how did you quit smoking - need advice

[JAbq]

If I could give advice from one ex-smoker that never thought he could quit ever in his life it would be this: Any method that 'cuts down' or 'weens you off' just leaves the root cause in your system, and it'll drive you nuts until you stop completely and let time do the healing.

Think of smoking as a timer. Start with a fresh smoke which elevates the nicotine in your blood quickly - you feel elated, happy. As soon as you put it out, the timer of craves start. The more time elapsed, the less nicotine in your blood, the more irritated you become if you don't add nicotine back in. Now imagine you only get half the nicotine you need to remove the feeling of irritability - you'll be cheating/slipping/smoking in no time!

[ebm1224]

so, jabq, how did you quit? the biggest issue for him seems to be that he can't function during that initial withdrawl. last time he quit cold turkey he was throwing up and stuff...and he can't just call in sick from work until the nic fits stop. how did you deal?

[eupleridae]

I don't have direct experience, but I can tell you what my mom did. She swears that the most important thing for her was that she changed jobs, and she says that helped interrupt the habit. Instead of seeing the people she used to smoke with, and the places she used to smoke at, she was able to construct new habits without getting as much interference from her old ones. So if there's any way your boyfriend can switch up his habits to avoid reminders of smoking, that might help ease the transition.

There's an article here along those lines. It says that anything you can do to interrupt a bad habit - even using your other hand when eating ice cream or, I suppose, smoking - gives you more of an opportunity to break it for good.

Best of luck!

[HeathBar]

I've quit smoking twice... The first time I quit using Chantix, it's expensive but it really works. You let it build up in your system while you still smoke. It'll slowly make you feel like you don't need to smoke then one day you just quit, my hubby has also used it and he's hasn't smoked in 3 months now.

I was smoke free for about a year when I had a little relapse and started again, I quit again by switching from smoking to using camel snus. It's basically a spit free dip kinda thing, it's pretty gross and I'm ashamed to say I used it, not very lady like but it's better then smoking. From the snus I switched to nicotine gum, from gum I switched to lozenges then quit all together. This is all over the course of two years. Unfortunately I still use the lozenges off and on, when my hubby smokes it makes me want to smoke too, but I pick up lozenges instead of a cig

If I could do it again I'd use the Chantix a second time. Using nicotine replacements will just get you addicted to them instead of cigs.

[JAbq]

so, jabq, how did you quit? the biggest issue for him seems to be that he can't function during that initial withdrawl. last time he quit cold turkey he was throwing up and stuff...and he can't just call in sick from work until the nic fits stop. how did you deal?

I used whyquit.org information. I read that for a month, and I joined their message board and talked with others.

Ebm, it's EXACTLY like a drug addiction. He's a junkie, just like a heroine addict. It's extremely addictive, however, I am not aware of any physical reason why one would get sick like that except that his head wasn't in it. It was probably an effort, but perhaps not an honest one. No, I don't mean he's a bad guy, but rather he wasn't REALLY ready. That's why the whyquit.org site was helpful because I used the information to psych myself up for it and it also helps you understand the changes your going to go through.

One thing the whyquit site helped me understand is that the will power thing is a misspoken statement. Will power means you will have to force yourself to do something you don't want to. 9 times out of 10, won't work. Instead, you have to WANT to quit - think of only the positives of why your quitting, and if you think about smoking only associate it with negatives. Easy enough, right?

Just set the stage: Don't do anything you HAVE to smoke doing - I stayed away from alcohol, working on vehicles, going near any smokers (they never help), smoking areas off limits. Stay in safe places away from your habit until you can get it under control. Do not go to areas or do activities that will trigger the smoking reflex. One day, you can return to those places and things (unless it was smoking itself), but not until later - when your ready to do it as an ex-smoker.

After that, the whyquit site helped understand what to do with cravings: Breath deep and you can even keep track of how long they are and how often they happen. As time passes, even after only a day, he will notice the duration of the cravings start to speed up and they start to occur less often. The breathing deep trick is a good one - I learned from whyquit and actually doing it that most of the calm feeling i got from that first drag was because I was breathing deeply. Still works, if not better, without the smoke.

I learned how to eat sunflower seeds by the handful and hands free with a spit cup. Kind of nasty, but it's handy later when driving and you want that smoke.

Within a week, he will start to taste food like no other, start sleeping a little better, and start to function better without smoking. Within a month, he will even start to forget about smoking some. I think at 2 months I noticed I didn't think of smoking AT ALL.

Once you quit, you can never cheat and just have one. A smoker that quits is not a non-smoker, he's an ex-smoker. One bit of nicotine period starts the whole quitting withdrawal cycle all over again. After you figure how hard you worked to get this far (after a day or two) that statement really helps so that you didn't do all the work in vein.

Another thing whyquit has a lot of was statistics on nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) like patches/gum/etc and also medicines. Cold turkey beats them both in success - probably because you have to work for it. He'll be proud once he's a success, just like you are proud to be making good changes in your life in the fitness realm. Usually NRT and the medications have higher relapse percentages too.

[Waldo]

however, I am not aware of any physical reason why one would get sick like that except that his head wasn't in it. It was probably an effort, but perhaps not an honest one. No, I don't mean he's a bad guy, but rather he wasn't REALLY ready.

Within a week, he will start to taste food like no other, start sleeping a little better, and start to function better without smoking.

I got nasty headaches and occasional nausea for the first week. The shakes. Anger/grumpyness. The physical withdrawl was worst days 3-7 for me. Possibly because I was used to going a couple days at a time without smoking.

My last withdrawl symptom was sleeplessness. I took a solid 3 months to go away. I was always a person that could hit the pillow and be asleep in seconds. Not so for the few few months after quitting. I could lay in bed for hours. Now it is back to where it used to be, I'm asleep almost instantly.

The other thing is eating. My appetite hit hard, I gained a solid 20 lbs after quitting. No more skipping meals (generally lunch), just smoking instead of eating.

[JAbq]

I had most of those symptoms too, Waldo, but nausea. Maybe I'm different in that respect?

Insomnia is more common in smokers. In the winter time it was worse when I was hacking and coughing due to the colder air. I slept better after a couple of weeks of not smoking, but YMMV.

I did (and occasionally still do) have dreams about failing to quit and/or slipping. Good thing is, when I wake up I'm still an ex-smoker.

Weight gain is definitely going to happen, as nicotine also increase your metabolism, as well as the aforementioned meal skipping opportunities since nicotine also gives a chemical release that gives similar effects like the body does after a meal.

The bottom line is, it was a rough road to get there and it'll be a rough one getting out... but it's doable, and it's worth it. Only problem is when you haven't quit yet it's hard to see the light.

[ebm1224]

thanks, yall. yeah, i think (hope) he's in it for the long haul. we're going to the gym together at least 3 times per week (he even sent me a reminder on my google calendar - he's too cute like that) so i'm hoping that helps with the weight gain and also the idea of changing habits. and he's pretty beat after the gym so sleep hasn't been an issue so far. granted, he's on the losenges so there is still nicotine in his system. but i think its the habits that are the hardest. he's been a smoker for like 15 years so it's not gonna be unlearned in 2 weeks. but it's good to know that others have come through and been successful.

[Benhem612]

I didn't smoke for as long as some but I was one of the folks who got hooked in highschool. My friends worked at a gas station and I smoked from my sophmore year of highschool up through freshman year of college about a pack to a pack and a half a day at the worst.

It was always a guilty habit because I was also a wrestler. I smoked because I was nervous socially and it "relaxed" me and gave me something to do with my hands in social situations. I tried quitting a number of times but hit rock bottom when I bought a new pack and then threw it in the sewer drain by my house. I found myself standing outside the drain at 3 am thinking I might be able to fish the pack out. That struck me as pretty pathetic and I realized the hold it had on me. I quit from that point by distracting myself as much as possible (it wasn't cold turkey and there were bumps). Anytime I wanted a cigarette, I read or I exercized or did something else. I wish your partner good luck on his journey!