EPTUPDATE: Well I Got rather sick during the weekend so I have went 5 days no smoking and so being sick during most of the cravings kinda helped lol. Might be optimistic but I think this is it!
Quitting Smoking
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MindBreaker
United States574 Posts
UPDATE: Well I Got rather sick during the weekend so I have went 5 days no smoking and so being sick during most of the cravings kinda helped lol. Might be optimistic but I think this is it! | ||
lichter
1001 YEARS KESPAJAIL22272 Posts
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ZERG_RUSSIAN
10417 Posts
It takes a lot of mental effort to convince yourself that you are no longer a smoker. If you want to be successful at it, I suggest you look into quit resources. Bupropion and nicotine replacement therapies are helpful, but they won't change a desire to smoke into a desire to quit. It all starts with you. YOU have to want to quit. Cold turkey is the best option, from a medical/psychological standpoint. Withdrawal from nicotine will not kill you and attempts to reduce the amount you smoke in an attempt to quit will likely increase cravings and associated feelings of dependency and discomfort. (Disclosure: I am a doctoral student in clinical psychology.) Remember, you are in charge of your own life. If you choose to do it, you will. Involve the people in your life and stay away from situations which trigger your desire to smoke. Replace the habit. Reward yourself for milestones. Don't let a small slip up turn into a complete resignation. It's an addiction, and I'm not going to act like it's easy. I've stopped smoking a few times and it's been fine, but the idea of QUITTING is hard for me, because it's like "THIS is the last cigarette I will ever smoke," which is extremely daunting and unrealistic. The way I have it in my mind now is that I'm always going to be a smoker, but there will be indefinite periods of years, maybe decades, where I do not smoke, and that's as close as I will realistically get. Good luck. | ||
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ZERG_RUSSIAN
10417 Posts
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Capped
United Kingdom7236 Posts
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MindBreaker
United States574 Posts
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MindBreaker
United States574 Posts
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endy
Switzerland8970 Posts
Convince yourself that you are stronger than the cravings and give yourself some mental reward every time your resist them. | ||
BigFan
TLADT24920 Posts
Either way, I think what has been mentioned already is true. Biggest thing is that you need to have the will to stop smoking. You want to stop smoking! You know it! Not sure what's it's like in the US but up here, pharmacies can help you with quitting smoking. Basically, you can go in, sit down with the pharmacist and discuss it then you can set quit dates and they can followup with you at certain times etc... should definitely consider asking if such a thing is available. Good luck! I'm sure you can do it. If you have any questions, feel free to pm me  On August 01 2014 13:01 MindBreaker wrote: Ive tried before by cold turkey but then i get stressed about something and i light up without thinking about it. usually i smoke most when i drink sounds like the best solution is to prevent yourself from getting stressed using things like meditation etc... Other thing is to try and separate smoking from drinking since you've linked the two. Maybe find another good habit with drinking instead. | ||
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maggle
Australia70 Posts
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Motlu
Australia884 Posts
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quirinus
Croatia2489 Posts
 I'm quitting smoking too, haven't smoked in like 2-3 weeks now, I still get the urge to buy a pack, but I resist. Before that I quit smoking a few times for a month or 2, then I'd buy a pack on impulse and go smoking for a week or until I finish a pack, then stop again. I began smoking at breaks on my last job, then afterwards it intensified. This time I'm stopping smoking for good. I've noticed that I mostly smoke in specific situations: when I'm walking in the city, to and from somewhere when I wake up when I'm queuing up and waiting for a game or a break at work when I'm relaxing or trying to think (eg. when programming or studying) I avoid smoking or buying packs when I'm with friends, especially with ones that don't smoke or can't stand the smoke So I just try to avoid situations like those, or make it so I don't have cigarettes when I'm in those situations. As you can imagine, if you have no cigarettes home, you can't smoke. Sometimes I still get the urge to go out and buy a pack (I can buy them like 1 min from my home), but I'm usually too lazy to get dressed and spend the money on them and taste that bitter taste, so I don't buy them. The worst situation is when I'm walking outside, then if I get assaulted by the desire for a smoke, I can instantly buy a pack if I don't resist. Sometimes I get saved by not having cash at hand, sometimes by the power of will, and rarely I forget or don't have the desire. Obviously, if you have something compelling to draw your attention, then you won't remember to smoke. I also have the added benefit that I can't really afford smoking, so I'm more compelled to not do it. I also really don't like smell and the mess it makes and I especially don't like the taste. I found out that reducing the number of cigarettes per day doesn't really work for me, since I'm an all in or all out kinda guy, and I usually smoke about one pack a day. I've been smoking on and off for probably a couple of years, and the first time I quit was about 6 months in, just like you. The next important thing, except not putting yourself in a situation with easily available cigarettes, is not picking smoking up again once you stop for a longer period. You'll still get the idea to buy a pack here an there, but more rarely. Usually the main culprit for me is when I'm feeling good after finishing working on something, or sometimes when I'm really down I get auto-destructive and go buy a pack just to degenerate even further, so I can hit the bottom and then go up. Obviously, gotta find a substitute for that, sometimes hanging out with friends help, but sometimes I treat myself to something good, like a tasty meal or sweets. I even try to think about the foul taste to gross myself out of buying it. That's pretty much it. Best of luck to you, to us! | ||
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DarkPlasmaBall
United States44317 Posts
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boxerfred
Germany8360 Posts
On August 01 2014 12:13 MindBreaker wrote: So ive been smoking for about 6 months now. I started because of some stress at work home and with women(lol). But I have histoplasmosis and tumors near my lungs so i figure I should probably quit. So this is my quest to quit smoking. As of right now i smoke from 5-10 a day. Ill try to update this regularly. If anyone has any advice on quitting I would love to hear it! As a long-term smoker (roughly 8-9 years now) I can only say that you need a) a lot of self-discipline and b) a lot of supportive friends. Tell them you want to stop, make them remind you when they see you with a cigarette. Also, don't take money with you when you go out of your home (neither cash nor card). Whenever you're waiting on a bus stop, you'll feel the urge to smoke (whenever you have a waiting/down time you'll feel that urge), simply because it's a habit to smoke a cigarette when you're waiting. Take something with you that actually keeps your hands busy (e.g. a sudoku/book/tablet or something that doesn't look too strange to others  ). Try to work out, doing lots of sports does indeed help the body to recover. Set up goals (1 day without smoke, 1 week without smoke, 1 month...) and reward yourself with something bought from the money you did not put into cigarettes. Yes, I'm implying that for every day you're not smoking, put 5 bucks in a pot. Do not go out in society of smokers, if others smoke, your urge will be there, and it'll be hard (group pressure is a thing to overcome, too). I hope that helps. | ||
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Shenghi
167 Posts
Addiction to smoking is twofold. One part is the obvious addiction to nicotine. The other part is the habits you develop: the cigarette when you have your morning coffee, the one after lunch, or dinner, etc. When you try to quit gradually the problem is that you will generally have access to cigarettes. Since you are still a smoker, you'll likely have them on you, or near, or friends or coworkers will not be unwilling to give you one. That makes it that much harder to resist giving into temptation. If you want to quit, quit. That starts with actually wanting to quit. You say you want to quit for your health. Health sounds like a pretty damn good reason and motivator to quit, to me. If you really want to quit, toss everything out. Tell your friends, family, coworkers and loved ones that they should never, ever give you a cigarette. Not even if you offered $100 for just one. When things get tough — which they will — remind yourself why you wanted to quit in the first place. When it's hard to drop the habit, break out of it by adopting new habits. It helps if you happen to be quite busy during the first two to three weeks. Those are the hardest. Note that being busy is not quite the same as being stressed. Being busy helps you keep your mind off the craving. Being stressed fuels the craving. So be busy, but not pressured or stressed. Whatever you chose to do, good luck! Disclosure Three and a half years ago I quit by going cold turkey, after having been quite a heavy smoker for about 11 years. My motivation was health. More specifically, I've spent many years in my youth watching my mother coughing herself a little bit closer to death for about an hour non-stop every morning. (Thankfully she's still alive.) Whenever I visit for the weekend, I quickly find out that that has not changed. One day I woke up and realized that I was doing that exact same thing. And I thought to myself that I'll be damned if I spend the next 40+ years of my life coughing myself a little closer to death every day. So I quit, right there and then. Old habits die hard, and even though I quit almost three and a half years ago, I still need something in my hands or between my lips at certain times of the day or when I'm stressed. Plain old chewing gum, stress balls, a Rubik's cube or even tooth picks are a big help at those times. But whenever things get rough, all I need is to remember why I quit. Fighting addiction is though, but it still beats the hell out of the alternative. | ||
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Kyrillion
Russian Federation748 Posts
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REDBLUEGREEN
Germany1903 Posts
I smoke about 5 cigs per day right now. I am trying to reduce it to 1 or 2 cigs per day. I know cold turkey would probably be best but I still enjoy smoking too much to totally quit it. Right now I only smoke in the evening after dinner and sport. I can go several days without cigs without effort when I am with no cash and too lazy to drive to the atm or store. boxerfred's advice of not having cash with you seems like a good advice, I will try that. btw a friend who managed to quit cold turkey told me of a trick he used: when you light a cig keep the smoke of the first toke in your mouth for 10 seconds or so. Even for a smoker the taste is really disgusting and you will probably not want to take another toke afterwards. | ||
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Cyx.
Canada806 Posts
On August 02 2014 04:09 Kyrillion wrote: Play Dota 2 pubs. You'll quickly get in the habit of not smoking. I really do like the joke... ...but then I got depressed about how much it's actually not true, I smoke way more when I'm playing dota pubs, it can honestly be a full work day without one then two in the time it takes me to queue between games | ||
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Zato-1
Chile4253 Posts
1) You 100% quit smoking, in which I'd suggest just going cold turkey. From now on, NO more smoking- you don't get to smoke just one last one before quitting, you throw all the remaining cigs you have to the garbage, the end. This takes a lot of willpower and more people fail than succeed at it, but nicotine patches or whatever aren't statistically more successful than this. Maybe try REDBLUEGREEN's suggestion while doing this: On August 02 2014 04:46 REDBLUEGREEN wrote: btw a friend who managed to quit cold turkey told me of a trick he used: when you light a cig keep the smoke of the first toke in your mouth for 10 seconds or so. Even for a smoker the taste is really disgusting and you will probably not want to take another toke afterwards. 2) You decide that quitting smoking is too hard, but you want to stop killing yourself. Go for e-cigs. The Economist can explain it better than I can: http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21602662-e-cigarettes-really-do-help-smokers-give-up-demon-weed-call-it-quits | ||
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Qwyn
United States2779 Posts
Start out at 18-24 mg. After one bottle go down one step. After another bottle, go down another step. Keep going down until you get to the point of 6mg or less nic per bottle. Then you are at the point where you may quit permanently or drop down to 0mg (which I recommend, there is no nicotine at all in the juice but you are fulfilling the habitual hand to mouth action of smoking). You will feel health benefits after a week or so. Phlegm clears up, cleaner breathing. Only the active addictive substance compared to a roll filled with 1000s of horrible, shitty substances in it. If you want to keep vaping, vape on ^^. If not, tah dah. As to where you should buy shit - I recommend buying juice from Mt. Baker Vapor (.com) if you are in the states. It is super cheap. E-cig M.O. is all about being cheap. Bang for your buck. Never, EVER buy your juice in stores. You are getting ripped right the fuck off. (In stations and shops most vendors sell a 15 bottle of juice for 9-11 dollars. On MTBKR you can get a 30 for only 8 dollars. Fucking rip-off.) For batteries and atomizers...I recommend buying your battery off Fast-Tech. I really do. You just save so much more money that way that it is worth the super long shipping time. Just make sure to take your time, sort by review rating AND quantity of reviews, and sift the crap from the real gems. You have to do that with clones. Or else you're going to buy a piece of shit. Atomizers...you can buy an iClear-30 on MTBKR, or something equivalent, for 12 bucks. If you buy a rebuildable Kayfun (not Genesis, never Genesis) clone off of Fast Tech you can get a much better product for 12 bucks which is way more satisfying - but the tradeoff is that you are going to have to learn to make coils (which means buying cotton and 28g wire). 90% of the satisfaction of vaping has to do with the atomizer; after a certain point of functionality batteries are pretty much all the same. Get a regulated MOD (I recommend the iTaste SVD) and get a set of protected batteries from Amazon (not Fast Tech; never buy your batteries on a Chinese website dedicated to selling clones). Whatever you do - do not fucking buy the shitty e-cigs in gas stations. And DO NOT fucking buy an eGo. Those are one way trips to hopping back on the cig train. They aren't going to satisfy you. Using an e-cig will save you a ton of money and help you ditch the habit. The next step is to take your time, buy smart, find real gems, and SAVE money. There are a lot of rip-off products on the e-cig market. And if you do decide to build your own coils on a Kayfun-styled rebuildable atomizer, don't worry...it's not hard at all. Here is the setup I am currently using. THIS MOD (term for a regulated battery): http://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10004594/1525701-authentic-innokin-itaste-svd-telescopic-variable THIS Kayfun-Lite Styled atomizer (not this specifically, but this is a really cheap KFL with good reviews): http://www.fasttech.com/products/1411/10006473/1605200-kayfun-lite-styled-rebuildable-atomizer-4-5ml If you decide to get a RBA (rebuildable atomizer) then you are going to need to get cotton for wicking and 28-30g kanthol wire for making coils. THIS is the wire I use: http://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Lightning-Vapes-Kanthal-Resistance/dp/B00FTJ4SWI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1406927463&sr=8-3&keywords=28 gauge kanthal wire Lastly, you need cotton. You are going to need to do the research on this yourself. Some people prefer organic unbleached (no hydrogen peroxide). Other people prefer pharmaceutical (bleached with hydro-perox, otherwise clean). Personally I use the latter. Decide yourself. You are going to need protected batteries to power your MOD. The SVD takes one at a time. IIRC it supports 18350, 18500 or 18650. Make sure the batteries are protected. Get them off Amazon. Get a charger. Total price range of your setup is going to be at or below 100 dollars. That is two weeks worth of Turkish Royals if you smoke a pack a day. After that you just need to buy your juice. Head on over to www.mountbakervapor.com, and go ahead and search for a 30mg size bottle of juice with 24mg nicotine strength. If you smoke 1/2-1 pack a day I recommend 18mg-24mg nicotine strength. If you are just off the cigs 24mg IS going to pack a punch. Way more throat hit than you are used to. But the nicotine quantity will more than satisfy your cravings. + Show Spoiler + About PG (propylene glycol) vs VG (vegetable glycerin): PG adds to the throat hit provided by nicotine. VG adds to the amount of vapor you are going to get from each drag. I personally buy juice at 50/50. 60vg/40pg is also good; will give you a bit less throat hit and more vapor. After that you are just buying juice when you run out (takes me about three to four weeks to finish a 30mg size bottle), and rebuilding your atomizer every month or so. Money saved = unthinkable. That's 8 dollars a month compared to 50. And if you really want, you can spend 30 dollars to buy a 250mg size bottle of juice (HUGE)...and save even more money. Just make sure you really love the juice you buy. Cheers! | ||
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HackBenjamin
Canada1094 Posts
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WombaT
Northern Ireland25270 Posts
Best of luck to you man, one benefit you may have is that 6 months of ingrained routine is less difficult to break than 10+ years. I've failed miserably in my attempts to quit, however in that period I have become something of an expert on failed attempts, the one thing I really notice is that it's the ingrained routines and conditioning that is toughest to break. Things like (in my case), 'Oh that was an intense ladder game, going to have a smoke' morph into 'oh finished a ladder game, going to have a smoke as I always do'. Even if you fail in this attempt, if you can remove the association of smoking to various activities it will serve to aid you in future efforts. Good hunting! | ||
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ClanRH.TV
United States462 Posts
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chalice
United States1945 Posts
i think e-cigs are definitely the way to go to aid in an attempt to quit if you don't have a heavy nicotine addiction and have tried to quit cold turkey but ended up succumbing to cravings. they give you a direct alternative to buying a pack when you get to the point that your body really, really wants a cigarette, but aren't nearly as satisfying as the real thing so you aren't enforcing the habit as much. one thing i did that i think helped was smoking a real cigarette after getting more than my fill of nicotine from an e-cig and not enjoying it at all. i felt like it helped my mind/body really learn that vaporizing was a legit alternative to smoking, because the two experiences are different enough that the association between them wasn't naturally created on its own. | ||
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LOcDowN
United States1015 Posts
On August 02 2014 04:05 Shenghi wrote: I said this in another blog about quitting smoking, and I'll say it here. Everyone I know, including myself, that tried to quit by any other method than going cold turkey, has failed. Addiction to smoking is twofold. One part is the obvious addiction to nicotine. The other part is the habits you develop: the cigarette when you have your morning coffee, the one after lunch, or dinner, etc. When you try to quit gradually the problem is that you will generally have access to cigarettes. Since you are still a smoker, you'll likely have them on you, or near, or friends or coworkers will not be unwilling to give you one. That makes it that much harder to give into temptation. If you want to quit, quit. That starts with actually wanting to quit. You say you want to quit for your health. Health sounds like a pretty damn good reason and motivator to quit, to me. If you really want to quit, toss everything out. Tell your friends, family, coworkers and loved ones that they should never, ever give you a cigarette. Not even if you offered $100 for just one. When things get tough — which they will — remind yourself why you wanted to quit in the first place. When it's hard to drop the habit, break out of it by adopting new habits. It helps if you happen to be quite busy during the first two to three weeks. Those are the hardest. Note that being busy is not quite the same as being stressed. Being busy helps you keep your mind off the craving. Being stressed fuels the craving. So be busy, but not pressured or stressed. Whatever you choose to do, good luck! Disclosure Three and a half years ago I quit by going cold turkey, after having been quite a heavy smoker for about 11 years. My motivation was health. More specifically, I've spent many years in my youth watching my mother coughing herself a little bit closer to death for about an hour non-stop every morning. (Thankfully she's still alive.) Whenever I visit for the weekend, I quickly find out that that has not changed. One day I woke up and realized that I was doing that exact same thing. And I thought to myself that I'll be damned if I spend the next 40+ years of my life coughing myself a little closer to death every day. So I quit, right there and then. Old habits die hard, and even though I quit almost three and a half years ago, I still need something in my hands or between my lips at certain times of the day or when I'm stressed. Plain old chewing gum, stress balls, a Rubik's cube or even tooth picks are a big help at those times. But whenever things get rough, all I need is to remember why I quit. Fighting addiction is though, but it still beats the hell out of the alternative. Very good advice. | ||
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ZERG_RUSSIAN
10417 Posts
Don't get me wrong, it might have been just a reaction specific to me, but I don't necessarily buy the idea that e-cigs are safer for you quite yet. They probably cause less cancer, but if you have a pre-existing lung condition you absolutely should not be messing with new devices that we have no longitudinal data on. | ||
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theMagus
578 Posts
i would offer instead some encouragement. like many smokers, i feared quitting. the thought that a stick will be the last one you'll ever smoke in your life was frightening. but i was determined to kick the addiction so i stuck with it. while it was hard for several weeks, it wasn't nearly as bad as i thought it would be when i was just thinking of quitting. there would be days after a month or so where i didn't even think about having a cigarette. the thing is, a smoker has associated smoking with a lot of events in his/her daily life, and once these triggers have been eliminated, you won't even think about smoking. it's hard at first but it becomes much easier the longer you go on. just be sure that you are very consistent once you decide to let go, not even a single time giving in to a craving, and definitely no rewarding yourself with a smoke for a job well done. quitting is a piece of cake! btw, i've also tried the e-cig route before. in my opinion, it's much much better to just quit straight up, if you can pull it off. and i really believe anybody can. hope this helps | ||
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HornyHerring
Papua New Guinea1059 Posts
On August 01 2014 12:13 MindBreaker wrote: So ive been smoking for about 6 months now. I started because of some stress at work home and with women(lol). But I have histoplasmosis and tumors near my lungs so i figure I should probably quit. So this is my quest to quit smoking. As of right now i smoke from 5-10 a day. Ill try to update this regularly. If anyone has any advice on quitting I would love to hear it! i just got up one day and said to myself "fuck smoking" never to smoke again there's no strategy, no special technique you just quit | ||
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MindBreaker
United States574 Posts
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chalice
United States1945 Posts
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