Let's Quit Smoking

[norm932]

Hey Guys and Gals, I know this is not about woodworking, but hopefully it will help someone out. For several years I always said I was going to quit smoking. I tried the gum, patches, chantix, and other drugs all to fail. Well this year I sorta cheated a little. I saw an electronic cigarette a way to get nicotine without tobacco. Well like most other 30 year, 2 packs a day smokers, I had to laugh. My wife of 27 years is a nurse who'd father died of emphysema, so you know I should have had motivation to quit. I'd fight for a month or so but always go back to my nasty habit. Well my wife got me a electronic cigarette starter kit and, thought I would give it a try. I started on Nov 15, and immediately I was off tobacco, as of today I have been tobacco free for 45 days. Yes I still get a nicotine fix, I started out at 18mg and now down to 6mg. Today I made it till lunch time before using my electronic cigarette. This time I really believe I'm going to quit. It was unbelievable after a few days of no tobacco my sense of smell and taste was alot better. The only side effect was for a few days, I wanted to eat everything in site, but it was Thanksgiving, lol. After a few weeks I started cutting down on my nicotine mixture. Yes, I had to bounce up and down with this, right now 6mg - 8mg. Next week I'll drop it a little lower, and continue doing until down to 0. It is unreal how much better I feel. My wife loves it no more smoke smell on my breath, clothes, or in the house. Thanks everyone for letting me get on the soap box for awhile.

For anyone interested I get my stuff from totallywicked (link removed at owners request) After doing my research they are one of the most respected and one of the leaders of the industry. The Totallywicked promotion code is 590DE if you need to save a little money. I started with the Titian 510 and use their DIY liquid so I can control the nicotine. Also this one of the cheapest aids I have used in the past several years.

 

[Travis Porter]

I miss my cigarettes. I dream of them often.

I will dream that I am sneaking around smoking cigarettes and they are oh sooooo good...... I sneak and smoke here, there, and everywhere. They taste so good. That feeling you get when you take a deep drag......

BUT, I feel so guilty about it. Horribly guilty.

Then I wake up, and I still feel guilty, very guilty that I have been smoking and lying about it, and the fact that I have started back again. It takes a few minutes and then I realize it was a dream. A let down in a way, but it was a dream.

Friday will mark my 2nd year quitting. I used Chantix for 5 weeks. With it, I was able to go down from 3 packs a day to 3 cigarettes a day in 4 weeks. I had to quit taking it as it gave me a bad bout of insomnia and some VERY WEIRD dreams. To give an example (moderators cringe), I was out on a date with a gorrilla, we were sitting at a small round table in a bar. I was trying to talk to her to get to know her and she pretty much ignored me. All she was interested in doing was eating bananas. So I got frustrated and left.

Then, I woke up in sweats. That was the way all the Chantix induced dreams run. Very weird, then wake up sweating.

I still love the smell of cigarettes. I go stand beside smokers I don't know just to smell them. I get strange looks, but when I tell them I have quit, they understand. I wanted a cigarette so bad at one point I tried chewing/eating one. BLAGH. That was disgusting...

Ultimately, if I ever find out I have a terminal conditon I intend to start back.

Good luck with quitting. I sincerely hope you are successful. They are addictive far beyond anything I would ever imagine.

 

[Rob]

Interesting, I'll have to check it out. I've been wanting to quit, but like you I always go back.

 

[norm932]

Oh I forgot the 54mg liquid for $44 equals 7 cartons of Marboro Lights which is over $300 in the store. Even those not wanting to quit can at least save some money and still smoke in bars.

 

[Bas]

Congratulations Norm! Whatever works, be it Chantix, electronic cigarette, hypnosis, cold turkey, it's amazing to beat this thing. I smoked for almost 20 years, now smoke-free for two years, seven months, one week, five days and 15 hours. 19152 cigarettes not smoked, saving $3,524.27...all of it spent on tools! :tool:

I too had dreams I was smoking again, at least during the first year. Never felt guilty about it though, just a sense of relief that it wasn't real, that I hadn't fallen back into the trap. Never dated any gorillas though. That has got to be one of the funniest side effects I've ever read about :rolf:

If I am diagnosed with something terminal, I don't think I'll start smoking though. For me, the thing that got me to quit was the withdrawal while travelling. No smoking on the plane, no smoking in the airport. It made me anxious, and feel like a junkie, just looking for the next fix. It really sucked having to go outside for a smoke, then do the security checkpoint dance all over again. The final straw was having to go outside at night to smoke since the hotels were all smoke free. At 18 below zero (Vermont...), the urge to smoke is dramatically reduced. :tinysmile_tongue_t:

 

[Trent Mason]

Thank you so much for posting this. I've been smoking since I was 15. Whoa, that's half my life! :swoon: Anyway, I've watched other folks try and fail through taking pills that make you sick when you smoke. I think it would be a lot easier to get through the day without puking my guts out. :gar-La; Up until I read this post, my plan was for someone to drop me off on a deserted island, and I'd be so concerned about getting food that I'd forget all about smoking. :icon_scra

Thanks so much for posting this and the best of luck to you. :icon_thum :eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap

 

[norm932]

Trent, Thanks for the support. I know exactly what you are saying. The great thing about this method the liquid has less than 20 ingredients where tobacco cigarettes have several thousand No tar, carbon monoxide, ect. Little or no side effects for me. Not only do you use a safer product you save 50 to 85% from the cost of tobacco. A friend of mine is 3 weeks in and doing great also. You'll quit tobacco almost the same day you start. In less than a month the smell of tobacco smoke will gag you. This has been in Europe for over 3 years and just making it to the US. Check it out they have great videos on the product for anyone who wants to be informed. Save you some money should u buy from them and use the promotion code at checkout 590de (7.5% discount)

 

[Tar Heel]

At 11:50 PM on December 31, 1974, I smoked my last cigarette. I said I was going to see how far into the year 1975 I could go withou smoking. Here it is 35 years later and I haven't smoked one during that time. I went cold turkey. I had a pocket full of tooth picks and chewed many acres of trees to a pulp in those first few weeks. Good luck with whatever method you try. You can do it.

 

[walnutjerry]

Well Norm--------good on ya!!

I've been holding out on NCWW site. I quit back in April of 2009. I had smoked 48 years.

Did not post about it because I was not sure I would follow through with it. Quit cold turkey--------no pills, artificial smokes, patches or anything. My incentive was I hated paying the additional 1.00 per pack tax placed on them. I disliked that more than I enjoyed the smoking.

I have added about 25 pounds of weight (eat too much hard candy now), been pestered with reflux, and gotten in the habit of an afternoon nap everyday. I can not tell a great difference in taste of anything, Nor can I tell much difference in my breathing. I CAN SMELL a ciggarette in the distance, even outside---LOL.

At any rate, it has been 10 months without them. Now if I can just figure out where the money is that I used to spend on tobacco.

Good luck to ya---------I know it can be done.

Jerry

 

[TracyP]

1 year 8 months for me. This time around will be my last time quitting. This group helps greatly with moral support. Jerry, congratulations; great way to keep a secret.

 

[Mark Stewart]

Febuary 11th will be my 2 yr smoke free aniveresary. I could as others say somke one from hear to the cost. If it gets real bad I put my youngest daughter in the car and shell smoke one I m fine after that. Whew I can taste it now. But If I had one Id be back to 3pks a day and I caint afford tools now much less if I was spending all that money on smokes. THe key to quitting is i have determined all in the mind. You must be determined to quit. I started when I was 12 quit at 42 thats a lot of wasted money. Good luck and best wishes to all who quit this year I hope all never smoke again.

Thanks for sharing
Mark

 

[SteveColes]

First, congrats:eusa_clap:eusa_clap. I started smoking when i was 11 in 1956. by the time I was 13, I was smoking 2 packs a day. I tried to quit many times. I once quit for 9 months on a bet when I was 20 and then again for 6 weeks after I had an emergency 5 way bypass in 1994.

I reached a point where I decided not to try to quit:widea:. I liked smoking and if killed me, it would kill me.:swoon:

Aug of 07, I went out to the garage/shop for my first cigarettes and coffee of the day. As I was enjoying these few minutes, I realized that these would be the only parts of my day when I would really enjoy my cigarettes. The rest of the day would be spent finding places and times where I could smoke. The world had changed and I hadn 't and it wasn't so much that I resented the changes, just realized that the changes had created a daily situation where smoking was no longer a pleasure most of the time just a PITA.

I went to drug store and bought the three packs of the three strengths of patches.The next day I put on the first patch and went tp the garage and smoked about 5 cigarettes and drank 3 cups of coffee . 5 weeks later I hadn't had a cigarette and I had even forgotten to put on a patch

I guess it was just my time.

 

[SteveCogs]

May 17, 2010 will be 2 years smoke free for me. Like others, I really liked smoking and still really like the smell.

 

[Jim M.]

11 years ago Zyban and nicorette gum helped me kick a 22 year -3 pack a day menthol cigarette habit. Doc said I was at 70% lung capacity and had a pre-emphysema condition. Wow... how freaked out I was! 37yrs old was heading for serious health issues. I feel soooo much better today and can't stand the smell of others smoke, how ironic. That's not to say I don't miss it, because I do, however I remind myself how bad I had gotten and how good I feel today.

But let's be real... If I'm on a plane and the pilot anounces we're going down... I'm screaming who has a menthol and a lighter!!! Jim :help:

 

[McRabbet]

I quit in the mid-Spring of 1973 from 2 packs of Marlboros/day to nothing after trying to light one up after a bad bronchial cold -- my body told me it was a dumb thing to smoke and I quit after 15 years of it. I've never really missed it although the first six weeks were difficult.

Kudos to all who get it done!

 

[Ozzie-x]

Next month January 25 at 4:05 PM I will have been quit for 3 years. I had smoked for 30+ years and was at ~2 packs/day. I don't believe I would have been able to quit except I was diagnosed with lung cancer. I got on chantix and was able to quit a lot easier than I thought. Absolute fear is a great motivator.The doc said I had to be quit smoking for 10-14 days before he would operate. After 2 more operations, chemo, radiation and a cyberknife treatment, I'm hopefully cancer free now. Recent scans looked good. Like Travis, I still dream about smoking and wake up feeling guilty. No gorillas though.

 

[cpowell]

I miss my cigarettes. I dream of them often.

I will dream that I am sneaking around smoking cigarettes and they are oh sooooo good...... I sneak and smoke here, there, and everywhere. They taste so good. That feeling you get when you take a deep drag......

BUT, I feel so guilty about it. Horribly guilty.

Then I wake up, and I still feel guilty, very guilty that I have been smoking and lying about it, and the fact that I have started back again. It takes a few minutes and then I realize it was a dream. A let down in a way, but it was a dream.

Friday will mark my 2nd year quitting. I used Chantix for 5 weeks. With it, I was able to go down from 3 packs a day to 3 cigarettes a day in 4 weeks. I had to quit taking it as it gave me a bad bout of insomnia and some VERY WEIRD dreams. To give an example (moderators cringe), I was out on a date with a gorrilla, we were sitting at a small round table in a bar. I was trying to talk to her to get to know her and she pretty much ignored me. All she was interested in doing was eating bananas. So I got frustrated and left.

Then, I woke up in sweats. That was the way all the Chantix induced dreams run. Very weird, then wake up sweating.

I still love the smell of cigarettes. I go stand beside smokers I don't know just to smell them. I get strange looks, but when I tell them I have quit, they understand. I wanted a cigarette so bad at one point I tried chewing/eating one. BLAGH. That was disgusting...

Ultimately, if I ever find out I have a terminal conditon I intend to start back.

Good luck with quitting. I sincerely hope you are successful. They are addictive far beyond anything I would ever imagine.

The "Gorilla my Dreams"??? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorilla_My_Dreams

I still occasionally dream I am smoking. I could fire up a La Gloria Cubana right now (the cuban version). Heck I can close my eyes and smell it.

Haven't smoked for a long time now. Man I feel so much better. I can hike to the top of Grandfather mountain, or McRae's peak and barely get winded.

Good luck quitting. Hang in there.


Chuck

 

[Sealeveler]

Thanks for the info and more power to you.Hang in there.I got it bad,3 packs a day with a pipe thrown in for good measure.Tony

 

[Dragon]

Congrats to all of you have been able to quit. Now, some warnings.
1. The side effects of Chantix are not to be ignored. One of the women I work with ended up in the hospital for three days because of it.
2. Those "electronic" or "vapor" cigarettes. The chemical mixture contains propylene glycol; the same stuff in your car's anti freeze.
3. The new regular cigarettes on the market, those "fire standards compliant" things contain ethyl vinyl acetate and napthalene; carpet glue and mothballs. :evil:

Do some internet research on your own and see for yourself. I too am working on quitting and so far, am making some progress. My problem is that I enjoy my tobacco. Natural, non-adulterated tobacco, the stuff with no chemical additives, (Marlboro has over 400 added chemicals), is far better for you if you're like me and don't want to go cold turkey or resort to drugs and chemistry to entice you to quit. I've started rolling my own after reading all the stuff about the "FSC" cigarettes.

I've found my cigarettes taste much better, I cough a heck of a lot less, no headaches or other vile symptoms, and remarkably.....I'm actually smoking about half what I did before.:icon_thum Now, I'm not advocating that you keep smoking or return to smoking. I'm just listing what I've discovered by researching:XXcompute and trying something different.:eusa_thin I've been smoking for nearly 40 years and I do intend to quit. I just prefer to do it on "my" terms and not because the crap they're putting in commercial tobacco these days is like inhaling a chemical dump. YMMV:dontknow:

 

[Ray Martin]

July 14, 1976... some time in the evening. That was the last one. Cold turkey from almost 4 packs per day.

I don't say that to brag. I just wanted to say this to anyone still struggling with tobacco, that it really can be done... being nicotine free, that is.