quitting smoking. how did you do manage to stay smoke free?

[lv2dive]

Such a great perspective in the post below!

I quit smoking after two plus decades by *replacing* smoking with drinking a bottle of water. I also used nicotine lozenges, but I believe I would not have been successful if I wasn't drinking 8 ounces of water every time I wanted a smoke. It replaced the hand to mouth motion I was used to, with something healthy.

I am also one if the few people I know who lost weight while quitting smoking. .

I would also suggest staying away from alcohol for some period of time if it is going to create challenges for you. Why put yourself in temptation's way?

It CAN be done. Its been three years since i quit, and i am so thankful i did. Good luck.

I've never been addicted to smoking but it seems to me that every addiction has pretty much the same cycle and the same solution once the physical dependency has been tackled.

Namely, turning this

View attachment 172320

into this:

View attachment 172321

The trick, and it can be really REALLY hard, is that no matter HOW hard it gets, you have to supplant whatever "healthy habit" you decided upon in the place of "ritual".

That means doing two things very consciously.

1) figuring out what the ritual is
2) deciding well ahead of time what "healthy behaviour" you will supplant in the place of "ritual" when you feel a craving.

It's impossible to stop the trigger. In your case, every time you drink a beer for the rest of your life, you will have that trigger (using your own example). You can avoid some triggers (ie never drink beer) but you must be aware that when you drink beer, that's a trigger. It's good to make a list of your triggers to you can be mentally prepared for it BEFORE it happens.

It's impossible to stop the craving. Addiction changes your brain. Some things get hard-wired. The cravings will become less intense over time (attenuation effect) but they will never completely go away. As the cravings become less intense, it's easier to not move to ritual but in order to make the cravings less intense you have to bite the bullet. Your doctor might have some ideas (medication, acupuncture, acupressure, yada yada yada) that will help you control the cravings just enough to not slip into ritual but it's going to be a fight and there's no getting around that.

The most unnatural thing in the beginning is to NOT go into ritual and to supplant whatever healthy thing you decided on in the place of it. For example, with smoking, the ritual might be to grab your pack of smokes and head outside to the garden. Just the act of doing that is part of the ritual and just heading to the garden (or wherever you usually smoke) will already trigger your brain to start giving you the "good feeling" that you get from using... then after that it's just like a water slide. you're in it and you're going all the way down.

So the key is to NOT grab your smokes and head to the garden. You must decide on another habit so you can "survive" the craving until you can control it enough to move on.

For example, you might install a dart board (just a wild idea here to illustrate the idea) in your house and when you feel the trigger and the craving, instead of grabbing your smokes and going to the garden, you go to the kitchen, get a glass of water, and throw darts for 10 minutes.

Two things happen then. (a) you're creating a new ritual that takes place of the old one, and (b) you're not feeding your craving. So the craving will be just that LITTLE bit less intense the next time. You might become very good at darts (which will, in itself give you a good feeling) before you don't need it anymore to survive the craving, but eventually you'll reach a point where you can basically ignore it and move on.

I know that sounds mechanical, but in fact, that is the entire mechanism from healing from an addiction (any addiction) in a nutshell.

Hope that helps.

R..

 

[agilis]

I began smoking on my 16th birthday. Unusual occasion, but I continued smoking until I was almost 50. I tried quitting numerous times, never made it for more than a week or two.

As Dr. Bill suggests, a great commitment in the face of the misery to come, full awareness of what is in store, and the ability to be tough on yourself and to stay tough are absolutely necessary.

It takes a long time to shake it. I craved cigarettes, especially at certain times of the day and in certain situations, more than a year after I quit. The first months were very difficult. It's not easy to break the habit, but those things are sirens singing a seductive song just behind the fatal reefs.

Now, all these years down the road, the smell of them turns my stomach. For the first couple of years after quitting I enjoyed the scent of someone's cigarette. Not any more. Your sense of smell slowly comes back, one of the reasons ex-smokers sometimes put on weight.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Nicotine is also an appetite suppressant.
Another reason some people put on weight after quiting smoking is because food replaces the nicotine addiction.

I began smoking on my 16th birthday. Unusual occasion, but I continued smoking until I was almost 50. I tried quitting numerous times, never made it for more than a week or two.

As Dr. Bill suggests, a great commitment in the face of the misery to come, full awareness of what is in store, and the ability to be tough on yourself and to stay tough are absolutely necessary.

It takes a long time to shake it. I craved cigarettes, especially at certain times of the day and in certain situations, more than a year after I quit. The first months were very difficult. It's not easy to break the habit, but those things are sirens singing a seductive song just behind the fatal reefs.

Now, all these years down the road, the smell of them turns my stomach. For the first couple of years after quitting I enjoyed the scent of someone's cigarette. Not any more. Your sense of smell slowly comes back, one of the reasons ex-smokers sometimes put on weight.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I started at age 12 or 13 & then became a regular smoker with my parents permission at 15. Quit twice in my 20's and 30's but picked it back up. First time was due to drinking, second was all four of my grandparents dying in 13 months. Been smoke.free now for going on 14 years. It is a filthy, disgusting habit that kills people. It makes your whole being stink. It nauseates the people around you and harms your kids and pets. That is what I told myself whenever a craving would hit. Now I don't ever think of having one and don't even want to.be next to someone who has had one.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[christoph1]

wow people!
i'm impressed with the amount of people who told theire story and ideas in just hours time.
it's helping for sure! will keep you updated how this quittig thing is going but already seeing only the prositive side of it.
sure there will be some more dificult moments, but so be it
"
""
><((((#>

 

[James R]

I smoked a long time ago, a pack a day, every day. I just got to where I was sick of it running my life.
-Can I eat fast enough to go out to smoke before everyone is ready to leave?
-Do I have enough for the day? If not, do I have time to stop and not be late for work?
-Do I have my lighter or matches?
-Where is the smoking area?

I don't think you will quit until you are really ready. When the rewards are no longer worth it. What does it cost you besides money and health? Relationships? Time? Guilt?

 

[Doubler]

Let's see I did hypnotism twice, it would last about a year and then stress would lead back to smoking. Tried cold turkey not a pretty picture. I tried acupuncture to no avail, used patches and gum--nada. Using nicotine to cure a nicotine addiction just did not work for me. Switched from cigarettes to mini cigars because I convinced myself they were healthier. They are not. I got to the point where I was running out of breath walking the dog. I wound up in they emergency room twice because I could not breath and it dawned on me that smoking was killing me and it was quit or die. So I told the Doc to write me a script for Chantix. First week I could smoke, second week no desire to smoke took it for six more weeks. Been smoke free for three years. My understanding is that Chantix removes the nicotine receptors in the brain. I've been around others smoking, I have had a adult beverage with others smoking and no issues. Some people like my sister in law and brother in law had major mood swings and bad dreams while on this treatment and quit the pills. Both of them drank a lot. I convinced my brother in law to quit the beer for six months and try again, he did and he had no issues. Sister in law not so much. Chantix was expensive but worked great.

 

[RhodeDiver]

I used Chantix to quit and will power to keep from smoking again.

 

[tc]

I used the nicotine parch when I quit over 6 years ago- that got me through the first few months and broke the habit of needing the cigarette in my hand and the reflex of reaching for one. The patch comes in several dosages and if you taper off to the leghter dose towards the end it makes the removal of the nicotine easier to tolerate.

 

[AfterDark]

Chantix, makes the smoke taste awful and takes the pleasure out of smoking.I don't even know how long it's been. I miss the idea of smoking but when I smell it no go.