Stoped smoking this morning! Advice needed!

[mrsdash]

Who has quit smoking as I have today!! Any tips would be helpful!!

 

[redlight]

I don't have any advice, but congratulations and good luck!!

 

[OK!]

I've never been a smoker, but one of my friends quit on New Year's Day a few years ago and he chewed a lot of gum (not nicotine gum, just regular gum) and ate a lot of Tootsie Pops. And called me a lot, as I'd told him to call if he wanted if he was feeling overcome by a craving or something. I didn't realize it'd be like every 10 minutes for the first few days. Just kidding. I was happy to do it for him; the health benefits SO outweigh any possible inconvenience or anything silly I might feel.

Best of luck to you! I know this can be really, really hard, but you can do it!

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Good luck!

You can do it. Just think about all of the money you are saving and all of the health benefits to quitting.

 

[MinnieFlute]

No advice, just sending good vibes your way!

 

[disneymomofmyca]

I quit smoking 7 years ago. Replace the time you would normally smoke with something else so you are not just sitting there bored and craving. I worked out every time I had a craving...even if it was just a 10 minute walk or short run. Helped me ALOT! And I lot like 50lbs Also...like a pp said...toosie pops! I carried them with me everywhere I went...they helped tons! Good vibes to you! You can totally do it! It is one of the best life changing descions I have ever made!

 

[LaraK]

Bendy straws. I quit about 15 years and I used bendy straws to help me. It took care of having something in my mouth and playing with something with my hands.

Good luck! It's totally worth it!

 

[C.Ann]

Bendy straws. I quit about 15 years and I used bendy straws to help me. It took care of having something in my mouth and playing with something with my hands.

Good luck! It's totally worth it!

Or a regular straw.. Cut it to the size of a cigarette and "pretend" that you are smoking.. Helps with the hand - to - mouth fixation..

Good luck!

 

[Beachbumpirates]

Congrats to you! It can be done! I loved smoking and did not think I would/could ever quit and it is now almost 6 years. The PP suggestions of straws were wonderful and I did brush my teeth ALOT to keep a fresh taste in my mouth. My DR told me that after 72 hours it is no longer physical as it is out of your system and knowing that helped me too. You life will be so much easier not having to think about how/when and where you can smoke! Best of Luck!

 

[mrsdash]

Thanks so much for all the help!! I really need to do this for heaLTH REASONS!

 

[LuLuO]

I used the patch for two weeks. Chewing gum also helped as other posters have said. I will say that even though it has been 8 years this month, I still think about smoking almost every day, but I am so glad I quit and you will be glad too!

 

[Molly Meow]

Congrats! You can do it!

I quit cold turkey on September 7, 2010. This was after about 16 years of on and off smoking, mostly on. I found that the thing that helped me most (and still does, occasionally), was to express when I was pheening.

I would just turn to whoever I was with and say, "I want a cigarette." For some reason, just getting it out seemed to make the cravings bearable. My wonderful DH (whose lips have never touched a cigarette) would just say "I understand, and I'm proud of you for not having one."

Good luck, and I'm sure you'll find something that helps you!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I quit smoking Oct 11 2010. For me it is day by day and minute by minute. I have to choose not to smoke. Some days are worse than others.

When you feel the urge, let it pass over you. I will distract myself with a glass of water, doing an activity or something else.

This is my fourth and final time to quit.

My dh still smokes, so it does take some real committment. Smokers will tend to sabotage you unintenionally or sometimes it is intentional.

Good Luck!

 

[LadyZolt]

You can find online support forums. Google "quit smoking support" and "smoking cessation" and you'll find them. I think I spent every extra moment on them for the first three months I'd quit. It really helped because there's always someone up and posting. Tons of stuff to read, encouragement and support, ideas for things to do, etc. Some of them have boards for posting milestones and it's encouraging to be able to post "Hell week done!" (1st week), and "Heck week done!" (2nd week), and to see people posting their six month mark, or one year, or 10 year. It makes you think "Hey, one day I want to be posting that!"

I quit September 7, 2002 and am SO glad I did. It was tough for those first few months (I smoked for 25 years), but after that it got easier and easier and now I can't imagine smoking again. I feel so much better and am in much better shape. You CAN do it and I wish you the best! As they say, there's no good time to quit smoking, and there's no better time than right now!

-Dorothy (LadyZolt)

 

[froggygrrrl]

Keeping healthy snacks on hand for the first bit will help a little. Baby carrots, chewing gum, and the straw trick already mentioned are all good ideas. I think it also helps to keep thinking "I choose not to have a cigarette" rather than thinking "no, I can't have one".

Congrats to you for choosing not to smoke anymore!! It is very hard to quit, but is also extremely satisfying when you know you have conquered your addiction (in addition to the physical benefits)! Way to go!

 

[We_Love_Disney]

Drink copious amounts of water. WATER It flushes the toxins out of the body! You will be visiting the bathroom regularly, but that keeps you busy too. Also, wash your walls, curtains, and anything else that is filled with the stench of cigarettes. The smells will get you. Change your sheets, and fabreeze everything.

Also, brush your teeth frequently! That nice minty taste makes wanting a cigarette less intense. Then grab another bottle of water. Never be without the water.

Oh, did I mention, drink lots of water?

 

[maddiel]

Take the money you would be spending on cigarettes and physically put it aside. Use it to treat yourself. Carry it around and remind yourself that you saved it by not smoking and you can spend it any other way you want. Cigarettes are expensive, so it adds up fast!

Take up a hobby that keeps your hands busy. I did cross stitch. Jigsaw puzzles, sudoku, baking, playing the guitar all keep your hands bust

My best motivation was that I had a quitting buddy - I couldn't let him down. And my best motivation for not restarting once I got past the first few days of physical withdrawal was never wanting to have to quit again. When it gets bad, remind yourself that if you keep going, you only have to do it once (and it does get easier as it goes along!)

It's very liberating not to measure your life in intervals until the next cigarette - enjoy the freedom. And make sure that you replace smoke breaks with other breaks when your working at something.

Good Luck!

M
(who quit Feb 1998)

 

[wvdisluv2]

Drink copious amounts of water. WATER It flushes the toxins out of the body! You will be visiting the bathroom regularly, but that keeps you busy too. Also, wash your walls, curtains, and anything else that is filled with the stench of cigarettes. The smells will get you. Change your sheets, and fabreeze everything.

Also, brush your teeth frequently! That nice minty taste makes wanting a cigarette less intense. Then grab another bottle of water. Never be without the water.

Oh, did I mention, drink lots of water?

THIS! Nicotine will be out of your system in 5-7 days...don't use gum/patches or it will prolong the process (at least it did for me) Those 5-7 days will SUCK! But it will pass I quit 4/1/2009~you can do it!

 

[elizke]

I quit 7 years ago, never thought I would. It was hard but so worth the freedom!! Here are the things that helped me:

1. I used every tool available to me - nicotine gum or patch, Wellbutrin, Tootsie Pops as mentioned, and anything else I could find.

2. When I had a craving I would immediately put a mental picture in my head of myself as an aunt I had, who would sit in a chair with a towel covered TV table with a large ashtray on it on one side, ashes everywhere, smoking away, with an oxygen tank on the other, with long drawn out hacking fits every few minutes. It was horrible and the worst thing I could imagine in my future as a smoker. And I imagined how my kids would be too embarrassed to ever bring a friend home and how much they would hate me.

3. When really desperate, I would take a long slow drag of air, exactly the way I used to when smoking, using the lips, pulling the air in, holding it a second, contentedly blowing it out. It really helped! And I could do it anywhere! I still do it sometimes when I miss smoking.

4. Finally, I had to accept that no matter what, it IS hard. That's the way it is and nothing will change that. But each day you realize you are strong because you are doing it ANYWAY.

And my favorite term, smober. As of tomorrow you will be 24 hours smober.

You can do it! A bunch of us who are normal and weak and who were totally addicted did it, so there is no reason you can't! My favorite thing about not smoking, as I mentioned, is the freedom. It controls so much of how you have to live your life, and once you stop you are FREE!!

 

[redlight]

Funny. Many of the tricks (water, brushing teeth, carrots) are ones that I've used to lose weight!