Topic: Who wants to quit smoking cigarettes? Lets quit together.

[rb550four]

Hi guys , I'm late to the party. I didn't know so many members here are smokers trying to quit. Me too.Parents blew smoke at me since birth, I started smoking at 12 , smoked a pack or more a day every day until I was 60. I quit  for the first time this november...last month I relapsed trying just one a day, then  maybe just 2 a day, before you know it ...well you know. but I don't smoke after work or over the weekend if possible, just to stay in quitting form for the next try.
  Yeah it can get rough, and some days are better than others. And then there's "you're 60 years old , why quit now, or we all die from something" or my personal favorite" No one gets out of this life alive". I've found truth in all of that, but when your friends have died horribly at an earlier age than normal from causes that are directly related to smoking, it's the thing that makes me want to stop. The deformed dying or already dead smokers on TV just doesn't have the impact as watching your friend die in pain... you can't turn it off or change the channel and it effects every part of your life.
   I tried the gum ,the patch , and chantix.....yeah that stuff , I couldn't tell if I was awake or dreaming, that doesn't happen to everyone by the way and it's not as much fun as it sounds.  quitting is just , well, it's just fcking hard no matter how you do it.
 I'm happy to see a thread like this here, it's a problem that so many suffer from and need all the support they can get , wherever they are, even at our favorite website. I'm trying to quit again real soon , just working my way up to it, no really, I need to get grounded  again in order  to be successful at this....... spoken like a true addict. but I have plans to give it another go soon. after I finish up all the stashed packs.
 

[WhyNot2]

Just get rid of the stashed inventory, and hang in there best you can.

It's hard, I know........I did it 19 years ago come the 17th of this month. I smoked for 30 straight years. Through my entire 20 year military career. I had stopped for about 8 months before being deployed to Iraq. Stress caused me, IMO to start back up.

As you speak of watching friends go because of smoking, and the horrible images on TV, (course, they can do anything on TV, right) is/was a good deterrence.

I used the 3-D's approach.....:

D = Delay, If you smoke and drive to work, light up at a certain pole, then delay it to the next pole then the next and so on, till you've gotten to work w/o lighting up.

D = Do something different: If you usually go to the smoke area at break, do something different, ie. stay inside and read the newspaper, go to the cafe (which is a non smoking area, and sit with non smokers.

D = Drink.........drink lots of water. When you get the urge for a smoke, drink a glass of water. It's said daily intake of water is 8, 8 ounce glasses of water a day. So, if you light up more than 8 times a day, then you should drink at least that amount.

Can't stress enough about drinking water, I still drink that amount of water today, and then some.

Hope this helps someone.

On a side note, I still enjoy beer and going to the bars with my buds.....just had to be strong, and now it doesn't bother me. (Course they are all smoke free now too).

[74cb750]

Good advice all.
I'm trying to quit. Been smoking pack a day for 52 years. I'm a daily runner (2-5 miles/day) and referee up to
150 soccer games a year, Under 12 year olds up to college age. (Had 18 games over the past weekend.)
I find that I'm starting to have trouble keeping up w/ the older players since I had a few strokes 2 years ago.

Damn it is hard. Right now I'm home w/o smokes. It's been a few days w/o transportation to a store to buy any more. Damn it's hard.

Whenever I visit my kids in Boston or New York City I do not touch a smoke for days - week(s), and surprisingly do not
have any desire/cravings. Weird huh?

Will be trying and trying until I finally do it.
michel
PS It's still difficult.

[Terry in Australia]

How much does a pack of cigarettes cost in the US? Over here, they're horribly expensive, the government knows that they can't ban smoking, even though smokers with tobacco related diseases are a major drain on the public health system, so they tax the sh1t out of tobacco products to try to get people to give up on their own.

We also have all of the standard "Quit" programs, scary adverts, pictures of dead folks' cancerous internals on cigarette packs, plain packaging (all cigarette packs are a crappy olive green colour, with no trade marks, company logo's etc, just pictures of gangrenous toes, or black lungs, etc) nicotine patches, champix prescriptions, etc, but the biggest disincentive to me was how much money it was costing me to eventually die a horrible death. I used the money I saved to buy private health cover, which isn't as enjoyable as sucking on a ciggie, but probably better for me.

[rb550four]

In upstate NY  a pack is about $11, it's more in N.Y.C., it's allot more at an airport near NYC. Pennsylvania is around  $5 or $6 a pack. Indian Reservations are cheaper than that. Price on depends where you live in the US, New York state tax is higher than most because they can get away with it, NYC is higher yet for the same reason, the airports , well they just got you by the balls and you'll pay anything to be able to fire up once you land.  Expensive.......yes  as a daily habit.....it can be even more if you have no access to them like Michel's situation, that's when things can get stupid expensive.....  can find someone who would be interested in making a few bucks to deliver a pack, just depends how desperate we feel at the time.
  I think that I'll do some of the 3D's this week and see how it goes .

[Tracksnblades1]

Wishing and encouraging everyone to succeed. I was fortunate to kick the monkey off 24 years ago.
I still want one everyday, but I'm really good at telling myself No. It was truly the second hardest challenge I have ever experienced.

Best encouragement to all....

[Terry in Australia]

In upstate NY  a pack is about $11, it's more in N.Y.C., it's allot more at an airport near NYC. Pennsylvania is around  $5 or $6 a pack. Indian Reservations are cheaper than that. Price on depends where you live in the US, New York state tax is higher than most because they can get away with it, NYC is higher yet for the same reason, the airports , well they just got you by the balls and you'll pay anything to be able to fire up once you land.  Expensive.......yes  as a daily habit.....it can be even more if you have no access to them like Michel's situation, that's when things can get stupid expensive.....  can find someone who would be interested in making a few bucks to deliver a pack, just depends how desperate we feel at the time.
  I think that I'll do some of the 3D's this week and see how it goes .

Thanks mate, well cigarettes are way cheaper on your side of the pond, over here they're 4 or 5 times as expensive as the US, even with the exchange rate. It's all tax money, I do remember seeing a pie chart of where your giggie money goes, and from memory around 70% is tax.

https://www.aussieprices.com.au/cigarette-prices/

Our government don't want us to smoke (there are lots of laws about where you can still smoke, and where you can't) but they're not stupid enough to ban it because they don't want to lose the revenue either. I would still smoke if I wanted to, but as much as I love the smell of burning tobacco I've never been keen on the taste, so I'm happy enough being an "Ex Smoker".

Of course, being an ideas man, I've worked out how to stop everyone smoking. Just make it law that cigarettes have to be in the shape of a penis, that should stop most men (and a lot of women) stop right away, no one wants to be seen walking around sucking on a dick..........

[Old Moe Toe]

CHAMPIX is the only answer for me.
Sure you wake up in the middle of the night wondering why you have been dreaming the stupidest dreams imaginable, then go back to sleep only to dream the same dreams. But you do get used to it so that it does not bother you.
Hardest part is actually stopping smoking and the champix does help heaps with the cravings. After the first 3 days you are in the clear.
You are meant to take champix for 3 months. But I don't trust myself so I take a half dose daily and I guess you could say I am now addicted to champix.
They are only a fraction the cost of smokes here in Australia plus my lungs no longer sound like I have a harmonica stuck in my windpipe. Plus I don't feel like a massive heart attack is waiting for me when I walk down the driveway to the letterbox anymore.

[Bailgang]

CHAMPIX is the only answer for me.
Sure you wake up in the middle of the night wondering why you have been dreaming the stupidest dreams imaginable, then go back to sleep only to dream the same dreams. But you do get used to it so that it does not bother you.
Hardest part is actually stopping smoking and the champix does help heaps with the cravings. After the first 3 days you are in the clear.
You are meant to take champix for 3 months. But I don't trust myself so I take a half dose daily and I guess you could say I am now addicted to champix.
They are only a fraction the cost of smokes here in Australia plus my lungs no longer sound like I have a harmonica stuck in my windpipe. Plus I don't feel like a massive heart attack is waiting for me when I walk down the driveway to the letterbox anymore.

It's called Chantix over here and I've tried it and it did ease the desire for a cig but the dreaming was too much for me. The weirdness of the dreams weren't the issue it's just that I would have so many dreams in one night, literally from the moment I closed my eyes to the time I woke up would be non stop dreaming and I would wake up mentally exhausted which made me moody as a psychopath during the day. Even started having suicidal thoughts even though I knew there was nothing for me to be so upset about.

[Terry in Australia]

Wow that sounds like scary stuff! Are the symptoms the same for everyone? I know that Mick in Darwin tried it and it drove him to somewhere he didn't like at all. I love the idea of a legally prescribed hallucinogenic, but only if I'm gonna have sweet dreams.......  

[dave500]

anyone tried crushing it up and snorting it?maybe hit ya doctor up saying like "im thinking of starting smoking,ya think that champix stuff might stop me?"

[Bailgang]

Wow that sounds like scary stuff! Are the symptoms the same for everyone? I know that Mick in Darwin tried it and it drove him to somewhere he didn't like at all. I love the idea of a legally prescribed hallucinogenic, but only if I'm gonna have sweet dreams.......

Fortunately no, the symptoms aren't the same for everyone but they do forewarn you that they are possible side effects and to stop using it if you do have those side effects. A fellow I work with used Chantix and he successfully quit smoking using it without the weirdness I dealt with. He had the goofy dreams too, he just didn't have the dream overload that I did.

[mick7504]

I started back on the Champix  on Friday morning.
Nothing much changed throught the day and I did a bit of bike stuff on Friday night until about 9.30.
I had no beers and hit the fart sack at about 10.30.

That's when the psychedelic stuff started.
There was no way that I could get to sleep as these flashback trips took me back to the 1970's when acid floated you off to different places that don't exist on this planet.
I must have nodded off at some stage and woke up at 7.00am.
Last night was no worries and slept ok.

You have to take these white tablets for 2 weeks and then start on the blue tablets at week 3.
That's when the fun starts with your brain.

I think that it's just a matter of controlling you head while it's running amock.
That's when I've booted these Champix in the past because it was taking over my mind and all you're doing is fighting a war with yourself.
We'll see what happens this time.
Just another one of lifes challenges I guess. 
 


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[Terry in Australia]

All the best Mick! (but if they're not working, send those drugs to me, just in case I start thinking about having a durry........ Mmmmnnnn, delicious durries............. )

[Lenny55]

Haven’t checked in on the forum here in a few years. About to get the bike on the road again after my accident three years ago, so I thought I’d see what’s going on in the forums. Funny timing, I just quit smoking (again) four weeks ago, this time using Champix. It definitely gave me the weird dreams, and it’s messing with my guts something terrible, but I’ve  had virtually zero cravings for cigarettes. Easiest quit ever. I was ready to quit, and I think that’s a huge part of it. It feels amazing! Truly amazing how your body starts to heal itself even after all the abuse you put it through.

Anyway, sorry for bringing up this old thread, hope some of you have managed to stay quit!

[Terry in Australia]

Hmmnn, that's an interesting point, I wonder how many folks have taken up smoking again as a coping mechanism for the current pandemic situation? I've been ciggie free since January 2015 and haven't really thought about smoking again, but if weed ever becomes legal here in Victoria, I'll be giving that a nudge.

[Don R]

 I'm lucky maybe, my lungs wouldn't tolerate smoke. My Mom smoked until the sunlight in the kitchen turned blue. I did manage to be a pipe fitter / welder from time to time as work came along. Burning leaves just close me up. I am considering trying some edibles though since we now have a legal weed shop in town and I have no concerns about a piss test at work.
  Mom got hypnotized to quit. She always said she was never hypnotized but couldn't explain her lack of need to smoke though. She didn't sleep well the first few nights. Two Aunts and an Uncle went too worked for them. My sister quit but started up years later when her daughter died. 

[Terry in Australia]

Thats interesting Don, a mate of mine smoked Kool or Kent (can't  remember now) for years, against his doctors advice, as he'd had a heart attack at age 32. Anyway, he came to work late one morning, so I asked where he'd been, and he said he'd undergone hypnotherapy to give up smoking. I was enjoying a ciggie as we spoke, and after about 10 minutes he broke down and bummed a smoke off me? I guess the power of suggestion couldn't compete with the sweet smell of a burning cigarette. I havent smoked in over 5 years, but I still love the smell, I think he's still smoking?

[scottly]

It's been just over a year since I quit. When I decided to do it, I decided I wouldn't buy any more cigs, and rationed what I had on hand, which was something like 14 packs or so? I ate a lot of hard candy and sunflower seeds (gained 15 pounds, which is a lot for me), and also used nicotine gum, lozenges, and vape pens. I gave up the vape pens in February, and now use one or two of the 2mg mini lozenges a day.
I also had wild dreams at first, but I didn't use Chantix or anything like that; I suspect the dreams are related to withdrawal symptoms? Henry once told me that after quitting smoking pot for an upcoming piss test, he had really wild dreams... 

[Spanner 1]

Good man Terry and good man Scott ! Keep up the good work . I still had tinges after 5 years Terry, especially after a few beers but I made it thru', it's been 12 years so far with plenty of stress and anxiety during that time without going back. It's doable.

[grcamna2]

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[grcamna2]

It's been 4 weeks today since I've had one.  I got into a research study at the University of Iowa that looks at controlling weight gain and lowering blood pressure after quitting.  They gave me 6 weeks worth of patches for free and they're paying me to quit! 

It's been important for me to couch quitting into a larger lifestyle change.  Since I've quit, I've been going to the gym 3 times/week (doing cardio workouts and weightlifting) and my wife and I have decided to essentially become vegetarians for the summer.  We are trying to eat meat once per week.  I live a block away from the farmer's market in town, so twice a week I can just walk over there and get the best produce I've ever had.  We're trying to eliminate as much science from our food as possible.  Since quitting I've lost between 5 and 8 pounds and about 2.5 inches off my waist.

Also, tell all your friends that you are quitting and that they can't bum you smokes.

A very inspiring way for you to make it happen ! 

[grcamna2]

I smoked cigarettes for about 3 years.Then I got into a situation where I didn't have much income(an understatement..)and me and others around me were only able to get indigent cigs that were stale:Chesterfield no filters,I smoked Viceroys.I decided I was going to quit in 1977:made up my mind.I was forcing my mind to stay filled with thoughts of: "Cigarettes are going to kill me,it's noxious poison and I want to LIVE" and for the rest of the time since I have forced myself to HATE CIGARETTES. 
I lived in PA. for about 5 years in different apartment buildings where the smoke would come into my apartment,I Hated that ! I moved to CA. back in 2017' where there is a law with apartments:no smoking.When someone does smoke,it needs to be 20 feet away from the residence:I can live with that.

I own a movie DVD "The Insider" with Russell Crowe and other notable actors:A true story of what actually happened.Check that out and believe it   
Quitting is all part of the journey:breathing Fresh Air  Now THAT's 'where it's at' ! 
I live a little longer and may actually learn something in this life.

[dave500]

no one really smokes,theyre just the suck on the end?