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hearlady said:
Good for you for caring about your health!
I quit smoking in 1987, after many tries, with nicotine gum and a support group combined. I could not quit on the gum alone. The support group sponsored by the military was the key.

The only thing keeping you from quitting is the first cigarette you smoke. So don't smoke that one! 🙂

I might suggest that instead of trying to lose weight at the same time, you calculate your maintenance calories and stick to that for a while until you've firmly quit smoking. It may be too much at once.
Good Luck! It's hard but it's so worth it!
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I am soooo not a group joiner type. Not in person, anyway.

One cigarette away from a pack a day.

Yes on the weight thing. I just don't want to gain any! That is like picking up that first cigarette.

Did you ever get over the cravings???
 

GoodEnuff said:
I am soooo not a group joiner type. Not in person, anyway.

One cigarette away from a pack a day.

Yes on the weight thing. I just don't want to gain any! That is like picking up that first cigarette.

Did you ever get over the cravings???
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Yes. For the first months I counted the days, then I counted the months. For years I counted the years. Then I forgot about it until someone brings it up.
The cravings are terrible! I never understood the people that only smoke when they drink or have a cigarette once in a while. I was totally addicted to nicotine. Period. Not the ritual, not anything else but the craving to nicotine. So that's why the gum helped. It gave me nicotine. But you cannot, cannot, cannot, smoke while you are using the gum!!!! It deletes the point of it.
I had a horrible time. I was constipated for a long time. I know that may be TMI but it is the fact that the withdrawal is rough. Your body goes through a lot. You can't function.
But, it gets better. Then you have days of not smoking. Weeks. Months. You feel better, so much better.
You gain weight so you have to address that but that's because food tastes so good and your body is craving health!
You can do this!! It's worth it, so worth it!
 
GoodEnuff said:
Maybe if I committed some crime, they would lock me up for a few weeks? Steal a candy bar from the market? Would that do it? Three candy bars? Could they just put me in a chemical coma for a month or so? One that would make me forget that I was ever a smoker? Electro shock therapy (I have seen this done, it's awful so not a joking matter but maybe a fitting punishment for what I have been doing to my body for 57 years)?
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Nope, don't bother. They don't lock us up nowadays. You not only have to kill somebody, you have to eat them too. Then they might bother to pick up you up and put you away.

Don't suck on an empty straw! At least stuff it with peppermint leaves, or chocolate, or something.
 

gruntlabor said:
Nope, don't bother. They don't lock us up nowadays. You not only have to kill somebody, you have to eat them too. Then they might bother to pick up you up and put you away.

Don't suck on an empty straw! At least stuff it with peppermint leaves, or chocolate, or something.
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It isn't exactly empty; I stuffed a cigarette filter in it. But I may try something else later today.
 
Have you ever tried to vape? You can decrease the nicotine down to zero. I started at 12% 2 years ago. Now I vape 3%. Many people have quit smoking this way. Then when your ready you quit smoking. I have always thought that the Tabaco industry had other additive chemicals added to the cigarette. With vaping you don't get the additive extras and it is easier to quit just nicotine. IMO
 
Paco Dennis said:
Have you ever tried to vape? You can decrease the nicotine down to zero. I started at 12% 2 years ago. Now I vape 3%. Many people have quit smoking this way. Then when your ready you quit smoking. I have always thought that the Tabaco industry had other additive chemicals added to the cigarette. With vaping you don't get the additive extras and it is easier to quit just nicotine. IMO
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I agree! There is more than just nicotine in those things, I am convinced!

Haven't tried vaping. Gonna try this the hard way first. There are several vape shops not too far away, though.

Just for fun, I looked it up. The US govt does NOT want people to quit smoking because in 2022, they collected $11 billion in tobacco excise taxes, more than the $10.3 billion they collected on alcohol. Seems to me more people drink than smoke so the taxes on tobacco are much higher than alcohol. This does not include the state taxes, which you can add on to that.

I have the store brand nico patches and a box of Nico-Derm CQ, which costs about twice as much for the exact same thing. Checked the fine print; they are both made by GSK: GlaxoSmithKline. If you look it up, over the past five years or so they have spun off divisions that make OTC products (including the nico patches) a couple of times and other major drug companies were also involved.
 
Oh man, I want so badly to give you some good advice. I don't have any. I started smoking when I was 15 and managed to quit three years ago at age 70. My latest handyman asked how I did it. (He was puffing away on a cigarette and we were discussing that at the time.) I honestly don't know. I think a whole bunch of things came together, creating a "perfect storm"..... and my desire for an independent life spilled over to not being dependent on cigarettes either.

I got darn good and mad. And when I had a craving I got mad again. This final time I did not use patches or gum or anything else. I just took deep breaths and bulldozed through it. I didn't want to prolong the agony.

I have gained 15 lbs in three years, but according to my doctor the weight won't hurt me as bad as the cigarettes. I seldom think about them now, but when I do the urge can still be strong and I still take deep breaths.

I hope my story helps you in some way. Good luck.
 
With vapping you jump from the pan into the fire.
GoodEnuff - you can do it!!!
Doc told me to quit smoking or start looking for a very small piece of real estate when I was coughing blood. I smoked at least three cigarettes in my life. SO was a chain smoker, veryone at the office smoked, everywhere you went there were clouds. SO went cold turkey. Patches were not accessible which is a long story. He did gain some weight. I packed nibbles with his lunch and low cal nibbles were everywhere. One evening he came home soaking wet from rain and told me totally fascinated that earth smells. He smoked since elementary and has not had one since.
 
GoodEnuff said:
.....The medical community does absolutely nothing to help. Chantix turned me into a monster. .......
...So, today is Day 1 of another quit attempt. Five hours since my last cigarette, nico patch in place. The food scale etc is out on the counter. I do have two more pounds to lose from the last couple of weeks of eating the wrong things. Then back to normal-for-me meals, just to maintain....
....And I'm not sure I have the strength to go through this much suffering at this time in my life...
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How old are you? You are in a lonely position between the rock and the hard place. You are fighting the fear/consequences of diabetes and the anxiety related to nicotine addiction, plus food addiction due to trying to quit smoking; which makes a vicious circle.

What IF the doctors were to tell you you have to be on oxygen to breathe and if you smoke while you are on oxygen, you will blow yourself up? Would you eat instead and get diabetes?
 
I smoked some as a Teen, quit at 19. All my life, the smell of a Marlboro made my mouth water.
I didn't miss smoking, just had to avoid the Marlboro smokers a break time. I probably saved by quitting.
I guess my thoughts are Hard Alcohols / White Lightning / Tobaccos are a dirty business.
But so is Fixing / Changing Flat Tires. I know, I know, cleaning the Vacuum Cleaner fixes all the problems.
 
Am with you, understand totally and want to help.
I am the type that MUST do cold turkey, no other drugs such as addictive ones. Period.
As far as food: you need crunchy foods and things to keep you busy and your hands busy.
I have some ideas that help me. And a drug regime that also helps and doesn't turn one into a monster or an addict.
 
My habit was alcohol....vodka. I was drunk every night for about 25 years. When I tried to quit (about 1/2 a dozen times) I counted how many days I was sober and as the number increased my anxiety level increased too.....as did my craving to get loaded. I went back to the bottle before 3 weeks of sobriety, every time.
When I did successfully give up the habit I refused to count how many days, instead I just told myself, over and over again, every day, "Today I'm not getting loaded". I quit one day at a time: "Today I'm not getting loaded".
I quit alone just like I drank alone. Do it all over again and I'd have asked for help and found someone I could tell my troubles to.....like maybe insisting that I'd been sober for a month, it was driving me crazy and I'd kill for a vodka.
But I did it alone. And thirteen (13) years of complete teetoling abstaining from even one drink passed.
That was 11 years ago and 24 years since I last got drunk. Now? I can drink responsibly. I follow inflexible rules without any exception: Never have even one drink alone. In company, stop at 2 drinks. And since I'm seldom in company the 2 drinks thing is easy.......I haven't been at an event where drinking occurred for 5 years now.

@GoodEnuff.......Kick the habit every time you feel the craving, you're saving your own life.
 
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DebraMae said:
Oh man, I want so badly to give you some good advice. I don't have any. I started smoking when I was 15 and managed to quit three years ago at age 70. My latest handyman asked how I did it. (He was puffing away on a cigarette and we were discussing that at the time.) I honestly don't know. I think a whole bunch of things came together, creating a "perfect storm"..... and my desire for an independent life spilled over to not being dependent on cigarettes either.

I got darn good and mad. And when I had a craving I got mad again. This final time I did not use patches or gum or anything else. I just took deep breaths and bulldozed through it. I didn't want to prolong the agony.

I have gained 15 lbs in three years, but according to my doctor the weight won't hurt me as bad as the cigarettes. I seldom think about them now, but when I do the urge can still be strong and I still take deep breaths.

I hope my story helps you in some way. Good luck.
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What BebraMae said ^^

You have to want to quit more than you want to smoke! It really does come down to your determination to be free of nicotine slavery. Sure it will improve your health and your wallet but the big prize is not having to go out and have that smoke every hour or so. It runs your life and you won't even realize that until you've been quit for some time.

Quit aids are fine for some, takes away some of the hard core early withdrawal symptoms but no drug or quit aid (including Vape) is gonna do the heavy lifting for you.

As motivation, watch the YouTube series 'Tobacco Wars'. There's 3 episodes, about 1 hour long each. It's the story of how Big Tobacco has been duping us all for decades and formulating their smokes to become as addictive as possible, especially after it became clear they were dangerous to our health.

I hope you find your way to freedom this time! It is possible for anyone. You have what it takes but it will take all you have.
I'll be 8 years free Jan. 29th and not only don't I have any urge to smoke but I can't understand for the life of me why I continued to smoke for 5 decades 🤷‍♂️
 
DebraMae said:
Oh man, I want so badly to give you some good advice. I don't have any. I started smoking when I was 15 and managed to quit three years ago at age 70. My latest handyman asked how I did it. (He was puffing away on a cigarette and we were discussing that at the time.) I honestly don't know. I think a whole bunch of things came together, creating a "perfect storm"..... and my desire for an independent life spilled over to not being dependent on cigarettes either.

I got darn good and mad. And when I had a craving I got mad again. This final time I did not use patches or gum or anything else. I just took deep breaths and bulldozed through it. I didn't want to prolong the agony.

I have gained 15 lbs in three years, but according to my doctor the weight won't hurt me as bad as the cigarettes. I seldom think about them now, but when I do the urge can still be strong and I still take deep breaths.

I hope my story helps you in some way. Good luck.
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Thank you for this! It does help. One of the main reasons I want to quit is because I am tired of my life being planned around those damn cigarettes. Everywhere you go, you plan having that last cigarette before going into a store, a restaurant, somebody's house. Took a plane trip that was an all day affair and had to suffer through that. The list is long but you know what I mean.

Best wishes and long life!
 
GoodEnuff said:
I will give it my best. Yes, I am tired of cigarettes dictating my life.

Just today. I just have to get through today. I can do that.
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An older friend of mine did it. His I igual choice was cig or Insulin for his cat. He went cold in his late 60s and started counting the money he was saving. He has cold and is on oxygen but fairly well for his age.
 
Twostep said:
With vapping you jump from the pan into the fire.
GoodEnuff - you can do it!!!
Doc told me to quit smoking or start looking for a very small piece of real estate when I was coughing blood. I smoked at least three cigarettes in my life. SO was a chain smoker, veryone at the office smoked, everywhere you went there were clouds. SO went cold turkey. Patches were not accessible which is a long story. He did gain some weight. I packed nibbles with his lunch and low cal nibbles were everywhere. One evening he came home soaking wet from rain and told me totally fascinated that earth smells. He smoked since elementary and has not had one since.
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Same here. Started smoking at age eleven. Was a chain smoker, five-pack days were not unusual. I quit at about age 60.
 
GoodEnuff said:
And even after two years, I still had the cravings.
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Maybe this website will help you?

Why Quit?

In 2006 I went to see my Doctor and she listened to my lungs and said she could hear "The beginning crackles of emphysema." I went home and looked up "How to quit smoking Cold Turkey" and that page popped up. From it I learned three this that were very helpful to me.

1. When you get a craving for a smoke, think of something else and in three minutes the craving will pass.
2. Don't try to quit for a day like a lot of people do, quit for three minutes.
3. After three days without smoking, all nicotine will be out of your body and you will no longer be addicted to smoking. Now the only reason you think that you smoke is because you believe that you do. You have to train yourself mentally to believe that you are not a smoker anymore. It don't take long to learn to think of something else when you get the urge for a smoke.

So I gathered up all the cigarettes, ash trays, etc. that were in my house and threw them away. Then, since that was February, I saved all the money I spent on Cigarettes until Christmas and took my family on a butt kickin' vacation. Kind of like pay back for all the years they had to inhale my smoke.

Here's a shot from the hotel balcony, in Crescent City, California, Christmas 2006

2660430050053964499iregy-K-fs.jpg
 
I depend on Chantix to quit. I wish I didn't love smoking so much. Loving something that's trying to kill me is just stupid. I'm stupid. Anyway, not smoking now, but it's always on my mind during the day. Go for months, even years without smoking, but I always seem to falter.....
 
Pepper said:
I depend on Chantix to quit.
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Not to be a wise guy or anything, but what will you take to quit Chantix? The only safe way to quit is just stop. A key factor in your success will be whether you want to quit or not. If you do want to, and you go by those three simple things I learned from Joel at whyquit.com, you can do it. Without any drugs, and no trading one addiction for another that's possibly even more dangerous to your health.

Read Joel's Library when you get the urge for a smoke...
 
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