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Message started by philthymike on 05/09/20 at 08:26:40

Title: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by philthymike on 05/09/20 at 08:26:40

Several weeks ago my basement flooded during an intense weather event. I spent much of the following week emptying the room and cleaning causing me to breathe alot of damp moldy air consequently contracting bronchitis. During my sickness I got nicotine gum to reduce my smoking because I was coughing so much.

Then I noticed that my senses of smell and taste returned after a couple weeks and that's encouraged me to finally just quit smoking for once and for all.

Currently I'm down to roughly 4 cigarettes per day plus the gum in between.
Problem spots now are morning coffee and after work beer. Can't chew the gum with either and it's habitual for me to smoke during these activities.
How do I break these rituals?
Any substitutes for either coffee or beer I can try?
What have other quitters tried?

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 05/09/20 at 10:38:55

You have all my support,, and exactly zero advice, unless maybe visit a cancer ward. Ive quite. Many times.
But, if you wanna know if it can be done,, I knew a guy who quit, bught a pack and carried them in his shirt pocket, unopened, I think he hauled them around for almost two years before he tossed them.
Funny the idiotic things we teach ourselves are pleasant..

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by Ruttly on 05/09/20 at 13:29:51

You’re gonna hate me. You can do this ! It is mind over tobacco , a wrestling match in your mind. You will be victorious. But you must without a doubt you must stop drinking any alcohol ! For awhile anyways ! 2 drinks and you’ll be bumming a smoke from someone. My heart attack was a direct cause of my smoking. Coffee is ok but NO alcohol ! You rule your mind , when the craving hits you do anything else walk ,read ,eat ,ride ,eat carrot & celery sticks while driving. You must get right in your head that you own you destiny. Destiny being the rest of your life without smoking. Its been 1 1/2 years and I still want to buy a pack and go hide in some city park and smoke all 20; but I won’t cause as phucked up as I am , I rule my mind On this one.

When I go to heaven I gonna have a cocktail vodka & gingerale and smoke a cigarette 9 miles long.
John Prine

You will Win Mike !

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by Ruttly on 05/09/20 at 15:11:52

I may have had an unfair advantage when quitting. I spent 31 hours in ICU after heart surgery, nice room , with a view , of a cemetery !
Life Choices are not always easy. I often wonder why I was in that room , but glad it wasn’t any other room. I’ll be checking in on you ,Mike !
Don’t let yourself down , you will feel so much better in mind & body. Being able to conquer the hold nicotine has on your mind is very rewarding.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by MMRanch on 05/09/20 at 22:46:05

Yea Mike

When I quit I replaced the erge to smoke with something else. I took up "Iron Turkey Shooting" ... every time I wanted to smoke I'd go out the the front yard and practice on the 22LR Iron Turkey targets . Come to find out a box of 22LR shells are cheaper than a pack of smokes ! Now I have a really accurate air rifle ($$$) and don't even think of smoking . Its really shocking how much a years worth of smoking cost ! :-[

So , Replace smoking with ???? :) ::) New Motorcycle Payments ? 8-)

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by zipidachimp on 05/10/20 at 00:10:49

Got Asthma at age 28, doctor said 'quit smoking or quit breathing' . 50 years later, my current doctor said he can still detect that I was a smoker, age 14 to 28.
Cheers! 8-)

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by Dave on 05/10/20 at 02:57:31

Philthymike:

You have my support.....and prayers that you can beat this.

I am not a smoker, and the company I retired from in 2017 only had 1 employee that smoked. Every morning he would come in and it sounded like he was coughing up a lung. He would cough and hack and wheeze from the moment he arrived until he got into the truck to go out in the field.......I am not sure how long that went on each morning.

I always wanted to ask him if he noticed that he was the only one that had those coughing fits in the morning....and maybe his health was at risk. He was a young man in his thirties, he had a wife and a young child he was trying to support. (I did keep my mouth shut as I never thought he would respond in a positive manner).

Give it up! I am sure you will feel much better....the cigarettes are a toxin! I do understand that the nicotine is addictive, and that your body currently has a need for it - you also may have to alter some of your lifestyle to change your habits that are triggers.

Dave

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by Papa Bear on 05/10/20 at 05:24:31

I smoked for nearly 50 yrs. I quit in 2005.
My wife quit 10 yrs before me and my smoking aggravated her.

I'm a 31 yr member of AA so I guess my answer to your question is "prayer".

Good luck !

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by philthymike on 05/10/20 at 07:29:03

Thank you all for the support! And advice.
When I joined the Navy in 03 I had to quit. No smoking in basic training. I actually snuck in nicotine patches hidden down my underwear lol. But they ran out and training ran long because of the holidays so instead of getting out by X-mas they held us until New Year's Eve. Jerks.
Upon graduation I was smoke free and ran to the arms of my ex wife. Who smelled like cigarette smoke. You can see where this is headed...

Two years ago I had oblation to rid me of the heart palpitations that I had all my life which also were partially to blame for the end of my military career. At that time the cardiologist ordered me to quit smoking. So I need to do as he says.

I got some energy drinks so tomorrow I will try those in place of morning coffee. I tried Maté once at a friend's place after a night of drinking and that seemed to wake me up pretty good. I'll give it another try I guess.
I was thinking of maybe replacing beer with wine. Or hard cider. But it is likely I'll need to just stop drinking alcohol. That will be a tall order considering current circumstances and the extra stress from the epidemic. However it may take finding a new job for me to quit drinking. My current job is extremely stressful with way too much responsibility and narcissistic sociopath for a boss.
Just saw a great job in Louisville KY I think I'll apply for.

Today's goal is no beer. And the cigarette that goes with it too.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by philthymike on 05/10/20 at 07:38:42

130113010C1F101D165E0 wrote:

Thanks for bringing forth the cost aspect of smoking. This is something I need to remember more than ever now that the epidemic has cost me a 15% salary reduction and a maximum work week of 32 hours. That is a huge hit to the wallet and continued cigarette costs of $80/week aren't economically viable anymore.

And shooting crap sounds fun. Maybe I should take up skeet shooting again. That was fun!

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by Armen on 05/10/20 at 08:50:48

Hey Mike,
Big gung-hos on this project. Seems that over the years sometimes most of the guys I worked with smoked, sometimes none did. Luckily, I never did. Had a few buds tell me that it was easier for them to quit heroin than cigarettes. Pretty scary. Gotta remember all those people doing research all those decades on how to make cigarettes as addictive as possible. And all the decades the government subsidized tobacco farming. Unconcionable.
Cigarettes kill more Americans than any war ever did.
Every part of your life will be better.
Hope you can do it.
And if you fall off the wagon, take a step back, take a breath, and quit again. Even cutting down is better than not doing anything.
Good on you!

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by philthymike on 05/10/20 at 09:34:10

Thank you Armen and the rest.
In my younger, stupidity years I had a mean coke habit for a real long time. One day I just quit it and never looked back. That was a walk in the park compared to this. Except for my time in basic I've been smoking since age 19. Nearly 50 now. That's most of a lifetime of bad habits to undue.
I wish my old lady would follow suit. Says she's quitting too but so far it's just lip service.

I'm not going to let her mess this up for me!

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by jcstokes on 05/10/20 at 13:27:02

You might not believe this, but I brought a sack of apples and ate them, when I stopped just over thirty years ago. Admittedly I smoked a pipe and I had to destroy the craftsmanship of the men that made my pipes, had I kept them I would have never stopped. Do try a large quantity of apples, no side effects, except you might fart like a brewers drayhorse.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by norm92de on 05/10/20 at 13:35:17

I wish you good luck Mike.

I never smoked but I have seen many people who have a hard time giving it up. Many people I worked with were absolute slaves to cigarettes, some even tried to smoke in my cockpit. NOT!

You will make it in the end. :)

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by rl153 on 05/10/20 at 18:23:24

I quit in 1990. I used to smoke on a schedule while I felt I had to , like 1 every 4 hours. Then cut back from there using a watch with a chime. As long as I knew I didn't have to quit altogether, I maintained that for quite a while. finally weaned off altogether. Good luck!!

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by jcstokes on 05/10/20 at 22:24:40

Hmmm $US80 per week, plus lighters/matches at least $US 4160 PER ANNUM, what sort of used bike could you buy for $US 4160.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 05/10/20 at 22:30:24

I roll my own, and smoke Backwoods cigars, too. Total per month, ballpark seventy bucks..
But
I Just Quit
Till tomorrow

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by philthymike on 05/11/20 at 09:00:21

No luck with avoiding my evening beer last night. But in grocery shopping for the week today I didn't get any beer. I may regret that decision.

This morning was a disaster. The energy drink didn't wake me enough leaving me in a dazed and zombie-like state. The gum alone wasn't enough nicotine causing me to be extremely irritable until I broke down and smoked.

:'( this is hard!

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by Ruttly on 05/11/20 at 11:05:23

Mike , Get yourself some patches. Put them on when you wake up. Only side effect I found is really crazy dreams. That why you put them on when you wake up. Save the gum for when you get slapped with a nicotine fit.
You can do this.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by Ruttly on 05/11/20 at 11:26:30

Or have your doctor give you a scrip for Chantix. Allows you to smoke for first few days by then you just start loosing the craving. However you will never make it unless you are bent on quitting. It's not a physical battle it's a mental battle. Gum , patches , Chantix are quitting AIDS nothing more.
It's all in your head ! You have to want to quit. Explain to those around you that your quitting so they understand why you bite their head off over something stupid.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by verslagen1 on 05/11/20 at 14:36:10

We always recommend changing one thing at a time so you know WTF is the problem.

But giving up everything and feeling miserable for a short time... meh.

I would stay away from those power drinks (monster and such) they will kill you.
And if you have palpitations, you're just replacing one drug with another (5 hr boost) that'll kill you.
I'd stick with the one you know, just cut down, 4 to 3 to 2 to 1 to none.

Tell your significant other that you need a heart rate boost in the morning. [smiley=2vrolijk_08.gif] and hope it's not a bucket of cold water.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by jcstokes on 05/12/20 at 03:33:34

Buy the apples, try the apples.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by zevenenergie on 05/12/20 at 07:43:44

If you are an addict, you have something to sedate. So make sure you don't have anything to numb.

Tobacco gives your system a reward, so if you stop, you have to reward yourself with something else. Give yourself gifts.

Tell everyone you quit smoking.

Nicotine patches are necessary at first.

Just quitting smoking is not enough to keep it up. You have to change your habit pattern.

A new occupation is the secret of every successful attempt to quit smoking, but make sure it,s someting fun :)

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by philthymike on 05/13/20 at 19:57:00

My company just announced imminent downsizing and I'm only there a year so far. That new occupation may become a harsh reality soon.

Getting sore jaw muscles from clenching and gritting my teeth plus chewing gum. Lollipops are helpful.

At the end of the day though the gum isn't working out so great. Thinking of maybe the chantix. Clerk at drug store swears by it.

Ya know I do have lots of apples! I'll give them a go....

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by Ruttly on 05/13/20 at 22:19:25

The addictive qualities of nicotine are said to be as powerful or more than heroin , crack cocaine ,crystal meth ! By no means is it easy , but it's worth quitting. I had to look at it as "Failure is not an option". It took a heart attack to convince me. I tried a dozen times to quit before that. Keep after it Mike , you can do it.

The Savage Support Group

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by zevenenergie on 05/14/20 at 04:30:19

If the going gets tuff the tuff get going.

What is not my favorite spell.

Problems usually arise because we are not fexible enough. Hardening yourself, it is not helpful if the situation requires alertness.
Relaxation and being alert go together.

Life asks us to be present, so this new situation is an invitation. A bit ofa challenge, but one that you can handle.
You are still a bit in your resistance. That's all.

It now seems more difficult to quit smoking, but you end up in a new situation, how nice would it be if you no longer smoke in that new situation?

How about a leap in life? Being a biker once more....
This time with clean lungs and fresh breath 8-) chicks love that ;)

Iff been in your situation and it is tuff, no doubt about it.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by jcstokes on 05/14/20 at 12:34:57

Apples are healthier than lollipops and also better chewing.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by SoC on 05/14/20 at 15:05:45

I will offer up how I managed to quit, a vacation. It is kind of tough for this method at moment though. Went on a ski vacation to France and did not take any cigarettes with me. When there we were in a hotel where we had breakfast every day in dining room, and you could not smoke in it. Getting cigs was a hassle since I speak no French and would have to track down where to buy them. So that got me through breakfast each day. Skied all day and did not miss it while doing that. Dinner at night was in same dining room from breakfast so no smoking there. Made it 5 days with not smoking. On 5th night we went to a bar for drinks, while there managed to bum a cig from a cute younger women. Went outside and smoked it and went back to my friends in bar.

Next day went back to skiing for another 2 days and then flew home, which took another whole day. Got home, only one cigarette in 9 days, and had no desire to smoke anymore. Key to whole thing was vacation had me break with the normal routines of the day that trigger the desire to smoke. My big one was driving to work, that’s when the first cig of day got smoked.

I was pretty bad, in shop I would light a cig, take a couple draws, set it down to do something and then would light another as I forgot about the one I left burning at the end of a work bench.

Another method, I have a couple of friends who have used it successfully, but I am in no way recommending or advocating it unless you live somewhere it is legal, is to replace tobacco with marijuana. Every time they had an urge to smoke they would take a hit off a joint instead. They said the key was to take just one small hit. It helped calm them and reduced craving by getting some smoke in their lungs. One hit did not get them stoned.

Good luck, when you do find success it’s something you are very happy about, but you do miss it. It was a part of life for so long, it can be like the old girlfriend you occasionally think about but know you are better off without her(it).

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by T And T Garage on 05/14/20 at 15:13:00

Mike - former smoker here. It's not going to be easy (duh). What helped me is the patch and a real change in attitude. But everyone is different.

This may sound very odd, but my best advice to you is to treat it like someone near and dear to you has died. That's kind of what it is. Once you quit, you can't fool yourself into thinking that you'll be able to smoke "once in a while" or "only when I drink". Like alcoholism, it's all or nothing.

Best of luck - and although it sounds cliche - the more you try, the closer you'll get to success.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by philthymike on 05/14/20 at 16:10:29

In a sense I can sorta treat it like someone died. My dad succumbed to C19 three weeks ago at age 85 and every darn time I went to NYC to visit him he without fail told me he wished I'd stop smoking.

So that has been a motive. My old man and I weren't that close though. He kinda wasn't there most of the time so the motivation isn't as strong as you might think.

I appreciate all the support from everyone in here. That's actually been quite a help so far.

Definitely giving up on the gum. Will likely give chantix a try next week.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by jcstokes on 05/14/20 at 21:59:31

$US 4160 per annum, what's your utilities bill for a year?

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by eau de sauvage on 05/14/20 at 23:23:13

564E4F4A524E5F4B4F4D43260 wrote:

...that's encouraged me to finally just quit smoking for once and for all.

Currently I'm down to roughly 4 cigarettes per day

There's your problem right there. You're bullsh!tting yourself. Either stop or don't, the choice is yours to make. Making a post about it is just more bullsh!tting.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by philthymike on 05/15/20 at 05:21:49

Woke up with no urge to smoke this morning. Tried to smoke anyway out of habit and didn't want it. Put it out after two drags.
Think I've turned a corner here!

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by Ruttly on 05/15/20 at 13:00:03

That's great , stay focused now !
Just in time eau de sausage is preparing some heavy doses of tough love !

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by Ed L. on 05/15/20 at 16:34:33

Well I'll tell you how I did it but it probably won't work for you. It took me almost a year to quit after multiple attempts. I was a heavy smoker , 3 packs a day, for about five years back in the early 80's.
I switched over to the Merit lights, don't know if they are even still around but they were like smoking cardboard, it made smoking less pleasant.
Every time I lit up I also asked myself If I really wanted the butt or was it just a nervous habit.
I would also make myself cough when smoking as a negative reinforcement.
Was at a buddy's bar one night and ran out of Merits so bought and smokes most of a pack of Lucky Strikes. Think I got a case of nicotine poisoning along with a real good hang over. Couldn't eve look at a butt for about three days and I ran with it.
Had to change a lot of behavior, no bars, no drinking which was a trigger and I was miserable for about six months. Had to stay away from a lot of my friends who were smokers because they were triggers. My life style changed because of quitting, it was all I really thought about.
The hardest time was about six weeks into the quit after the physical addiction had past but the nervous need for a butt to fill up time became almost unbearable, boredom is your enemy keep your hands and mind busy. Most people who quit fall off the wagon around that time. Tighten your resolve for when the craving returns.
I also ate a lot of grapes and apples that year. Also smoked a little pot
It's been over 45 years since I last smoked, no cigars, no pipes and no butts and I still miss it. Have some friends who keep trying to get me back with cigars, guess the don't understand.
The first morning cigarette with a good cup of coffee while watching a sun rise is the thing I miss the most. They will always be with you if you quit and if you can't kick them they will kill you.
Don't know if this helped, I don't talk about what it took for me to quit much. The path I took was a hard path but quitting any addiction is brutal.
Don't give up, even a moment of weakness doesn't mean failure, we are all human. Keep at it and don't stop.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by pg on 05/15/20 at 19:14:52

Ok, how about you will die an early death? I've known two people who died in their mid fifties and two others who died in their mid sixties. One other one is didn't make it to sixty and has a permanent disability.
YMMV.....

Best regards,

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by Armen on 05/15/20 at 19:49:50

Great that you are doing this. Even cutting way back is huge. Puritanical ranting aside, anyone can see that a few cigs a week are better than multiple packs a day.
One of my buds quit again recently, and decided to paint the house. Just seeing the stains on all the inside walls was enough to gross him out and help him stay quit.
Hopefully you can quit altogether.
So glad I never started.
Peace, brother.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by philthymike on 05/16/20 at 06:45:12

4B594D4E595F5D380 wrote:

[quote author=564E4F4A524E5F4B4F4D43260 link=1589038000/0#0 date=1589038000]...that's encouraged me to finally just quit smoking for once and for all.

Currently I'm down to roughly 4 cigarettes per day

There's your problem right there. You're bullsh!tting yourself. Either stop or don't, the choice is yours to make. Making a post about it is just more bullsh!tting.
[/quote]

Just outright quitting isn't feasible unless I can be put into a rubber room wearing a straight jacket for a month. Trust me you would not appreciate how I behave when I don't get enough nicotine. I start tearing people's heads off and crapping down their necks just for looking at me wrong. Despite its detrimental effects smoking has saved lots of people from me flying off the handle in a bad way on them.

Currently I'm still working at my extremely stressful job with my psychopath of a boss. If I quit cold turkey I would be fired within days. Bad time to be unemployed....

Since you don't seem disposed to posting anything helpful in this matter I'd say your post is the real bullcrapping.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by jcstokes on 05/16/20 at 14:19:36

Ok, so can you restrict the fags to work hours? Possibly stick to apples at lunch?

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by Eegore on 05/17/20 at 05:42:42

If I recall correctly Chantix has a NRT of 11 or 12, which means it is effective for 1 out of 11 people. Its efficiency for those it treats is on the high end so that's a big plus.

The key thing is that it's not Chantix, or apples, or energy drinks that is doing the quitting for you. You are doing it, and you are capable, even if the tools aren't all available for you.

I think at the end of the day "I start tearing people's heads off and crapping down their necks just for looking at me wrong" is a personality choice you could look at resolving along with, if not prior to quitting smoking. You found a working coping mechanism for your anger but now that mechanism of smoking is no longer an option if you want to remain alive. For one of my co-workers it took making 550 cord bracelets for charity.

Similar to my issue with caffeine back in the day, I had to stop drinking coffee due to acid reflux, so I went with energy drinks but saw too many heart and renal failures in 40-year olds to accept those as an alternative. They were deadly too. So the only way I was able to deal with the constant fatigue, without more damaging substances, was to learn ways to manage my sleep better. It took little things like no TV or computer screens 30min before sleep, take that 30min to engage in some reading that I enjoy, blocking light, a small fan etc.

Once I found ways to get better rest I no longer needed ways to combat fatigue and those changes made leaving coffee, energy drinks, being a jerk, out of my life a whole lot easier.

One thing I know for sure is I've never in all my years in a medical center heard of anyone that said they wished they had smoked just a little but longer.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by Eegore on 05/17/20 at 06:02:34

"There's your problem right there. You're bullsh!tting yourself. Either stop or don't, the choice is yours to make. Making a post about it is just more bullsh!tting."

Yeah don't ever ask for advice, that makes sense.

The quit or don't quit mentality of addiction is often confused with one's lack of commitment. Removing oneself from an addiction is a lot like the opposite activity of getting better at something very challenging like a marathon when you haven't run in years.

It makes no sense to say run a marathon or don't run a marathon unless one can already run that far. Asking for advice, getting tools, learning tricks is part of the process. The expectation that one be able to run 26.21 miles the morning after they decide to take the challenge is just as ridiculous as expecting someone to stop smoking the day after they learn they have cancer.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by Bokobob on 05/20/20 at 04:59:37

I quit on Christmas day, 1986.. My advice, pick a future date for when you will have your last ciggie. Maybe 45 days out....
On day 1, eliminate your first cigarette until one half hour after your first cup of coffee. Do this for two weeks. Now you are down to three cigs a day

On day 15, Do not smoke the last ciggie of the day. Do this for two weeks. Now you are down to two cigs a day.

On day 30, eliminate your cig of mid day, presumably after lunch. Do this for two weeks. now you are down to one cig a day...

On day 45, eliminate the last cig of each day and now you are down to no cigs a day and are a non-smoker.

You may want to chew some nicotine gum during this process.

You may agree that anyone can drink coffee and not have a cig along with it first thing in the morning...Your reward could be the piece of nicotine gum after your coffee.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by ohiomoto on 05/20/20 at 08:19:43

My wife quit cold turkey the day we found out she was pregnant with our first child and has never had the desire to smoke ever again. She finds it disgusting in every way now (as do I)...the smoke, the way it makes people smell, the brown tar build up on everything, the ash...really gross!!

Good luck!

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by norm92de on 05/20/20 at 14:32:26

I always found that the blowing smoke through a clean white handkerchief
was convincing enough for me. Yuck.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by Ed L. on 05/20/20 at 15:54:56

Man, four butts a day means you are right on the edge of getting the monkey off your back. Keep at it and ramp it down. As I said before It's not easy, at least it wasn't for me. You are not only stopping smoking you are changing your life style for the better.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by Hiko on 05/20/20 at 21:09:18

I gave it up decades ago and the big revelation for me was how addictive they are. It took me about a year to finally do it.
Some can just cold turkey but not me
I think the big thing is it is not a total failure if you weaken now and then and take a couple of puffs. just stick with it and it happens eventually
When it did the smell of cigarette smoke was awful to me and still is

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by Ruttly on 05/21/20 at 01:19:02

My morning coffee cig was replaced with a couple small pieces of chocolate to melt after a sip of coffee.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by Papa Bear on 05/21/20 at 05:44:14

"Can you not smoke for just one day?"

"Sure, anyone can not smoke for one day ! ...."

Like the sign at the bar "Free beer tomorrow !!"
so I showed up the next day only to see the tomorrow sign again ::)

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by Ruttly on 06/12/20 at 20:17:16

So how is quitting smoking going ? You been very quiet.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by philthymike on 06/14/20 at 10:17:25

It's not going. Since work announced that 20% staff reduction by October I am getting massive anxiety again and went back to smoking for the sake of my nerves. 2020 has been a downward spiral so far and looks to be continuing downward. They just handed the keys to my systems to an external contracting firm. The countdown has started.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by Armen on 06/14/20 at 10:58:31

darn. Sorry to hear it.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by philthymike on 06/14/20 at 12:31:07

Thanks. But on the bright side losing my income will be good motivation to quit smoking again since its such an expensive habit.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by hotrod on 06/20/20 at 08:25:14

All the people that I know who have quit smoking...just quit. No coach. No book. No class. No magic. It was like a switch went off in their brain. None of them miss it , or think about it. It doesn't tempt them when other people smoke around them. I have asked. None gained weight. Easy for me to say, as I have never smoked. Good luck.

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by mpescatori on 06/25/20 at 07:30:57

544C4D48504C5D494D4F41240 wrote:

Hello Mike, I drop in only every once in a while, so I only read pages 1 and 4 of this thread...

I used to be a pipe smoker but converted to cigars some 15:20 years ago.

I'd never smoke a cigarette as the paper and filter both do their share of ruining the natural flavor of tobacco...
...plus cigarette tobacco has additives which make sure the cig never goes out on its own, and those are the true poison!

Try a "Toscano" cigar, they are the type smoked by Clint Eastwood in his famous "horseman with no name" films by Sergio Leone.

http://https://kontainer16.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/clint_eastwood_4.jpg

They are italian and should come now rather cheap.

http://https://www.ilmessaggero.it/photos/MED/45/46/4014546_1544_sigaro.jpg

They are some 8" long and you clip them in two halves before lighting the fat end, smoke from the tapered end.

Their characteristic is they are "dry cigars" as opposed to the "humid cigars" they make in the Caribbean.
This means:
1. they are sharper, a bit like comparing espresso coffee to a white latte
2. you can put them out, scrape the ashes away, and relight them another time.

They also work wonderfully as "stay awake" tricks to avoid falling drowsy during long, boring drives, a LOT better than loud music or whatever.

I'm sure you can find some at a local tobacco specialist

http://https://www.gustotabacco.it/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/toscani%20confezione.jpg

8-)

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by Ruttly on 06/25/20 at 14:57:54

Try breaking up a Hersey bar sip the coffee a piece of chocolate, substitution & reward. Me because of many bouts of alcoholism I had to quit drinking to quit smoking. It’s still hard if I have 3 beers I want a cigarette. But the plus side to that are both are now completely under control. Mind over matter. No more smokes and never more than 3 drinks or beers. And yes now I can smell a flea fart , makes you want to hand out breath mints to everyone that opens their mouth ;D
It’s tough but it gets easier. Nicotine is a powerful drug but the mind can win this battle. Do whatever you gotta do to get thru it , spare yourself from a heart attack (they are no fun-if you survive)

Title: Re: Any Ex Smokers? Need quitting help
Post by philthymike on 06/25/20 at 19:53:22

3E2336203032273C213A530 wrote:

[quote author=544C4D48504C5D494D4F41240 link=1589038000/0#0 date=1589038000]Several weeks ago my basement flooded during an intense weather event. I spent much of the following week emptying the room and cleaning causing me to breathe alot of damp moldy air consequently contracting bronchitis. During my sickness I got nicotine gum to reduce my smoking because I was coughing so much.

Then I noticed that my senses of smell and taste returned after a couple weeks and that's encouraged me to finally just quit smoking for once and for all.

Currently I'm down to roughly 4 cigarettes per day plus the gum in between.
Problem spots now are morning coffee and after work beer. Can't chew the gum with either and it's habitual for me to smoke during these activities.
How do I break these rituals?
Any substitutes for either coffee or beer I can try?
What have other quitters tried?