Quiting the Nicotine

[Mizz Bustanut]

It's an addiciton fueled by habit. The only way you'll be successful is to really want to quit. If it's an "I'll try to quit" approach, you'll likely not be successful.
Additionally, the habit part means that you'll have to "live thru" experiences where you used to smoke without smoking....very hard to do.....deep down you have to want to quit. I had a friend tell me that living thru these experiences would take the better part of three years....he was right.

However, it's worth it and the best thing I ever did.

I wish you guys all the encouragement possible.

jim

+1

I've not known anyone to be successful at quitting unless they really really wanted to.

Yesterday was a fairly successful day. Went to a card party (Euchre Tourney). That was a bitch. Cards, Drinkin and dippin just go together.
Candy, a gum helped a lot.

Congrats on a successful day! :clapping:

 

[BwanaDik]

Here's another motivator.

Somebody mentioned above about visiting a cancer ward at the hospital. Don't think that's any good as hospitals are full of all kinds of sick people and they all look like shit in some form or other.

Instead, notice the folks around you out on the street with serious medical ailments. I came to work the other day and there was a guy with an O2 tank in tow, tubes to the nose, leaning on the magnetic card reader near the door. He was checking his blood O2 level with one of those clamp on finger thingies with the red lights (don't ask me how I know). Seemed as if he was going to be OK so I didn't stop (lots of other folks around just in case he fell over). What the heck kind of life is that????? He's still at work too (possibly medical financial probs?) But what a mess! Take your aux. fuel cell off the Feez so you can install the O2 tank??? Don't think so!

Another, more famous example, is Bob Guccione of Pentouse fame. He smoked 3 packs of Maraboro reds a day forever. Now he's eating and breathing thru a tube and, IIRC, has some sort of voice box thing. Hefner quit his pipe ages ago and is running on all cylinders (for a geezer) and reputedly still getting in some boinking now and then.

So....who would you rather be compared to? Bob or Hef? Thinks about that next time you go to light up

 

[mike25]

Renegade, hang in there. I just made it through January with out a smoke.

Now all I need to do is make it through FUCKING February, than GOD DAM March,

than that SON OF A BITCH April, and i'm not looking forward to May at all.

Oh well, one day at a time. :angry:

 

[BobbyBlue]

Hi Matt, (Renegade),

Lemme tell ya about my method of quitting after 29 years and 3 failed attempts...5 doctors and 9 nurses cut my chest open from my neck to my navel then cracked my ribs like a lobster then removed 6 valuable veins from my leg and used them to bypass my now dead looking heart as I concluded my 9th heart attack...I awoke in pain on a ventilator and more holes than a whiffle ball, on the heart transplant list and my leg was black and blue and I can tell ya it still hurts to this very day. Being a stubborn asshole, I didnt change lifestyles soon enough and within 7 months had another 5 bypasses and a pacer/defib installed..due to the damage to my heart this led me to lose my engineering job and divorce and in less than a year I lost my income, home, job, and career...but I've kept my FJR !!!! Nicotine reacts with the inner surfaces of the vessels that supply blood to your heart and brain..smoking has other ills but it IS the nicotine that does lots of damage by reducing the elasticity of ones vessels.

I am very poor, but truly happier than I have ever been. I'm a meditating vegitarian and play blues guitar in an old mans band...we sit like BB !...My health is good as compared to where I've been and I still ahve my own heart in my chest. I see an ole hippy doctor and get Lasix from him, its a diuretic and all I take. I have to go to county for any serious health issues, but so far so good !!!

If I can help one person NOT taking my dumbass path to enlightenment :dribble: then my life has been worth it !

Quit now and quit often !!! You can do this...one friggin minute at a time....axe me how I know !!!!!

Good luck brother...now do it !

We Be Blessed,

Bobby

 

[08FJR4ME]

I quit the same day i started. I smoked about 6 or 7 cigarettes in a row for the first time. Got sick as hell, puked and never did it again. I was lucky. I have three brothers that have quit off and on. There allways seems to be something in life to kickstart em again.

One of my friends is in the process of quitting also. Been about a week and 1/2 for him. Hope he makes it. His lungs are going down hill and i think he's finally realizing it. If he doesn't quit this time i thick he will be on O2 in a few years.

Good luck Renagade, hope you beet it.

 

[k7lvo]

I smoked from 15-31 y.o.a. I "tried" to quit several times because I knew that I "should." Threw away partial packs every time. Finally, one of my co-workers suggested that I quit the next time I got a chest cold; the added irritation to my throat would be an additional deterrent. Problem: I couldn't remember the last time I'd had a CHEST cold. Head colds, yes, but not chest colds. A couple of weeks later I came down with a chest cold that made me feel like I was dying... I laid an open pack of cigarettes on the bedside table and never picked them back up. What worked for me is that *I* had to decide that *I* wanted quit. Not for somebody else, or because I "should."

Whatever it takes for you, STICK WITH IT, and, fer cryin' out loud, don't start again years later! I know several people who have done this and all I can ask is: WHY?!?!?

 

[Grumpy]

Here's another motivator.
Somebody mentioned above about visiting a cancer ward at the hospital. Don't think that's any good as hospitals are full of all kinds of sick people and they all look like shit in some form or other.

Instead, notice the folks around you out on the street with serious medical ailments. I came to work the other day and there was a guy with an O2 tank in tow, tubes to the nose, leaning on the magnetic card reader near the door. He was checking his blood O2 level with one of those clamp on finger thingies with the red lights (don't ask me how I know). Seemed as if he was going to be OK so I didn't stop (lots of other folks around just in case he fell over). What the heck kind of life is that????? He's still at work too (possibly medical financial probs?) But what a mess! Take your aux. fuel cell off the Feez so you can install the O2 tank??? Don't think so!

Another, more famous example, is Bob Guccione of Pentouse fame. He smoked 3 packs of Maraboro reds a day forever. Now he's eating and breathing thru a tube and, IIRC, has some sort of voice box thing. Hefner quit his pipe ages ago and is running on all cylinders (for a geezer) and reputedly still getting in some boinking now and then.

So....who would you rather be compared to? Bob or Hef? Thinks about that next time you go to light up

Yeah, I still have an indelible mental picture of my beloved mother-in-law dying of lung cancer.........I don't want to die like that! That was my motivation.

jim

 

[mdisher]

It's coming along. Yesterday was a bitch, but it's behind me.

The 'scare' tactics haven't worked for me for 20+ years, and I don't suspect they'll work for me now. Much in the same way that stories about fatal crashes don't keep me off my motorcycle.

*MOST* of the people in my life who have died from cancer never drank or smoked a day in their lives. (Both my grandfather and step-grandfather were taken by Cancer, neither participated in any of these activities).

I also know quite a few folks living well in their 60's who have smoked all their lives, and some continue to do so.

I don't think for a moment this is smart or wise, but then in a lot of peoples minds neither is riding a motorcycle.

 

[Duezzer]

How many days now?

 

[mdisher]

How many days now?

Officially? Since Sunday so Uh 5 days... Feels like a friggin lifetime

 

[Tyler]

Feels like a friggin lifetime

Nah, that's what you're creating by quitting... :clapping:

 

[zorkler]

I thing hypnosis is your best chance . I know this will not help but the way i quit was 5 minutes before going into the delivery room with my wife for my first child that lasted 15 years . Then i went to cigars and inhaled them for about 3 years stoped with sugarfree gum i thought my gaw was going to fall off .Stoped for another6 years and went back to cigars after a very bad accident and i am still smoking .Ozzy osbore once said it was easer comeing off herion than nicotine that is why people smoke for 30 years .

 

[mdisher]

I thing hypnosis is your best chance . I know this will not help but the way i quit was 5 minutes before going into the delivery room with my wife for my first child that lasted 15 years . Then i went to cigars and inhaled them for about 3 years stoped with sugarfree gum i thought my gaw was going to fall off .Stoped for another6 years and went back to cigars after a very bad accident and i am still smoking .Ozzy osbore once said it was easer comeing off herion than nicotine that is why people smoke for 30 years .

I already have 5 kids... Not having another one to help me quit the habit I'm also quite sure another kid would drive me back to dip and probably to drinking too.

Not sure an occasional Cigar is going to kill me down the road. They aren't my favorite, but I'd have maybe 4-6 throughout the year, mostly on long rides with my dad...

I've been dipping for a long time, and I'm having a hell of a time trying to figure out just how much nicotine that equates too... I can't find a solid number anywhere.

I've seen stuff that says; 1 -2 cans a week is the same as 1 and half to two packs a day (assuming .5mb of nicotine is in the average cig). That works out to 15-20mg a day, but I was a 5-6 can a week person, so is that 30-40mg a day? No wonder I don't feel these 21mb patches. Of course they are left over from the last time I quit (5 or more years ago so they might be expired).

 

[dcarver]

I do my best TWN imitation now..

'You need motivation. Every time you THINK about a smoke, I Jimmy-Kick yer nuts to Uranus.'

or something like that!

Keep going...

 

[FJRPierre]

2packs + from 13-29. Quite cold turkey when I started seriously hacking in the morning like my dad. My gimmick was whenever I wanted a cigarette, I just pulled one out, fingered it, stuck it in my mouth, literally smoked it as per usual but DID NOT light it. It became a joke among my army buddies. If anyone offered me a cigarette, I took it of course but did not light it. I'd have a cigarette with coffee, after supper, etc, etc, but never lit it... I did this for nearly a year before the urge diminished enough so that I did not have the urge to pull out my useless cigarettes. That was nearly 35 years ago. YMMV

On the drug approach; some of them have very serious side effects, sucide etc and extreme caution is necessary with that approach.

Good luck, the first 2 weeks are the worse, then the next two weeks, then the next......

PS I also meant to say that you'll know that you have reached a significant milestone when cigarette smokes starts smelling like burning garbage, instead of that sweet aroma you always used to enjoy. I hate to hazard a guess as to how long that will take you though.

 

[2WheelTiger]

Three packs a day for 20 straight years. I used to light one off the other all day, every day.

But that's not important, really. What's important is that YOU kick YOUR habit by resolving that YOU are gonna do it. Really, this is something in life that's all about you.

Looks like you've got 75 backers on the neenernet. You've probably got a few more at home. I assume you're worth it.

 

[mdisher]

I assume you're worth it.

That clearly depends on who you ask. :blink:

Right now I wouldn't advise anyone to ask my 17 year old son cause I'm clearly at the 'My dad don't know shit' phase of my life.

 

[user 6393]

I assume you're worth it.

That clearly depends on who you ask. :blink:

Right now I wouldn't advise anyone to ask my 17 year old son cause I'm clearly at the 'My dad don't know shit' phase of my life.

mine are 17 and 18 & 1/2...needless to say, I too don't know shit, but 'they' say this passes and we'll get smarter again, soon...hang in there!

good luck with the smoking cessation.

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

Haven't read all the answers, so if there is repetition I appologize. I've had a few people tell me sucking on a cinnamon stick helps -- gives a stinging oral "fix"

Talk to your doctor about patch, gum or Buproprion or even a combination.

Avoid Chantix if you can. There are warnings it may cause depression and suicidal thoughts/actions.

Stay busy....

Good luck.

 

[old&slow]

How many days now?

Officially? Since Sunday so Uh 5 days... Feels like a friggin lifetime

5 days ,, Good for you ,,, Keep it up ...!!!!

I have two daughters ,,, I was doing two packs+ a day when they were young,,,

My youngest is 26 now and smokes ,,,I worry that's it's my fault that she smokes,,,

I worry I didn't set a very good example,,,

I worry about her health ,,,, I also Hope she will quit one day because I did...

When she was a teen she hated my guts ,,, thought I was the devil at least,,,

Now we are very close,,, she rides MC with me ,,, shoots with me,,

and we even go shopping together,,, wouldn't be teens if they didn't hate their parents

Renegade ,,,hang in there ,,, get hard headed and stay the course ,,, set a good example,,,,

GOOD LUCK ,,,old & slow Dan <<<<<