Tips on How to Stop Smoking?

[Jamie87]

I have had a bear of a time attempting to stop smoking. I am currently on HRT and I know how horribly dangerous it is to continue smoking. I have been trying to quit, but every time I do I get the shakes, I cannot sleep, crazy irritable, I feel sick and eventually give up. I have tried 3-4 times in the last year. I feel like I am at the end of my rope here, its so frustrating! I wish that I had never have started but its too late for that. Does anybody here have some tips on how to stop or what you did to stop?!

[Barb99]

I did it with Vaping. I Found a couple of flavors I liked better than cigs and a nicotine level that kept me happy and was able to give up the cigs completely.
I did the vaping for 2 years and then stated cutting down the nicotine level a little each week. after 2 months I was at zero nicotine and was able to walk away from the vaping.
I still had the urge of the hand to mouth habit so I made sure I had hard candies or nuts or whatever around to satisfy that.
It's been 5 months now and all of the urges are gone. It feels really great to be smoke free!
Good luck, keep trying, you will make it!

[Rachel]

I used Chantix and reduced the nicotine cigarette content in a process called fading.

[Jamie87]

I just googled some info about Chantix, and it seems as though its a prescription drug. I read some of the reviews and how the pill actually intacts with the brain to stop nicotine receptors (pretty cool stuff). I am currently living in Japan right now, and I am wondering if I can get this OTC or if I have to go to a doctor to get it prescribed. I will ask some of my friends tomorrow if they have heard of it. Thanks for the information.

[Deborah]

Get a good quality e-cig.  It's real easy to quit that way.


Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote

[J2J]

I was an on & off smoker for years, started when I was 16-17 and when I hit 22 I decided I had enough of smelling like smoke so bought an e-cig vape and haven't had a cig for about a year now? It wasn't so much the nicotine although I guess it was a part of the addiction but the habit of smoking, I enjoyed taking 5 minutes to myself and having a smoke and a vape pretty much replaces that for me.

I started with quite a high nicotine e-juice and now I have gone all the way down to the lowest of 3mg, there are some pretty nice flavours out there too which certainly taste better than cigs. I also no longer have that nasty smokers cough which is nice.

Have a look around YouTube at vape beginner guides and see if it's right for you.

If you have anymore questions you can shoot me a PM, visiting a local vape store is a good idea too, I have found the folks in there extremely helpful and always willing to help newbies out with picking up a new vape and providing tips & pointers, they also let you try out e-juices to see which one you like before you buy a bottle etc.

[Trisha Mills]

i know the pain of smoking all to well. i started when i was 14 and didn't stop until i hit 18; i had to stop because the job i had needed you in top shape so had to stop.

3yrs 3 months and 15 days later no longer need one but the thing that help me was those E-cigs but they didnt have tar or nicotine it was just flavored they really helped me maybe give them a try when i bought them they came in 3 packs for $25.... hope it helps you and just be strong 

[VeronicaLynn]

I tried several things, switching to cigars, nicotine gum, before I found what actually worked which was to go on an all out health kick. Worked on my diet, started strength training, and in the first few weeks, I would go for a long walk every time I wanted a cigarette, and job the last block or so(which was about as far as I could jog at the time) home. Being out of breath made me not want to light up, and I liked that I was losing weight as well.

I eventually gained the weight back, but I've been smoke free for over 14 years. 

[JMJW]

He claims it's the easy way to quit. 

[barbie]

I just googled some info about Chantix, and it seems as though its a prescription drug. I read some of the reviews and how the pill actually intacts with the brain to stop nicotine receptors (pretty cool stuff). I am currently living in Japan right now, and I am wondering if I can get this OTC or if I have to go to a doctor to get it prescribed. I will ask some of my friends tomorrow if they have heard of it. Thanks for the information.

Probably you need prescription. Chantix, Champix, and Varenicline are all the same thing. This is the most effective way of quitting smoking.

However, as I have to drink alcohol beverage, I do not try Chantix, which is known to cause side effects with alcohol beverage. Instead, I am attaching a smoking patch.

Good luck!

barbie~~

[barbie]

He claims it's the easy way to quit. 

Yes. Branches of Allen Carr are also popular here too. The success rate is impressively high (>90%), according to the ad: http://www.allencarr.co.kr/MainSystem/vLanding

barbie~~

[J2J]

He claims it's the easy way to quit. 

I always hear people mention this guys book when they talk about quitting. 

[kittenpower]

I started smoking about 6 months after I enlisted in the military, and quit after about a year when I became more health and fitness minded, and even though I only smoked for a year it was still difficult to quit, but the way I did it was by weaning (I also stopped drinking alcohol at the same time, so that made it easier to wean myself off cigarettes, because alcohol made me crave them more). I was a pack a day smoker and the way I weaned off of them was to have have one after meals and one extra one in the evening, then every week I subtracted one cigarette, until I was down to one after breakfast, and that one was the hardest to stop, it probably took me a few weeks to drop that one, and I would go a couple of weeks without one and then I would give into the cravings and smoke one (and after I finished it I felt shame, and disgust), but I didn't let those failures make me give and start smoking again, in fact I identified why I gave in and smoked, and I tried to avoid those obstacles, and if I gave in I would focus on those feelings of shame and disgust which made me hate cigarettes even more and strengthened my resolve to stop smoking.  I kept the quit smoking mind frame and I didn't give up (that is the key; never give up) and after a couple of months I was free of the habit.

You can do it, just think about all of the things you hate about smoking, and how much harm it is doing to your health.

[Miss Lux]

This is by no means a medical advice but anecdotes from some of our patients.... Chantix and d likes worked for some but has not work for some... Some patients reported that they used d cream of tartar mixed with water and they swear by it.... Some said that that they had d worst migraine nausea and vomiting for 3 days... I wouldnt advice it I think the patch is safer bec cream of tartar is high in potassium and can do some harm....u can google and you tube it but I don't think it's safe you might end up in the ER....

[LizK]

I have had a bear of a time attempting to stop smoking. I am currently on HRT and I know how horribly dangerous it is to continue smoking. I have been trying to quit, but every time I do I get the shakes, I cannot sleep, crazy irritable, I feel sick and eventually give up. I have tried 3-4 times in the last year. I feel like I am at the end of my rope here, its so frustrating! I wish that I had never have started but its too late for that. Does anybody here have some tips on how to stop or what you did to stop?!

The most powerful tool you have at your disposal is your own mind. I was a 30 a day smoker till July last year when my therapist saw me having a smoke before I went into her session which was my first since starting HRT.

The only thing she said to me was

"After all the crap you have been through to get on HRT and you still don't have enough motivation...really"?

That stuck inside my head like a fish hook and it felt like she was saying to me, you would put your entire transition in jeopardy just so you could still smoke....I quit 2 days later and haven' had one since...I started when I was 10

Liz

[bubbles21]

I used Champix. It is normally a 12 week program with the expectation that you stop smoking in week 2. I stopped smoking in week 2 of the program and then never felt like a smoke again. I will say though that when i get stressed out sometimes i do feel like a cigarette and i jokingly tell my husband im going to start smoking again hahaha. But no joke the Champix works and yeah they are done through prescription.

[JoanneB]

My wife, a 50+ year smoker as in smoking for all that time, jokes "Super Gluing my lips together" but then realizes she is smart enough to figure something else out like.... a nostril.

Total Disclosure, I have never smoked in my life, grew up in a smoking household which included extended family and.... been with this woman some almost 40 years now. Also saw my Dad go through 3 lung cancer treatments before it got to him. My Mom in her 40's with a heart attack

As a smoker you probably have noticed a lot of associated behaviors like, The car won't start without first lighting up a cigarette, A meal tastes Sooooooo much better when you light up right after eating; etc.. The list goes on. And certain foods, like meat will feed the craving as well as alcohol. Oh... and let's not forget the endless 2-3 smokers together and there is never more then a 20 Sec interval over the course of hours without a cigarette going by one or both.

The one time my wife did quit was going cold turkey as well as avoiding all the associative behaviors as much as possible. Her life or living situation had a dramatic change so the latter was easier. That lasted a few months until a New Years Eve party at a friends place and she insisted my essentially non-drinking wife have a drink. The rest is history.

She will go through various aspects of tapering off. Like counting how much you smoke each day. Or allocating a certain number per day. Do just 1 less per day. No luck, just a very temporary reduction then full on let's do 2 packs today to make up for what I missed.

About 10 years back or so she tried Chantrix. Being a good rule-bound scientific type she followed the directions EXACTLY. By day 2 she had no desire to smoke. Great! you would think but the "Directions" said not to stop the first week. By week two the cravings were back full bore. Now after 3 years of being tied to the end of a oxygen hose she tried again. No Luck.

A lot has changed for her in 10 years or more considering all the other drugs she takes and her mantra "It's the Only Pleasure I have". I guess coughing your lungs out for 18 cigs to get a little pleasure from 1 or 2 is worth it when for the past 15 years you have a life filled with chronic pain and ..... no clear future thanks to your husband dropping the T-Bomb on you

Take solace in knowing from those in the know, Heroin is easier to kick then nicotine 

[NikkiB51]

I know, the struggle is real, lol.  I have tried vaping, but it causes me to cough horribly when I use it.  I have heard that it might be too high of a nicotine level.  I did hypnosis in the past and it worked for eight months to a year, somewhere in that neighborhood.  I am thinking about trying that route again.

Any tips on how not to cough using a vape?  I would really love to switch.

BTW, I have been smoking for 32 years.

[Deborah]

You just adjust to the vape like you did to smoking in the beginning.  Reducing nicotine level will also reduce that harshness in your throat.

Vaping may or may not be totally harmless; the science is still contradictory.  But it is several orders of magnitude less harmful than inhaling burning leaves since it eliminates the carbon monoxide and several hundred other toxic substances.

If you do decide to vape I highly recommend going to a vape shop and spending the money on a high quality device.  If you don't do that in the beginning you will later on anyway.  An adjustable power device will let you adjust the vape to your liking, either weaker or stronger as desired.  I have also found the low resistance devices better for me.  The total cost for a new setup like that is around $100.  After that the only cost is new e-juice and replacement atomizers.  In the long run it is somewhat less expensive than tobacco is these days.  I use mine a lot and estimate it's costing me about $2 a day.  In comparison, when I was smoking it was around $7.50 a day.


Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote

[NikkiB51]

My current settings are .33 ohms and 40w with .6 (?) nicotine.  It is a fairly good device, but I just can't seem to keep from coughing.  I will keep trying though.  I am just now reaching out to gender Therapists in my area, but difficult when my insurance doesn't cover even tg therapy.  So I have a little time.