One day I woke up and had no smokes, it was December 8th, 2006. I remember the date because I had been considering quitting after my mother died of lung cancer at the age of 55 on October 27th of 2006. So I was walking in the mall with my then roommate and I mentioned how I had no more cigarettes and felt ready to quit. So I walked into a pharmacy and bought some nicorette gum. I used it for the rest of December. By the time January hit I was okay without it. Since then I have maybe smoked 8 cigarettes (which is gross, no idea why, I haven't had one now in over two years). The gum helped me get through the emotional need after I had broken the physiological need within 72 hours.
My husband used tee tree oil toothpicks when he quit. www.amazon.com/Thursday-Plantation-Australian-Chewing-Sticks/dp/B0001U1YB8 When you bite down on it, it releases a pretty intense mint flavor. Anytime he wanted to smoke, he chewed on one of these instead. It's been 3 years and now the smell of smoke repulses him. But he probably only needed to use the sticks for the first year. Good luck! You can do it!
My husband used tee tree oil toothpicks when he quit. www.amazon.com/Thursday-Plantation-Australian-Chewing-Sticks/dp/B0001U1YB8 When you bite down on it, it releases a pretty intense mint flavor. Anytime he wanted to smoke, he chewed on one of these instead. It's been 3 years and now the smell of smoke repulses him. But he probably only needed to use the sticks for the first year. Good luck! You can do it!
Am I the only ex-smoker who isn't repulsed by the smell of smoke? My co-workers come back in from a break and the smell is rather comforting.
Good for you. Be done with it. I am 16 months in. Cold turkey - no gum, patches, nothing. It helped that I had a series of nasty upper resparitory infections and I simply couldn't breathe. And cigs are what $7 a pack? I have kids now, we can't afford that.
I wish there was an easy way to do this but there isn't. It will be the toughest thing you've probably ever done. The first 6 months suck, and then it starts to not weigh as heavily. I still think about it often, especially since H is a smoker. I wanted to kill him many times over during my quitting journey. But I just had to be done with this mess regardless. I'm 35, it's not cute and it will put me in my fucking grave. I want to be here for my family, and set a good example of healthy, clean living for them.
Also take up something cardiovascular like running/jogging. If you haven't already, start with couch to 5K. You can't rn and bea smoker. Register for a few races and make this your new thing. I love running now, and running and cigarettes are no bueno. Good luck! Remember just get back on if you fall off.
I just quit on July 1st. I use the e-cigarette in the car or if I'm super stressed. It was a habit for me, moreso than an addiction. I still have to actively concentrate when I'm at the gas station so I don't buy them out of habit. And it's hard not to ask for one from my sisters when they light up. But I will say, I absolutely enjoy me and my car not smelling like smoke.
I had to chime in on this thread even though it's a little bit older.... I smoked for 20 some odd years and had tried to quit many, many times, always failing.... In December 2007 after wanting to quit for a very long time, I finally just gave it up, cold turkey. I was DONE!
The only advice I can give you is to get through each urge, they don't last very long and as time passes you will get less and less urges and they will pass quickly with each one. My husband smokes, like a chiminey and it's really starting to put a damper on our marriage. UGH. He is such a smart, smart man and very head strong but his whole life revolves around smoking. It's very unattractive and seems to come across as ignorant, since he has heart problems and can NOT put down the cigarette. He misses out on so much since most of the time he's outside smoking at family gatherings, out to dinner or whatnot. It RULES HIS LIFE.
So be smart and don't let cigarettes rule your life!!! Get through ONE urge at a time and continue to tell yourself, "and this too shall pass". GOOD LUCK!
ETA: Even our children hardly ever come over because they hate the smell of the smoke SO much and don't want to have their clothes/hair smell after visiting.
I really demonized it in my head. I thought of how disgusting smoke is, and how weak and stupid people who smoke are, and how much better I am that I'm quitting. (Yeah, I realize this is overly dramatic, but it helped in the beginning.)
I reminded myself that it will get better. And it will. You may still crave a cigarette from time to time for the rest of your life (I quit 2 years, 8 months ago), but I promise that it won't be as bad as it is those first few months.
I stopped drinking for a few months. When I drink now, I want to smoke, but I usually quash that craving with snacky foods. I'm not a big drinker, so it wasn't a huge deal.
I tried to envision myself struggling to breathe and dying from lung cancer in a hospital, and tried to remind myself how guilty I would feel putting my family through that. And I told myself that if I kept smoking, it was more than likely that this would happen.
I told myself that I can not have even one cigarette. I am not allowed. There are certain things we're not "allowed" to do in life that we may be tempted to do -- cheat on our spouses, steal things we want, etc. -- and I put smoking in that category. I was simply not allowed to do that anymore.
Again, this line of thought might sound a little crazy, but I smoked for almost 20 years and it was a serious addiction. I started when I was 11 and was smoking a pack a day by the time I was 15. Going back is not an option for me anymore.