Any Advice to Help Quit Smoking

[peanut]

Hey Guys......
I really, really, really want to quit smoking...
I've tried the patch, medication, and the chewing gum.  Has anyone tried anything else.  I've told myself that I'm going to be smoke free before I hit 30 and thats coming pretty quick.
I'd appreciate any advice

[gloomy]

I have been quit for two weeks now and fingers crossed I will never smoke again.  The thing with the nicotine replacement products is they do work on the physical cravings but 'willpower' is still a big factor and that has to come from you.  There are three components to giving up smoking 1, is the physical addiction, 2, is the psychological addiction and 3, is the ingrained habits and routines.  So as you can imagine you need a lot of preparation before setting a quit date.

I am guessing your in America?  If you are in England I would heavily reccommend the NHS No smoking classes they are excellent and help tackle all three components.  However, if you dont have access to them there is a book on the internet that you can download for free its called Stop Smoking, Breaking the Chains by Mark Jordan.  It does tackle a lot of the psychological and habit stuff thats so difficult to undo. Although the author doesnt advocate the use of Nicotine replacement I stil found some of the teachings and tips fantastic to use alongside my nicotine lozenges I suppose its about finding a combination that works for the individual I know OCDEngineer stopped smoking without any nicotine replacement so maybe he could offer more advice than me in that department.

Good luck and contact me if you want any further advice because I have all the information from my no smoking clinic which is run by qualified nurses to its reliable stuff that works.

[ocdengineer]

I used a quarter of a patch that I cut up and used it only for the first week.  I used the lowest doseage of nicotine patch because the others seemed much too strong and actually made me sick feeling.  Anyway, I quit because I was forced to due to my wife's pregnancy.  I wanted my wife to quit so I had to.  I simply decided that it was killing me and that I needed to stop and did it.  I fell off the wagon a couple times due to drinking alcohol, so in order to quit in entirety I had to stop drinking for awhile as well.  Now I can drink a couple beers here and there and have no problems, but the craving is still there and probably always will be.  Nicotine is pretty nasty to stop, but it is sooooo rewarding if you can get it done.  You will feel so much healthier once you get through the initial withdrawl.

Good luck,
OE

[ocdengineer]

To Peanut and Gloomy,

How is the quitting smoking working out for you both?  Just wanted to check in and see how much progress you have made.

Take care,
OE

[pippip]

Have you considered going to a support group Peanut? Maybe that would hepl the more mental part of the addiction, i know a person who went to one and i live in a really rural place so i'm sure they exist in many places

[peanut]

Hey,

Well I haven't quit yet, I've decided that I'm going to wait till after I have my anxiety under control.  The thought of having a panic attack and not having any cigarettes in the house terrifies me.  Anything else I can handle, but not that.
Pip....I'm not sure we have anything here like that, I'm sure we must but I've never paid any attention to it.  Its something I'll definitely look into....Thanks

Peanut

[gloomy]

I have been given up cigarettes for three weeks now.

[pippip]

Congrats Gloomy, good for you :)

Peanut do you think maybe the nicotine is really hurting your anxiety more then helping it? Maybe it would benefit you more to quit now then when the anxiety is under control maybe it would help the anxiety?

[ocdengineer]

Congratulations Gloomy!  Keep it up.

Peanut,

When I quit, it was difficult, but at the end of the day it was worth the difficulty.  Just remember that there is a light at the end of that tunnel.  You will feel much better once you get all of the toxic substances out of your body.

Good luck,
OE