Has anyone else ever dealt with the mood swings? One minute I am mad as hell and the next I just want to cry. In one of the above posts it said 24 or 36 hours cessation anger and irritability peaks. I haven't had a cigarette for 18 hours now and its driving me nuts! Trying to make that 24 hour mark and make it thru by setting little goals at a time.
The thing is you have to stop taking everyone's advice and evaluate yourself. Are you quitting for reasons other than you sincerely wanting to? If so, then it has to come to the point where you value your health more than anything else. You can listen to what everyone else has to say, but you have to really want it and be ready to do so in order for it to work. Otherwise, it will just be a vicious cycle. Do it right the first time!
Here's my take on it. From personal experience. It may differ for others. But hope this helps.
I had my last fag on June 3rd 2007. Before that I smoked 20+ moko's a day. I gave up in what is in my opinion the best way - it may differ for others - cold turkey! Just endure the initial 6 or 7 days of torture. then further few weeks of mild torture, then a few months of just bearable cravings. If you give up cold turkey (no cutting down, no patches, no nicotine period) then the nicotine is out of your system in just 3 days, (although you will still be pulling your hair out for the first week or so), after about a week the next few weeks you will still be craving but, your chances of remaining 'Quit' are much much greater and you will be likely to stick it out, also smoking will no longer be the dominant force of your thoughts and feelings. After between 4 and 6 weeks, the cravings would have subsided significantly and you will only crave at certain times. i.e. when you have your morning coffee, after a nice meal, when you are streessed. For a few months or so. It's all worth it. It may seem difficult, but willpower is detrmined by your perspective.
If you say for example. "Who is in control? Me or the cigarettes? Am I a slave to an addiction or am I the one in conrol of my actions." and "This is a battle and I am going to kick smokings ass, if I continue smoking then smoking has beaten me and I am weaker than my addiction etc......" This kind of thinking should give your 'willpower' a great motivational boost. Also write down a list of the benefits of not smoking. such as:
"I wil save X amount of money"
"My health condition will improve greatly, along with my dental hygene"
"I will no longer stink of cigarettes"
"I will no loger be enslaved to this addiction"
"My self esteem will be boosted greatly as I will feel so pleased with myself that I have the strength to fight and win this addiction"
(Add whatever else you think benefits you not smoking.)
Be honest with yourself and say: "I smoke because I am an addict to smoking. If I enjoy smokng, it's beause I am enjoying the feeding of an addiction, smoking has control over me," etc..... This again will give you great motivation to quit. Your willpower is determined by your state of mind. you CAN do it. easily!
Remember if you can last those initial 6 or 7 days you will have achieved what most quitters have been unable to, and will be much more likely to quit for good. Congratulate yourself for lasting this long.
Good Luck x
Quick response. You must have a reason for quitting. YOUR reason. Without it you are wasting your time. Then when you have established a valid and compelling reason, do this. Take a two week vacation. Stay at home. Do not, under any circumstances leave your place. You, of course, have rid yourself of all smoking shit. Then, you just eat and sleep for two weeks. One or the other, for two weeks. You may have visitors, of course, but they must be such good friends they will not feed your habit, no matter how much you beg. I can only say, it worked for me. Smoke free since 1999.
My ex-roommate took away my hookah, chewing tobacco, and my packs of Camels and threw them out in front of me. He said to me, "Sharon, I don't want you to have a heart attack on my watch." To curb the cravings, I started jogging and doing cardio a lot. I chewed pen caps like they were gum. It's been four years and I haven't had a craving yet.
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I went from smoking 3 packs a day to NOTHING. So I am not sure any advice I could give would be helpful to anyone. There has already been a lot of great advice given. I simply used will power, no tricks. I have been smoke free for almost 15 years now and don't regret it a moment.
The city of Chicago just increased the tax on a pack of cigarettes by $1.00 starting March 1st. The price of a pack is now over $7.00 in most places. Two pack a day habit would be $420 a month. That monthly amount would certainly buy you one nice automobile. That would motivate me to quit.
I would liken it to, or include Hypnotherapy to EFT. I tried it once to give up smoking. Had my last cigarette just before I walked in. The therapist took me through a few things, like ALL the reasons I wanted to give up smoking, tips for fighting cravings. She told me 90% of smoking was habit although I didn't believe her at the time. I changed the way I did most things, used my laptop in a different area of the room, had my coffee in a different place. She told me to munch on grapes if I got a craving.. it worked! keep a little jar of nuts in the car, reach for one of those instead of a cigarette. For the first week I slept most of the time... after that I made a point of having grapes in the fridge at all times. I had very little cravings and actually lost weight. I haven't had a cigarette for about 18 months. I did walk in there believing it might help me though, and you have to really want to give cigarettes up. It might not work for everybody but it worked for me.
Other people have told me that eating an orange or half an orange when you have cravings will help. Don't eat an apple, funnily enough eating an applie would make me want a ciggy more.
Sarcastic Coffee Aficionado
quit smoking was the hardest thing I've ever done.
honestly.
For me it was just sheer will-power. I had quit before a few times doing the gradual thing. Then, the last time it was cold turkey. The best deterrent was my boyfriend at the time who was a non-smoker. I kept busy doing sports - anything outdoors, really. Back then, you could smoke ANYWHERE .... including smoking rooms in hospitals (for the love of god - imagine that!!) Even my doctor smoked in his office!!
Anyways ... the activities outside lead to more oxygen and feeling better. And, when I was indoors, I took up other hobbies .... cooking in particular. OMG - Food tastes SO much better!!
Quitting smoking is one thing you won't regret doing!
PA
LOVED YOUR SUCCESS STORIES;I had quit several times, only top start again..the last time I quit smoking was in 1968,My life was filled with all kinds of stress. My Dad was in a VA. Hosp not knowing if he would live or die, My roommate was pressuring me about marriage, At work a foreman was cutting my downtime (money taken away from me)and a couple other things I had no control over.." God let my dad live & I'll stop smoking" He did & I stopped.8 days later I was given some mild sedatives (Along with the medical advise that I was a Damn fool to quit at this time) By the 11th day all cravings had vanished...!969 DWI. head on collision while drag racing ( 3 cars destroyed, NO one was hurt except for some bruising.)..Quit drinking..68-nonsmoker, 69 non drinker..Bottom line unless you really want to quit no one can force you to.. I was supported by my GF, & friends . they didn't light up around me, smoked outside, none smoked in my car.. No advice offered, Just a success story shared
To those of you now struggling I wish you the very best, There is some good advice offered to you in these posts IT IS VERY HARD BUT YOU CAN DO IT Joel
Thankfully I never picked up the habit myself. My daughter did smoke for quite a few years and then stopped when she became pregnant. She said it was one of the hardest things she has ever done. I am proud of her for quitting. And a tip of the hat to all of you that have quit or are trying to quit. Don't give up, you can do it. Good Luck!
Congratulations on choosing to quit smoking! I too am a former smoker. Started in freshman year of high school until I was in my mid twenties. LOVED smoking!! The only reason I quit was because my now ex-hubby told me he couldn't and wouldn't date a smoker so I chose HIM over my cigarettes. Unfortunately I don't have any stellar advice for you as I quit cold turkey. It was hard as hell and I slipped up a few times but gradually and eventually I began to love the feeling of breathing without wheezing or coughing up a lung not to mention kissing a clean mouth rather than one that tasted like an ashtray was a definite bonus. Its been over 20 years since I've smoked and I've never regretted it. I now work for a cancer charity so smoking, even if I wanted to again, would cost me my job, lol. Good luck!
I've been smoke free now for two and a half years, I found the nicotine craves getting a lot easier to manage after the first 3 or 4 weeks. I didn't use nicotine patches but I did use a lot of chewing gum. I also did a simple exercise when I had a craving; star jumps etc..
Best of luck!
I never been the type to smoke on Sunday’s and went about my day, next thing I knew it was two weeks later and realized I hadn’t smoked in that whole time. I told myself, I might as well quit since I went two weeks without it. I never looked back; it’s been ten years since. I am so proud to say I never picked it back up. I have however become more of a potty mouth. Weird right? Kick one bad habit to start another. I rather curse than smoke though! At least swearing is free! Lol
We all (smokers / ex-smokers) need strong reasons to even start the process.
I decided I also needed a change of routine for at least the initial 1 to 2 weeks. I was taking a vacation to Vega for Christmas and New Years celebrations. Decided I would try during that trip. Worked wonders. Was easier to continue with out smoking after coming back to my regular routine 2 weeks later.
Cigarette smoking is physically addictive. But it also becomes a part of our every day routine. So many trigger moments during the day every day.
Good luck to all trying to give up.
I stopped smoking 3 years ago using a product called smoke away. they were these vile pills I had to choke down. They helped with the cravings but what helped me the most, I looked at what I was spending. At a carton a week at 50 bucks over 52 weeks, I had spent enough for a nice vacation or a big TV. To say the least, that disgusted me the most and made the quitting stick.
In 2 days it will be 6 months since my last one! Its definitely one of the hardest thing i have done in a long time! You never realise how much it is a part of your life till you quit. A friend that also quit it a while ago says its like the death of a good friend. At first i thought she was been overdramatic but it is a big part of your life, when you are sad, bored, drunk, happy, tired, stressed... its always right there by you!
What i have found its the best way to compensate, its finding something different to do in those moments, like if you are stressed chew on a straw or if you are bored play with your phone. That way you get distracted by something else.
Good luck to all of you trying!!
The best way to quit smoking is to date a really really hot girl that fucking hates smokers. You'll quit in like a day.