Yesterday I gave up smoking - Help and support needed

look into the EFT technique.. i gave up smoking after doing what it suggested twice, with NO cravings at all

What I have done to help me basically boils down to the mind, you have to keep the mind busy, when the mind has time to "think" if that makes sense, then cravings will come in.

Excercise, read books, do puzzles anything at all man.

You also have to work on your triggers, like when you made that pot of coffee you had a cigarette right ? Or when you watched a movie ? A cigarette was added. Get used to doing these things, train the mind ! My grandmother smoked 50 years of her life and got hypnotised an she has completely abandoned that lifestyle all together so, maybe you can try that. Good luck my friend, keep it up !

a reply to: fusiondoe

I wish you all of the strength in the world.
I agree with the statements about the cravings or triggers. I had tried to quit in the first of the year (what prompted that was a break up likely not the best time to try to quit). I'm active and although it hasn't seemed to negatively affect my activity level, I'm sure it has in some respects. It has obviously hazards and risks that are avoidable. I suppose I just needed a change and the expense of the smokes is just ridiculous. Having to hang my coats in another part of the house from the smell that lingers on them. The second and third days were the worst for me, I was nauseous the entire time I had stopped smoking for. My children's father visited one day and when he left I noticed on the back porch that he had left a half a smoke in the ashtray. I stared at it for quite some time (No I didn't immediately throw it away although I should have!) and in the end after a couple of hours, I smoked it. A couple of hours after that, I was back in line at the corner store buying a pack and well the rest is history so they say.
I absolutely admit that I am weak.
What DID help me was going to the track twice a day (more often), hiking (more often) and unfortunately (due to my above disclosed weakness) staying away from my old stomping grounds for a bit for example smoking is sort of a big social thing where I work and I no longer went out after meetings for coffee and smokes. I would high tail it out of there after meetings and go back to my office saying that I had too much work to do. I also tried to keep in mind that I will likely be the only parent that my children will have in the near future and I need to be there for them.
My sister in law was recently diagnosed with lung cancer and quit cold turkey a theme that I hear repeated often. I suppose some of us just need a 'wake up call' as the motivation. I feel guilty that my children weren't motivation enough for me.
All of that dragging on was really just to wish you good luck and let you know that I understand the struggle.

Sunflower seeds really help with the oral fixation part.

originally posted by: fusiondoe
Hey guys

As the title suggests I gave up yesterday. Smoked for 13 years very heavily.

Having successfully quit before for two years I know I can do this but the last four attempts have ended in failure.

Any coping mechanisms? Ideas? Tricks that ex smokers here have to keep smoke free, really want to beat it this time.

I am so fed up being wheezy and feeling like crap.

im around a month in.. I also quit for two years once.. Smoked for 11 years minus that two year brake. Im tempted every day.

Im just distracting myself. Like at work I just keep working.. I get that itch and find extra things to do. Whren i get off and need to go to the store I get something like chocolate and get out of there before i fantasize...

the only thing im missing the most is actually physically smoking something. But ill get used to it.. Its a similar feeling to sleeping on yoyr left side if you usually sleep on your right. I feel off... but thats not eniugh to stop me now.

my taste buds work better now and i can smell things

I've got this.
you've got this.

We've got this!

a reply to: fusiondoe

If you have a smartphone, look for the Cessation Nation app, or something similar. It tracks how man smokes you haven't smoked over time, how much money you've saved, etc. I quit on April 1, 2013 and I still check it from time to time. I've saved $18987, not smoked 39,557 smokes, and apparently extended my life by 164 days.

It's trivial data, but I found it motivating to watch the numbers grow at the start.

Nicotine is addictive and the delivery method is habit forming and that is why smoking seems to be so hard to quit. You may have noticed that I used the term "seems" in that last sentence. That was deliberate, because although nicotine is highly addictive, it is also metabolised very quickly. This means that after seven days all traces of nicotine will have left your system and you are no longer physically addicted.

Now we come to the more tricky bit, the habit. As I said at the beginning, smoking gets you both ways addiction and habit. The craving is actually not that severe, just remember you sleep without smoking, and usually without the craving waking you up. The cravings are, in reality, no more severe than being hungry or thirsty. Just remember when you do feel the craving that nothing terrible is happening to you, and it is the habit and not the actual addiction that is making you feel that way.

Exercise is a good thing to put in place of your smoking habit as has been said. Do not think of it as giving up! It is you getting rid of something that you no longer want in your life. You will stop for good this time. Smoking is relatively easy to quit compared to somethings, but don't let that be the reason for you not quitting, or taking up the habit again. PM me at anytime if you need any help or you need to discuss anything.

I would recommend you try Alan Carr's ( not the celebrity) "Easy Way" if you have not already. It is available in Book and DVD. There is no scaremongering in the method and it has worked for a lot more people than any other method.

This is going to seem counterintuitive, but keeping a pack in a drawer helps.

It means your mind doesn't panic as much about not having any around.

Then it's all down to will power.

a reply to: fusiondoe

It takes about a week for nicotine to exit your body. Drink water and doing saunas helps.

I found there were prime times when a smoke was as much ritual as habit - waiting for a commuter train or maybe finishing a chore. Spot these times, and fill them with something else.

Lots of good advice here to read. You are bigger than the cig. so just walk away. One day at a time.

ps. I fell off the wagon once and smoked. It made me feel sick, put me on my back, and I couldn't walk. It's that I wish I never started, it"s that I simply would never start again.

a reply to: CulturalResilience

I was reading that and knew you had read it too!!

Simple enough ideas, but absolutely changed everything in the way I view smoking (and quitting)
Much more of it is in the head than we tend to assume. The actual withdrawal symptoms are nothing compared to other addictions.

I kept smiling and proclaiming how great it was that I was freeing myself (instead of saying I am giving something up) and it changed the way I experience it completely.

I also made sure notice how much more time and energy I had without smoking. I realized I was getting so much more done!

It is a great method and works really well. The health benefits are obvious, but things like the extra time, energy, and finance are other huge bonuses. In the book it lists the advantages of not smoking which takes up a full page apart from saying the advantages of smoking are listed are listed on the next page which is completely blank.

a reply to: Bluesma

If this thread says anything, it's that everyone is different. What works for one may not work for another. The hard part is finding out what works for you.

Upthread, Nexttimemaybe said that keeping a pack in a drawer helped. I know it helped me, knowing if the withdrawal got too bad I had a hit handy. Just knowing that helped me fight the craving. Nicotine can be as addicting as some of the opiods. Kudos to those who quit cold turkey after decades of smoking. I tried four times to quit over the years and only the last try worked. That was over 20 years ago and up until a few years ago I still had flashbacks of the nicotine rush from that first drag on a fresh cigarette. (I had my first cig in the early '50s.)

It shouldn't have been so hard, but it was a trial, a hell of a fight. Males in my family have a history of heart problems (dad died at 55, his father - who I never knew - had a fatal heart attack in his mid-thirties), so it should have been a no-brainer. I'm pretty sure if I hadn't quit when I did I wouldn't be typing this right now.

Posters who said you have to want to quit are 100% right, though I would add "really, really, really" before "want to quit." It's hard. it's really, really, really hard. But if you want to badly enough, and you stick to your resolve, you can do it.

Hang in there!

originally posted by: Nexttimemaybe
This is going to seem counterintuitive, but keeping a pack in a drawer helps.

It means your mind doesn't panic as much about not having any around.

Then it's all down to will power.

That actually works for me, I am day 3 now of no smoking and I have 1 cigarette in my draw so I can look at and curse at it every now and again...

originally posted by: Nexttimemaybe
This is going to seem counterintuitive, but keeping a pack in a drawer helps.

It means your mind doesn't panic as much about not having any around.

Then it's all down to will power.

I remember my parents quit a long time ago using a method where they always had a cigarette with them. They could hold it and play with it whenever they wanted, making the decision a momentary one, rather than definitive. That worked well for them.

That never worked for me, but it seems to work for some people.

a reply to: fusiondoe

There are always small tricks that can help alleviate the urge to smoke to a degree.

But in most cases it seems like people just wind trading one bad habit for another...

By using one habit to counteract the other..


My personal belief is a lot of smoking is linked to boredom. Humans for the most part constantly need to keep a healthy amount of routine and activity in their life or they concede to boredom and real bad habits like smoking can develop.

You just have to get to a point where you are sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. And that drive is strong enough but also smart enough to have to willpower to say no to smoking with the key being

** what you substitute ** your need to smoke with.

My advice would be don't sit around cringing through withdrawal. Get busy, keep as active as you can. Join a gym if possible, volunteer, spend more time with family/friends, focus on healthy hobbies you enjoy and fill up your time as much as possible with that..

Try not to think too much on how you've had failed attempts. Don't be so hard on yourself, but also say enough is enough.

Take back control over your body and never look back

a reply to: fusiondoe

Hey how's it going, are you still off the cancer sticks?

I hope you're doing well, just checking in to say Im still off them, even though I still get the odd craving I'm off them , since however long ago you wrote this OP. I feel so much better not needing that fix.