How did you quit smoking?

W

waterlily

Cathlete
I have a friend who really needs to kick the habit. She has tried patches and cold turkey, none of which worked. What method worked for you? All this lung cancer news(Dana Reeves and Peter Jennings)has got her concerned.
 
I took Zyban and it seriously worked like a charm. I've been smoke free for one year & 6 days and I don't crave them at all. My husband quit cold turkey, but there's just no way I could have done that.
 
Patches together with pills (Zyban kicked up to Wellbutrin) I tried both seperately and neither worked. Smoke free 3 years now.

1. Wellbutrin for two weeks -- cuttin down as much as you can. After a few days on the pill, when you want to smoke, wait 5 mins.

2. Pick a quit date. Smoke all day on that day. At bedtime apply the 14mg patch. I say bedtime because you will have enough nicotine in your system to not crave that 1st morning cigarette the next day. (It seemed like to me if I could do away with that one, I'd be ok).

I forgot I smoked the next day til about 12:00 noon. I was soooo happy. I haven't had a cigarette since the night I applied the patch.

3. Drink lots of water.
4. Stay busy.
5. Know that after 72 hours with out a cigarette the addiction is no longer physical.
6. Keep taking the pill until your fear of stopping smoking has subsided.

Sassy
 
I used the patch. Even though the patch eliminated the actual craving for the nicoteen, your mind still thinks about cigarettes constantly. You still have to WANT to quit for it to work and you have to find something to keep you busy. However, it is amazing how well the patch works when you want it to work. Good luck to your friend. Smoke free 5 1/2 years now.

Tracy
 
A friend of mine went to the "Body Worlds" exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. She saw some real human lungs that came from a smoker. This person didn't even have lung cancer...just all the tar from the cigarettes. That made her quit right then and there. She couldn't wait to take her cigarettes out of her purse.
She said, "Yeah, you stink from cigarettes, but you can cover that up with perfume. Your teeth get yellow, but you can whiten them." She never thought about what she looked like on the inside.

Here's the link to the exhibit at the museum and below that is the actual picture of the smoker's lungs.

http://www.msichicago.org/bodyworlds/

http://www.msichicago.org/bodyworlds/imgs_gallery/lung.jpg
 
I used to smoke 1 1/2 packs a day as a teen. Then my gramma died of chronic emphasema(sp?). I quit cold turkey then. A little over a year ago I started up again. This time, on the first sunday of june 2005, I rededicated myself to losing 80 #'s. I quit cold turkey again and the only time I think of having one is when I pass the chair in the back yard that I used to sit and smoke in. I did notice that I would have a wheezing sound when I first started back to exercising, but now it is gone. I think it was because of the smoking.:)
 
Patches - last day I smoked was August 31, 1992. It was EASY, and I'm a very addictive personality, so if I can do it anyone can. One key was to not start out with a patch that is too strong. I have not had one cigarette since then and since that time I have NOT smoked 142,350 cigarettes (averaged 1-1/2 packs a day)! Yikes! So I've been smoke-free for almost as long as I smoked, which was 15 years.
Just Do It! :)
 
Thanks for your recommendations guys!! Dani, I will definately hook her up to that website. As for the snnflower seeds cure, I have never heard of it. How does that work?
 
Honestly, I collapsed a lung when I was 21 and was hospitalized in critical condition for three days. I have not smoked since that time.... that's 16 years for me.

I would suggest a less painful approach!

Marie
 
I wanted to thank everyone for sharing your stories. My best friend is trying to kick the habit and I just e-mailed this topic to her so she can see what worked for all of you. Wish her luck!!!
 
I've quit twice...the first time was in '95 and I quit cold turkey. For some reason, it wasn't as hard as I'd expected because I really wanted to. However, I wasn't exercising or watching what I was eating and I gained about 30 pounds! I foolishly started smoking again sometime in '98...I had already started losing weight and when I started back up again it really started dropping off...so I kept smoking. However, when I started working out again (around 2001) I felt like I really needed to quit again...and I finally did last March, for good this time!! I won't go back...no desire. I used Nicotrol inhalers (prescription) and that really did help a lot, satisfied my need to inhale something, lol! Also, I really had the desire to quit again. I smoked about a half-pack a day for the last year that I smoked, and only half of a cigarette at a time, and only outside...I sort of weaned myself down until quit day and then just did it...using the inhaler for about 4 or 5 months. This time I did gain about 10 pounds (and am still working to get that off), but I feel SO much better...hope your friend is able to do it...it's really one of the best things a person can do for themselves! :)
 
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