Smoking!!
 

I know how bad it is for me. I have quit many times in the past. Once for four years and a couple of times for 2+ years. Yet, here I am again smoking to beat the band. :( I just can't seem to get that old Quit Bug back.

I do believe there is something in cigs NOW that weren't in them before, let's say 5 years ago. I find I am SOOO addicted this time around.

I've been sick over the past few years and cut down tremendously. I even saved enough money from NOT smoking to buy a car. But it's on it's way up again.

I used to smoke just 3 days a week and put that extra money aside. Now I run out of money by the end of the month.

If I could just find a reason to quit, aside from health issues, I'd do it but I just can't seem to find the motivation anymore. :o

You don't sound convinced that you want to stop although if you've done it before you know how difficult it will be in the beginning so maybe that is stopping you.

I figure that a person would really need to want to stop before attempting it because it would otherwise be way more difficult.

Imagine .... just for example, that you needed to have surgery for gall stones or something else even that would mean you would be in a hospital setting for days. You wouldn't be able to smoke then and the risks for you under a general anaesthetic would be much greater. In fact these days anaesthesiologists would be hesitant to be involved with surgery on someone who was smoking right up until the moment of surgery.

Smoking with your stomach problems is concerning.

General Practitioners and Pharmacists help people here with quitting nicotine. Any decent doctor who is presented with a patient desperately wanting to stop will usually give them back up services to help them through the most difficult days or weeks in the beginning.

We have Quit hotline telephone numbers here where I live. I'm not quite sure how they work but I imagine they're qualified counsellors. I may be wrong.

The Cancer Council here have great tips on their websites. I'm sure you have equivalent in the USA.
The Govt Health sites here do too but I find that a little hippocritical considering how much money they're making from each packet... but that's a whole other subject. :o We won't go there.

Reduce your risk - Quit Smoking Tips

I like their 4 Ds advice to help with craving... maybe that might help you.

Smoking and Tobacco Control - Cancer Council Au

If you have a friend or friends who smoke who also want to quit then maybe talking with them may help and you could always quit together. ;)

Number 1 in my opinion is like anything... you need to really want to do it before it can happen.

You're not telling me things I don't already know. I am just at a loss this time. I can't get it through my thick head that I need to quit.

Those hot line are useless. To request patches is a nightmare. They want you to fill out this form and that form and blah blah blah just to get the patches. It took me 3 months to get the patches last time and by then I didn't care. They stall you into not smoking.

I think what I might need is some of that instant gratification everyone keeps talking about. But I can't figure out what it is. :confused:

Oh, okay.

You can't buy patches OTC there?

The only instant gratification I would imagine regarding quitting smoking is nicotine. I imagine the rest is change of habits. Replacing the nicotine for something else like exercize.

But then I'm just guessing here but all the best to you if you want to quit.

Wiix, I can relate - it took me a long time (many attempts) to quit.

Two things helped me:

(1) Nicotine patches (prescribed by my GP) - I started on a fairly high dose and tapered off over a few months under medical supervision.

(2) A spread-sheet which I used to keep track of the money that I saved by not smoking. Every so often I would use some of that money for a treat (a nice restaurant meal, a book that I always wanted, etc).

I still use that spread-sheet - it helps me to stay motivated.

I think you may have hit on a reason. :wink:

I have all kinds of money socked away so it isn't money. Nicotine patches at a high dose turn me off. I don't even smoke as much as they dump into your system.

Yes, I can buy patches but I didn't have the money then plus I thought they offered some kind of counsel, which they didn't.

What about one of those nifty "vape" e-cig things? They take care of the oral fixation and you get the nicotine too. They are pretty affordable, I bought 10 starter kits for some of my clients and they seem to prefer them to actual cigarettes.

E-cig warnings
 

There are many warnings against e-cigs.

Just one of many:
http://www.medicaldiscoverynews.com/...264-ecigs.html

There are also warnings against the use of the many "flavors."

A quick google search will show so many warnings against e-cigs.

Some people argue e-cigs are better than tobacco cigs. It's very a very controversial topic at this time.

:grouphug:

DejaVu

Wiix,

Have you had any luck with the nicotine gum?

My brother quit using nicotine gum and then started using ginger candy, the very hot kind that bites back. :D

The ginger might also settle your stomach?

Many people use mints or gum to help in quitting.

:hug:
DejaVu

I gave up many years ago
 

I still remember my journey to quitting, I was a young woman and for my age a very heavy smoker. I had the hacking cough of an old gentleman and would without hesitation reach for a cigarette after a coughing fit!
There were 3 things only that helped me to give them up, and I made the choice at 21 on Xmas eve.
1) I had the misfortune of smelling my own breath after I had exhaled from a quick drag. I was talking to a lady whom I had a great deal of respect for, she was close enough for me to see the look on her face as she smelled it the same time as did I! That was my motivator, it was terrible!
2) I found holding and rolling a soft pen shaped object between my index and middle finger just where I usually held a cigarette provided a soothing comfort.
3) chewing and having something in my mouth, at the time I had long hair, after realising I was constantly chewing my hair ends I cut my hair short and swiftly moved to replace it by popping my long necklace in my mouth. All done subconsciously and once acknowledged I replaced again with my pen or pencil, while still unattractive it was much better than my hair or jewellery.
In later years I observed others giving up and I see it is easier not to tell other smokers you are giving up, without meaning to they often sabotage your efforts because they themselves don't want to be a lone smoker.
I gave up overnight, I went from 30 plus a day to nil. Never underestimate the power of your mind, if you can find the motivator, you will achieve it.

I quit many times as well.

Four motivators....
1. I worked with a woman whose husband was a surgeon and she knew I wanted to quit. She brought in photos of lungs from surgeries where lungs had been removed and autopsies from smokers. It was so disgusting, I quit that day. Honestly, it was just horrific. I'll find some and send them if you want.

2. You stink and so do your clothes. Think about what your hair smells like and your clothes and home smell like. Offensive to others but most are too gracious too say anything. Think about when people hug you, how your hair smells. WHen you are kissed what you smell like.
My best friends home stinks and she asked me if it did, I was honest and said yes. It wasn't until she quit, 6 months later she said she couldn't believe how bad it smelled, not to mention staining walls and smell getting into furniture, drapes and rugs. Your car stinks too.

3. Lung cancer is a terrible illness to deal with and an awful way to go.

4. The people who love you don't want you to smoke. Do it for them.

oh boy this subject gets me so much in recent years. my grandkids dad picked up his first cig at 10 and stopped when Anna was born 18 yrs ago. he didn't quit soon enough thou. he was gone in 6 months when they found the spot on his lung. he coughed for years. he was 55. i still get teary when i think of him.

my dad drank all his life up to 2 weeks before he died at 95, but never smoked.

i have a pretty strong mind, but never smoked so don't know how i would have gone thru this if I had smoked.

Hi Wiix,

I enjoy your participation here. It wouldn't be the same without you.
I don't like to see you suffering from any condition.
I hope you can find it within yourself to quit when you are ready to do so.
You, and your welfare, matter. :hug:

:grouphug:
DejaVu

I understand you. I smoked for 7 years but gave up 2 years ago and never looked back :) I tried to quit like 50 times but nothing helped. I also needed a reason to stop. But didn't find one. But I didn't see the reason why I smoked as well. So then one day I said to hell with it. You don't need the motivation to quit. You just need to understand that it's an addiction. Withdrawal lasted for a 2-4 weeks.

You just need to find something you are passionate about and you won't even think about smoking :)

Also try to read the book of Allen Carr. Easy way to stop smoking. Maybe it won't help immediately but someday you will understand those things he has written. Good luck.

I'm trying to quit too and tried all possible stuff.
My friend recommended me to try vaping. Was a little skeptical about that.
Then I looked through all possible articles and researches.
Was choosing my vaping pen **There are good reviews.
What can I say now? I definitely vape not so often as I smoked cigarettes. And it's a great achievement.
Soon I hope to give up vaping too as I feel much better.

Yep, I quit smoking cigarettes in April by switching to a vape. I lost the vape in a lake in New England in June and never looked back :)

Willyw, I used nicotine patches, starting at a fairly high dose and tapering down over some months.

This worked for me.

I smoked for over 45 years, tried quitting many times...none of which last long.

Caught the flu-from-hell in spring of 2011, woke up one morning and realized I hadn't ingested any nicotine for 72 hours, so I decided that since the crap was out of my body I would take the opportunity and make quitting permanent.

Never used tobacco again, never looked back.