I Quit Smoking

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My fiancee and both of her parents all quit smoking together using e-cigs a few years ago. The only problem is that none of them seem to have any intention of ever quitting the e-cigs. Oh well, the lesser-evil I guess....

I used an e-cig, briefly, and then quit it. Okay, I lost it, but I never replaced it.
 
I think a big factor that contributed to my quitting was that whilst I was trying to quit, I met my now wife. She has a real distaste for smoking. Therefore, it helped me abstain and stick with e-cigs... Because I really wanted in her pants.

If she didn't care if I smoked or not, we'll lets just say I'd be having a heater as I type this post
 
I just found an unopened case of Tea Tree Chewing Sticks in my desk that someone had given me a long time ago that is supposed to help with quitting... unbelievable.

edit: I don't even know how or why they are in my desk, I would've never had a reason to bring them here. Especially since I never have had one.

A sign:p
 
Made it through a night at friends drinking. That's only 50% risk compared to a Friday. Finishing a beer at home now looking at sky: cloud cover not moving, looks like thick layer of krausen. Losing it.

Game over man.
Game over!
 
Picked up some juice to start vaping. Gonna make plans to quit smoking some time soon after like 20 years, so figured I might as well get everything I need and try it out. Kids are nagging me and I figure I'd like to live a little longer if I can...
 
I dunno. I had a roommate who used one of the ecigs. One of the fancy light saber looking ones. He actually complained that he smoked it so much that his throat started hurting and as a result mixed regular cigarettes in as well.
If your friends throat hurts from using the ecig too much, drop the nicotine level down a notch.
 
giphy.gif


I'm freakin' out.. man..
 
Congrats! I hear Allen's Carr's book on the easy way to quit smoking helped a lot of people if anybody else needs some help. Smoking is one of the hardest habits to quit so kudos to everyone who was able to.
 
I've bought Allen Carr's book (The Only Way To Stop Smoking Permanently), and am halfway through reading it. I'm tempted to skip to the end, but am pretty sure it's meant to be read through properly.
 
My new client, the e-sig company, is pretty cool. Lots of money, so their building has all sorts of cool stuff happening. It was pretty neat walking through it and seeing everyone toking on these gizmos that emit vapors.

I get a twinge in my essence (not sure how else to describe it) when I'm in a situation like that. I want to draw a puff on something.

I'm not worried though. I have a strong constitution. I'll never do it. At least, not for now. One day, when I decide it's about over, I might shrug. That's what Ayn Rand said Atlas should do: the weight of the world on his shoulders, just shrug. F-it. I won't do that until I'm old and imminently terminal though.
 
'When does the treatment start?' Hypnosis, he was thinking. It must be hypnosis.

'Oh, it already has. It started when we shook hands in the hall. Do you have cigarettes with you, Mr Morrison?'

'Yes.'

'May I have them, please?'

Shrugging, Morrison handed Donatti his pack. There were only two or three left in it, anyway.

Donatti put the pack on the desk. Then, smiling into Morrison's eyes, he curled his right hand into a fist and began to hammer it down on the pack of cigarettes, which twisted and flattened. A broken cigarette end flew out. Tobacco crumbs spilled. The sound of Donatti's fist was very loud in the closed room. The smile remained on his face in spite of the force of the blows, and Morrison was chilled by it. Probably just the effect they want to inspire, he thought.

At last Donatti ceased pounding. He picked up the pack, a twisted and battered ruin. 'You wouldn't believe the pleasure that gives me,' he said, and dropped the pack into the wastebasket. 'Even after three years in the business, it still pleases me.'

'As a treatment, it leaves something to be desired. Morrison said mildly. 'There's a news-stand in the lobby of this very building. And they sell all brands.'

'As you say,' Donatti said. He folded his hands. 'Your son, Alvin Dawes Morrison, is in the Paterson School for Handicapped Children. Born with cranial brain damage. Tested IQ of 46. Not quite in the educable retarded category. Your wife -, 'How did you find that out?' Morrison barked. He was startled and angry. 'You've got no goddamn right to go poking around my -'

'We know a lot about you,' Donatti said smoothly. 'But, as I said, it will all be held in strictest confidence.'

'I'm getting out of here,' Morrison said thinly. He stood up.

'Stay a bit longer.'

Morrison looked at him closely. Donatti wasn't upset. In fact, he looked a little amused. The face of a man who has seen this reaction scores of times - maybe hundreds.

'All right. But it better be good.'

'Oh, it is.' Donatti leaned back. 'I told you we were pragmatists here. As pragmatists, we have to start by realizing how difficult it is to cure an addiction to tobacco. The relapse rate is almost eight-five per cent. The relapse rate for heroin addicts is lower than that. It is an extraordinary problem. Extraordinary.'

Morrison glanced into the wastebasket. One of the cigarettes, although twisted, still looked smokeable.

Donatti laughed good-naturedly, reached into the wastebasket, and broke it between his fingers.

'State legislatures sometimes hear a request that the prison systems do away with the weekly cigarette ration. Such proposals are invariably defeated. In a few cases where they have passed, there have been fierce prison riots. Riots, Mr Morrison. Imagine it.'

'I,' Morrison said, 'am not surprised.'

'But consider the implications. When you put a man in prison you take away any normal sex life, you take away his liquor, his politics, his freedom of movement. No riots - or few in comparison to the number of prisons. But when you take away his cigarettes - wham! bam!' He slammed his fist on the desk for emphasis.

'During World War I, when no one on the German home front could get cigarettes, the sight of German aristocrats picking butts out of the gutter was a common one. During World War II, many American women turned to pipes when they were unable to obtain cigarettes. A fascinating problem for the true pragmatist, Mr Morrison.'

'Could we get to the treatment?'

'Momentarily. Step over here, please.' Donatti had risen and was standing by the green curtains Morrison had noticed yesterday.

Donatti drew the curtains, discovering a rectangular window that looked into a bare room. No, not quite bare. There was a rabbit on the floor, eating pellets out of a dish.

'Pretty bunny,' Morrison commented.

'Indeed. Watch him.' Donatti pressed a button by the window-sill. The rabbit stopped eating and began to hop about crazily. It seemed to leap higher each time its feet struck the floor. Its fur stood out spikily in all directions. Its eyes were wild.

'Stop that! You're electrocuting him!'

Donatti released the button. 'Far from it. There's a very low-yield charge in the floor. Watch the rabbit, Mr Morrison!'

The rabbit was crouched about ten feet away from the dish of pellets. His nose wriggled. All at once he hopped away into a
corner.

'If the rabbit gets a jolt often enough while he's eating,' Donatti said, 'he makes the association very quickly. Eating causes pain.

Therefore, he won't eat. A few more shocks, and the rabbit will starve to death in front of his food. It's called aversion training.'

Light dawned in Morrison's head.

'No, thanks.' He started for the door.
 
I suggest Steven King's Quitters, Inc. If you have a few minutes, you must read. It's good, of course. About 12 pages.



http://mrfitton.weebly.com/uploads/1/7/5/8/17583739/quitters_inc._text.pdf


I remember that one!
I'm not worried though. I have a strong constitution. I'll never do it. At least, not for now. One day, when I decide it's about over, I might shrug. That's what Ayn Rand said Atlas should do: the weight of the world on his shoulders, just shrug. F-it. I won't do that until I'm old and imminently terminal though.


Carr keeps saying that willpower isn't the way, because I will spend the rest of my days wishing I could smoke.
And that his way will remove any of those thoughts. We'll see.
 
You need the solution that fits you. Unfortunately people are all different with how they cope with addictions. I still crave a cigarette every now and again, though the last time I took a puff I was disgusted by the taste and it reinforced how glad I am that I quit. Know yourself, know that you are going to want to backslide, get the support of friends and family, dont hang around people who are smoking. You will be amazed in a couple weeks when your sense of taste and smell start returning. Not to mention how much your wardrobe starts smelling better.

Reward yourself for going a day, 3, a week, for different milestones without smoking. Put your cost per pack in a jar and use the money to reward yourself with a good beer or something expensive (smokes are not cheap) once you have quit.

More than anything else, remember that you have to be serious about quitting. If you dont want to do it, you wont. You will make excuses to have "just one more".
 
I slipped up and had one over the weekend. Its only been a week... or two? Man I don't even know. Brain is shot from staring at lines all day. I already feel so much better though and its not even a huge deal now. After a six pack, I start getting the shakes but I turn up the volume and hit the stronger beers.
 
Still, I have dreams about smoking. It's been so many years without cheating, you'd think I would get a break.

I've been watching Mad Men. Just finished the first season. They smoke continuously throughout, and it looks great. I know what one lapse leads to though, and I won't do that.
 
yep...i quit a few years ago after my dad was diagnosed with small cell carcinoma but I still want one every time I see somebody smoking on TV.
& even worse than that...I walk outside after dining at a restaurant & see/smell somebody lighting up.
my best friends mom quit over 30 years ago & says she still has cravings occasionally.
I don't guess that ever goes away.
 
I smoked about 10-15 cigs a day from about 20 to 28. Add to that lots of marijuana. I have completely quit smoking pot (which I miss dearly), and I had effectively quit smoking cigs entirely for about 8 months, minus a few weeks of awesomeness on vacation. I now smoke about 4-5 cigs a week, normally one while walking to work. I don't feel bad about that, really. I love 'em. I really do. If it weren't for the detrimental health effects, I'd chain smoke incessantly. They're delicious.

I've also switched from smoking Camel king size to Players Blue (light) reg size, which is good.

I would love to start smoking pot a bit again mind you. It's wonderful. SWMBO is hugely against it, though.
 
I quit 12 years ago after smoking from age 16 to 39...gained 30 pounds since but I don't regret the decision and I've never looked back.
 
I started smoking when I was 12 or 13. Smoked heavily until I was 36, the year my son was born. I vowed that my son(s) would never see me smoking cigarettes. I quit when my first son was 6 months old, nine years ago. I chewed the gum when I was climbing the walls for the first two weeks, but only used it when I was really freaking out for a cigarette.

Most of the time now, they smell like crap to me, but every now and then, in the morning, I'll be around some guys who are smoking and they smell pretty good; I don't think that ever goes away.
 
My dad died from smoking, as I've said here before. My brother and his daughter tossed his ashes into the Pacific, with a note. It said: "I hope you're eating chocolate shakes in heaven, I miss you and love you. Alice". Yep, he liked those shakes. It was the last thing he ate in his life, I know that.

dad.jpg
 
I think I puffed my first cigarette at about 9 years old. Then the next summer, '76, my mum caught me with a packet of cigs and went to town on my arse with a leather belt. '78 to '79 and my first year in junior high was when the habit became a daily thing and, although attempting to quit many times, until about four years ago I never managed to quit for longer than a week. Four years ago at the end of summer I decided I wanted to really try and quit so I did a little research and came across

http://whyquit.com/

and some other info by a guy named Joel Spitzer (?)

and the next day I started my own personal fight against my addiction. The first few days were absolute hell but as each day passed the satisfaction, that I wasn't allowing myself to be a slave to nicotine anymore, was increasing. The cravings gradually subsided and three weeks in I was getting more confident that I could achieve my goals. Various psychological obstacles/triggers presented themselves and I managed to get past them without succumbing to a relapse. For example: I started playing guitar when I was 14 so I'd never practiced or played without, at some point, smoking a cig. Driving a car was also another thing that I habitually sparked up whilst doing? So, things were going nicely and I made it to three months and change, absolutely nicotine free.
One day I came across a couple of packets of smokes in a drawer that had been bought at duty free about four years prior. I had been rolling my own, using Colts vanilla tobacco for the last year or so up to my quitting. The reason I had started on the rollies was that in March 2011 the huge earthquake in northeast Japan, which caused the tsunami that hit Fukushima and the nuclear power plants, basically wiped out tobacco production as Japan Tobacco had all of their growing and production facilities in Fukushima prefecture. Eventually supplies of Japanese tobacco brands ran out and the brand I smoked, a sweeter, slightly chocolate-y aroma, high nicotine content brand named "Peace" also. During this time I found the Vanilla flavoured Colts rolling tobacco. Anyway, by the time JT got production up and running and I tried a pack of Peace I felt like the flavour had changed, not in a good way, and I noticed the nicotine content had been significantly reduced.
So, after finding the two packs of duty frees from a few years before the earthquake I foolishly thought I could try one just to see if I could get away with having "just one" and, also, to verify my suspicions on the changes made to the brand post Fukushima.

As soon as I sparked up that cigarette the flavour was everything I remembered, the aroma heavenly and the nicotine rush was so intense that I had tingling at my fingertips and temples. I realised straight way my mistake. I had just undone three months of recovering from addiction. I had already given the nicotine the chance to start the process of up regulating dopamine receptors. Within a few weeks I was back to my usual habit of 5 to 7 rollies a day. This carried on until February 17th 2016.

Long story short, I broke my collarbone in a bicycle accident. Basically hit a tree with my shoulder, narrowly missing a faceplant. Needed an operation to ensure the two separated parts would knit. The pain in my chest from impact was so intense and I couldn't even inflate my lungs to any more than about 20 to 25% of their capacity so the thought of smoking was out of the question. I decided there and then that this was my chance to try and quit smoking again, but this time FOR GOOD. I knew that one little relapse was all it would take to be dragged back into the addiction, letting nicotine rule my life and enslave me, so I vowed to never take another puff,,,,,,,,,,of nicotine:fro:

Closing in on 10 months completely nicotine free as I write this. :ban:

Still get the odd craving or situation that makes me think about the prospect of smoking a cig. Just need to recall how much I felt disappointed in myself every day I woke up saying I would quit but then gave in to the nicotine addiction and had a cig or two. Have no problem drinking and getting quite sozzled without folding and having a smoke. Had the dreams about smoking but seem to recall they were only in the beginning weeks of quitting, most likely from tar being transported from the lungs by the healthier baccilus bringing mucus up and tasting it in my mouth.

Always been pretty athletic and healthy. I cycle to and from work nearly every day, 26 kilometres round trip, 30 minutes one way and I never thought of myself as being a heavy smoker but was aware, for a good few decades, that I was a total nicotine addict. Now I' m happy to be a recovering nicotine addict who realises how easy it would be to fall back into the habit but has the desire to stay free.

Good luck to any and all who try to quit smoking:mug:.

And thanks, PP, for starting this thread. Writing my piece here has been therapeutic and helped strengthen my resolve that little bit more.
 
I think I puffed my first cigarette at about 9 years old. Then the next summer, '76, my mum caught me with a packet of cigs and went to town on my arse with a leather belt. '78 to '79 and my first year in junior high was when the habit became a daily thing and, although attempting to quit many times, until about four years ago I never managed to quit for longer than a week. Four years ago at the end of summer I decided I wanted to really try and quit so I did a little research and came across

http://whyquit.com/

and some other info by a guy named Joel Spitzer (?)

and the next day I started my own personal fight against my addiction. The first few days were absolute hell but as each day passed the satisfaction, that I wasn't allowing myself to be a slave to nicotine anymore, was increasing. The cravings gradually subsided and three weeks in I was getting more confident that I could achieve my goals. Various psychological obstacles/triggers presented themselves and I managed to get past them without succumbing to a relapse. For example: I started playing guitar when I was 14 so I'd never practiced or played without, at some point, smoking a cig. Driving a car was also another thing that I habitually sparked up whilst doing? So, things were going nicely and I made it to three months and change, absolutely nicotine free.
One day I came across a couple of packets of smokes in a drawer that had been bought at duty free about four years prior. I had been rolling my own, using Colts vanilla tobacco for the last year or so up to my quitting. The reason I had started on the rollies was that in March 2011 the huge earthquake in northeast Japan, which caused the tsunami that hit Fukushima and the nuclear power plants, basically wiped out tobacco production as Japan Tobacco had all of their growing and production facilities in Fukushima prefecture. Eventually supplies of Japanese tobacco brands ran out and the brand I smoked, a sweeter, slightly chocolate-y aroma, high nicotine content brand named "Peace" also. During this time I found the Vanilla flavoured Colts rolling tobacco. Anyway, by the time JT got production up and running and I tried a pack of Peace I felt like the flavour had changed, not in a good way, and I noticed the nicotine content had been significantly reduced.
So, after finding the two packs of duty frees from a few years before the earthquake I foolishly thought I could try one just to see if I could get away with having "just one" and, also, to verify my suspicions on the changes made to the brand post Fukushima.

As soon as I sparked up that cigarette the flavour was everything I remembered, the aroma heavenly and the nicotine rush was so intense that I had tingling at my fingertips and temples. I realised straight way my mistake. I had just undone three months of recovering from addiction. I had already given the nicotine the chance to start the process of up regulating dopamine receptors. Within a few weeks I was back to my usual habit of 5 to 7 rollies a day. This carried on until February 17th 2016.

Long story short, I broke my collarbone in a bicycle accident. Basically hit a tree with my shoulder, narrowly missing a faceplant. Needed an operation to ensure the two separated parts would knit. The pain in my chest from impact was so intense and I couldn't even inflate my lungs to any more than about 20 to 25% of their capacity so the thought of smoking was out of the question. I decided there and then that this was my chance to try and quit smoking again, but this time FOR GOOD. I knew that one little relapse was all it would take to be dragged back into the addiction, letting nicotine rule my life and enslave me, so I vowed to never take another puff,,,,,,,,,,of nicotine:fro:

Closing in on 10 months completely nicotine free as I write this. :ban:

Still get the odd craving or situation that makes me think about the prospect of smoking a cig. Just need to recall how much I felt disappointed in myself every day I woke up saying I would quit but then gave in to the nicotine addiction and had a cig or two. Have no problem drinking and getting quite sozzled without folding and having a smoke. Had the dreams about smoking but seem to recall they were only in the beginning weeks of quitting, most likely from tar being transported from the lungs by the healthier baccilus bringing mucus up and tasting it in my mouth.

Always been pretty athletic and healthy. I cycle to and from work nearly every day, 26 kilometres round trip, 30 minutes one way and I never thought of myself as being a heavy smoker but was aware, for a good few decades, that I was a total nicotine addict. Now I' m happy to be a recovering nicotine addict who realises how easy it would be to fall back into the habit but has the desire to stay free.

Good luck to any and all who try to quit smoking:mug:.

And thanks, PP, for starting this thread. Writing my piece here has been therapeutic and helped strengthen my resolve that little bit more.

Thanks for your comments.

My favorite was Dunhill. English I think. Man those were great. I long for them still to this day. But I'll never touch another. At least until my wife's dead. If she precedes me, then it's game on. Then I won't care anymore.
 
Thanks for your comments.

My favorite was Dunhill. English I think. Man those were great. I long for them still to this day. But I'll never touch another. At least until my wife's dead. If she precedes me, then it's game on. Then I won't care anymore.

What you don't want to hang around for the grand kids?
Maybe a younger squeeze;)
 
A year ago I went to gym and began running. It was the reason to stop smoking. Now I am happy and healthy. :D
 
I smoked from 15, 16 to 26. Got up one morning with a bad tobacco hangover (was at a party where I must have smoked about 2 packs), saw the disgusting ash tray and decided then and there to quit. Haven't touched it since. The gods have rewarded me for my effort with giving me asthma and allergies which makes me one of those ex smoker hypocrites that can't stand cigarette smoke anymore.
 
I am smoke free over 25 years now.
Started by stealing puffs from my moms cig when she wasn't looking, then stealing them from her pack and really started when I was 15 or so. I was was smoking 2-3 packs a day when I quit cold turkey at 30. Many of my friends at the time said they couldn't imagine me without a cig in my hand. I did the hypnosis route, but I think really wanting the monkey off my back was truly the motivator.
Like many who used to smoke, I can't tolerate the smell now. I don't miss it and never want to smoke another cig again.
Probably one of the hardest things I have ever done.
Mom never quit and died at the same age I am now from lung cancer.
 
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