ex-smokers! i need your help!?

Question

for about the past seven years i've smoked a pack a day. last week my aunt (who also smokes) was diagnosed w/ lung cancer. i need to quit. i know it's hard... but i have to. how did you do it? please please help me.

Answer 1

I quit 19 years ago. I threw what was left of a pack of cigarettes in the garbage that day and never lit another one. When I had the urge for a cigarette, I chewed on sunflower seeds. When I had the urge to inhale, I took a deep breath. It really wasn't that hard for me. Now they have a new pill out called Chantix. I know someone on that and it is really working for him. Check it out on the web and if it looks like something for you, ask your doctor for a prescription. Good luck. You don't want to end up like your aunt. I hope they can help her and that it's not too late.

Answer 2

I just quit when my mother was diagnosed with breast CA. How I did it was, I told her I quit. And did, cold turkey. It's been about 2 months now. I haven't smoked yet b/c when I imagine lighting up a ciggerette in front of her or having her smell it on me, I can't bear the shame. She would be SO disappointed in me, and scared for me. If someone in the family has CA, we run a much much higher risk of getting it, I'm sure you know that. You should think about how everyone will feel watching and knowing you smoke while watching and knowing your aunt is fighting LUNG CA. If quitting cold turkey is just absolute torture, look into getting the quit smoking laser treatment. I've heard so much good about it. It's success rate is very high. You can also get a weight loss laser with it, so you don't gain when you quit. The guilt trip I put myself on seems to be working, but if I start to slip, I'll get the laser. The patches and gum or useless. Changing your normal routine helps big time, too. At work, change your break time and co-workers you break with. Re-arrange your schedule a little, it helps. I had to clean everthing - couches, walls, vents, carpets, the car, etc..for motivation to never allow smoke around again. Good Luck with that. I know how hard it is. There are a lot of little tricks that can help.

Answer 3

The building that my grandparents worked at suddenly became smoke free and everyone at the plant either had to quit or they had to go without for 8-12 hours. The majority of them decided to quit together and their biggest friend was Dum Dum lollipops! They would suck on them all day at work (The management let them because it was for smoking cessation) and eventually they were all successful at quitting. You are going to have to substitute something for the cigarettes in your mouth. One of my friends mom has a drinking straw in her hands all the time and sometimes she will put it in her mouth. She has not smoked in years but still holds on to the straw just so she has that "feeling."

Hope this helps! (I need to take my own advice, I am a smoker as well! My uncle passed away a little over a year ago with lung cancer so I can truly sympathize with you)

Best of luck to you and I hope your aunt fares well!

Answer 4

I am going to try that new medication chiantix. I have heard really good things about it. A few people I know say it does really help with stopping cravings. I'm doing it too b/c my mother inlaw passed at 62 from lung cancer, my mom was just diagnosed at 56 with chronic obstructive pulminary disease which is life threatening and she has a spot on her lung they're watching b/c it's too small to biopsy, so that may be cancer. It made me realize it is SO not worth it. I want to quit before my 30th birthday this year, the sooner the better! Good luck to you and I hope you can do it.

Answer 5

You've really got to make the decision to quit, and then just do it - no trying, just do it and don't stop doing it.

But there's not much point in tossing your cigs, if you don't fix the underlying reason you smoke. So why do you smoke? Lonely, bored, fidgety, low confidence or self-esteem, caught up in peer pressure, or what?

Once you've quit for 48-72 hours, the nicotine is out of your blood and the rest of your addiction is in your head. The good news is that there are heaps of things you can do to replace your habit - and solve your underlying problems. Healthy snacks and things to do with your hands instead of putting a cig in your mouth, new activities to fill in your old smoking time, etc.

Have a look here: http://www.quitguide.com If you join up for the newsletter, you get a free guide to making friends without a cigarette in your hands, and the rest of the site is full of information to make quitting a breeze.

Answer 6

Just stop. That's what I did. You have to realize that it's bad for you, it makes you smell, and it takes a large chunk of your money. You will feel so much better. Your skin will look so much better. You'll be so proud of yourself.

I just went cold turkey. I took it one day at a time. With each day that went by, it made me more determined not to smoke again. After a week, I finally started telling people I'd quit smoking. Having them know made me really want to continue. Truly, you can do it.

Answer 7

You just have to resolve to do it. I just decided to stop two and half weeks ago, and I haven't looked back. I smoked for 13 years, and I just said, "no more." When you are truly ready, you'll be able to do the same.

Visit the American Cancer Society web site, they have a lot of advice.

Answer 8

first stop smoking in your car (if you do) && then stop buying cigarettes and if you really want one then you can bum off people and your gonna start feeling bad for bumming off people and after awhile you will realize how disgusting they are and its not worth putting people out by asking for a cigarette and then you will eventually realize that you don't HAVE to have one!!

Answer 9

i've read that if you drink alot of orange juice it will help flush the toxins out of your system. that should make it easier for you. you could also use the nicotine patch or those commit thingys they show on tv...hope you are able to quit