I want to quit smoking but I always seem to fail! Does anybody have any tips?

Question

I want to quit smoking to save money and for the sake of my health but every time I give up i get paranoid and angry at the slightest thing! I think half of it is all in my head, I convince myself that life is not worth living without smoking.
Any ideas, tips or suggestions?

Answer 1

Quitting smoking is a great opportunity to learn about ourselves.
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 2

I smoked aprox 15 - 20 a day for years and had tried so many "cures". Eventually, I came across the 24 hour patch which comes in 3 strengths. I tried it, not convinced at first that it would work, but with the help and encouragement of family and friends, it worked. I haven't had a cigarette now for over 10 months, I do get occasional cravings but it has been great. I also kept a packet of 10 in a drawer together with a lighter so that I had a choice, I could smoke if I wanted to but not if I didn't. The packet of 10 is still there, I still have the choice and I thinks that helped alot as well. I have been told by friends that I don't stink any more and I also put the money away that I would have spent and have saved over £1,000.00 and this has proved to be another help watching the bank balance grow. Hope this helps and good luck, keep at it, it will happen if you really want it to.

Answer 3

This is how I did it 11 years ago. I haven't smoked since then, and it wasn't easy to begin with, but hey, I'm still of 'em.

1. Decide you want to stop, and do it at the start of a new day - then STOP.
2. Recognise it won't feel nice. This will go away. Recognise that you'll still want them. This doesn't go away EVER. Don't lose hope - read on.
3. Do NOT use the phrase 'I'm giving up smoking.' This may sound odd, because to everyone else this is exactly what you're doing. In fact what you are doing is 'Choosing not to smoke again'.
4. Ask your friends and family not to try and tempt you. You really don't need some jerk saying 'Go on, just this one, it won't make a difference!' It will, so try and avoid these people if they don't stop it.
5. Every time you feel the urge to smoke, remind yourself that you're 'Choosing not to smoke again'. Just like in Alcoholics Anonymous, you're dealing with an addiction; don't say you aren't because fags will make you just as dead as booze.
6. Take one day at a time. Every day is a new one in which you could smoke, but you've chosen not to. Remind yourself of this every day - it may seem boring to start with, but it becomes automatic after about four weeks, which is the major breaking point in your metabolic fightback.
7. Eat sensibly - don't snack to make up for not smoking. I didn't and put two stone on. This is important because nicotine is an appetite suppresant, so you'll have to fight yourself not to push the other animals away from the watering hole, if you get my meaning.
8. Congratulate yourself every day you don't light one up, because it is a victory! You are keeping yourself alive after all, and if you did smoke 20 B&H per day, you save around £1800 a year which is the price of a really decent mountain bike to get fit on!

The 'paranoia and anger' stuff is your brain rebalancing it's chemical makeup (probably from the cyanide derivatives added to your regular smokes!), and tobacco companies want these bad feelings to happen. You get the shakes, you think 'A smoke would calm my nerves' and hey presto! You're a smoker again!

AT THIS POINT, REMEMBER - YOU'VE CHOSEN NOT TO SMOKE, SO YOU'VE GOT THE STRONG HAND ON THIS GAME.

One of my closest mates did this exact method, and is still off them after 13 months. Don't buy the patches, because they don't work without the willpower. If you have the willpower, you don't need the patches. The bottom line is, choosing not to smoke is not just a way of saving some money, it a way of living longer and being able to run around the garden with your kids/relatives/naked partner at midnight, instead of watching from a wheelchair.

Most of all, do it tomorrow morning, and I wish you all the luck and strength in the world.

Answer 4

This is what I did..Firstly wait till you have a bad cold or flu because you will always cut down or even stop for awhile, the taste is never the same when your ill. When better, go to work leaving the cigs at home, if you need one that bad then wait till you get home as there is no point in buying more because you have some at home, if that makes any sense. Once your home you have gone a whole day without one so no point in wasting that agonising time by starting again,repeat the process every day.The first 6 weeks are the worst because other smokers won't help, they will keep poking the cigs under your nose to test you. You will undoubtedly put on weight for a while, just be careful not to nibble too much. It worked for me and that was 30 years ago. Other than that, try patches or gum. Good Luck

Answer 5

Unfortunately no easy answer, I will be celebrating 3 weeks off cigs tomorrow. I have done it without patches or any other help. The reason, apart from health, was financial, I had just finished my duty free`s and worked out how much it would cost me to buy those fags in England. The more no smoking places the better, it helped when i couldn`t light up at the footie matches/ pubs, office etc as this helped me cut down, so go to places that dont allow smoking.Also it may help if you allow yourself a `reward` after 10/11 pm, a puff of a cigar for instance, not nearly as damaging health or cost wise, and may help you through the daily cravings. Also, unfortunately, i still have the cravings for a `drag` I`m hoping this will lessen in time, good luck,

Answer 6

I suffer from a behavioural addiction for which I am in a 12-step program modelled along the lines of alcoholics anonymous. Whilst I sympathise with the problem (I am a smoker off and on as well and want to give up) it is not in the same league as these types of addictions where the desires are truly compulsive, and furthermore cannot be talked about in this frank way.
As regard smoking I am following a policy of cutting back - at the mo' I won't smoke before 11am, in a few days will put this curfew back to lunchtime, then mid-afternoon etc until I am down to zero - you may find this more workable than the sudden shock of a total withdrawal. Good luck.

Answer 7

When you find yourself becoming angry or agitated about the smallest thing, Sit down Take 21 deep breaths and think about what exactly it was that you were mad or agitated about to begin with. I guarantee you won't remember what it was. i have heard from several people that if you practice something 21 times it becomes habit forming. Maybe it will work for you

When you feel like you are having a craving for a smoke, Meditate about it, ask yourself just how important is that cigarette to you, or you can Find a good HypnoTherapist to help you with the cravings or/and, Take a moment everyday for yourself to relax.

Try getting a Massage atleast once a week, It will help you to relax your mind from all the tensions in your life that are causing you to want to smoke.
Also you can find a friend that does not smoke and ask to chill with them for a few minutes or a few hours. Definitely avoid Smoking friendly environments, Smoking friends and family members, I know thats hard to do if you are close to your friends and family, but you have to take the temptation out of the picture.

I was taught that, at any point in our lives we have the ability to change our own minds. Thats the want and will you have to have to be able to achieve this feat.

Answer 8

I am 51 years of age and hve been smoking since I was 16. Over the last few years I have tried to give up but always found it too difficult.I live abroad and when i was back in the UK earlier this year,i went to see a good friend of mine.he is the same age as me and had been smoking for the same amount of time as me.To my astonishment he had given up his 60 per day habit ,and hasn't had a cigarrette for 18months.He recommended to me Allen Carr's "how to give up smoking the easy way"I got the book,it is as boring as hell,but I havn't had a cigerrette since the 18th August and not had any real cravings either. by the way, the book says percevere until the end of the book,I didn't,I stopped smoking just over half way through.
Try it,and good luck.

Answer 9

I packed in 18 yrs ago, I did not smoke while driving, or at work, or while asleep so I worked it out logically, seeing that I did not smoke for 75% of the day why bother at all, and I went cold turkey. No problem at all, no withdrawal symptoms, and have never desired a cigarette since (no lie) I have my sense of taste and smell back, just overall better health etc. And I cannot stand the smell of the smoke either in pubs or on peoples clothing. Give a real go and mean it, it is the only way.

Answer 10

I successfully gave up smoking after 10 years in May 2006 and I found it quite easy - I think this is because I cut down dramatically from January 2005 when I stopped smoking in the day and only in the evenings, I wanted to stop completely at this time but found it too hard. I began having my first cigarette of the day at about 6pm when I got home from work and probably had between 2 and three a day. I didn't take my cigarettes out with me in the day so I wasn't tempted to have one. After over a year of doing this I really wanted to give up completely, mainly because of the health issues and because I didn't want to look old and haggard. So I just completely stopped - I think it was made easier because i had cut-down so much anyway. To help keep my mind off things I turned to exercise as I was determined not to pile on the pounds - I bought a fitness ball and used that in the evenings - I believe the endorphins released from exercise made me feel a lot happier as well and kept me from needing a cigarette. I'm not saying this way would work for everyone but it worked for me, but you have to REALLY want to give up as you need all the willpower in the world! Good luck!