I’m new here. Stopping smoking. Any tips or ideas? I believe I’ve read so much, done so much, cut back and am ready to just quit.
Good choice. I’ve found that being ready and gaining a little determination is half the battle. When you reach that point of enough is enough then you gotta be strong and stick with it. I finally quit cold turkey and suffered for a month or so. There is so much good advice here on how to maintain a smoke free life. Just pick and choose what works for you and stick with it no matter what, that’s the key. You will do great.
Is there a place here for people trying to quit? I need help and support.
I think this is it
Goodness I need some support and encouragement. I’m 7 months clean from prescribed pain pills. Still in pain but I believe it left some medical trauma from the neglect. I don’t want to be a statistic, rather a testimony!
There’s many forums and apps specifically aimed at people wanting to quit smoking. I used one nine years ago when I quit smoking that quit functioning alas. On this app / forum this is the place to be. See also part one of this thread for tips and tricks. Grumpy A-holes (quitting cigarettes/ nicotine products) (Part 1) . Take your time scrolling through, lots of good stuff there Kristine. be sure quitting smoking is the best you can do for your physical, mental, financial health. And it’s totally doable. You need a plan. You need the right mindset. And you need support. Let me give you a plan to begin with, a repost from the now obsolete Quitnet that helped me so much:
The Quit Kit
Welcome Newbies! Ready to quit? Then you need a Quit Kit!
Repost by Grammax6
It isn’t a matter of just slapping on a patch or chewing some nic gum. Every behavior you can think of is tied to your smoking. We smoked because we were happy, sad, mad, hurt, tired, sick, bored…etc. You need to replace those habits. Take a day to make a plan.
We call it a Quit Kit. It can be anything you want. Get creative and really think about it. Some things folks have used is nicotine gum. You can buy regular gum the same size, color and flavor so you can go back and forth between the two. If you are using the patch, make sure you have an extra patch in the office, in your purse, or in your wallet, for those days when you have forgotten to put one on in the morning. It happens more than you think! Have lozenges available for those high stress / high craving times.
Have some Red Vines to ‘smoke’. Or cut up a straw into thirds…especially during high trigger times like driving. Sometimes it feels good to just hold it if you are accustomed to always having a smoke in your hand. Grab your favorite CDs or tapes to put in your car so you can put one in and sing out loud. My favorite was dancing and singing at the same time. Your brain cannot do a third thing, so thinking about smoking just disappears.
To keep your mind and hands busy, go to Michael’s or some other craft store and look for things to do. Buy something that interests you; rug hooking kits, scrap booking stuff, or Christmas stocking kits for the grand kids. Or, get some coloring books and colored pencils or felt tip pens. Stained glass, floral, tropical fish or Native American motif coloring books are available everywhere now. They make you want to do a good job. Dora the Explorer would make me want to scribble on her face. LOL!
Make a list of everything that needs to be done, or you want to do around the house. Go through each room and write down everything from cleaning out drawers and closets to painting, rearranging or redecorating. Same with the garage and yard work. Once you have your list, break it down into 5-15 minutes segments so nothing becomes overwhelming.
Make baggies of crunchy foods to satisfy your mouth so they are at work and handy to grab. Carrots, celery, chex mix, pretzel sticks (you can hold those like a cig), gum, etc. They need to be ready to just grab at any given time.
This is important!!! The Three Post Rule: When you are craving and really shaky, post and click the “I’m craving and need some help” box. Wait for at least 3 response posts before you make a decision to purchase cigarettes or to smoke. Most times, you will be fine once you read the posts (keeps you from dwelling). If not…post again and wait for 3 more.
Once you have all these things figured out you will be well prepared to handle anything and you don’t even have to think…just look at your list… Keep 1 copy at work, 1 at home, 1 in your purse or wallet, 1 in the car.
If you did one day, you can do 2. If you did 3, you can do one more. No future tripping. You can’t do a darn thing about tomorrow until it gets here. Today is a good time to quit but if you feel you can’t, then take tomorrow to put together your Quit Kit and quit the day after. Don’t set a quit date out there for 2 weeks, 1 month, etc. All you do is make yourself crazy in your head by stressing over that date. You know you can do this!
Great work Menno.
Let me paraphrase something I heard from folks in AA: all you need is a desire to quit smoking to participate here my friend. I would say be careful with the gum as it as just as addictive as smoking. It’s harm reduction, but if your aim is to quit nicotine all together in the end, I’m with you. I quit cold turkey myself, but that’s not for everybody. Welcome to the thread Jonas.
@Tony1878 Cold Turkey worked for me. Withdrawal was pretty bad the first week but I made it through. The right mindset helped. Allan Carr’s easy way to quit smoking helped me with the mindset. Maybe an idea. Welcome to your final quit Tony!
I think it will cold turkey for me also,ive cut down on the gum and lozengers a bit recently also,but its when to do it is what Im thinking about now,do i do it while Im off work for a couple weeks when ive got no stress or when Im still at work and i can use being busy as a advantage,whatever i chose and even if I end up doing two of them its going to be all over by the end the year if not before guaranteed !!!,ill keep you posted Mno and thanks very much for the welcome to my FINAL QUIT,that sounds Fu**ing great by the way !!!
Thank you so so much! Yes a plan! I’ve been working on one. For me I can’t do the patch or NRT, I’ve got to go cold turkey. Smoking means nothing to me, there’s nothing around smoking that is pleasurable, it’s boredom mostly and an addiction for me. I don’t work, I don’t lean out on the porch to hear anything. It’s sheer boredom and addiction. I have health problems and chronic pain so I’m limited with what I can do. But I can certainly stop lighting up!
Thank you!
So greatful im not puffing a vape everyother breath these days. Cravings come and go but i like my freedom, savings, and lung capacity better!!
As @Curtis-81 says
Smoking bad
Fresh air good
Good work!!!
71 days nic free here
362 no vapes or ciggs
I remeber losing my vape and trashing everything in my path to find it. I even got paranoid prople would hide it or move it lol
Dont got to worry about that anymore.
Stay awesome cjp
Hell Yeah girl! Way to go with your willpower ODAAT and i see your days are getting closer to that 1 year mark WOOT WOOT!
Two full houses this morning!
at a pack a day that 14,000 cigarettes. I smoked more most of the time. INSANE!
Nicely done Jason Grateful to no longer be living that life of insanity
So very cool. Congratulations!
Nice catch! I stopped at s store on Sunday and saw that cigs were $13 per pack, and I don’t know if that was the cheap brands. That’s almost 78 thousand dollars since I quit! Now I know how I could afford those goods things these past years.
Still right behind you by 18. Keep kicking ass CJ
333 days no tobacco
Smoking bad
Fresh air good
Hi friends!! Grumpy a hole here. Hour 29 no ciggs… almost 4 year’s no booze… this seems way more difficult… im gonna need you guys!!