Help me to quit? I have no choice!

Esoteric_

Hey, I need help in quitting!

I was on 25+ a day up til recently. I'm down to 10-12 a day if I'm working, 5 or 6 a day if I'm on a day off. I found out the other day though that I have something wrong with my lungs, probably just asthma, but obviously I need to quit ASAP as a result of this.

I've tried gum, patches, inhalers, cold turkey, cutting down, the lot, and nothing has worked. I have managed about 24 hours without a smoke and that's it.

Can someone give me their own tips and tricks, things that are helping you personally? I'd really appreciate it. Thanks guys!

cassElliot

nicotine is a natural anti-depressant so its recommended you go see your doctor if you are planning to quit, as when you do, you may feel anxious or depressed. often this is why people go back on the cigarettes. your doctor may prescribe something mild and is in the best position to advise you on staying on the straight and narrow.

you're doing the right thing by quitting. i've never smoked but i can understand how difficult quitting can be. if you find you have bad days, accept that they are bad days, and that they will pass. in a years time you will be glad you decided to do this..


i wish you the very best of luck and good health.

Readyhed

Fisrtly you have to recognise how serious an addiction it is and how hard it is going to be to quit.

I gave up 6 years ago and can honestly say it was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.

Personally I believe that the only way is cold turkey but in the very begining I wouls take just a few pulls from a cigarette an then put it out. These are the only hits that satisfy you cravings so smoking the rest of the cigarette does nothing for you.

At some point you have to stop completely. In my case I took time off work and just focussed on getting from one hour to the next without smoking. If the craving got so bad
(and they do) I would go to bed.

Don't drink alcohol and try to avoid doing anything stressful.

Be prepared to feel all kinds of emotions from "what's the point ?" to
"life is not worth living" etc., If you get too down take the advise given previously and seek medical help.

The problem is that a nicotine addiction is every bit as tough to kick as an addcition to alcohol or hard drugs but society does not seem to recognise it yet. The vast majority of anti-smoking adds take a humerous approach to the subject. It is not funny at all. It kills thousands every year.

Giving up this addiction is not a part time exercise. You can't do it and carry on with life as normal any more than you could if you were coming off heroine. Take it seriously and after three weeks or so you will over the worst of it.

Best of Luck!

lester76

Hey op the fact your on here looking for advice is a good start. You need to ask yourself whats the advantages to smoking the simple fact is there is BLOODY NONE and there are loads of advantages to been a non smoker. I have used gum,patches,hypnotized,alan carr book,cold turkey & back to alan carr again the easy way to stop smoking only cost u 11e the price of a pack of fags. Nothing to lose reading it and u get to smoke the whole way while u read but i bet u stop before the end:D im now 22days nicotine free and i feel super:D

Green Hornet

Take a look at e-cigarettes. Just nicotine and a carrier fluid heated to create a mist. When you inhale, it simulates smoking and you exhale water vapour that looks like smoke. No tar, no smell of smoke, no carbon monoxide. Worth a try. Have a look at the Vaping & Esmoking forum if you are interested. Can't do any harm to have a look anyway.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1497

mike.l

Agree with lester on the Alan Carr book....... I was a 30 a day smoker for 25 years until 7 weeks ago, stay away from all forms of nicotine would be my advice , that is the only reason you are smoking,patches,gum, inhalers, vaping doesn't matter they are just other ways of satisfying the addiction.... you cant cure a heroin addict who is injecting by giving him heroin to smoke.... google a quit counter and use it.... helped me... Not sure if you are an active person but if you are go for a run when you get cravings this really helped my mood swings and made the cravings disappear ..... if you are not active get active and start by going for a walk when you get cravings, best of luck and hope things work out for you.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

Green Hornet wrote: »

Take a look at e-cigarettes. Just nicotine and a carrier fluid heated to create a mist. When you inhale, it simulates smoking and you exhale water vapour that looks like smoke. No tar, no smell of smoke, no carbon monoxide. Worth a try. Have a look at the Vaping & Esmoking forum if you are interested. Can't do any harm to have a look anyway.

http://touch.boards.ie/forum/1497

this.
i went from 20 a day to 0 a day as soon as I got my ecig. some people dont ghet off them quite that fast, preferring to vape a little.. smoke a little..vape a little and just slowly wean themselves off but for me once I was getting my nicotine I just didn't have any cravings for cigarettes anymore and a year later i've cut my nicotine intake from 36mg when i started (waaaaaay too high for me) down to 12mg, and now that I'm making my own juices I'm going to start dropping the nicotine level down even further.. down to 9 initially with an eye to 6 soon enough.
nicotine isn't the problem, smoking is. if you enjoy a cup of caffeinated coffee no reason you can't enjoy the kick of nicotine in moderation.

it costs around 50-60 euro to buy a kit up front after that, under a fiver a week.. easily

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1497

link to the forum if you're not a degenerate touchpad user like green hornet

mike.l

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

this.
i went from 20 a day to 0 a day as soon as I got my ecig. ....... I was getting my nicotine I just didn't have any cravings for cigarettes anymore and a year later i've cut my nicotine intake from 36mg ....................

nicotine isn't the problem, smoking is.

it costs around 50-60 euro to buy a kit up front after that, under a fiver a week.. easily

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1497

link to the forum if you're not a degenerate touchpad user like green hornet

Contradicting yourself there........ you are only kidding yourself, you are a nicotine addict and if you like you could get your fix using snuff.....liking it to caffeinated coffee..... can you give up caffeinated coffee for 2 weeks? no problem I bet..... Can you give up vaping for 2 weeks?????

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

where did I say i wasn't a nicotine addict? that's the whole point of vaping. you dont get rid of the addiction (although in many cases, including mine, you end up reducing your dependance on nicotine) you just move to a less harmfull delivery system. ecigs satisfying the nicotine craving, the hand to mouth habit and the visual satisfaction of seeing a plume of smoke/vapour as you exhale. plus i have gummi bear and banana waffle flavour ejuice.

I tried to give up coffee several times over the years, I only managed to actually stop drinking it two years ago as it was either stop drinking coffee or have regular and severe panic attacks. I had withdrawal symptoms every bit as bad as you'd get from quitting smoking. this idea that caffeine isn't a serious or addicting drug is incredibly misinformed.

Orion

mike.l wrote: »

Contradicting yourself there........ you are only kidding yourself, you are a nicotine addict and if you like you could get your fix using snuff.....liking it to caffeinated coffee..... can you give up caffeinated coffee for 2 weeks? no problem I bet..... Can you give up vaping for 2 weeks?????

This is a support forum. Be nice or be quiet. We're all addicts - even those of us who have quit. If you don't agree with vaping fine - but take your complaints elsewhere.

Orion

Readyhed wrote: »

Personally I believe that the only way is cold turkey

I believe this too. But everyone's different. Some of us have posted logs of our quitting to help ourselves and others. Mine is here. Read through some of them and maybe even start your own. It can't hurt if you do decide to quit completely.

I personally don't agree with vaping but if health is your main reason for quitting then it's definitely an option. Some people here have had great success with them. And if you have lung problems it's a hell of a lot better than tobacco smoking. The vaping forum (I fixed the first link btw Digby ) is full of information and tips about this form of tobacco avoidance.

mike.l

Thought I was being nice and giving support.... the op wants to quit smoking and I was giving the op what I felt was the right advice and I don't agree with trying to end an addiction with supplying yourself with the stuff you are addicted to no matter what form....... I am a nicotine addict but I have been nicotine free for 7 weeks and will never put that crap in my system again!

Orion

Great. I'm glad to hear that and you have all our support with your quitting. But your last post came across as aggressive and that's not desirable in a support forum. You're new here so just take it as a friendly suggestion

Oggie

LyndaMcL wrote: »

Hey, I need help in quitting!

I was on 25+ a day up til recently. I'm down to 10-12 a day if I'm working, 5 or 6 a day if I'm on a day off. I found out the other day though that I have something wrong with my lungs, probably just asthma, but obviously I need to quit ASAP as a result of this.

I've tried gum, patches, inhalers, cold turkey, cutting down, the lot, and nothing has worked. I have managed about 24 hours without a smoke and that's it.

Can someone give me their own tips and tricks, things that are helping you personally? I'd really appreciate it. Thanks guys!

Hi there,
Just saw your post and you have my sympathy.
Firstly I will say that in my humble opinion the best way to quit is by using the ALLEN CARR method. I quit myself about 8 or nine years ago thanks to his book. In his book he tells you not to cut back on your smoking as it makes the few you do smoke feel really precious which they certainly are not! I strongly urge you to maybe go to one of his clinics in Dublin if you can afford it. I think they cost about 250 euro and have approximately 90% success rate which is amazing.

I agree with mikel, get active if you can. Running is very popular now and its free!! You will feel really great after and you are cleansing your body of all the toxins. Maybe write down a list of the pro's and con's of smoking and have it in your pocket if you feel tempted. Any time you feel the little pang in your stomach that used to mean fag time, think in your head, I'm one step closer to beating it!!

Whatever you do best of luck with it!

Go n-éirí an t-ádh leat!

mike.l

Orion wrote: »

But your last post came across as aggressive )

Probably need a fag or a run.......;)

Green Hornet

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

link to the forum if you're not a degenerate touchpad user like green hornet

Ha ha ha. Kind of stupid of me alright Sir Digby. It's been fixed now anyway. I never thought of it before when pasting links.

As we say, it's a good option for the OP to think about anyway. Nothing to lose at all but plenty to gain in terms of health. My XRay which showed my lungs are as healthy as a non smoker after a few months speaks for itself in my view (altho I should state that I didnt have a pre vaping scan to compare it to).

Esoteric_

Thanks so much for all the support, guys! I'll thank the posts later when I'm not so tired!

I have read some of the Alan Carr book, but didn't find it helpful. I have it lying around though, so I will give it another shot tomorrow.

I can't go for runs at the moment until my lung condition has been diagnosed, as breathing after walking up a flight of stairs is proving difficult at present, but again, once I've been diagnosed, this part can change too.

I'm going to try write down pros and cons and whatnot. I'm on antidepressants already, so hopefully they'll keep me going if quitting does get depressing!

If I get really desperate, I'll try vaping, but I'd prefer to quit the addiction altogether. We shall see how it plays out. I've given myself a 'quit date' so hopefully it works!

Again, thanks so much! Even just hearing that some of you are off them X amount of time is a great motivation

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

well good luck whatever you try, hopefully you succeed.
if you do decide to try vaping, come to us in the forum first. dont just buy one of the models that look like cigarettes you get in shops. they are inferior in every way.

stevenmu

I'd highly recommend vaping as well, it has been incredibly effective for me. It took very little willpower really to get off, and stay off, the tobacco. And I feel much better for it, more energy, can breathe better etc.

I would make one small caveat though, if you have a lung problem, and are presumably seeing somebody about that, check with them first in case it might be an issue. It shouldn't be, in fact the most common base liquid in vaping PG (propylene glycol) is used in asthma inhalers, but it does no harm to check.

mike.l

Goodluck with the quit!!