Quitting Smoking

[Futility Personified]

So, being broke has kinda forced my hand. Last year at university I would sneak around the campus bar and the streets at night and take all the dogends I could find. Me and my mate would make spliffs and fags out of those. Those were more drug induced hazy days and while I miss them, being skint and doing that now seems incomprehensible. I need to quit. I have to! Can't go around doing that again, too scabby.

Anyone else trying to dance with the devil? :P We'll start a support group!

[ahab]

Been quittin for 3 years now, but its hard because im not a quitter ;) financial strain can be one of the greatest motivators true. Someone told me to eat more fruit, that it would help. Fuckin wrong, no orange or apple gives me the same pleasure as a cig.

drin water I guess? try harder drugs? yeah support could help

[PC LOAD LETTER]

Harder drugs got me off cigarettes. I mean, I got fucked up on oxycodone for three days straight and forgot to smoke, then said "fuck it the worst is over might as well try." That was ... a year and 4 months ago I think. No smokes since. No oxycodone since, either, unfortunately.

[SoMarks]

- One third of my already pitiful income was gone on cigarettes when I was smoking (20 per day), and sometime I was colecting leftovers from the street. I quit smoking for over a year now, but not quite, vaping instead, perfect replacement, 3-4 times cheaper and healthier. First days I was vaping between cigarettes strong liquid (24mg, 18 is normal, 12 is low) and I was white like a ghost and without stamina, saturated with nicotine, but burned tobacco became more and more distasteful. After five days, smoking was over, replaced by vaping. If you want to try:
1. Use a pair of strong EGO batteries of 1000(1100)mAh, not rubish like e-health. Biansi make them with red light when you press button. You need satisfaction, not a cigarette physical apearance.
2. Very popular and easy to use are CE4+ clearomizers (do not maximum screw them) sometimes is too fitted and you draw hard, ask for fix if it happens. EGO-T/C or imist are obsolete atomizers.

[Futility Personified]

Ah, I was always an uppers kind of guy. Hard to quit smoking when you're buzzing out of your tree! I find the worst part is the reliance you place on them to relieve social anxiety (fags, not speed), the best excuse to not talk to people has evaporated, unless constantly pissing outside becomes socially acceptable when sober?

[Goblin]

I am thinking of quitting. Will most likely try at the beginning of next month.

[Ele'ill]

I recently quit nicotine, alcohol and caffeine at the same time. They were all a routine and couldn't just quit one at a time. When you're still addicted you cannot imagine possibly quitting EVER so don't try to convince yourself of a date just fucking do it and after a certain number of days weeks and months you will feel better. You save money to go towards other things.

[skitty]

I was smoking a couple packs a day when I quit after several attempts with patches-I always got to the point where I'd tear off the patch and light up. What helped me was a really bad cold and not wanting to even think of smoking for a few days; and then I had the 'what the hell, I made it this far' moment. Prior to that I had agreed to not smoke in the house, so that may have helped. Be aware of certain prompts that automatically cause you to light up. The grip that habit has on you is amazing: even after a couple years I would still find myself reaching into my pocket for a smoke be surprised when they weren't there! You might find it weird when you start tasting food again:scared:!

[Ostrinski]

i recently quit coka cola for cofee.

[skitty]

i recently quit coka cola for cofee.Me too, after reading all that stuff about Coke dissolving nails, etc.!

[PC LOAD LETTER]

Me too, after reading all that stuff about Coke dissolving nails, etc.!
go to the drug store and get some fluoride rinse, use it at night before you crash, you'll be aight

[DeadProleWalking]

I'm new here, well ... I've been lurking for a long time but thought I'd respond to this thread. Also, sorry to turn the non-political into political but I think smoking is an excellent example of class war that we've been losing badly. The "public health" campaign has served well to divide and conquer the working class and shift massive amounts of money from workers to capitalists and their crony governments. We are sold ineffective and sometimes even dangerous remedies that combined have barely better than placebo-effect results. There are much more effective solutions that our governments and their institutions are working double-time to either ban or spread fear and disinformation about.

No matter how high they tax cigarettes and "denormalize" smoking, the efforts stop working with 20% of the population still smoking. This can be seen all across the western world, with the exception of Sweden. Sweden took a Tobacco Harm Reduction approach and have let users use a smokeless tobacco product called snus. This has reduced the Swedish smoking population down to about 10%. The EU, seeing such success was quick to ban this product. Sweden joined the EU but on the condition they wouldn't follow this ban.

I myself was a 30 year smoker who really expected to die one. I stumbled upon electronic cigarettes and have not had a cigarette in over seven months. The EU again is up to its dirty tricks with this product as are the FDA and every country following direction from the WHO.

By all means, if you can quit smoking cold turkey, that is best. But please consider one of these options before you pick up another pack of smokes. Do a bit of research online and you will see there are many people these are helping.

Here's a link that has much better detail about this struggle.

http://www.eccauk.org/index.php/how-the-eu-kills-thousands.html

[Prisma]

I recently quit nicotine, alcohol and caffeine at the same time. They were all a routine and couldn't just quit one at a time. When you're still addicted you cannot imagine possibly quitting EVER so don't try to convince yourself of a date just fucking do it and after a certain number of days weeks and months you will feel better. You save money to go towards other things.

I recently quit cannabis and nicotine (unfortunately still haven't managed to kick alcohol and caffeine though I hope to in the future).

You're right about routine, this was the hardest part about quitting smoking - but I've been off successfully for about 2 months now and going strong. Cannabis was much easier.

After I quit I noticed an increase in my drinking, but recently I've managed it much better, over the past month I've gone from drinking three or four times a week to once, and went about a fortnight without a drink at all - which for me was quite a good run on my recent form.

I definitely have the desire to quit all drinking and caffeine, for a large part of my life I didn't drink alcohol at all, but got into a habit of it a few years ago.

I've found that the best way for me to quit was to go cold turkey, it seems like it would be harder but I find that abrupt movement an important psychological step. Since quitting I've the best way to control my urges is just to think about cost, I don't think I'll ever buy another packet of smokes again for this reason, they really are exorbitant these days. The same approach helped me get off cannabis and helped me reduce my drinking. Saving all that money got me excited, and gave me the motivation to continue.

That in itself is a form of stress relief, I now worry less about my spending, and money generally, as by quitting superfluous and unhealthy habits (or in the case of my drinking, reducing), my finances are that much better, that really helped.

[F9]

im not sure now if i actually want to quit it, actually im mostly not bothered to quit... allthough i can and have been to long absences with not even thinking about smoking again.i have that with addictions they are hard to get me.(but once they do, they do it preeeeetty bad i must admit)

[Os Cangaceiros]

Why would anyone want to stop consuming caffeine? (Barring some sort of medical condition) Caffeine is pretty benign and fun, or at least that's how it seems to me anyway.

[teflon_john]

i smoked and dipped for 9 and 7 years, respectively. i quit cold turkey 7 months ago and i have no fucking clue how that actually worked. just suffer through the withdrawals and use mints/sesame seeds to satisfy your oral fixation and you may make it through.

it's winter now tho and i want to smoke again so, so, so incredibly bad.

[teflon_john]

oh also working out helps a ton. if you're getting physically fit and eating healthy, you don't want to lose your gains by smoking.

[MP5]

Ive been trying to quit smoking for about a year or more now but i have not really given it a honest go in a long time. I quit smoking altogether for 2 years in my mid 20's actually but like a total fucking idiot i took it up again :cursing: . This was during one of my soberish periods where i had quit cigs, alcohol, Cannabis, and pretty much all stimulants and psychedelics. The only recreational drugs i was taking where the benzodiazepines i was taking for my anxiety (mostly clonazepam and temazepam for sleep) as well as the opiates i was taking for my chronic pain (morphine and oxycodone mostly). I have to say that these drugs did help in me giving up cigarettes and benzos such as Valium help with the anxiety, irritability and insomnia from nicotine withdrawal but you should really only use something like that for a week or so max. You don't want to replace a cigarette addiction for a benzodiazepine one.

I am 31 now and have been smoking since i was 12 years old so that's over half my life. I can really feel the toll it's taking on my body when i do any cardio or any aerobic activity for any length of time. When i gave up smoking i would job on the treadmill for about a hour then run as fast as i could for maybe half a hour. The other day i was out doing abit of jogging and decided to see how far i could sprint. I felt like a fucking disgrace as my lungs completely gave out after maybe half a mile. So health is one major motivating factor in me wanting to quit that's for sure.

The price of cigarettes is of course the other major motivating factor. Where i live a pack of the cheapest smokes you can get will run you about $8. A pouch of cheap tobacco costs about $30 and that is usually what i get as it is ay cheaper as a pouch of baccy will last me about a week and a half plus i find rolled cigarettes to taste much better anyway. Either way averaging $30 almost every week is certainly not cheap and can hardly be justified for a drug that does not even get me high ffs!

I have tried various ways of quitting smoking such as nicotine gum, patches as well as Zyban (it's just another brand of bupropion which is sold under the name wellbutrin as a anti-depressant and i take that everyday anyway now) and the realy old anti-depressant Elavil (amitriptyline). In the end i found that going cold turkey and doing everything to try and not think about it was the best. Exercise also helps alot because it takes your mind off smoking, you get out all that extra adrenaline from the withdrawals and you can notice a huge difference in how much you can work out after you give up smoking. it's nice to be able to do jobbing without coughing your guts up for about 10 minutes after :thumbup1:

The only drug that i have tried that can match how compulsive smoking is would be cocaine/crack. It's much the same thing actually as you will keep doing it and doing it until you run out of money or you have no choice but to crash out. Both nicotine and cocaine affect dopamine which is the brains reward system hence why both of these drugs are so psychologically addictive. I think i will give quitting smoking another serious shot when the stress that i am living under dies down finally. I wouldn't mind spending the money i do on cigarettes on something worthwhile. Hell i could probably take a trip to Australia on the money i would save.

The main thing is to keep trying. Almost nobody quits the first time they try.

[Quail]

Why would anyone want to stop consuming caffeine? (Barring some sort of medical condition) Caffeine is pretty benign and fun, or at least that's how it seems to me anyway.
I think I'm going to quit using caffeine again because it makes my anxiety worse. I drank a pint of diet coke earlier and it's really affected my anxiety levels. It seems kind of silly in a way that one of the few drugs I pretty much always turn down is a seemingly innocent one most people use every day without thinking, but yeah. Caffeine isn't good for me.

[Pelarys]

Coffee makes my life so much less painful, and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon but it's not that hard to quit is it? I mean I'm a pretty huge caffeinoman but when there's no coffee in the morning it's not like my hands tremble or something. And I've already had to spend several weeks without coffee without it visibly affecting my mood. I guess the addiction is more subtle than that.

[MP5]

I think I'm going to quit using caffeine again because it makes my anxiety worse. I drank a pint of diet coke earlier and it's really affected my anxiety levels. It seems kind of silly in a way that one of the few drugs I pretty much always turn down is a seemingly innocent one most people use every day without thinking, but yeah. Caffeine isn't good for me.

Your far from alone in that. I suffered from generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder for years. It is now in remission thanks to clonazepam but caffeine still makes me anxious if i drink more then 1 or 2 cups of coffee. If you have any anxiety caffeine is a good thing to avoid like the plaque.

Oddly enough Dexedrine (dextroamphetamine) does not give me any anxiety unless i am coming down off a binge. Cocaine either in the form of crack or IV coke does not give me anxiety either unless i am coming down off it. Snorting it tends to cause more anxiety as it lasts longer that way but i rarely snorted it. Medical doses of Dexedrine actually improves my anxiety which is totally weird.

[Futility Personified]

Hmm, thanks for the posting about caffeine and anxiety. I never thought it made sense that caffeine made me scatty but at least i'm not alone.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Caffeine, along with nicotine and THC, for me is part of what I just started calling the Essential Chemical Trinity of psychoactive substances that I use every day, or near enough every day.

How does instant coffee measure up in terms of caffeine compared to energy drinks? They definitely seem to have more subjectively, but that could just be perception.

[GerrardWinstanley]

I'm on e-cigarettes at the moment myself. I'd recommend VIP cigarettes if you're in the UK. They seem to have gotten that filthy tobacco flavour just right and they also have a range of photon tank kits if you find yourself craving something stronger. I'd suggest always getting the highest strength (24mg), even if you're a mere 10-a-day person.

Also don't believe the hype about there being the equivalent of 40 cigarettes in each cartridge. It's really closer to 15-20. Still cheaper than smoking though.

I've had mixed success with them (I've lapsed on two occasions... when I ran out of carts and my replacements were late in arriving and when I switched brands to Green Smoke, which I didn't care for), but have to say I just don't think about cigarettes in the way did when I was on nicotine gum and patches.

[Prisma]

Why would anyone want to stop consuming caffeine? (Barring some sort of medical condition) Caffeine is pretty benign and fun, or at least that's how it seems to me anyway.

Believe it or not, as a regular smoker and two coffee a day person, it's stained my teeth pretty bad (according to the dentist I have really weak teeth with little enamel). I've always been a bit embarrassed about my teeth, so decided that I would try to quit in the hopes I could improve them :blushing:

[PC LOAD LETTER]

Believe it or not, as a regular smoker and two coffee a day person, it's stained my teeth pretty bad (according to the dentist I have really weak teeth with little enamel). I've always been a bit embarrassed about my teeth, so decided that I would try to quit in the hopes I could improve them :blushing:
grab some fluoride rinse from the drug store

[revolon]

If you really want to quite, first of all you need to realize what you are losing, how much it causing damage to your health, and by quitting how much you can improve in your health. And use the facts as motivator for you. As I am going through severe chest infection just because of too much smoking, and now seriously looking to quit.

[Orange Juche]

I quit in early February, I was just in that "zone" where you feel like you have to quit, and if you try, you'll definitely will. So I bought patches, didn't use them nearly as long as the instructions say (it's been a few weeks since I've even used a patch), and I don't smoke.

Kind of miss it, but more glad that I'm not a slave to it than anything. And no more smoker's cough is nice.

[MP5]

I quit in early February, I was just in that "zone" where you feel like you have to quit, and if you try, you'll definitely will. So I bought patches, didn't use them nearly as long as the instructions say (it's been a few weeks since I've even used a patch), and I don't smoke.

Kind of miss it, but more glad that I'm not a slave to it than anything. And no more smoker's cough is nice.

Good job Comrade :) . As a person who has been addicted to numerous substances over the years such as alcohol, benzodiazpines (really only got physically dependent on them as temazepam was the only one i found to be euphoric hence why i abused the shit out of that one), coke/crack, opiates and to a much lesser extent amphetamines i can say that in terms of quitting long term and the psychological intensity of the cravings Tobacco is perhaps the most addictive. Only crack and IV coke (IV cocaine is much much more compulsive then crack to the point where it drives you insane) can rival it. Alcohol and cocaine are the only 2 other ones that had such long lasting consequences after i quit the drug.

I have fluid on my chest (again!) which is solely from smoking and no doubt my allergies are not helping either. So i am back on anti-biotic's yet again because if i ever get pneumonia again i will probably lose any sanity i have left. I hate feeling so weak. It was only a few years ago that i could work out on the heavy bag and then go running for a few hours without hardly getting winded at all. Now after 20 minutes on the treadmill i feel like i am going to keel over ffs! Fucking shameful. I really need to give quitting a good honest try before it fucks up my health even more.

[bcbm]

not drinking has really helped me quit, i never want one besides when i have a bit of booze in me

[Goblin]

I quit a week ago. Went back to snus, and im glad i did. I only smoked for one year, though it gave me some severe breathing problems. I started using snus when i was 9, and stopped using it for a year when i was 18 (thats when i went over to cigarettes). Snus has never given me any health problems. Then again, the kind im using is made in Sweden, and theres no proof that it causes cancer. The american kind on the other hand...

[PC LOAD LETTER]

i smoked again tonight for the first time in like 18 months woo prolly not gonna buy a pack though

[garrus]

Getting a cold with a fever and a sore throat did it for me.
( i started again after a year ,due to cliche reasons :( )

[Ele'ill]

I started smoking again and beer and caffeine. So far it's all in moderation aside from the caffeine which is like wake up - extra strength 5 hour energy - redbull - medium coffee - dance with satan - 4 hours later run from satan hide in closet

[Craig_J]

Thought I'd ump this rather than start a new thread, I'm 19 and have been smoking for 4 years. Aswell as that I have asthma so my lungs are iv a VERY bad shape. I've never had an asthma attack in my life and I used to be a veyr fast long distance runner. I actually never believed I had asthma. But started smoking when I was 15 and after I year I'd lost a fair bit of stanima and pace. Now for the past year/ year and a half sometimes if I walk to fast I'm out of breath!!! I'm also trying to bulk up and gain muscle and have made good progress but the lack of stanima really hinders it.

I'm currently studying for exams so don't really want to quit right now but in 3 weeks I'll be finished and really want to quit smoking. The only worry is I start working at the racecourse as a barman again during the summer. When working there it's very hectic and busy sometimes and the cigarette breaks are the only joy I get working there. I mean the people I work with are usually great but it's just so stressful that I can't imagine not smoking. Anyone on here know a way around that at all?

[PC LOAD LETTER]

Craig try an electronic cigarette with a light cartridge, it'll lower your tolerance and make it easier to quit because the withdrawals won't be as strong. When you do, it'll be over within two days. After a while, you'll get used to not having cigarette breaks, or if you want, try replacing the occasional cigarette break with "I have to take a dump" and go wash your face or something for 5 minutes of zen time.


I started smoking again about two months ago and currently hate myself for it. I had 18 months of non smoking time.

[Bardo]

E-cigarettes are the way to go, in my experience. The transition was very smooth and easy, plus putting down the e-cig is so much easier than putting down the cigarettes cold turkey.

They're also pretty damn enjoyable :D

[PC LOAD LETTER]

[edit]

Nevermind you guys don't need to know that stuff

[Sentinel]

Snus has never given me any health problems. Then again, the kind im using is made in Sweden, and theres no proof that it causes cancer.

What you say is correct - otherwise they would hardly have removed the text claiming it 'causes cancer' etc. It is a superb alternative to smoking otherwise too as it doesn't really affect your fitness.

But a tip would be to alternate the sides where you have it, my gums have receded very badly on the left side, above the canine tooth, as I tend to prefer to keep it there. I'm afraid I might lose that one, unless I learn to keep it to the right instead.

And I'm only 32. But of course that is preferrable to cancer, which is why I intend to either quit or greatly cut down on smoking soon, and only use snus (I currently do both).

I could never quit both, not in this life situation at least. I would go nuts. :grin:

[Ele'ill]

what's the difference between the snus in Sweden and in the US?

[Sentinel]

what's the difference between the snus in Sweden and in the US?

I've never tried the american sort so I wouldn't know. The next time I visit your country I might. :)

For the record, I've been using snus for about 17 years. Last few years only the portioned form.

[Zealot]

I quit cold turkey and was surprised how easy it was