I'm looking to quit, but I'd like to hear some opinions first...

If you have quit smoking, or know somebody who has, what method did you/he/she use to quit?

Did you relapse and start smoking again or are you done for good?

Any other tips would be great, as I am trying to cut the habit and save some cash in the process

11/9/2005 9:39:14 PM

Get lung cancer.

11/9/2005 9:40:37 PM

use a different drug to help with the quitin process...then quit that later

11/9/2005 9:40:58 PM

I'm trying to make my best friend quit... He's smokin' like 4 packs a day

He tried the patch... said it didn't do it for him

He's looking into that shot that Duke is advertising... I don't know what it's called but if it works I'll keep you up to date. (It honestly sounds to good to be true )

11/9/2005 9:42:42 PM

^^Well, I don't know about that, I used to be in to everything, and I quit everything else but smoking and drinking and would not like to get back into the other shit

[Edited on November 9, 2005 at 9:43 PM. Reason : .]

11/9/2005 9:42:53 PM

Well I've cut down to about a 1/2 pack a day and a pack on the weekends, but I'd like to get closer to zero

11/9/2005 9:44:09 PM

dont
you cant match the smooth refreshing taste of that first cigarette of the day
or they way it calms you when you are stressed
or the way it feels lighting a cigarette after sex

11/9/2005 9:44:21 PM

Thanks Jon, haha

11/9/2005 9:44:49 PM

how many are you smoking per day?

tell me so i can tell you the method i used to quit.

11/9/2005 9:49:48 PM

My dad did it cold turkey. Best thing he's ever done. That was over 20 years ago.

11/9/2005 9:52:07 PM

^^about 10 give or take on weekdays, and about a pack a day when I'm drinking (weekends)

11/9/2005 9:54:09 PM

Only smoke at work/school for a week or so. After a while you wont think about cigs when you are at home. Then when you are off work for a few days dont smoke when you get back. And dont bum off others, youll be buying them again soon if you do.

11/9/2005 9:55:02 PM

yea thats a good idea about not bumming. Its esp. hard when both of my roommates smoke

11/9/2005 9:59:11 PM

And how long have been smoking for?

11/9/2005 10:04:46 PM

Hire a midget to head-butt you in the balls when you reach for a smoke.

11/9/2005 10:07:00 PM

give all your money to me, then you wont be able to buy any

11/9/2005 10:07:42 PM

don't smoke...easiest way to quit

11/9/2005 10:09:57 PM

^^^^ Hmmm, since I was 16 (I'm 21 now), but I didn't smoke very often until freshman year of college, so lets say about 4 years of smoking on a regular basis (meaning not just at parties).

11/9/2005 10:14:12 PM

Ask Peter Jennings.

11/9/2005 10:27:18 PM

OK, here is what I did, adapted to your situation:

You basically buy 2 packs at a time, and after every 2 packs, reduce the number of cigarettes you smoke oer day by one.

You need to have a determination to pull this one.

So, for example, starting tomorrow (or after you finish your current pack) :

- 2 packs, 10/day (last you 4 days)

- 2 packs, 9/day (4 days + 4 cigs, bum 5 cigs to make it 5 days)

- 2 packs, 8/day (5 days)

- 2 packs, 7/day (5 days + 5 cigs, bum 2 cigs to make it 6 days)

- 2 packs, 6/day (6 days + 4 cigs, bum 2 cigs to make it 7 days)

- 2 packs, 5/day (8 days)

- 2 packs, 4/day (10 days)

- 2 packs, 3/day (13 days)

- 2 packs, 2/day (20 days)

- 2 packs, 1/day (40 days)

(total quitting time: 2 months)

Then you are finished, because you have slowly weaned your self off it. But, if need be:

- 2 packs, 1 every other day (80 days)

(total quitting time: ~5 months)

Of course, you can introduce any variation that you see fit, depending on your level of addiction. For example, buy 3 packs at every stage (6 months to quit), instead of 2. Or, buy 2 packs at the beginning, but introduce 3 packs when you are down to, say, 4-5 a day, to tail off the weaning process longer.

Good luck!

11/9/2005 10:39:40 PM

I find my method to be more effective than saying I will smoke 10/day for a week, then 9/day for a week, etc, until i am down to 1/day for a week.

That method is top-heavy, because you smoke a lot at the beginning of the process, and at the end, you quit suddenly after smoking:

2/day for a week, and then
1/day for a week.

Compare that to my method, which I call bottom-heavy, because you smoke just a little less at the beginning compared to the top-heavy method, but you tail it off longer. Compare what happens at the end:

2/day for 20 days
1/day for 40 days

So quitting is much easier and smoother.

11/9/2005 10:45:32 PM

That's an interesting method there, I might have to try that

Thanks bud

11/9/2005 10:46:06 PM

^ read my other post as well.

trust me, it is effective.

you are welcome

()

11/9/2005 10:47:26 PM

1) reduce your smoking in moderation
2) eat an actual cig, trust me, youll frown everytime you look at one
3) watch the month long series ABC news has on quitting and realize how you are screwing yourself
4) everytime you think about smoking a cig, repeat in your mind "quit to live"
5) you have to really want to bad...

11/9/2005 10:54:57 PM

try this:

ok you have to wait at least as long for this cigarette as you did for your last cigarette

so if you have one at noon, then one at 1:05PM (1hr, 5min), the next one cant be before 2:10 (another 1hr, 5min) most likely you'll be a couple minutes late and it will be like 1h, 15min.

or add 5 minutes each time.

and don't cheat.

or just quit. all you have to do is to want to quit more than you want to smoke a cigarette.

[Edited on November 9, 2005 at 10:56 PM. Reason : -]

11/9/2005 10:55:33 PM

^Yea, I've tried something like that before, but I get to thinking too much about the last time I had one and when the next time I allow myself to have one.... it drives me crazy.

I've quit before, but end up relapsing for one reason or another, and then it becomes very hard to convince myself I can quit again. But once I do I am very eager to quit. I've always tried cold turkey though, so I'm gonna try 0EPII1's method... I think its gonna work

11/9/2005 11:05:31 PM

make sre you keep track of the number you have in a day.

make a chart with all the dates when you will be buying the 2 packs, starting from the date you start your program.

check off each day as you go, and if you smoke one more than you are allowed on any day, note that in the chart, and then try to smoke one less the following day, etc.

motivate yourself

by making a chart,
asking friends to help you not smoking more than you are allowed in a day,
spacing them out in a day,
and really enjoying one when you smoke, i.e.,
smoking one when you feel a strong urge, and not just because you are with friends or the cigs are around
anything else that motivates you

11/9/2005 11:12:48 PM

just stop smoking...I mean I know it sounds hard...but if you don't have any cigarettes around you can't smoke...that's how I did it...I smoked my last pack and then didn't go back and buy anymore...every now and then I would bum one off of a friend...but they all knew I quit so they wouldn't give me on that often...but it worked...I don't smoke anymore

11/9/2005 11:13:32 PM

my 30 year old cousin who smoke for over half of his life started chewing on these and he is now completely smoke free...

11/9/2005 11:17:04 PM

Quote :

"He's smokin' like 4 packs a day "

i seriously doubt that...


as far as quitting goes...OEP's method looks entirely too complicated. ntm, cutting down is far as shit from quitting. I know tons of people who have been cutting down for years. They always talk about how much they've been cutting down lately but they never seem quit.

seriously, try the patch. Its a bit costly, but not any more than actually smoking. That way you get the nicotine you need, and you can step down there. As long as you're still reaching for cigarettes, you're not quitting.

if you want to quit, quit. slap on a patch, and quit. Try it on a monday, don't smoke all week, and take it easy on the next weekend. No heavy drinking etc.



If you quit, then pick up a cigarette when you're not drinking, then you really have no intentions of quitting at all.

If you only break down when you drink, then your willpower just needs a little strengthing.

but yeah, try the patch, it really works. gives ya pretty sweet dreams too

11/9/2005 11:17:35 PM

^^^I'm glad that worked for you, but I have tried that before to no avail. It's reall easy to drive yourself to the store and if you are craving a cig, you buy them (in my case at least). Cold turkey doesn't work for me, so I'm goin a different route.

^^I love those things, but where do you buy them at?

[Edited on November 9, 2005 at 11:19 PM. Reason : .]

11/9/2005 11:19:21 PM

again, if you want to quit, then QUIT...cold turkey. Cutting down will get you nowhere. Patches will keep you from going crazy after quitting.

do not have any cigs around when you quit. Break them, flush them...whatever. Just get rid of them and tell your friends not to bum em to you.

Quote :

"but I have tried that before to no avail"

sure, it didn't work the first time. It rarely does. Quitting smoking is a battle. It took me like 4 time quitting cold turkey until i finally quit successfully

[Edited on November 9, 2005 at 11:24 PM. Reason : ]

11/9/2005 11:21:16 PM

I quit cold turkey last winter overseas when I was about to come home, but when I got back everything was so different that I started again. Don't ask... But I quite cold turkey again this past may, and have had maybe... 4 or 5 cigarettes since then. Bein' sociable, you understand.

11/9/2005 11:23:19 PM

stop buying the dang things.

11/9/2005 11:25:51 PM

ok synapse, everyone now knows your take on the subject, the man said he was gonna try the other way.

11/9/2005 11:26:27 PM

^^^^Synapse, I understand what you are talking about, but I have never considered cutting down before. I've always tried cold turkey. I'd like to try cutting down, to the point that I am hardly smoking and then quit for good.

If that does not work, I will most likely resort to the patch. But I'd rather try to do it on my own first, without the aid of patches or anything similar.

I think your method is good in certain circumstances, but I am around cigarettes all the time, both my roommates smoke and 1/4 of my friends do too. So going cold turkey isnt going to help right now.

[Edited on November 9, 2005 at 11:26 PM. Reason : .]

11/9/2005 11:26:41 PM

Quote :

"I love those things, but where do you buy them at?"

You have to buy the cinnamon ones offline, but if you like the tea flavored ones, then most vitamin shops will have them...

11/9/2005 11:28:51 PM

^ yeah, but I don't think GNC carries them...

11/9/2005 11:29:46 PM

^^ Hmmm, any vitamin shops around ncsu campus?

11/9/2005 11:33:02 PM

I almost lost my dad last fall due to a heart attack. He smoked ever since he was in his teens and now he is 57. If you guys would have experienced what I did and seen what came out of his lungs, quitting would not be a problem. He had to have a 5 way bypass and he also found out he has bullous emphysema. Bulli are blisters on your lungs due to the irritation from smoke and they can pop at any time, causing your lungs to collapse. He had a chest tube put in and that cleaned his lungs out....and it was amazing to see what came out. I simply do not understand how such strong people become so weak over one little cigarette and do not know how to quit. It blows my mind.....not to mention after my dad almost lost his life and stayed in the hospital for 44 days....I caught him smoking at home a few days later.

11/9/2005 11:35:13 PM

wow, i'm sorry to hear that curlyQ. See its shit like ^ that really makes me wonder why I started in the first place

11/9/2005 11:38:06 PM

Yeah, my dad is ok now, maybe sneaking a cigarette every now and then...I dont know but, I hope you can only find the strength to quit. If you could only smell it...that alone is enough

Its like smoking a big turd...it stinks up everything and yellows your teeth.

If you need inspiration...go visit CTSU at wake med where all the heart patients are. The majority are smokers...or overweight. While we were visiting him...a doctor was walking around behind the nurses station with one in his mouth unlit...of course...I was like you got to be fucking kidding me

[Edited on November 9, 2005 at 11:48 PM. Reason : wtf]

11/9/2005 11:44:00 PM

well once you smoke on a regular basis, your sense of smell weakens and you don't really notice it. But I know what you mean, I remember how shitty it smelled the last time i quit cold turkey for a while

11/9/2005 11:47:48 PM

^ whats the longest youve been able to quit?

11/9/2005 11:55:17 PM

Here is another thought to make you quit:

SMOKING DAMAGES SPERM. WHICH ULTIMATELY MEANS NOT SO HOT CHILDREN.

11/9/2005 11:56:40 PM

HYPNOSIS

11/10/2005 12:01:09 AM

have some willpower and just DECIDE to not smoke

total quitting time (1 second)

11/10/2005 12:02:54 AM

^^^^ A couple of months, without smoking a single one. Early this year actually, but then I got hammered on my 21st and smoke a couple, then it was back to smokin them regularly unfortunately

^^^ Yes, thank you, I think it helps to keep these things in mind while trying to quit

^^ Actually, I've tried that, and that actually helped me quit for 2 months because the guy had some really helpful ways of changing your thought patterns about smoking

For example, thinking of a time before you smoked, when you were successful at something, and remembering how great it felt. Like for me, getting the best time in 50 free in Regionals when I swam in Highschool. Also thinking about all the reasons smoking is bad for you, etc.

[Edited on November 10, 2005 at 12:09 AM. Reason : .]

11/10/2005 12:08:52 AM

pcmsurf, have you ever smoked for an extended amount of time (i.e. years)?

It's a little harder than that, trust me.

Nicotine IS addictive, and it alters your brain chemistry just like any other drug. It takes a little more than willpower for some people. I'm not saying its impossible, but I'm looking for other methods to aid in my goal to quit

11/10/2005 12:11:09 AM

My father quit cold turkey right before I was born
He still claims it to be one of the best things he ever did, I agree, it's a gross habit

11/10/2005 12:21:20 AM