Giving up smoking, what worked for you - only for ex-heavy smokers!?

Question

Would like to hear frompeople who succesfully gave up who used to smoke >20 a day for several years, the type who smokes the second they wake up!

Yes, and without the comments from dickheads

Answer 1

Step one, start dipping tobacco, some of the really heavy stuff with a bite to it. Try Grizzly wintergreen I think it has the highest concentration of nicotine and fiberglass. Any time you feel like having a nicotine fix, go ahead and indulge. You can still be part of the smoking circle during work breaks. Bring a plastic bottle along that is not see through to spit into, this gives you something to do with your hands also. Take it slow! This will make you sick for the first week or so, just like your first ciggs'.
Step two, after about 1 to 3 months you wil be throwing a dip in say, 5-10 times a day in place of a cigg and you start to realize this is really a messy process salivatin and spittin, raw gums etc, its not like the easy and clean process of taking the foil off and lightin up one of those 20 perfectly packaged sticks. It is therefore much easier to begin the process of being nicotine free. Now is the time to switch to chewing tobacco which is easier and much lighter, try Redman Goldenblend, then to sunflower seeds and chew on whole cloves, or nic. gum only 2 mg though!
Hypnotizing and all that other voodoo is for people who like to have a drag now and then or smoke a cigg when their "really upset or anxiuos." But for those of us whose meals aren't complete until that after dinner smoke we need to transfer the habit.

Answer 2

Watching A 45 Year Old Uncle Who Looked More Like A 60 Year Old Go From Having A Cough One Day To Planting Him In The Ground Just Six Weeks Later. He Saw The Dr When The Cough Got Bad And After X-rays They Found Shadows All Over Both Lungs. From Diagnosis To Death He Lasted Four Weeks Exactly! Avoiding Death Is A Huge Incentive When It Comes To Giving Up Smoking!

Answer 3

That was me - at least a pack a day.

You can only do it if you quit cold turkey.

You have to master your "situational cravings". The nicotine addiction is not the hard part, it's the behavioral stuff. Like if you always smoke after a meal, you must change that behavior - always take a walk after a meal. If you smoke when you're at a bar drinking beer (I don't do that anymore either), then quit beer for a while and replace it with something else. The "oral fixation" and this behavioral stuff is BY FAR the worst part of the addiction. I chewed on a lot of coffee stirrers, too.

The nicotine part is real, but not as significant as you might think. I used nicotine gum to help, but it didn't talk long to get rid of the nicotine cravings themselves. It took about 3 weeks for me to begin to feel like I had just an itty bitty bit of control over the behavioral stuff.

I wish you luck! It's hard, but it's SO worth it. You'll feel so much better when you can breathe!!!!

Answer 4

I found a thing on the internet that treated nicotine addiction like alcohol additiction. It was really easy once I got stuck into that. I did crave, now and then, but it made me angry at the cigarettes (for using a moment of stress or anxiety to slyly try to start killing me again). I quit with 4 cigarettes left and for a few months I'd beat those 4 up when I felt the sly nicotine craving (when I was Hungry Anxious Lonely or Tired).

REMEMBER THAT YOU DONT NEED A SMOKE. IF YOU THINK YOU DO THEN THINK ABOUT HALT. ARE YOU HUNGRY, ANXIOUS, LONELY OR TIRED?

THATS THE KEY, BELIEVE ME.

Answer 5

I gave up for six months, then started again! When i gave up i gave up cold turkey, no treatments, I did this by setting a target 2 weeks ahead, then set my mind to the task, when the time came, i changed my routines and for some weird reason ate quite a lot of apples (very few apples before, and very few since), apparently, your body needs a substitute and that is why people put weight on, in my case i lost weight, but, i have tried since with no success at all!

Answer 6

I used to smoke even when I slept so to speak.. 25 a day... at least... and I smoked for about 15 years I think. In the end it was the fear that made me give it up, together with my choice. stopped at once and had a tough two weeks. then it got better. now I can breathe, taste and feel better about myself. I first ate more... but I tried to keep that to a minimum. Only to relieve the worst stresses. after that... piece of cake. fresh air became a nice thing again. i have now been of it since January 1st. only one more time did I take a puff and hated it too... so.. happy me.

Answer 7

i used to smoke about 40 a day ,i havent smoke now for about 18 months i used patches and prayer it took 10 days to get over the t/ds.o yes i smoked for a bout 35 years.good luck if ya go for it,it is woth trying'

Answer 8

Regardless of whether you choose to use some of the aids available such as the patch, gum, etc - the number one thing needed is your desire to quit and your will power to not convince yourself otherwise under any circumstance.

Answer 9

the patch works if you give it time and prepare yourself. Nothing except a war within your body will control the addiction. It will haunt you for the rest of your life. I still struggle after more than fifteen years of quitting. Second time is even harder.

Answer 10

40 a day man until I went on short time at work, and realised what it was costing me and needed to make cuts to make ends meet. Went cold turkey. 15 years ago still off them.