I may need your moral support, Im quitting smoking tomorrow

good luck my friend.the fact that you try to quit more than once says you realize the need to quit.have you tried the patch?check with the american lung association.they have a tobbaco quit line that can help you too.just don't give up.eventually you'll kick this habit.

I quit smoking 29 days ago. I have tried everything: the patch, gum, cold turkey and Zyban (wellbutrin), but nothing worked. I started taking Chantix and after a few false starts and times where I was just stubborn and wanted to enjoy a few last puffs, I was able to put them down and have not picked them back up since. I highly recommend it. It's worked where nothing else has. 3 of my associates have quit smoking on the Chantix as well. Good Luck and God Bless!

BTW: The program tells you to set a quit date and start taking the Chantix a week before quitting. That way you get the drug built up in your system.

Thank you so much! I have been telling everyone that all those times i failed have been practice runs eventually i will get it right! I have heard many good things about chantix too. I think for now im going to try cold turkey for a few days that is usually what has worked for me, but if i blow it, im headed to the dr, for the pills.

I have had it, it must stop. I even made a blog post to keep me accountable im thinking that will keep reminding me why im doing it. I broke down my cost, as is now, not per when the tax increases on it. The sad thing is i dont want to do it for my health. I know that sounds stupid that should be the main reason. I want to do it because of the cost. What it costs us a year could easily pay off a few things. Plus have some extra.

Like i said in my blog i have been a smoker for most of my life, and honestly it feels like its a part of who i am. If you only knew then what you know now. But at 14 or 15 you know everything right??

stupid kids!

Thanks for the pep talk guys!

quitsmoking.about.com is a good support forum. Chantix has one too but I don't have the bookmark here at work

good for you! If you WANT to quit, you WILL quit, period.

how much does the Chantix cost, and how quickly does it work for the average person?

i checked into it for my husband a few months ago we dont have perscription coverage(not that im sure it would pay for it anyhow) and it was amazing how the prices were so varied from place to place. but we could get it for 110.00 a month and you are to be on it for 3 months. But most people say they are done with it in about a month.or 2.

I just talked to my husband about it and he said if i wait till saturday we can quit together. So we will see how i feel tomorrow. But no later than saturday. Im done! thats it.

Thanks for the great links im gonna check them out today.

why does he want to wait until Saturday?

My insurance covers it and they have a $10 off coupon in the info packet you'll get from the DR. It was $22.87 per 28 day packet. It is a 3 month program initially but my Dr said she has had people stay on it for 6 months just to help re-enforce the new behavoirs you have to adopt. Like I said, I had tried everything and just couldn't kick it. With this, I have never felt more confident that I caould actually do it. The cravings still happen but they are not as strong.

I quit seven years ago, you REALLY have to want to do it! I don't miss it one single bit !! Good luck!

Hi,

I, too, made numerous attempts at quitting before I finally did. What I did was divide the habit into 2 - the smoking itself, and the nicotine. I went to an herbalist shop and bough some "herbal cigarettes" which have no tobacco in them. They don't taste anything like a cigarette, but I was smoking *something* for the first 2 weeks while the nicotine craving ate away at my brain.

But, it worked! I've relapsed now and then for short periods of time, but after awhile you begin to hate them. They taste and smell disgusting, and you'll wonder why you ever smoked them to begin with.

The first 2 weeks are the hardest. Then about 2 months later you'll have another jon-esing fit. If you make it past that, you should be ok.

Sheer defiance goes a long way, too.....

Good luck, and enjoy your new-found fresh air!! You will find that you can appreciate the delicate scents of flowers a lot better when your sinuses aren't coated with ash and tar....

chrys

Good luck and I will be rooting for you. :)

Been there and done that!! A few times in 20 years. Last time was a little over a year ago, I too used the Chantix, its a wonder drug!! I stopped within 4 days of starting the medicine and remained smoke free for 3 months...The cravings just went away, no bad moods, nothing. Then I got into stress at work and stress with bills and PDLS, and I fell off the boat (not a good excuse I know).I too have been wanting to quit again. I keep catching colds and getting sinus infections one right after the other, I know smoking is the cause. Chantix is not covered by insurance either, however if you think about the money your not spending on smokes, it is less (usually).

My job does offer a health program in which we can get free patches. I'm going to look into that. My biggest problem when I try to quit is the BAD MOOD I get in. Makes everyone around me nuts!!

I sure wish you lots of luck. We may end up supporting each other! Reny

Thanks for all the posts! My dad gave me a huge stash of patches and they made it worse. I dont think they helped at all only made the craving worse in my opinion so if anyone wants them give me a shout because i wont use them I will send them to you i hate to see them go to waste his employer gave all the employees the complete system b/c the premisis was going non smoking the whole system was probably about 200.00 worth of patches.

So my husband p*ssed me off last night and i screwed it up, but todays a new day and im going to have to figure out how to deal with those types of situations. But today im back on track. Im determined to get it right. The problem was probably me just being grouchy you know. But im determined so i guess as long as i keep trying! im a 2-3 pack a day smoker so from last night till today is progress.

chrys, i never heard of that before we have a erbal shop in town, maybe i will check into that. My problem is not the physical cravings but the mental. I can quit, its the mental addiction that i have trouble with. Which is why i have given myself a week to do it without aid. But If i cant im going to get the chantix.

It is very expensive to me, but it is cheaper than smoking. So it will pay off later

so.....? Did you put them down?

so far so good, even though my hole family wants to kill me. I havent been very nice. I guess its only temporary right??

and i have had the worst headache in history scince yesterday. But im guessing that is just a symtom and will go away too

make sure you are drinking plenty of water ... that helps everything!

thats a great suggestion! I never thought of that. One thing that has been helping is that everytime i want a cigerette i brush my teeth. My teeth have never been so clean im sure! That and my house too. i have been cleaning to keep my mind off of it.

I don't know if you like dill pickles but they may also help.

If I am craving anything sweet a dill pickle takes it right away and they are low in calories but high on the salt end.

Of course if you are craving a dill pickle I can't suggest anything..lol

lol! thats so funny! i do crave pickles from time to time though too! so we would have to find a different remedy for that! Thats great though because i have been noticing lately that i have had a sweet tooth too. I dont know if its giving up the cigerettes that its making me crave other things or what, but i will have to try that

My wife and I both quit in two very different ways. I was in the hospital and the Dr said I should quit smoking! I asked how long I would be in there. He said at least a week and I replied, "I just did." I did however finish the pack I had when I got home.
My wife said a prayer, gave them up for lent and never had the desire to smoke again. Not even a puff!
Both of us smoked for at least thirty years. I was on two packs a day not to mention the other stuff that I smoked since 1969 until the early 80s.

I smoked 3 packs a day for 30 years. 15 years ago on a dare i went to a hypnotist ( 100.00 bucks ) . Laughed thru the entire 30 minute hypnotism and kept saying to myself i just as easily could have thrown away the 100.00 bucks. Really a joke.
Bottom line.... I left his office and NEVER picked up a cigarette again. I guess it woeked !!!!!!
If you have the money use it for that. It does work and if you add it up , you are spending what you normally would spend for 10 packs of cigarettes. Oh and also there were NO cravings or side effects at all. Just as if I had never smoked .

i seem to be ok as long im not around anyone that smokes and its not a physical thing its more of a social thing. My whole family smokes, my friends, my husband did, all of us. My husband said he has never felt better.

I honestly dont really have any physical effects anymore except for the headache and a little grouchyness but i really dont miss it i have substituted the habit with other things. It just seems that when im in a social setting i want to join them with a cigerette. And even when i have slipped up and smoked i smoked one of thiers and when they were gone i didnt have any and it didnt seem to bother me so it has been a little easier than the last how many times i tried to quit.
so so far i would think that i have been sucessful and even those few that i slipped on i was a 2-3 packer and to smoke just only one it a sucess to me and as long as i stay on the wagon and not buy any i think i will be fine!

I do think it would be easier to be in the hospital or some were were i am not exposed to it for a while. But good for you! you kicked 2 habits at the same time! talk about being tough!

Hi,

I am late in my support. Sorry. I have seen this withdrawal syndrome in my father when he had to quit smoking due to health reasons.

Congratulations for quitting cigarette. Withdrawal syndrome remains for a couple of day only. After that everything will be fine and normal.

Best of luck. :D

My husband quit about 6 years ago when his mother became ill with cancer, although she never was a smoker it scared him enough to put them down and never pick one up again. I on the other hand have struggled to stop. I've quit a few times over the years sometimes for up to a year, but always end up lighting up again...I'm still trying, I do think a lot of it is in my head. We are all proud of you keep up the good work!!

dont be proud of me just yet! i wouldnt say that im a non smoker yet! I havent bought a pack in almost a week, but on a few rare occations i will bum one here or there off of someone. I know its stupid and self destroying my attempts but it hasnt been easy.

But i look at it this way. i smoked alot, and the progress i have made so far is really good. like you said i believe more now that its more in my head than a physical problem.

Why is it i can go 2 or 3 days and it dont bother me much now, but get me with my friends or family and i feel the need to join them. At this point usually when i smoke one the first hit is soooo good but by the 2nd or 3 i want to throw up. and then im usually good for a nother day. maybe i should have given myself more time maybe a week was not realistic.

But im still happy with my progress so far

Don't knock yourself around too much. It sounds like you are doing okay.

Trying is better then doing nothing at all.

Keep it up it will get better.

And I want to admit as a smoker that when I see people trying to quit but they bum one now and then it does not bother me in the least.

I may quit one day too, but I am not there yet!

Yeah, it's definitely a very challenging habit.

The herbal cigs are even better for just the mental. You are smoking, it looks like a cigarette, tastes kind of weird, though. But it helps.

I'd also say don't get all down on yourself for your lapses - big mistake. So you slipped up, let it go! Getting upset about it actually produces a feedback loop and makes you more likely to want one. Basically: it becomes a subconscious cue - I'm angry, I get a cigarette. So your subconscious will see to it that you get angry as often as possible, and hence the jumpiness.

It is a hard job indeed for the first 3 months, very much so.

chrys

thats what i am trying to do, not be hard on myself when i do have one here and there, it does seem to be counter productive. thats why i failed the first day. I got upset with myself and said well i had one i blew it.

but the next day i said i wasnt gonna do that again if i have one so what, and move on with what i have been doing. Stress has been a definite trigger. on a different day everything went down the toilet totally screwed that day so i have been trying to not allow myself to get upset.

scince then i have been pretty proud of myself and my efforts. even though i have had one here and there. Its progress. better than what i was doing. Maybe this is why people fail they figure they had one, so it was a failure they miswell smoke. Im choosing not to have that attitude, that seems to be working.