generalsnus.se

[SlippyG]

Just wondering....any of you guys and gals ever give up smoking successfully?

Im about to try for the third time now in about 10 years of smoking, so if I seem to be a bit wound up in the coming weeks, you'll know why!  

If you have a success story (or even if you tried and went back on smoking), do share!

Well, although you could go cold turkey I wouldn't recommend it. And I've found that 'cutting down' is a bad idea because the clockwatching drives you mental and when you finaly get the cigarette you enjoy it much more - not good.

The only reasonable and painless way to give up is with replacement therapy but theres a lot of BS on the market so read the following line twice:

The addiction is derrived by the up and down level of nicotine in the blood. To get over the *physical* addiction you MUST break this cycle.


This means that nicotine gum and inhalers are a BAD idea. You still have the addictive cycle of high and low nicotine levels. The inhaler is worse as it does nothing to break the hand-to-mouth/inhaling ritual.

No, if you want to give up smoking without it being an ordeal you need the patches. The patches allow the nicotine level to remain almost constant in the blood supply. This is the equivalent of chain smoking but breaks the addictive high-low cycle. Don't worry though - the nicotine itself is not harmful, the damage to your body stops here.

Now, start with the largest patches. and apply at the same time every day (or night). Be prepared for some realy intense dreams/nightmares as you get used to the stimulant being present whilst you sleep. And step down the patch size every month (or as per the programme)

You may crave a cigarette during the first day but generaly thats over quickly.


I was taking patches over the 911 period and had the most vivid and terrifying nightmares imaginable. It actualy made me come off the patches. Since then though I've used the patches to quit successfully and my dreams, though intense, were not worrying in any way.

I would recommend staying on the lowest grade patches for at least 4 months despite the fact that may they appear to be doing nothing and you have the feeling that you can now manage on your own. The problem with patches is that they are deceptively effective and can cause you to believe that you have the problem beat prematurely.

Oh, and you sure will get an appetite. So, eat well and regularly. This applies especialy when you come off the patches. As for beating the mental addiction they recommend that you take up sport swimming, walking or other excercise... It helps with lung capacity and enabling you to 'feel' the gradual effects of stopping. Also, some recommend that you save the money that you would have spend on cigarettes for the entire period of your 'giving up'

You WILL miss them. Like an old friend whos gone away. You may miss them for years. But you won't crave them.

I tried 'giving up' unsuccessfully three times and each time was hell and I ended up smoking more than before. Then I found the patches and I've been clean for over two years now. You can take comfort from the fact that I have to lowest will power of anyone I know, so this is sure to work for you too


Let me know how you get on.

SG

P.S. Just spotted the irony of being in a security forum and advising someone to use the patches. <G>

[Head_Hunter]

I quit cold turkey. I smoked for 9 years and tried several times. Just quit. Just alter your daily routines and try and stay away from other smokers for a couple of weeks. The first 2 weeks are the hardest.

Good Luck!

[Dillinja]

P.S.  Just spotted the irony of being in a security forum and advising someone to use the patches.  <G>

ROFL

Got a two week course of patches today (the highest one), so tonites the nite!
I tried gum and the inhaler before...apart from mouth ulcers and not working at all, they were great!

So fingers crossed I can stick it out!
Me and the gf are giving up at the same time so Ill have to hide all sharp objects out of reach for a while!

Thanks for the advise SG!

I quit cold turkey. I smoked for 9 years and tried several times. Just quit.

I tried cold turkey once...was crawling the walls! Had no money to hand once so was forced to check the sofa for any loose change so I could sprint to the shops to buy fags!

[Kenny]

quickest way to give up is " to chop your head off "

good luck mate... i hope you succeed in your goal !

[chrispen]

i was smoking for 6 years , i noticed that when i was playing dreamcast and when i was driving my motorbike i didn't want / couldn't smoke so that's what i did my first week. all day DC and around the city with my motorbike! it was a nightmare but i did it. Today i celebrate 2 years without cigarette. i guess it's a matter of will too.

[Travis]

I recently tried to quit smoking in September, I went cold turkey with a white pen.

I basically chewed on the Pen all day and for a few weeks I was known as the Pen Nazi at my school. And that sorta cured up the Psychological addiction, and i just tried my best for physical.

Would have worked but due to other problems which created too much stress well here I am