Time to quit smoking

[ruger7722]

i am trying the scoal thing now but still smoking.chantix does work but i always go back after a few months.left my wife today so maybe i wont need to smoke so much.good luck.that dreaming was too much for me

 

[Stainer]

Who wants to live forever anyway...

Yeah but who wants to suffer dying from cancer or emphysema? ....

 

[antsi]

Today I paid $50 for a carton of Camel lights; I'm done. There are much better things in life to spend that kind of money on. Especially in these hard times it is stupid for me to waste money like that. Wish me luck.

5 years quit.

You will still have occasional urges for about a year after you quit. They get less and less frequent.

One tip that helped me: the urge for a cigarette only lasts a few minutes. You don't have to live your whole life fighting that urge; you only have to fight it in little 3 minute bursts.

You may want to think about seeing a smoking cessation counselor. They can help you figure out what your patterns are and how to break them. Everyone has their own triggers. Smoking cessation professionals have a lot of tricks to help you avoid/defeat your triggers. If you are within convenient distance of Indy there are plenty of places to get this help for free. A lot of employers have it too.

Don't let someone just throw medication at you. Whether it is nicotine replacement, or the anti-anxiety meds, each kind of medication only works for certain kinds of smokers. If you don't know what kind of smoker you are, you won't know what kind of med might help - and very few doctors really understand this unless they have made a special study of smoking cessation. Smoking cessation specialists know this stuff.

Exercise helps A LOT.

 

[quicksdraw]

Good luck! After over 25 years of smoking, I had my last one the morning of 5 Feb. 1996. I still get the desire to light one up once in awhile (usually when I have a beer).

 

[42769vette]

(usually when I have a beer).

thats the only time i smoke still.

 

[Truckerman79]

I quit 5 weeks ago today. I got sick as hell and missed 3 days of work and went to work on that Thursday still feeling like crap. I figured I'd keep the streak going. The only time I get a crazy craving is when drinking beer. Man that is tough. They go so damn well together. And when the weather gets nicer my beer consumption typically increases. Last night the wife and I went out and had some drinks. Once I got that nice buzz going I couldn't resist and had 3 cigarettes. But I haven't had an urge all day today. My wife still smokes, which doesn't make it any easier, but as time goes on and you get used to life without smokes it starts to get easier.

Just keep telling yourself about all that money you'll save. Best of luck!

 

[42769vette]

mabye you could put 5 bucks of whatever you spend a day in a jar and save it until you can buy yourself ? with the money. if a man smoked 2 packs a day in less than 3 months he would have earned himself a new ar even in todays market

 

[indytechnerd]

I've been a part of similar discussions elsewhere. Here's something that I always post..

I'm not a hypocrite, and won't condemn anyone for smoking because it's bad for you, but here are some interesting facts from the American Cancer society's website....

When Smokers Quit – What Are the Benefits Over Time?

20 minutes after quitting: Your heart rate and blood pressure drops.

12 hours after quitting: The carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.

2 weeks to 3 months after quitting: Your circulation improves and your lung function increases.

1 to 9 months after quitting: Coughing and shortness of breath decrease; cilia (tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs) regain normal function in the lungs, increasing the ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce the risk of infection.

1 year after quitting: The excess risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker's.

5 years after quitting: Your stroke risk is reduced to that of a nonsmoker 5 to 15 years after quitting.

10 years after quitting: The lung cancer death rate is about half that of a continuing smoker's. The risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, cervix, and pancreas decrease.

15 years after quitting: The risk of coronary heart disease is that of a nonsmoker's.

and now the personal part...
I quit a pack a day 15yr habit about a year and a half ago. I didn't use a patch, though I'd tried them in the past, or any other stop smoking aid. The key for me was to set a goal, a reason for quitting. I signed up for an adventure race and began running and biking. Exercise does a couple things. One, it gets your body working so that you purge the nicotine from your system. Two, it gets your mind off of smoking. It only takes a few weeks for your lungs to begin repairing themselves, and it's a whole new world once that happens.

The cool part...quitting smoking and the ability to breathe better leads to better sex. You won't get winded during those "marathon" sessions, and after a couple weeks you'll start to be able to redefine "marathon". My wife is really happy that I quit :-)

 

[cox7215]

god dont let cheif read this hes mad as hell about it!!! LOL Glad I never started....LOL

 

[spasmo]

I certainly wish you the best of luck! I ran into the same thing money wise but with M&Ms. I LOVE my peanut M&Ms. I buy them by the 56oz bags at Sams. Well, I did until last week. I went in to purchase them and they went up in a year from $7.24 to something like 8.97 now for the large bag. I refused to pay for it and decided I guess I'm done with them. Maybe it was a good thing they went up so much..

 

[Chefcook]

god dont let chef read this hes mad as hell about it!!! LOL Glad I never started....LOL

Ok I read it!!!

Smoking is the one vice I have never been able to beat. I am totally addicted to nicotine. The price increase is ridiculous. There are 3 smokers in my home and Dee smokes more than anyone I have ever seen I thought I was a heavy smoker till I met her lol...

As I stated to the rest of the family there is no way we can afford to smoke once the price goes up. Something has to be done. I have been considering options to quit smoking, I have never heard of this Chantix stuff, what does it do??? I know that every time in the past I have made an effort to quit the people around me begged me after a few days to just freakin smoke offering to buy them for me. I guess I turn into even more of an azzhole when not smoking if that's possible..

One of my main concerns is weight, I put on 50lbs over the winter being out of work and am just now starting to work on remedying that. I don't want to do anything to contribute to making that more difficult. We had almost a case of cigs in our SHTF cash and we are smoking those now, but like I told the girls when those are gone we gonna have to think of something rather its rolling our own or buying from Russia or just quitting. Thats another topic I find kinda funny I can buy an American product Marlboro's for $12 a carton if I order them from Russia. WTF kinda since does that make???

We only have about 12 or 15 cartons left so decision time is looming close, that will only last maybe 3 or 4 weeks at the current rate of consumption. The generics that Jackelin smokes are only about $23 a carton. The stash we are now smoking I got at buy 1 get 1 free so they were name brand Marlboro 72's for about the same.

I have always hated sitting down and doing the math and seeing how much money goes towards this endeavor of smoking its kinda sickening actually. I am pretty sure cigaretts are our largest monthly bill more than the mortgage or car payment. Almost more than those two combined. April 1st they supposta go up $7 a carton or $2 a pack. This will put cartons in the $60 range, and we go threw about 4 cartons a week between the 3 of us there's just no freakin way we can afford that its not even a possibility.

 

[VN Vet]

I quit when packs got to fifty cents. Wow, that was a long time back.

 

[huawilso]

Good Luck I am sure it will be difficult, but stay focused you can do it.

 

[antsi]

I know that every time in the past I have made an effort to quit the people around me begged me after a few days to just freakin smoke offering to buy them for me. I guess I turn into even more of an azzhole when not smoking if that's possible.

The worst of that is over in about 3 days.

It will require developing some new tactics about how to deal with stress (or whatever your trigger smoking situations are). You can't just quit the smoking habit and be done. You have to replace "smoke when I'm stressed" with "exercise when I'm stressed" or whatever.

I am not preaching from the standpoint of the righteous here, I am speaking from the standpoint of the fallen.

I think I tried to quit smoking about 10 times before I finally stayed quit. 5 years now and counting...

1 to 9 months after quitting: Coughing and shortness of breath decrease; cilia (tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs) regain normal function in the lungs, increasing the ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce the risk of infection.

Boy, it is strange when those cilia kick in and start cleaning out your lungs. It is almost like you went 10 years without cleaning out your house, and then finally you do, and you can't believe the filth that was in there. About 3 weeks after I quit smoking, I started coughing up all kinds of nasty crud. It took about a month to get all that stuff out. It was very disturbing to think all that crap was inside my lungs for all those years.

 

[Lucas156]

If you can't quit how about decreasing the amount you smoke per day? I was smoking 5 per day tried to cut it down to two per day(that’s cigarettes not packs) But then I fell off the wagon and went back to five. Anyways Im workin on dropping back down to two then hopefully one and possibly 1 a week.

 

[Lucas156]

If you can't quit how about decreasing the amount you smoke per day? I was smoking 5 per day tried to cut it down to two per day(that’s cigarettes not packs) But then I fell off the wagon and went back to five. Anyways Im workin on dropping back down to two then hopefully one and possibly 1 a week.

 

[jennybird]

Chantix works wonders. It blocks the receptors in your brain from receiving those messages that tell your brain you're enjoying the nicotine high. Night terrors are a common side effect. My dad and I only had what we called "vivid dreams". They were crazy wild and trippy, but I wouldn't call them night terrors or nightmares by any means.

Here's what happened to me (and dad as he quit at the same time)... I took it for about 2 weeks. Once it built up in my system, my cravings naturally deminished. I woke up in the morning and began to notice that I didn't want to smoke. I would eat a meal and realize I didn't want to smoke when I was done. When I did smoke, it tasted like crap and I would put it down before finishing. I began to quit smoking slowly and naturally. The cravings simply went away. I quickly got down to about 2-3 cigs a day. I stayed there for a couple of weeks... then realized that the only reason I hung onto those last 3 per day was psychological, not because I wanted them. Once I got past the fear (yes, fear) of giving up that last little bit, I was fine. No problems at all. I stayed smoke free for several months... until dad died. Then it all went to hell.

I need to break out the Chantix again. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[Chefcook]

Chantix works wonders. It blocks the receptors in your brain from receiving those messages that tell your brain you're enjoying the nicotine high. Night terrors are a common side effect. My dad and I only had what we called "vivid dreams". They were crazy wild and trippy, but I wouldn't call them night terrors or nightmares by any means.

Here's what happened to me (and dad as he quit at the same time)... I took it for about 2 weeks. Once it built up in my system, my cravings naturally deminished. I woke up in the morning and began to notice that I didn't want to smoke. I would eat a meal and realize I didn't want to smoke when I was done. When I did smoke, it tasted like crap and I would put it down before finishing. I began to quit smoking slowly and naturally. The cravings simply went away. I quickly got down to about 2-3 cigs a day. I stayed there for a couple of weeks... then realized that the only reason I hung onto those last 3 per day was psychological, not because I wanted them. Once I got past the fear (yes, fear) of giving up that last little bit, I was fine. No problems at all. I stayed smoke free for several months... until dad died. Then it all went to hell.

I need to break out the Chantix again. Thanks for the reminder.

Uh oh we could all get together and have an INGO quitters group lol.. who is going to bring the M&M's....

 

[USMC_0311]

The cool part...quitting smoking and the ability to breathe better leads to better sex. You won't get winded during those "marathon" sessions, and after a couple weeks you'll start to be able to redefine "marathon". My wife is really happy that I quit :-)

Quit braggin

 

[42769vette]

rolling our own .

last i knew a pouch of bugler was about 150. and depending on how big you roll its about 50 cigs. and they are strong as hell so you wont smoke as many. alot of us roll our own ammo surley we can roll our own smokes.