Smoking - How hard is it to quit.

[Wendy]

I was curious as to how many of us are smokers. And if any ex-smokers would like to offer advice on quitting.

I was a smoker for about 3 or 4 years off and on. Before I quit I was smoking about a pack and a half a week, so I wasn't a very heavy smoker. Still I had a hard time quitting until one day I had an experience that woke me up and I suddenly went cold turkey no problem.

Unfortunately for most it's proven way more difficult and thought I would start some dialog going about it.

[khamedra19]

I smoked 3 years ago. It was one of the worst things I've ever done in my life. I smoked on and off for 5 years, then got disgusted with myself to the point where I just quit and never picked up another cigarette. I of all people should not have been smoking cigarettes because:

1. Have an uncle who died from leukemia
2. An aunt who died from breast cancer that returned as bone cancer
3. Have a grandmother with periodic serious upper respiratory ailments
4. Had a mother with fibroids in her lungs
5. Myself have exercise related asthma

While I smoked, I had a chronic cough that never went away. You know, how life long smokers develop a cough? Well, due to my exercise related ashtma, I developed a cough early. I had constant phlegm in my lungs. I couldn't walk far without getting winded. I was starting to develop that breath that smokers have.

I tried several times to quit, but I wasn't serious. Once I made up my mind that I didn't want to smoke, it was easy to quit.

[jacura]

I am not a smoker, but like an idiot I tried to be (several years ago), but never could develope a habit (how dumb is that LOL).

I wonder if it has something to do with genetics and stuff.

[EarthTones]

I am not a smoker, but like an idiot I tried to be (several years ago), but never could develope a habit (how dumb is that LOL).

I wonder if it has something to do with genetics and stuff.

Jacura that wasn't dumb, it was a blessing!

I was a smoker, at my worst a social smoker, during college and I hated it. I would be cursing myself out as I lit the cigarette! Many of my friends at that time were smokers so it was so hard to quit, especially being in social situations.

I had tried to quit here and there, but really didn't have the motivation to put in the hard work. One day, after getting off the subway in NYC and running up the stairs to the street I was so short of breath I thought I would choke. Add to that the fact that I was overweight and it was double jeopardy.

I quit cold turkey that same day. It was rough initially...coughing up the phlegm for several days, fighting the cravings, the moodiness...I wrote a lot in my journal to keep from killing somebody! But after 2 weeks I was okay. I just challenged myself to be more comfortable around smokers without getting the urge to ask for a puff. It got better with time. I did relapse once a few months later...but after taking 2 puffs my lungs were like " NO THANK YOU SISTAH GURL!" and I coughed like a fool in a restaurant. I was so embarrassed I haven't touched a cigarette since!

Today, the slightest wiff of second hand smoke gets me sick!

Good luck to those of you who are looking to quit!

[Papillion]

Thankfully, I have never smoked, but my Mom used to. When my Father was alive, he was also a smoker. Most of my aunts & uncles were smokers---it was that generation. They've all since stopped smoking. There were no warnings on the dangers of smoking then, but, with all the knowledge now, it amazes me that people, especially young people, smoke.

I can speak for my Mom that quitting smoking was one of the hardest things to do. I was a small child and I saw her suffer something awful!

But the only way to do it was 'cold turkey' and to stay away from social situations (until the addiction is beat) that would induce smoking.

The ash trays, the smell, and the doctor telling Mom that she was going to die of a heart attack if she did not quit was anough to keep me and my siblings away from cigarettes.

I don't want to get on a high horse of judgemental because I can empathize with the difficulty of stopping smoking, but I feel nauseus (sp) when I see cigarette butts lying around or when I smell ash trays and smoke. There is nothing worse than gettin on the train in the morning and having someone with stank hardcore smoker breath sit beside me or behind me. I feel like I will throw up.

And the sad thing is that, most smokers HATE the cigarette when they first try it because it makes them sick. It's that darn nicotine that hooks them.

[jacura]

I am not a smoker, but like an idiot I tried to be (several years ago), but never could develope a habit (how dumb is that LOL).

I wonder if it has something to do with genetics and stuff.

Jacura that wasn't dumb, it was a blessing!



LOL, I was saying that was dumb of me to do that...I agree the fact that it did not become a habit was a blessing. I was the idiot LOL trying to make myself into a smoker....LOL...just dumb I tell ya...duuuuummmmbbbb. :lol:

[Wendy]

I had tried unsuccessfully to quit before. But what broke me was the Sunday morning I sat home alone counting out all the change in the house for gas until payday. I came up with about 4 bucks which was just enough. This was all I had and was grateful that I was able top scrounge up the change.

About an hour later I noticed I was out of cigs, got up, went to the corner store, came home, sat down, got comfortable, and lit a cig. And as I drew inhaled it dawned on me that I had just spent the last of my money w/o a 2nd thought. :shock:

I'm always very careful with my money, especially during times like those. I'm the type who can be down to my last 5 bucks and hold on to it for as long as necessary. I would never ever spend the last of my money on cigs, especially knowing that I there was something more important... like being able to get to work.

I ended up having to borrow money 4 bucks from a neighbor I barely knew. I was so embarrassed not only because I had to borrow money from a neighbor but because it was due to my own lack of control. I threw that pack away, and have yet to buy myself another.

[EarthTones]

I am not a smoker, but like an idiot I tried to be (several years ago), but never could develope a habit (how dumb is that LOL).

I wonder if it has something to do with genetics and stuff.

Jacura that wasn't dumb, it was a blessing!



LOL, I was saying that was dumb of me to do that...I agree the fact that it did not become a habit was a blessing. I was the idiot LOL trying to make myself into a smoker....LOL...just dumb I tell ya...duuuuummmmbbbb. :lol:

LOL!

[Shay6843]

I have been trying to quit for years. I have tried Nicorette, Nicotrol(sp) and a pill(I can't remember the name). I have been unsuccessfull with all of them. I am now a member of SA (Smokers Anon.) I have went from 6-7 packs of Newports(Menthol) to 3-4 packs of Marlboro Ultra Lights(Non-Menthol). I am trying to get down 2 packs a week and them try the Nicoderm Patches. Nicoderm has 3 stepdown stages with different nicotine amounts. I'm hoping that in conjunction with learning haircare and getting my exercise program together I will be successful this time around.

[blakgirl]

never smoked. i was the kid that would come home "Smoke Out Day" or whatever they called it and tell my father how bad smoking was [he smokes cigars].

blak.

[Maestradiva77]

I have never smoked before.

[curlygirl]

I stopped smoking seven years ago. I smoked a pack and a half or more a day for a little over ten years. It was very easy to quit once I did. I only had a couple times where I was having problems. Two things made it easy.

1. This may sound dopey to some, but I prayed. I think that it was the
spiritual approach that I took that made it easier.
2. I never said to myself "I can't smoke". I never allowed myself to hold
that thought. This way, I didn't feel like a vicitim and I knew I had a
choice to smoke again if/when ever I wanted to. If I had said to
myself "I can't smoke" then I would have felt all victimized and sorry
for myself and probably started again.

Quitting smoking was one of the finest things I ever did for myself. I started feeling better w/in days!!!!

[jmnappy]

I have asthma pretty bad. So, it would be utterly stupid for me to even attempt smoking. I need my inhaler just to walk up a flight of stairs.

[EarthTones]

One of my former clients used to smoke 3 packs a day! Not only that, she smoked menthol cigs and would cut the filter off. She was in the hospital and had a breathing tube in her throat...she used to take the tube out and smoke through the hole in her throat...

The sight of that is another reason why I have stayed clean!

[blackdixie]

I'd smoked adleast 1 packs a week, I smoked before I said good morning to my family. I quite once when I used the patch for 6 months. when I started back I was up to 2 packs a week. I stopped when I was pregnant with my daughter but started back after I finised breast feeding. The point to all of that is I would just start when I wanted it. Then I open my mouth and said aloud, " Lord please take this want out of my life", soon after the smell of smokes was nolonger appealing to me and when I did ask my friend for one after smoking only half I threw up. Ask him and he'll take it right away.

[Tigersi]

i smoked a pack plus. i considered myself very seriously addicted. i felt like smoking really fit into my life-style & image & worked well for me. i was that kinda intense person. I LOVED SMOKING!

but once i knew just know bad it was for my health, i tried over & over to quit, until i finally worked out a system that has kept me smoke-free for years.

how i quit:

i thought of my addiction as serious & difficult as a heroine addiction. i told myself i will always be addicted, that i must manage the addiction because it could cost me my life if i do not. this attitude may sound paradoxically crazy, but it helped me to take extreme measures to handle my desire to smoke.

i quit a total of about 4 or 5 times before i was able to finally quit for good.
each time i went back to cigarettes, i told myself that eventually i would be successful, i was not judgmental or harsh with myself. i tried to have faith that eventually i would be able to quit.

it takes three days for the nicotine to flush out of your system, so i learned for three days i will be crazy, i will hallucinate that my life is worth less, that nobody cares about me, that i will go insane if i don't get a cigarette. since i know this is the pattern i prepared myself for three days of madness.

if your smoking is connected to coffee, consider quitting coffee before you quit smoking. depending on how much you drink, a coffee addiction can be intense. try green tea: you get a slight caffeine buzz, just enough to actually be beneficial, AND you get the benefit of anti-oxidant action.

set the date to quit on days when you will have low contact with (business) people. hook it up so you have high contact with good friends & people who can sincerely help & support you. almost everybody got on my nerves during those three days, so i spent most of my time alone.

on the first day take three to four showers a day. this helps flush out the nicotine. use something to gently scrub the skin & use a very gentle soap. i use tree tea soap from trader joes, very gentle. use a natural, scent-free lotion each time, so your skin does not dry out.

take a vitamin-b complex, 50 mg, with 1 to 1/2 glass of water every three to four hours. this does something good for your nerves, i don't remember what.

get sunflower seeds & those little clover things (the things that people put in oranges during xmas) for 'mouth play'. maybe some mints, but you don't wanna over do the suger, cause that can cause a craving for smoking. get good gum from a health food store, the kind without sugar, that helps digestion, but be careful not to over do these.

make sure you have 8 to 10 glasses of water/tea a day, including the 'calming' herbal teas: chamomile, etc. i made myself a ginger & lemon tea, kept it in a water bottle & drank all day long. this helps with the need for 'mouth & hand play', plus the ginger has some health benefits.

on the first day, clean out all evidence of smoking in your living & working space, including your car. throw all ash trays out. all of them. get a sign that says something that works for you to put up that basically says this environment is smoke-free.

it is important to appeal to your best, true self when in the middle of the difficult times. i made signs & put them up in my home. signs that said i was brave & beautiful & intelligent for doing this. signs that said the difficulty will pass, that i am patient, that i know i will be smoke-free soon.

take vitamin C, 1000 mg, 2 - 3 times a day. (to bowel tolerance: if you get the runs, back off & keep the dosage there). this helps begin a healthy situation to repair damage done by smoking.

some kind of nature-based aerobic exercise helps: get yourself to a park & take a brisk 30 minute walk or hike. walk near water.

then be good, good, good, to yourself, all the rest of the time. i mean really sweet. like if you love junk-tee vee, watch to your hearts content. if you love movies, rent as many as you can take. stay in bed & read magazines if that is what you like. re-read old favorite books.

eat your favorite foods in moderate quantities. here is the really bad news: be prepared for a small amount of weight gain. your weight will eventually even itself out, once you have quit.

REMEMBER: this is a very important and difficult thing for you to do. you are a precious woman, you deserve radiant health, you have the discipline and patience to do this.

my very best to you my sistahs. i am proud & happy that you do this.

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