I hate smoking and I want to quit. Please help me?

Question

I hate feeling like garbage while having one, spending money on something so stupid and watching my health deteriate before my eyes. What is the best way to quit smoking? My bf also smokes and isn't ready to quit. I don't want to feel tempted to take one or ask for a drag. What should I do?

Answer 1

Go gradually. Start smoking less and less and less every week. Every couple of days or every week, reduce the amounts of cigarettes you have by one or two. Eventually you'll be down to maybe one per day and it'll annoy you to the point that you'll just quit. It takes willpower, though. I also heard that chewing gum a lot deters smoking since your mouth is already occupied.

Answer 2

The patch is really good, but only if you commit to not smoking - it can seriously damage your heart if you smoke while on the patch.

Beyond that, tapper yourself off. Make rules like not smoking in places where you normally smoke - breaks during work, then not in the car, then not right after a meal, etc. Once you've cut down enough, then take the leap and don't do it anymore. (That's when the patch will be handy.)

As for the boyfriend, that makes it the toughest. I had an SO who smoked as well, and so the temptation was always there too. If he's not ready to smoke, get him to at least respect your decision by not smoking around you. Truth to tell, after you've been clean for a while, kissing him will taste crappy, and your telling him that might even get him to get on the wagon.

Finally, remember that the urge to smoke only lasts for five minutes. If you get the compulsion, ride out the five minutes and the craving will be gone. Also, for all they say about how difficult it is to quit smoking, the chemical dependency of your body on them can be broken in only two days. Everything after that two days is habit, and if you can retrain your thinking, you will be able to quit.

Good luck - I quit last year, and it is true how much better one feels after wards. Deep breaths, biking without wheezing, being able to taste food afterwards - all that.

Answer 3

I smoked for ten years. I tired to quit for ten years. I was having some health problems and my doctor told me there was a chance that I had throat cancer. At that point I quit. I didn't have throat cancer, but you don't want to ever hear those words. Trust me. I finally made up my mind that I needed to quit. I think that's what you should do. Forget the patch or the gum. Just make up your mind that you want to quit and do it! You will feel better, you will live longer, you will be healthier, you will look better. There is nothing good that comes out of smoking.

Answer 4

Nicoderm CQ
21 mg for 4 weeks
14 mg for 4 weeks
7 mg for 2 weeks

My husband still smoked for about 6 months after I quit but I really wanted to quit and this worked so well for me that I didn't feel like I needed to take a drag of his cigarette. Maybe your boyfriend could be nice and not smoke near you for a couple of weeks until you get the habit part out of your system...the patch takes care of the addiction part of quitting. I hope you do it. I'm very glad I quit...(13-1/2 years ago)...it makes me very happy.

Answer 5

Quitting smoking is a great opportunity to learn about ourselves, as you have already observed.
Congratulate yourself on having the desire to stop - then you are over the worst, but still need to maintain your resolve. It's just so easy to start thinking that just one won't hurt, but it does. Just one achieves nothing except feeling the need for another. Whatever you do, don't have just one. Beware - alcohol will weaken your resolve.
Here's a few home-brewed tips that might be useful.
It's not just nicotine addiction - there are 50+ chemicals in cigarettes. Also the main problem is habit.
We have been used to having body sensations which we translate as 'my body needs something', which we have attempted to satisfy by having a cigarette.
When we try to stop smoking, we still get these 'my body needs something' sensations, and we still feel that we want a cigarette. We have to train our body to be more selective. When we feel we need something, we have to work out what it is that we actually need.
A glass of water is an excellent substitute if nothing else comes to mind, as it helps with the clearance of the toxic substances in our body. Another good substitute is a bag of salted peanuts, used in combination with the water.
Another thing to do is to find an activity which occupies the mind or body. Go swimming - nobody wants to smoke while they are swimming. Slowly, as our body adjusts and translates the 'want something' feelings into something other than cigarettes, then the feelings begin to go away. We know its not a cigarette that the body really needs, because as soon as we've had one we still have the feeling, and want another!
We will have a few bouts of feeling or even being short tempered. We must try to bite our lip, and control; ourselves. Recognise the short temper as being the removal of toxins which are trying to find a way out. They went in through the mouth, and they try to get out that way to. We must learn to keep our mouth closed, and force the toxins out the other way.

After we have stopped for a while we will begin to feel that just one wont to any harm.
All that leads to is a desire for just another one. We must guard very strongly against the desire to have just one.

Answer 6

The best way is to quit "cold turkey"...no slacking off...just quit. Put the money you save on buying cigarettes into a separate bank acct and watch it grow ( you will be amazed how fast! )...then treat yourself to a spa day or trip or whatever you want. The BEST reason to do it is your HEALTH. I wish you the best. There are no easy answers, but I can promise you that once you quit and get thru the initial craving...you will feel so much better, have more energy (and breath), and a sense of pride in knowing you took a step to beat the monster (Cancer)

Answer 7

there is no easy way to quit smoking. I may be the wrong person to ask. I did quit smoking during pregnancies but started smoking again after all 3. Its a battle of the mind. I stopped because I didnt want to harm an unborn child, but started again because I missed smoking. Maybe one day I may quit again, but right now I dont want to, yes it may sound stupid and selfish, but the enjoyment I get outweighs the negatives in my mind at the moment

Answer 8

I'm 29. I've had no cigarettes in 2 years. (about 2 years, I never thought it was helpful to mark a day and check my calendar)

I did it with the nicotine losenge. It seemed to keep my figety mouth busy and the nicotine helped my cravings.

I tried the patch, didn't work. Fell off when I showered or sweat and when I wore it at night it gave me horrible vivid dreams.

i tried the gum, and I just thought it was awful.

The mint tastes like peppery chalk, but you get used to it in about a week. I used to go outside on mint breaks with the smoking guys. I still like the fresh air. I take fresh air breaks and drive with my car window open! (Some old habits just stick around)

hope it helps.

Answer 9

Every smoker has particular times of the day, or particular situations when they have a cigarette.
Being aware of the kinds of triggers that you are prone to will help enormously when you're giving up.
If you tell yourself you're quitting for good it may be too overwhelming to think about.
So promise "I won't smoke today" and you'll be amazed at how much that helps you through.
The key is to take one day at a time.

GOOD LUCK.

Answer 10

man this is the ever lasting battle of the nica stick soaking cancer into are lungs for that everlasting quick stress realver, we as smoking people are battleing this everyday, as one stressfull moment acompanys another we yes we pull together and smoke, at the dull times we try and quit with the gum but when the **** hits the fan we all run to smoke, the best soltion is keep smoking just brush your teeth and make sure thats all your smoking