Former smokers please help.

[girl81]

Are there any former smokers in here? love to hear how you quit and what helped.

[Jodie10]

I smoked on and off for several years, nasty nasty habit. Picked it up during time abroad in Europe. I simply threw my smokes away and quit cold turkey. Staying away from people and places where there will be smoking is key for the first 21 days. There are some great websites which list the incredible benefits of quitting within the first hour, first day, first week, etc. See link below. Today is the perfect time for you to throw out the cancer sticks and start your new, healthier and better-smelling life as a non-smoker.

http://www.everydayhealth.com/quit-smoking/benefits/

http://quitsmoking.about.com/cs/afte...ing20minut.htm

[vhenley164]

I used to smoke about 20 a day at my most for about 10 years (started way too early at like 13 ). It is a nasty and super expensive habit - it is probably cheaper to buy crack in London than cigarettes. I also had to stop drinking red wine because they just went together too well and I can't have one without wanting the other.

I quite because I got into fitness and my partner told me that he didn't want to kiss me because I tasted nasty. I was so embarrassed and from that moment just decided to quit.

For those who are addicted, you have to treat it the same you would any addiction - as in, never do it again! Like how alcoholics can't drink ever again - like that. No patches, no e-cigs or whatever the hell they are called - once you have admitted the addiction you have to treat it like any other addiction. I am sure there are groups for it as well with sponsors and everything. The NHS has a great service but not sure what the US equivalent would be - Smokers Anonymous maybe?

I was never addicted, it was more habit than anything and was able to quit quite easily. I still have a crafty f*g at Christmas but won't have another for the year

[vhenley164]

I used to smoke about 20 a day at my most for about 10 years (started way too early at like 13 ). It is a nasty and super expensive habit - it is probably cheaper to buy crack in London than cigarettes. I also had to stop drinking red wine because they just went together too well and I can't have one without wanting the other.

I quite because I got into fitness and my partner told me that he didn't want to kiss me because I tasted nasty. I was so embarrassed and from that moment just decided to quit.

For those who are addicted, you have to treat it the same you would any addiction - as in, never do it again! Like how alcoholics can't drink ever again - like that. No patches, no e-cigs or whatever the hell they are called - once you have admitted the addiction you have to treat it like any other addiction. I am sure there are groups for it as well with sponsors and everything. The NHS has a great service but not sure what the US equivalent would be - Smokers Anonymous maybe?

I was never addicted, it was more habit than anything and was able to quit quite easily. I still have a crafty f*g at Christmas but won't have another for the year

Ha! I love US terminology - I just had to edit f*g from the censors. F*g as in a cigarette, not a derogatory term for a homosexual

Seriously BB.com - you sensor that but let all the homophobia in the misc go ignored. Bad form!

[Paintballchick]

Used to smoke 2 packs a day from the age of 14 too 32. Quit 4 years ago. One day just decided i didn't want to waste money and i really did not enjoy the taste that day either. So went cold turkey, my kids helped me a lot encouraging me all the time, telling me how happy they were with me quitting and how nice i smelled

4 years later and not one relapse. I do on occasion get the urge but it passes real quickly. In summary, every time you feel like one think of the reasons why you are quitting

[vhenley164]

Used to smoke 2 packs a day from the age of 14 too 32. Quit 4 years ago. One day just decided i didn't want to waste money and i really did not enjoy the taste that day either. So went cold turkey, my kids helped me a lot encouraging me all the time, telling me how happy they were with me quitting and how nice i smelled

4 years later and not one relapse. I do on occasion get the urge but it passes real quickly. In summary, every time you feel like one think of the reasons why you are quitting

Well done

[kgrrl]

I'm a former smoker. I smoked 1-2 packs a day and celebrate my 10 year anniversary as a non-smoker this year.
I didn't go cold turkey. I bought a box of low nicotine scandinavian portion snus when it became more than I could handle. Now, I have friends who have gone from smoking to using snus (or nicotine gum/patches for that matter), so I wanted to avoid that. I only took one portion when I was feeling the worst (feeling sick, having hot flushes), but not if I only felt the urge to smoke. And I took a cup of coffee when I typically would smoke a cigarette.

It's the best thing I've done, after my children.
Good luck!

[melDorado]

I still smoke, its disgusting. Only about 4 a day but I cannot stay off them. I give up and then I get stressed and start again. Last time I quit for eleven month .I wonder if I will ever manage it, I've smoked for 28 years.

[vhenley164]

I still smoke, its disgusting. Only about 4 a day but I cannot stay off them. I give up and then I get stressed and start again. Last time I quit for eleven month .I wonder if I will ever manage it, I've smoked for 28 years.

Don't beat yourself up - they are extremely addictive and so many people find it hard to quit. When the time is right you will do it

[IzTriv]

I was a weird type of smoker - I smoked every day for about 5/6 years but only ever had 2 or three cigarettes a day. I always badly needed those two or three yet never felt the need to have more? Bizarre!

Ultimately, the main thing that made me quit was money. I moved to Canada and it took me a while to find a job or a place to live. I was counting every penny and realised that it was either cigarettes or food for that day/week.

It also helped that cigarette smoking in Canada (well, in Toronto at least) is really rare compared to in the States or in Europe (from my observations anyway). Not having a culture where everyone smokes at bus stops or has to have a cigarette with every cup of coffee really helped me forget about smoking.

Just think about the financial side. I stress that because for me, nothing else really helped me kick the habit. My best friends stopped smoking and that wasn't quite enough to get me to stop. I'll be honest - even when my mum got cancer, it got me serious about wanting to quit but didn't give me the final push unfortunately. I don't think health is enough of a motivator of people who are in an addictive state - it's always too easy to think of that 100 year old person you know who's alive and kicking and has smoked for 40 years and to use that as a crutch for continuing to smoke.

You'll save hundreds, even thousands of dollars a year if you quit. I think of a lady I knew who smoked a pack every day and in January 2014 promised her daughter she'd take her to Florida (from Ireland) for a week with the money she'd save from smoking over the year. The lady quit cold turkey and they went to Florida last month and had a great time

[vhenley164]

I'll be honest - even when my mum got cancer, it got me serious about wanting to quit but didn't give me the final push unfortunately. I don't think health is enough of a motivator of people who are in an addictive state

I think this is so common. My Aunty passed away from lung cancer after years of smoking and at her funeral her husband and sons were smoking and we were horrified. I realised that nothing will make a person quit until they want to. And the death of a family member was not the time for them....

[IzTriv]

I think this is so common. My Aunty passed away from lung cancer after years of smoking and at her funeral her husband and sons were smoking and we were horrified. I realised that nothing will make a person quit until they want to. And the death of a family member was not the time for them....

Exactly. I meant to mention in my previous post also that stress was such a huge trigger for me with smoking - moreso than anything else almost. Any time I felt any sort of emotional upset or nerves, the immediate instinct was ''I need a cigarette'.

So I think reducing stress + focusing on saving money = best chance of quitting.

[goodwench]

Witnessing a CICU nurse slap a nicotine patch on my husband who was in a coma on a respirator after a cardiac arrest is what did it for me. I knew if he was to survive, he would not have been able to stop if I didn't as well.

We'll soon be celebrating 2 years smoke free. Since then though, we've lost a family friend and my brother-in-law to lung cancer .

Stopping was the most difficult thing I think I've done in all my life. What helped was not just learning how our health would improve but, reading up and understanding the addiction itself, the withdrawl (not just how to cope but why and how they were happening), and the physical effects of smoking. Every time I get the urge, and I still do every so often, I just gross myself out envisioning all the harm it causes.

Besides, we've come too far and worked too hard on our journey to get healthy and fit to just throw it all away. I wouldn't trade this for the world, especially not for a cigarette.

[goodwench]

Forgot to add, my husband used a combination of the patch and nicotine gum (now still chews regular gum when he gets the urge). I quit cold turkey using negative imagery. The rushes of panic attacks were completely unexpected...felt like I was delivered a blow and had the wind knocked out of me. I just took super deep cleansing breaths and repeatedly told myself it would pass and it worked.

Good luck!

[vhenley164]

Witnessing a CICU nurse slap a nicotine patch on my husband who was in a coma on a respirator after a cardiac arrest is what did it for me. I knew if he was to survive, he would not have been able to stop if I didn't as well.

We'll soon be celebrating 2 years smoke free. Since then though, we've lost a family friend and my brother-in-law to lung cancer .

Stopping was the most difficult thing I think I've done in all my life. What helped was not just learning how our health would improve but, reading up and understanding the addiction itself, the withdrawl (not just how to cope but why and how they were happening), and the physical effects of smoking. Every time I get the urge, and I still do every so often, I just gross myself out envisioning all the harm it causes.

Besides, we've come too far and worked too hard on our journey to get healthy and fit to just throw it all away. I wouldn't trade this for the world, especially not for a cigarette.

Well done

[LollyLifts2015]

Used to smoke - for about 8 years. Used to the nicotine patch to quit for the first bit... But I found them itchy and they bothered me a lot. It somewhat helped with the cravings. Ultimately, what made me quit was I got sick - flu or cold or something - coughing up a storm. Naturally, smoking made the cough worse and was hacking-up all types of nasty stuff. I hacked-up some blackish looking stuff and was like, that's just gross, I'm done. I was sick of my hair and clothes smelling like smoke too... Plus always having to go take "smoke breaks" and being that annoying fiend that always needed a "cigg" after eating, or after a drink. The patch definitely helped though. I was sure as heck a moody one though. I work with truck drivers - so of course, people who smoke constantly, and I can tell you - I don't miss it at all. The smell now is worse than ever. I carry Febreze everywhere because of the noxious smell.

[iHaveTheSun]

Though I only smoked for about 4 years, I did smoke at least 20 a day by the end. I changed to Silk cut silver.. it felt like smoking air at first, but after a month or so, I started to like it more. Eventually stronger cigarettes felt too harsh.. and from there I started cutting down. I never could go cold turkey though, I'd crave it too much. So I always said I'd be a social smoker.. I like meeting smokers on breaks, I like the feeling, I like the relief.. just try and smoke less and less as I go.

I guess at that time I quit my job and moved around a bit so it helped to not associate it with anything, but now I just don't like it. I hate the smell, it feels clogged up and heavy inside, and smokers annoy me to no end keeping me out in the cold to smoke haha

Rarely when I'm out drinking or say if I have an interview, I'd have one, though I'm usually satisfied after a few puffs and throw it out.. so I guess for me was just easing into it rather than forcing it.

[gailh]

I still smoke, its disgusting. Only about 4 a day but I cannot stay off them. I give up and then I get stressed and start again. Last time I quit for eleven month .I wonder if I will ever manage it, I've smoked for 28 years.

if youre down to 4 cigs a day youve got the physical part licked! now its all mental...just set your mind and when youre truly ready, youll do it

[sowilson]

I smoked 2pack/day for around 30 years. Wellbutrin SR helped me quit. It took the edge off the cravings enough so that I could fight it. Been smoke free for 10 years