Okay, I quit drinking, now, I want to quit smoking. Any Ideas?

Question

I know it is bad for my spirituality to be addicted to anything. Please notice I used the word "Spirituality" before reporting this question. I can quit doing anything, but this cigarette thing has got me, well, dangit, just dangit. It is soo expensive here in AZ to smoke, a pack of Marlboros costs about six bucks. Heck, with that kind of money , I could buy a Chevrolet and drive to church on Sunday, or open a science lab and "prove" the nonexistence of God. Whichever way you lean. But, whichever way you lean, I would like to know how in tarnations did you stop smoking. Every time I try to quit, I want to rip my hair out.
IDEAS?

Answer 1

I was prety convinced I needed inpatient CD treatment to get off the tobacco... I am a big-time smoker. Here's what works... (I've tried *everything*)...

1. Chantix really works... reduces (not eliminates) cravings. If you do break down and have one, it'll taste like Shite.

2. Stay busy... busy... busy... plan on getting all the things you've "meant to do" done.

3. Do not eat to replace the smokes. I keep my laptop nearby. R&S, games, etc., keep my hands busy. If I need to sit down and relax. (I don't smoke in my house).

4. I've tried the patches, gum, inhalers, wellbutrin, chantix, everything. I like the inhalers the best cause it gives your hands and mouth a substitute. I don't put the nicotine cartridges in, though, they give me a sore throat.

5. Next time I'm tempted, I'm going to roll up a five dollar bill and try to smoke it! (gotta love ramjet!).

It doesn't take good luck, don't even try until you feel fairly firmly commited... otherwise, it won't keep.

I wish you clean air and good breath!

Answer 2

Natural Quit Smoking Magic

Answer 3

Yeah smoking is is really is easy to quit if you approach it from a breaking a habit perspective rather than getting past a nicotine addiction perspective.The nicotine addiction is so over -rated that it should almost be be a criminal act to pass off such utter nonsense as truth. It's not a big deal at all ,at best it's simply a minor annoyance.We've all had colds that made us feel worse.
Nicotine " withdrawal (?) " does NOT have the curling into a fetal position and retching that one associates with alcohol or opiate withdrawal .Those who claim that nicotine is as addictive as heroin should put their degrees back in the Cracker Jack boxes that they came out of.
How to stop
Realize that you will feel crummy for a couple of days
Realize that you will gain weight:
Because smokers have oral fixations and with the cigarettes gone something will have to take it's place
Food will taster better.
Understand where the traps are to found in the process . The traps are found in places where you naturally smoke :
In bars [although that's becoming more difficult]
Driving solo long distances
With the morning coffee-that's the one I really miss
With friends that smoke
The solution to the problem is to either not be in those situations for a couple of weeks [specially the social ones]or to substitute food for tobacco
Cold Turkey is the only way to go.
Have fun .You WILL be fine

Answer 4

use the patches and just know that the evil one will do anything he can to get you to keep smoking. When I quit, I just thought to myself (when I did not feel right because of the lack of nicotine) that I did not feel good while I was smoking really so instead of saying to myself that I needed a cig, I would trick myself into thinking I had the flu or something but, I would not think I didn't feel right because I did not have a cig. I just kept saying I was a non smoker and I knew that if I even had one cig I couldn't say that anymore. You really only have to get by the first week before you have it made but I used the patches for about 3 months to totally quit. I have not smoked for years now but after the first year I had saved enough money to do the Southern California vacation tour thing with my son---what alot of fun!!

Answer 5

This answer might seem patronising, but stop putting them in your mouth. I was once a massive gambler and kept asking myself, how do I stop when the answer was simply, don't do it, the first three months were a massive struggle, but when your health gets better and your anxiety levels drop it will get easier. Smoking actually decreases your anxiety threshhold, so rather than relax you as people think, it actually makes you more stressed in the long term increasing your desire to smoke to calm you down. whenever you feel like a smoke, go for a jog or do push ups or something, heck masturbate if you have to. Another easy way to turn you off smoking is to visit the local hospital and check out the amputation ward, most amputees are smokers

Answer 6

The first three days are the WORST. You HAVE to encourage YOURSELF to get through it -- even if you use the patch or chew nicotine gum. It is a double addiction: nicotine and habitual practice. Think of your smoking as being a death wish. Try to figure out why you are afraid of life, why you need to put a smokescreen up around your emotions, around your heart; why you fear breathing in the breath of life. That actually helped me a bit ... but just a bit.

What will also really help is DRINK A TON OF WATER. And BREATH A WHOLE LOT. Every time you think of having a smoke, take a really deep cleansing breath (in through the nose, out through the mouth) and drink a glass of water. Instead of polluting, you are cleansing. Your body will get the picture after the first three days when it stops craving the nicotine.

Do it. Do it now. Choose life!

Answer 7

Cold turkey. You have to want to stop and believe that you can. After 10 years or so the smell of cigarette smoke doesn't give you the urge it once did. I genuinely do not like the smell now, nor get the urge to smoke. A pack a day habit is worth about $4,000 of post tax personal income per annum when my wife and I stopped smoking. That buys a whole lot of condoms, spiritually speaking.

Anyway, I found something else to do with my hands and since I'm a generous person so I am willing to share. :)

Answer 8

Good for you on the drinking. One day at a time I quit drinking over 8 years ago. Alas, I still smoke. Every-time I try to give it up it gets worse when I return to the habit (addiction)

As with any addiction it is our best friend, but it is killing us. (I can't imagine not having my best friend EVER AGAIN, so I do it one day at a time, starting with a decision in the morning) We are expected to kill the addiction, bury it, do a proper amount of mourning and then move on. (You went through the grief process when you gave up alcohol)

Approach any addiction in the same manner, one day at a time. Realize, as others have pointed out, that habits play a major factor in the addiction, then dismantle the habits.

Two of my medical doctors are recovering addicts/alcoholics. One used Chantix with great success to stop smoking and he has about a year without smoking cigs. The other still smokes, as far as I know, but he and I have discussed the matter as we know how it affects our health.

To anyone who tells you to use will power, you tell them that the next time they have diarrhea to use will power for a cure. Addiction is an illness and it is compulsive. Laws, jail and punishment will not cure addiction. Although consequences play a major role in the decision to stop, love is the only thing that heals.

Good luck.

Peace.

Answer 9

sure next time you want to go to the store, take out a 10 dollar bill, roll it up and stick it in your mouth, then light a match to it.

teehee

seriously, when I was in the process of quitting smoking, what I did was open a pack, smoke one, then tear the pack in half and throw it out. then I took a good long look at the mangled mess in the garbage pail and told myself, I just spent 6 bucks on that garbage.

I quit and started up 3 times before it caught. Trust me - it's just a stupid habit. You aren't addicted to anything except keeping your hands and mouth busy. Think of something else like drawing and chewing sunflower seeds. Go for a walk. Keep busy and you will get over it. For about a week you will wake up coughing and hacking to get the remaining crap out of your lungs, then they will begin to regenerate and you will feel and smell much better.

O and in case no one has told you.... YOU STINK, .... trust me :))) that alone should make you want to quit...:)

love
ramjet

EDIT: ps, congrats on the quitting drinking too. That's about as easy as smoking, so if you can do that, you can do this man.... keep us updated!

Answer 10

I hear that the drug Chantix is wonderful.

I am a smoker too. I have a bottle of Chantix in the kitchen right now but I just don't want to give it up enough.

Marlboro are around 4.50 here. I go to a liquor store and pay 2.89 for Doral. When I want a treat, I get me a pack of Marlboro. I have one right now.

I think I'll have a cigarette. Join me?

Drinking was easier because I got pregnant. I still smoked through my pregnancy though.