Stop smoking (Allen Carr the easy way my [snip]RANT

Hang in there!!

Apparently it's tougher to withdraw from nicotine than withdraw from heroine. Perhaps think about taking the edge off with a nicotine replacement therapy, even heroine addicts get methadone! And like someone else said, do it because YOU want to, not for any other reason. Give yourself incentives, a special treat with the money you save, and most importantly, do pat yourself on the back everyday for another day cigarette free!!

Good luck and well done for trying!!

Quit several times in the past, both cold turkey, as well as with medicated help.... Forget what it was called, but that worked best. Withdrawal was absolutely a physical feeling. All in all, I folded like a lawn chair, and still smoke. Now I won't even entertain the idea of quitting anymore, until I can't take smoking anymore.

Why bother. Yeah, it stinks, but it makes me oh, so happy.




: D

I stopped smoking once several years ago. I didn't smoke for about two years.

What I did was change the patterns that had become my habit. I started out by not having a cigarette for 10 minutes after I ate. As I became more comfortable with that, I lengthened the time to 15 minutes, then 20 minutes, etc. It took a few weeks for me to get to the point that I stopped wanting a cigarette at all. You might also try holding off having a cigarette when you get up in the morning.

I'm not saying that this is a sure fire way for you to quit, just that it worked for me.

Good luck.

Thanks for all the replies, I'm reading them all with much interest and I really appreciate all the tips and pointers.
The truth I came to realize is that, to stop smoking, it seems to be a very individual path and different for everyone. Allen Carr knows just as much about MY path then my house md does, or my husband or best friend does.

A lot of people are telling me to try the Champix, and even though I heard many success stories with those (including my husband), I can't take this kind of meds. I don't even take anti depressants and anti anxiety pills even though I need them badly at times. I'm doing it cold turkey or not at all.

21.30 hours down the road.
I just read that it takes 36 hours to get the nicotine to leave your system, that is not that long anymore in my case. I'm curious to see how that 'milestone' will affect everything.

Physically I'm still doing fine, no pain whatsoever.... only a 'nagging' feeling that seems to be crawling under my skin, all the time, everywhere....
But psychological I feel like a mess. I told my husband "I feel like my best friend died and I'm morning". Doing nothing but crying and pity myself.
I don't care, it feels good to cry and to laugh about it later while biting on a straw in between two chocolate bars....

"I feel like my best friend died and I'm morning"

reply to post by GypsK


Speaking from experience of losing my best friend at a young age and quitting smoking.... I would rather have the constant craving for a cigarette every minute of every day for the rest of my life then go through the pain for so much as 1 hour of losing my best friend again.

Edit:

When I say young age I mean he was 32 years old and I was 33.

And to you OP, I hope for 2 things for you...

1. You are successful at butting out for good.

2. You and your best friend live to be best friends until you are old and wrinkly together.

Originally posted by TFCJay

"I feel like my best friend died and I'm morning"

reply to post by GypsK

 

Speaking from experience of losing my best friend at a young age and quitting smoking.... I would rather have the constant craving for a cigarette every minute of every day for the rest of my life then go through the pain for so much as 1 hour of losing my best friend again.

Edit:

When I say young age I mean he was 32 years old and I was 33.

And to you OP, I hope for 2 things for you...

1. You are successful at butting out for good.

2. You and your best friend live to be best friends until you are old and wrinkly together.

edit on 1-1-2013 by TFCJay because: (no reason given)

I'm sorry, I didn't mean that sentence disrespectful towards anyone's loss.

But I do know grief and mourning. I do know how it is to mourn your best friends (twice), your brother, father, pets and teachers. and mourning a friend, that IS a close description of how I feel right now (or felt earlier because the feeling comes and goes)

sorry if you took offense in my post.

edit:
and yes offcourse your right,
If I could have any one of those persons back in my life in exchange for permanent nicotine withdrawal symptoms, then I would take them gladly for the rest of my life.
hmm.... thanks for putting things in perspective.

No, no offence at all, whatsoever!

It takes allot to offend me.

You actually made me think of my best friend again today. Not that I am forgetting him but I think less often about him since he died just over 3 years ago.

I firmly believe that you can quit cold turkey and be successful. My grandpa did it years ago because he decided he was done. That's it, literally. No health problems, no family nagging, he just gave it up. I've never heard him so much as talk about a cigarette since.

My grandmother did the same thing, but it took her having a heart attack to make the decision, it was a lot harder for her.

I couldn't stop on my own at all, so I tried chantix. I was seriously trying to quit for almost a year at that point. It was free, so I decided to try it in light of my difficulties. I only did the two a day you're supposed to for two days, then it was one pill a day and maybe a few puffs of a smoke here and there throughout the next week. After that week, I didn't smoke again (It has been almost six months for me now) but I still had intense cravings. After awhile they went away and I was able to stop the chantix too.

I'm not saying it will work, but it could, and did for me. It will make you're head a bit off for the first couple of days, and I've heard it's addictive, so you would have to be careful with it. If i were you I would research it, I still really don't know a bunch about it. All I know is I'm not smoking anymore because of it.

I've got family in the addiction remediation profession - siblings that have run addiction rehab - I've never suffered the addictive personality myself althoug I've been on prescribed opiates for a decade.
The ONE thing everyone seems to agree on is that quitting CIGARETTES is the most difficult addiction to kick!
Stop by just about any 12-step program meeting and watch the caffeine and cigarettes flow....

By way of assistance, several close friends have had tremendous success with electronic cigarettes using vegetable glycerine based nicotine (polyethylene glycol seems unhealthy) - one friend just substituted e-cigs for combustible smokes and states that he sees health benefits in 2-3 weeks. My 2cents for your consideration.

ganjoa

reply to post by GypsK


this book and a hypnotism tape by a guy called Paul Mckenna worked like a charm for me.

I gave up from 30 a day to nothing, (including when drinking!!).

reply to post by ganjoa


your family sounds a lot like mine (while they where all still alive), that is why I don't drink, ever, and never take medication, not even a simple painkiller unless it's inside a hospital and pushed down my throat.
But I couldn't escape the cigarette trap and been smoking since I was 15 years old.

you know, I've seen people come down from Heroine in the hospital, or better, I heard. When they take them into that one room at night, I'll never forget their screaming in pain and begging.
Because of that I always doubted that a cigarette addictions is worse then a Heroin addiction. Maybe they mean that the relap's from cigs is much higher, as is the death toll.

I also have the e-cigs, 3 of them with Marlb refills.
Been polishing them over and over today, checking the batteries, cleaning the inside..... But didn't smoke them.

Oh Gypsk, how I feel your pain.

I really hate to be a preacher, but, you have not "read" the book properly. Maybe because you started reading it so long ago, or maybe you are too strong.

If you followed all the instruction to the letter, you would still be happy, and laughing at the little worm in your stomach, trying to get its fix! As you can see, I have also read the book.

The book does a shrink job on you, and you really need to go with the flow, and allow yourself to be almost hypnotised, by blindly following instruction.

Unfortunately, that method is not really best suited to members of this forum, because we tend to not believe anything we read, we dissect, challenge, and dispute most things, rather than just following along.

I wish you all the strength, fortitude, and willpower you can muster in your battle, and it may help you to re-read the section on self imposed slavery, for this is very true.

reply to post by GypsK


Don't let your heart rule your mind. This is probably annoying to hear considering...but it should be said. Strength comes from stopping yourself from doing the wrong thing when it's hard. It does get easier.

I should practice what I preach...I know smoking is bad but I refuse to quit. I know when I decide to quit my metal will be tested.

reply to post by GypsK


One word. Champix or Chantix in the states. Got my pack today

reply to post by GypsK


Ok. Nothing worse than a reformed smoker! BUT I CANT HELP MYSELF! Here's my advice for you.

I tried quitting for years. In the end, I decided to 'quit quitting' as my New Years resolution. I succeeded much better at that for 5 years!
I LOVED smoking. Ha, I said it! That was my key really. That relief after that first draw in, the stress which blows away from you in a puff of joyful smoke. Man, I loved smoking....

Then, (in Oz this is) something began to go wrong. My awesome smokes which I really enjoyed (roll yer own tobacco) started to keep going out. At first, I scratched my noggin wondering what was going on, until I was filled in.

The tobacco companies now had to put in a "fire retardant" in my smokes... I mean, seriously, wtf! You could still smoke, but you really had to keep powering through your smoke. Really suck at that bad-boy to keep it going. I tried all sorts of solutions, packing more in, less in, thinner rolls, nothing worked! I used to love reallllly taking my time. It became a race, and that aggravated me. These companies surely would not want your smokes to go out would they? Nope, cause they win both ways! You have to smoke faster, so you go through more smokes!

Screw them, I said.

Then I turned it on them... I quit then. And every time (like seriously every few minutes for the first week, less after) I felt the urge for a smoke I built my anger up into a ball and I put that power into my middle finger and flexed out a big "Up-Yours" at the tobacco company for RUINING my smokes! Profanities also helped!

I mean how dare they!




Sounds silly, but im now 11 weeks in and feel great! I maybe stick my finger up at the tobacco company now once a week! Straight after, the urge just melts away.

Seriously has worked wonders for me. Cause all that 'I feel so happy' bull-dust is like sprinkling glitter on a dog turd. Put some rage they gave you, right back at them.

Hope it helps you!

reply to post by hhcore


Try my method! I still miss how awesome smokes WERE!

Oh god, this reformed smoker thing is true, someone kick my ass!

After my wife suggested for around a year after we got married, i one day up and decided to stop smoking. She used to smoke and said the patch helped her. So, i went to walmart, bought a pack of patches, came home and smoked my last cigarette and slapped one of them bad boys on and threw the smokes in the trash.

This was in September of 2012. It was hands down the hardest thing i have ever done in my life. It took around a month for the hardcore cravings to go away. I had days at work where i literally almost walked out due to frustration. I thought about sneaking around and smoking, cause the wife wasn't gonna let me just start back at this point without some sort of consequence.

Good news is, I haven't smoked a cigarette since that last one right before i put the patch on back in September. Unfortunately, like i said, there wasn't anything easy about it. I still have days where if things get too stressful, i naturally want to light one up. You just gotta allow yourself the time to settle down and let that moment pass, then its back to normal.

While it was the hardest thing I've ever done, it was the second best, next to marrying my lovely wife! (que sappy music). Tis true though! Just make it through and you will be more than happy that you went through those dark times to come out the other side without the terrible addiction that cigarette smoking is. I've become quite fond of oxygen, btw.

" years ago i quit cold turkey with no problem "

I heard this soooo many time ( i am a heavy smoker ) but here the reason why IT WAS " easy " at the time.

SOURCE

The nicotine content of popular American-brand cigarettes has slowly increased over the years, and one study found that there was an average increase of 1.6% per year between the years of 1998 and 2005. This was found for all major market categories of cigarettes.

So an average augmentation of more than 12% ( this is cummulative over years see calcul exemple below ) over 7 years of the Nicotine present in the cigs. And this come from a 2005 study, since then im sure they continuously augmented the average. Cannot find relevant recent study about it right now, maybe i will dig on this later.

Also

I just noticed it because of your post, i was used to see informations about the amount of nicotine (among other things) on the pack but now with the new pack design, there is no info whatsoever about it.

I checked my pack of player's and no info. Same thing on a pack of marlboro...

So lets say in 1998 the average was 2mg of nicotine, 15 years later with 1.6% average augmentation PER YEAR don't forget its cumulative : 2mg x 1.6% = 0.032 --> 2.032mg x 1.6% = 0.032512 --> 2.064512mg x 1.6% = 0.033... and so on x 15 years.

At the end you have 0.3mg to 0.7mg ( depending on the brand ) MORE nicotine in the cigarettes. We talk about a POWERFULL drug here, this is huge augmentation.

And this is just Nicotine there are more than 4000 others chemicals they can boost to encourage addiction...


Its proven that at least 15 years ago the nicotine amount was lower and so the addiction. To be clear it was more easy to quit back then.


.

reply to post by GypsK


Sorry please delete!

Originally posted by ganjoa
By way of assistance, several close friends have had tremendous success with electronic cigarettes using vegetable glycerine based nicotine (polyethylene glycol seems unhealthy) - one friend just substituted e-cigs for combustible smokes and states that he sees health benefits in 2-3 weeks. My 2cents for your consideration.

ganjoa

It's actually Propylene Glycol which is used in food and nebulizers or asthma inhalers (to atomize the medication).

I've tried to quit smoking so many times over the past 24 years that I've lost count. I quit during three of my four pregnancies but started right back up within a few months of the kids being born. Even while switching over to the e-cig I still craved the real thing. I think there is more than just nicotine (and the hand-to-mouth habit) that I was addicted to. Five months later and I still have the occasional craving, it's not as bad, but it still rears it's ugly little face now and then.

Dropping the cigs for good isn't easy and I wish you the best of luck, GypsK. I'm giving myself a year to step down the nicotine I'm taking in and hope to be nicotine-free by July or August.