Ex smokers...tips wanted

[jenluckenbach]

I never smoked so I am of no help with hints for you, but I will give you a hearty congratulation!!!!!!

My mom quit smoking (cold turkey) after it was already too late. she was dying of lung cancer. But even in her sad physical state, she could feel the difference after stopping. She could breathe better and it was the first time in my life that I had ever heard her NOT coughing.

I do know that the gum or hard candies are right on (especially peppermint).

Wishing you the very best of luck! {{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}}

[G535]

I also quit "cold turkey", never used patches or gum and didn't gain weight. You really have to want to quit for it to work, if you're only half-hearted about it then you will fail. As for the weight gain, that's just a myth, if you don't eat any more than you did as a smoker then you won't gain weight. The reason most people gain weight is that they eat more after giving up the smokes.

Good luck with it, you really can do it!

[Crazy-Cat-Lover]

I am a smoker and totally hate doing this to my body. My only advice is, you have to want to quit to be successful, thats why I couldnt!

Good luck!

[Laura's Babies]

Gee whiz! I never expected so many responses and so much advice! THANK you ALL and anybody else wanting to add to it, go on and do it!

The thing that REALLY made me decide that this is the year is, this year, I turn the big 6-0... Soon to be loking at retirement and I don't think I could afford it on retirement income. #2 reason is my son Eddie and the stuff that I saw coming out of him while in a coma, just in breathing. He was a light smoker when that explosion happened. His breath made the tape holding the ventalotor in his mouth, brown for about 10 days.. Needless to say, after 9 months in the hospital, he is a non smoker now and I would like to surprise him with my quitting the habit myself. His wife has also quit since his accident.

It is just the right time to do it, I have wanted to for years... (lets see if I still feel like this when my quit time draws nearer!)

[G535]

You're starting off on the wrong foot already! You have to think positive even before you quit!

[poofy]

I prayed for the desire to be taken from me 7 years ago and it was, but i chewed gum and sugar free gum, and still gained lots , n lots of weight, so im sure no help

[Grace]

I was lucky. 7 years ago I got pneumonia. By the time I even thought about smoking, the physical cravings had pretty much disappeared. For about a year I had the occasional itch to smoke. Now I don't even think about it.

I think doing it when the weather is nice makes it easier - you can keep busy outdoors.

My b-i-l used the nicotine lollipops and they seemed to work well for him.

GOOD LUCK!!

[catland]

Quitting is hard. I've been there. But it is one of the smartest decisions that I have ever made (starting smoking was one of the dumbest ones).

What helped me included:

Sugarless gum. I purchased Trident by the multi-pack.

A "cigarette" pacifier. I just took a small piece of paper and rolled it into the shape of a cigarette and put a piece of tape on it. A straw cut in two might work also. I could then go through the motions of holding, or even taking a drag off of a cigarette and this would look silly, but get me through a craving and help calm me down.

Throwing out any remaining cigarettes so that I wouldn't be tempted.

I think though, that the mental part of it is most important. You have to QUIT smoking - you can't delude yourself into "quitting" smoking. Either you are a smoker or you are not. The people that I've seen be the most successful are the ones who quit and don't look back. They don't bum a drag or a smoke from a friend or just cut down to one or two a day.

To paraphrase Yoda "Smoke or don't smoke - there is no try"

[AbbyMom]

Quitting is hard

I disagree! Quitting is easy. I've done it at least a hundred times!

Seriously, I have not had a cigarette for 2-1/2 years. This time it's sticking. And the reason why is just what Catland says:

I think though, that the mental part of it is most important. You have to QUIT smoking - you can't delude yourself into "quitting" smoking. Either you are a smoker or you are not. The people that I've seen be the most successful are the ones who quit and don't look back. They don't bum a drag or a smoke from a friend or just cut down to one or two a day.

Once I said NO MORE NO MORE EVER! I was on the road to being smoke-free.

Laura, some people have a really, really, difficult time quitting because for them the addiction is part of their psyche...the physical part isn't the problem, it's the mental. It took at least a year for me to stop thinking about "having just one cigarette" especially when I was under stress.

When you're ready, put down that cigarette and say NO MORE EVER and mean it! NO cheating! No bumming! EVER!

Good luck to you. Sorry I can't help with the weight gain issue except to agree with the others that exercise is your best option.

[Edwina's Secretary]

Next month will be five years since my husband and I quit. He used the gum... I used Zyban. It worked for me. I stopped wanting a cigarette in about two weeks. It was still VERY difficult but what a godsend for me!

[Karen]

When is the "quit date?"

I have never smoked. I'm an asthmatic, have been since childhood, so always knew that for me, smoking would be a really painful, prolonged and stupid way to die!

I have watched and tried to be helpful when others quit.

One friend's doctor told her to throw away her lighter and any matches in the house. Then she could hold a cigarette in her mouth when she had a strong craving, but would have nothing to light it with.

Lollipops worked for another freind - they're cheap, and are vaguely similar in that you can hold the stem in your fingers like a cigarette if you want.

For everyone - diversion diversions, diversions. In your case, maybe buy a journal, and every time a strong craving hits, make yourself sit down and write out a page or story for your descendants to read someday - things you want great-great-grandbabies to know.

You also have an advantage - Pet Talk! We're all pulling for you!

[Pawsitive Thinking]

You're there already because you want to stop - that is all I needed. Good luck

[Laura's Babies]

LOL! I have been researching and found the perfect sight that is loaded with information of all kinds on quitting They state there that the first thing to do is to educate yourself and in looking around, I discovered something already that I think few people know..

Blood sugar plummets in many people when first quitting. The most common side effects felt during the first three days can often be traced back to blood sugar issues

That is why you CRAVE things so bad.. Anyone wanting to check out this sight it is here..

http://whyquit.com/joel/Joel_Index_0...g_Smoking.html

I think everything I need in in there. They are addressing everything in there. There is a TON of material there to read.