Need to quit Smoking, Need some help!

[Dr. Dan]

Hey Pred!!! Happy birthday to you and ME!! I will be the big 55 tomorrow. I quit about 8 years ago. I looked on the net and found what I thought might work for me. At the time the reports were that the patch and inhaler together work better than either one alone. The inhaler gave me a little extra kick whin i needed it and it was not that bad for me. I was up to 2 to 3 packs a day for many years. I still reach in my pocket sometimes but the thought only last 2 seconds and is gone....

Now for a little extra.... A little over a year ago I had a tumor growing in my windpipe and cutting off my air.. it was cancer in my right lung. I had 18 chemo and 37 radiation treatments and it worked well. Last Christmas I started another round of 20. We waited 5 weeks for me to quit glowing and had another Pet scan last Saturday.... So far so good. Recheck in 3 months- if that is ok go 3 more- if that is ok go 6 months.
You just don't ever know!!! You gota quit!!!
Peter Jennings only liver 4 WEEKS after they told him he had lung cancer.
JUST DOIT and good luck!!!!!

 

[md john]

It is always hard when you compete against yourself. Get a partner and make a bet, the first one to smoke pays the other. Keep the time limit open and check and encourage the other. Worked for me, smoke free for 37 years.

Smoking is mostly mental. That is why medications are very effective at first but many smokers go back to habit eventially. Get the proper attitude first, cigarettes are not your friend and go "cold tirkey".

Good luck I hope you succeed.

 

[Wheelgunner840]

Dr Dan,

Happy birthday to you too. I hope all your tests come out for the best, and they have gotten rid of all that nasty stuff.

WG840

 

[Jacksmyname]

Originally posted by Double-O-Dave:
Hi Peter,

Happy Birthday! Okay, down to business: true story - I was an AVID smoker from the time I was 16 yrs. old until I was 32 yrs. old. It didn't help that I wanted to look cool and tough (I was a shrimp and a social outcast, and very insecure about myself) and that smokes used to be dirt cheap ($0.50/pack, half that while I was in the Army). I also had a very high stress job that I really loved (ER Nurse) that sustained myself on by smoking and drinking coffee. Well, I got lucky and met the lady that became my wife and we married in Sept. 1988. She had been on this really stringent diet plan and had reached a plateau and was very discouraged. I decided to be a nice supportive husband and sign up for a stop-smoking class at work to show her that I cared and could feel her pain. My intent was to go through the motions, and bail out of the program after a few meetings as I had no intentions of quitting. I LOVED SMOKING!!! I was the poster child for the Marlboro Man - Man! Son of a gun, a couple of weeks into it, something clicked, something made sense and before I knew it, I got it. I quit smoking without any hassles, without any pain, without any longings, without any regrets on Oct. 19, 1988. The name of the program is SMOKENDERS. I don't know if they are still in business or not, but I know they work, and they work very well. Best of luck to you, Peter. Please let us know how things work out for you.

Best wishes, and good luck,

Dave

I also went through Smokenders back in '79. The program worked like a charm.
Unfortunately, after being smoke free for 18 months with absolutely no struggle, I picked one up just on a lark; no urge.
That was in 1980, and I'm still smoking.

And the thing is, I still remember what to do from Smokenders. I just need to get off my butt and do it.
One thing to remember: Once you quit, don't EVER take so much as one more puff, ever.
That puff will take you right back as if you never quit in the first place.

 

[fas111]

Well happy birthday, tomorrow is my birthday also. I'll be 65. I quit smoking cold turkey in 1976. I was a three pack of Camel's addict. I can remember this like it was yesterday. I was out with the boys on a Fri night drinking and smoking my Camels. Got home late and went to bed, the dog woke me up early and I was standing outside with her enjoying my first smoke of the day. My mouth was full of cotton from the previous evening and I was a little hung - but I lite that smoke. And then it hit me, I need to quit. I stomped out the cig., went into the house grabbed my carton off the top of the refrig and proceeded to break each cig in half and dump them in the trash. I have never had a smoke since then. I announced to my dear wife that morning that I had quit smoking of course she did not believe me and she continued to smoke. I never smoked again and I had to problems quitting. I truly believe that when your time really comes you will stop on your own accord. As I mentioned my wife continued to smoke until 1979 when she became preg. with our daughter. She cold turkeyed also and had no problems. By the tone of your post it sounds like you are ready so pull the carton off the refrig and bust them up.

 

[dant]

pred happy birthday and good luck.......we tried LOTS over the years , and the ONLY thing that worked back then, was to get 'hypnotised', it worked, quit May of 1982 and never looked back, saved a BUNDLE by now....
my wife quit last year, used the 'Chantix' took it for about a week, or so, started "seeing" things at night, scared the butts right outta her....nasty stuff really, but it worked for her, but I think she made herself quit for the sake of our Grandson, Colin, who is now two.....

Good luck......

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Tobacco addiction is the tougest one to quit. I was a 2-3 pack a day smoker, I smoked pipes cigars and chewed. Loved the sh!t!! DOn't know how I would have made it trough law school without my cigarettes.
What worked for me was a that a contemporary dropped dead of a heart attack at about age 48. Quit cold turkey the smoking part, but instead of the patch, I chewed. Bad idea. Took me a year to wean off the chew. I am tobacco free since before Katrina but I got to tell ya, if I ever found myself terminal for whatever reason, I would take it up again just cause those little bastards taste so good. Nicotine is a viciously adictive drug. DOn't think that you can have just one after you quit. I had quit for about 3 years back in my 30's and accepted a cigar at the camp one night. Within a week I was back to a two pack a day habit. Good luck-I'm pulling for you.

 

[FrankD45]

Peter:

Happy birthday and the very best of good luck in quitting. Monday the first was my 68th birthday. I have been addicted to cigarettes for about 50 years. I finally decided to do something about it and stopped cold turkey on January 15. I read somewhere that the actual chemical dependency lasts a matter of days but the habit goes on for a lot longer. When I decided to quit, I spent the next 10 days changing my habits routines. For example, instead of lighting up with my first cup of coffee, I would wait until I finished the cup and rinsed it before stepping out for a smoke. The point is you should try to break some of the habits before you actually stop smoking.

So far it is working for me. Fifty one days and counting.

By the way, if you need support, my email is in my profile.

Frank

 

[gregintenn]

Originally posted by gregintenn:
Sir, At the risk of sounding like a smart ***, I will tell you that the most efficient and most sure way to quit is to NEVER LIGHT ONE AGAIN. I know that sounds simplistic and smart alec, but it is the method I've used.

(disclaimer) I didn't say it would be easy; just effective!

Sound advice. How many times have you used it?

Once.

 

[doublesharp]

Good luck. Don't be surprised at how hard it is. Most heavy smokers can't quit. I hope you're one of the lucky ones that is stubborn enough and tough enough to whip the addiction.

 

[trover]

We've never had any success with the patch. I quit for two years using Wellbutrin, and my wife did with Chantrix. I talked to my doctor about it, and he said the patch has only a 7% success rate, because you're still getting nicotine. With Wellbutrin or Chantrix (think that's the name), you smoke for a month and take the pills and then you don't want to smoke anymore. We found it very easy to quit that way. And we'd both been smokers for forty years.

 

[GatorFarmer]

Just keep smoking if you enjoy it. The odds are something like 1/3 that you'll die of complications from smoking. I'll take those odds.

If you insist on quitting, simply get yourself some 3/4 Zware Shag Javanese rolling tobacco from Holland. That stuff should cure you of a desire to smoke.

 

[Lenshappy]

STOP SMOKING!

 

[2fingers]

All the advice here will not help you one bit if you don't really want to quit. You must WANT TO quit and then just do it,I was a smoker and had tried many times before, came out of the Dr office with a case of brohncitits ad lit up a KOOL, choked and gaged, and QUIT 8 years ago. Nothing is more important than getting off the cigerettes now. If you want to smoke find something else to do or think about how nasty they are instead.Don't know how much money I have saved, but I do feel better. GOOD LUCK!

 

[EvelMe]

I started smoking at 14, 1-2 packs a day (I know, light weight). When I was 34, I had a massive stroke. Took 4 months to learn to recite the alphabet and count to 20 again, 6 months to learn to walk and talk again. Lived in the hospital for 6 months.

Eight months after my stroke, I was living in Dallas, renting a room as I attended a program at a Community College for survivors of head injuries. The lady I rented my room from smoked, and one day I took one of her 120mm ultra lights.

I got high off of it and started taking one or two of her's everyday, within 3-4 days, I was back on Marlboro reds again, pack or pack and a half a day . After smoking again for 5 more years, I was noting that I was getting VERY light-headed with every couple smokes.

I had a few very scary TIA's (mini stroke events) where I got so dizzy I could barely stand up, one as I was driving. I got a self hypnosis tape, listened to it one night and decided I could stop. I did.

 

[Seaforth]

Now for my birthday I want to give myself a gift "That keeps on giving" I want to QUIT SMOKING and I think I may need some help.

*********
PLEASE QUIT!!!! Want some help? Why don't you come with me every Tuesday for the next 8 weeks and watch the Chemo(Once a week) and Radiation(Five days a week) treatments, that according to stats have a 60% chance of working. It's my reward for smoking for 25 years. I quit smoking some 24 years ago, but the Big "C" has a long memory. PLEASE QUIT.... !!!!!

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

These helped me from starting smoking:
Normal healthy city dweller lung:

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Long term smoker's cancerous lung

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The good news is if you have not gone too far already, your lungs heal and get better - won't it be nice to have something that actually works better as the years go by?

 

[Guest]

Both my Parents smoked for 40 to 50 Years. My Dad's smoking killed him 15 Years after he stopped 'Cold Turkey'. The Tar and Nicotine had collected in his Colon and turned it into what looked like 'lace'.

Personally, I smoked for the year that I was "In Country" but only because the Unit I was with had a written Policy that if you didn't smoke you didn't get to take smoke breaks!!! I was on "terminal leave" for two weeks before I mustered out and when I went out to clear up my paperwork I found the pack of smokes I had had in my pocket of my Greens when I came home two weeks earlier. I guess moving back into a household of smokers broke me of the habit real quickly.

 

[gruntsrus]

Here's a method that worked for me, but it involves some psychology so bear with me;

a. You are not healthy if you still smoke and you have to realize this fast.

b. Find another quitter and talk about it everyday for the first 3 weeks; talk about all the positives.

c. All the positives are; more money in your pocket, house/clothes/you no longer stink, you'll sleep better, sex is better...

d. You will probably live longer. I say probably because who really knows, but that' snot really where it's at;You'll be living BETTER!?

e. Chew a gum you like in the first 3 weeks.
Happy B-Day and good luck.

 

[vrichard]

If you really want to quite it not that hard.