Quitting smoking

i went from 15-20 cigs p/day to 1-3 p/day over a year ago, and have maintained that level since. my husband thought that cutting down so drastically during such a huge life change would be a bad idea, but it was actually the best - whole new environment, whole new set of habits and new routine. made it waaaaaaay easier than trying to quit while living in the same house where i could always smoke inside, and going to the same job where i would smoke before, during and after work. and several times - while on vacation - i've gone for as long as 6 days without even thinking about smoking.

next time we move i might try to stop altogether.

Gum didn't work for me (my jaw got sore) and the patch didn't work for me (I need to adjusting my self-medication to the situation).

But I encountered Swedish portion snus from a peer on another forum, and that's worked for the past 8 months. Snus is steam cured mini teabags of oral tobacco left under the front lip with essentially no carcinogens, they're discreet and don't require spitting. Once I got the nicotine dosage under control I slowly, over a month, lost the habit of needing a cigarette between my fingers. Over the next few months I stretched individual portions out to 2+ hours, till I was down to 4-5 a day. I'm presently down to 1 portion a day (and not every day), but plan on keeping tins around for anxiety emergencies, as its far more benign than cigarrettes.

In the US, Camel is marketting a rather foul saccharine (and low-dose) version. Don't judge snus on the Camel product - if your intrigued either as a cessation aid or for harm reduction, get a sampler from northerner.com or swedish-snus.com before you write it off.

wah

this would be a little easier if i didn't need a giant excuse to get out of the office right now

I wonder if taking up knitting will help distract me from my smoking :/

YES it WILL if you are of a singular and obsessive mind like I am.

It worked REALLY WELL for me.

Hahah I was actually remembering you Abb! And then I remembered how you said you couldnt interwebs when you got onto the knitting and I was all "nooooooooooooo"

it appears i am already replacing fags with more caffeine

this will not end well

Hmmm yeah you can't really type & knit @ the same time but if you just want to read intenets then you can hit the page down button right? No biggie!

esoj you could knit too! But it's not nec. You're already not a smoker, right? ESOJ, non-smoker! And vent away if you are pissed the fuck off in a nic fit bcz let me tell you what, those people on the hotlines are some smug, punchable Pollyannas.

I strarted smoking at about 13 or 14 yrs old and smoked until I was 31 or 32, 4 yrs later never smoked anything again. I was a pack a day smoker, if I went out drinking 2 or 3 packs a day :). I quit with the patch and a lot of gum. I still chew a lot of gum, but I never smoked again.

it's not so much that i need something to occupy my hands with, more that i need to replace it with something that i can't combine with smoking. last time i was off em for more than a year, which was helped by cycling (since i can't maintain a sufficient level of fitness for biking while being a smoker) but then i got sick, stopped riding, and got back on the darts.. gah

c'mon dawg u need to clean the bike up and come riding w/ me on sundee

Ya I have the smoke/alcohol diad that's killin me because one wont work without the other so I just end up having both, way too freakin often.

If you quit smoking you can drink a lot & wake up feeling pretty normal & not at all like a barbecue grill that hasn't been cleaned in 2.5 years.

this sundee riding idea is intriguing tho i need to find my helmet

also i currently have the fitness of a 90 year old

wake up feeling pretty normal & not at all like a barbecue grill that hasn't been cleaned in 2.5 years.

Hahahha ohhhh so true :(

I started smoking again after quitting for 7 years. I was in a what-is-the-point-of-everything mood while visiting my 92 year-old father (who still smokes!), bummed one of his cigarettes, and was hooked again. I only smoke at night after dinner because it calms me down after the incredible tension I experience from work. Because of that it's been hard to find something to replace it with. I know that changing my environment worked the last time, but don't have any trips planned for the near future. I think I have to build up my level of disgut with it so I have the motivation. Nicotine is a powerfully addicting drug, but the ritual of smoking itself is just as hard to give up...

i would say a cigarette after dinner is a man's right to choose, but that's just me.

Yah I only smoke in the evenings after work too. Smoke and a wine and simpsons. Which too often turns into a few more, heh heh.

yes that's the problem. I can't seem to make it even one night without smoking. Last time that happened was two weeks ago when I was visiting my one year old god daughter overnight in Napa

the ritual of smoking itself is just as hard to give up...

this is very OTM... I don't particularly like the buzz of nicotine but having an excuse to go outside or smoking after a big dinner or something is very nice

after 7 years? i know i will be hooked again if i smoke another fag. actually i am hooked right now as i crave a cigarette like crazy. one year without nicotine. today was hard as i did some exercise in the early morning, outside it was very sunny and i worked from 7 to half 7. we have deadlines and stuff. has anyone else smoked roll-ups and has got the impression that they seem more addictive than normal cigarettes? i have had a sore throat for over a year now. will it ever become normal again?

I just recalled a good solution - become violently ill and bedridden for more than one day. This happened to me about twelve years ago and I ended up not smoking for two whole years. It happened again and I have had only two cigarettes all day.

Hey so I haven't smoked since Sunday because flu and I haven't not smoked this long since I started like seven years ago.

I'm pretty much completely well now, but I have an intermittent productive cough and I'm wondering if this is a quitting thing or a flu thing.

(PS got some snus around cuz I've got a friend who's a total snus stan so I'm not really doing much withdrawal at the moment)

wow has it only been six weeks

feels like months

^should point out that i have had 2 cigs in this time, and tbh i don't know why i had either..

i have had 15 months without a fag now. and i am still struggling. my throat burns. the only thing that keeps me from not starting again is all the effort i have put in quitting. while smoking i did not realise how strong my addiction was. now i do.

My heavy-smoker ex just had his tonsils out and hasnt smoked for 2 weeks as a result... be interesting to see if that sticks.

been on the patch for a week. boredom is the enemy of quitting. been sitting here all morning wishing i could smoke.

found a pack of chesterfields just in time for new years. dusted them off and haven't wanted one since.

been sitting here all morning wishing i could smoke.
thta's what i have been doing for the last 17 1/2 months. kind of. but it's too late to restart now. after all the effort i put in not smoking. i have to admit that there are long periods without thinking about fags at all. quitting is possible but beware. the relapse is always around the corner.

Day 9

I'm going to get that laser "acupuncture" therapy one day this week, which worked really well for my aunt who smoked as much as I currently do for 30 years. I'm sure half the "cure" is mental, but the patch and gum have NOT worked for me.

I will murder people!!!

don't do it

i mean murder people, quitting is ok. may i offer u a stick of my trident "layers" ?

How long did you smoke? My father says it's irrelevant, but I do feel it plays a role. And how long have you been off it? What are you using?

I've been off it for about a month now. It's going well. But then I was never a proper smoker (in my mind).

Ech, probably since about 19, so ten years. I've tried giving up a few times, with not a smashing success. I smoked so much on Saturday night that my lungs just felt wrong the next day, and sort of still do even today. Since Saturday I've had one cig and a few puffs on a low-tobacco spl1ff. I find that it's not just the frustration and the fidgetiness that gets me, but bouts of depression and anxiety too (which are kind of worse).

I'm trying to cut down with the aim of quitting before Christmas. NiQuitin mints are the most disgusting thing I've ever tried. What is it about nicotine gum that makes me hiccup?

smoked for 20 years, quit January 4th using the patch. have cheated twice since then. feeling great, not missing it (except every once in a while when I drink).

i have had my second anniversary on the saint james's way - where i stopped - and these days it is getting better but this summer i was suffering a lot. i still fell the nicotine and/or the tar in my throat. the throat burns occasionally. i have the impression the tar is mounting up from the lungs. whatever, to stop smoking is possible and definitely worth it.

i've been tapering down over the last year or so.. from a packet a day (i have no idea how i kept that up) down to 3-4 daily average. i can see myself completely without at some point in the future but i'm not quite there yet

3-4 cigs not packs

I had one yeaterday. I couldn't cope - I was getting frustrated at work and bickering with my girl. This is the main problem, although I don't know if I believe in patches and gum is absolutely disgusting!

Why not just cut down? Whatever works for you to lessen the amount of smoking, right?

Yesterday I craved a smoke SO FUCKING BADLY. It was really overwhelming. But I just don't go to buy a pack and it goes away. I don't have the anger, so only I am suffering. lol

6 years this summer! Considering how heavy of a smoker I was, it's really weird how fast I'm creeping up on being a nonsmoker for longer than I was a smoker. 2015, here I come.

quitting for the second time in a year ):

actually yesterday i was really stressed out and i was like MAN I AM NIC FITTING LIKE A MOTHERFUCK I NEED A CIGARETTE NOW so i bummed a fag off a coworker and realised it did not help at all and was like OKAY I GUESS I WASN'T NIC FITTING I AM ACTUALLY JUST REALLY STRESSED OUT ABOUT STUFF