I quit!!!!

[Muddyhandz]

Wrote out a list to help me in the upcoming battle. It's been two days and I'm going through hell.
Posting this here will help me in the fight.

All the things I do not like about smoking..........

- I am a slave to it. I feel as though I can't go without a cigarette for even a day!

- I am scared of what might happen if I don't smoke. Will I be cranky, stressed, or nervous? Will I fall asleep at night?

- It is a dirty habit. Yellow teeth & fingers; smelly clothes, breath, and house.
Gross cigarette butts floating a wet can (outside) as a reminder of what went into my lungs.

- It is proven that smoking KILLS people! My grandmother and Carla (lung cancer) plus other family and friends who's health worsened because of it.

- The shame I feel when smoking outside and kids are playing nearby or when other non-smokers have to smell my dirty habit.

- The time I waste from smoking. Going outside each time; the need to run to the store every time I run out or interrupting something I'm in engaged in because of a craving.
All the time spent thinking about it.

- The COST! $15 a pack X 3 packs a week = $180 a month give or take 20 bucks.

- Low energy. Many times I have felt my energy decrease after having a smoke. This adds to fatigue; decreases happiness and motivation.

- The social attraction. Hanging out with other smokers increases the desire to smoke. This is why I started in the first place!
Just to fit in with the "Cool" crowd at school. Where are they now?

- It does NOTHING for me! No real benefits come to mind.

- Clearing my throat of phlegm.

- Occasional headaches caused from smoking.

- The fact that I've been smoking for 25 years and have not missed one day. This is more than half my life!

- It morally goes against my core beliefs. The body and life is a gift from the Creator and I am defiling that gift.
Also, I'm against big greedy corporations and yet I support the tobacco industry? That makes me a hypocrite!

-When I feel good about myself and feel healthy, I immediately have to urge to sabotage that by smoking.

- I remember when I first started smoking. The taste was awful; irritating to the throat; made me light headed and sometimes nauseous.
It took several weeks before I became used to it and a few years before I really became addicted.

- The need for other substances (Like coffee or Pepsi) to help make smoking more enjoyable when cravings arise but my body isn't in the mood for a cigarette.
This is often during the afternoon when I typically have dry mouth or haven't ate for awhile.

- Believing the illusion that smoking goes better with certain things or that it calms nerves, relieves boredom, or sends me off to sleep by having one before bed.

- Rushing a smoke due to cold weather. Getting it over with just to fill my cravings; Sucking back that smoke really fast and subjecting myself to freezin' my ass off for what?

- All the extra chemicals added to make cigarettes more addictive and whatever else they put in there. Definitely not natural.

-In times when I have little money, I will buy cigarettes before I will buy food!

- All the times I recall coming close to gagging or experienced the occasional dry heave.
Especially during times when my body was clearly rejecting it and yet I still tried to continue smoking.

- I don't want to be a smoker anymore. Plain and simple!

That's all I could think of for now.
Please help by adding to this list if you've got anything more but please don't make it political as I don't want to loose all my hard work.
If you're a smoker and this offends you then please look away and move along.
I need to quit right now and making this post is part of the process.
I could use all the support I can get!
Hopefully this list can help others too.
Thank you.
Cheers,
Dave.

 

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[VERDE]

Hey Muddyhandz!! GOOD FOR YOU!! Best Decision YOU will ever make!! If necessary, you can obtain Nicotine patches or gum at the local pharmacy to get over the initial HUMP!! Hang in there and you will be HAPPY YOU did!! GOOD LUCK and GOOD HUNTING!! VERDE!!

 

[Peyton Manning]

good on ya mate!!
and just think of all the baby tobacco plants that will not have to die for you now..

 

[pat-tekker-cat]

Thanks for that and good luck!
You usually can't just stop a habit. It's easier to replace a habit with a habit. Try to replace a bad habit with one more positive, that you might recognize the reward of it, right away.

Hang out with people that don't smoke, or at places where you can't smoke. Let your non-smoking friends know you are making a conscious effort to quit, and they are very helpful in helping you maintain a non-smoking habit, when you hang out or interact with them. The library, museums, most resturants and stores don't allow smoking. Make yourself spend more time in these places. Perhaps a little more daycare or nursery time with children is good, in that you want to be clean smelling and smokefree around them. Resist the urge to smoke while travelling to these places, by replacing that smoke with a healthy snack and natural juice, while in the car.

Resists that bad habit in situations that causes the urge to arise, with a healthier habit, for that moment.

Hope that helps in some way and thanks for sharing. You words will help others as well. ty.

 

[Chadeaux]

Hang in there .

I quit 50 years ago and haven't looked back or missed it.

Most 6 year olds don't have the will to quit ...

 

[Limitool]

Hey guy.... I'm 58 and have never smoked in my life but I watched my father die from lung cancer. He smoked for 60 years. He tried to quit many times but always failed. Then when he found out he had lung cancer he quit cold turkey and never smoked again. He died 18 months later with me at his side.

Now I know and realize that story has been repeated many, many times with other people and it doesn't really "hit home" until you or a loved one has to deal with it. But with what you wrote above you are defiantly on the right track. And partner I wish you the best. Please keep us updated on your progress and USE THIS THREAD for support!!!! Please don't fail.

 

[Hunter612]

Good luck! You definitely won't regret your choice to quit.

 

[McKinney_5900]

E-cigarettes are a godsend for beating not smoking. If it is the actual nicotene addiction for you, then start with 18mg juice,,,that's like a light cigarette. The key is to invest a little in a kit, way WAY less than what you will spend on actual cigs in even one month, and see the results.

It really does make it easy. THEN you just have to fight that inclination to bum a "real" cigarrette after you've worked down to simply using zero nicotene and you think that'll be ok.


Anything to get combustable smoke away from your lungs is worth it. Nicotene in itself actually has benefits. I have friends who keep on the E-cigs even after they could easily just stop all. It's very cheap once you get kitted up. You can simply buy the quick kits at gas stations yet you'll soon find that spare batteries is a must for saving some bucks.

martin

 

[StoneDogg1]

I quit for 2 years (about 10-15 years ago). I gained 80 pounds and STILL coun't walk up a flight of steps without weezing. Went right back to my 2 pack a day habit.

Last year I started e-cigs. Smoked them for a year & NEVER felt like I quit smoking. My breathing and energy levels went back to normal.

I HIGHLY recommend e-cigarretes.

Dave

 

[Muddyhandz]

Thanks for the support everyone! There's some great advice here and that will definitely help.
One of the biggest concerns I have is actually metal detecting.
Yep, that was the activity where I would smoke the most. When things got quiet and I went awhile without a signal, I would light a smoke to "keep me interested" in staying longer.
Or when I found something good, I would light a smoke in "celebration." Or often I would find a goody after lighting a smoke.
I know this is part of the illusion but I think it's wise for me to take a break from detecting for awhile until I reduce the cravings.
I'm going for the pain......no nicotine from the patch, gum, or E-cigs. Want it out of the system completely.
So far, healthy snacks, (like Pat suggested) regular gum, and a little herb in the evening. He he.
I thought I would be finished after having my morning coffee but surprisingly, I wasn't tempted that bad.
I've surrounded myself with smokers as well as those who don't. The smokers actually give me some comfort as I know they're like a safety net.
They're like that pack of unopened Colts my grandfather carried around in his shirt pocket for 20 years after he quit.
I guess the biggest help is my non-smoking girlfriend. I got sick of scrubbing myself over and over again (including brushing my tongue several times) just so I could be with her!
Speaking of which, I've got to go and pick her up from work in a few minutes.
Thanks so much everyone!
It means a lot to me.

 

[DavidGC]

Dave -- I quit 19 year ago after being a two-pack-a-day smoker for 20 years (back when you could afford to smoke two packs a day withut taking out a personal loan). You can do this. You do not NEED these things.

Just tell yourself you're going to be miserable for a week. That's all it takes. Treat yourself to other things -- a nice dinner, ice cream, pizza, whatever your other vices are (as long as they don't trigger smoking). COunt the minutes. Pace the floor. Be miserable. NOthing lasts forever. Get through it and be free of this thing that is controlling your life.

Welcome to the world of x-smokers!

 

[H-2 CHARLIE]

If you lost your wife to smoking would you quit ?
How deer to the heart can you get .

 

[releventchair]

I quit multiple times. Makes me an authority right? L.O.L.. Why is asked each smoke. Eventually its only a few a day and I physc up to not smoke in the morning giving me a headstart towards 48 hours without smoking, break 48 and your free.. Understanding habit vs addiction helps. Can I really get pepped up or relaxed by the same thing? Will the truck start without one? Procrastination,reward,ritual. Oh yaa. When not smoking and feeling the urge I remind myself I don,t smoke. Am also saving the money,and it gets spent on a goody.
Mints were a substitute and while better than nicotine are not great for dental heath,even sugarless. A worry bead or stone can be rubbed,or a coin to give hands something to do. Should you relapse don,t sweat it just knock off again when you are ready.I thought it odd to hear mentioned not to tell others you're quitting before. Maybe its putting pressure on yourself or something. But ,though its not as bad as you may think wanting a cigg its really possible to not smoke this one. Tell yourself what your annual amount spent on them can buy after a year. Bust off a spruce tip, or a couple needles to chew butts of then just hold in mouth, or sassafras leaf stem for flavor and give your lips something to hold when detecting maybe.A kernel of dried ear corn or a piece of un popped popcorn.Celebrate a great find with a piece of candy maybe. Sugarless stuff with a strong flavor is a good substitute for me when I think I have to do something where smoking before and they can be broke into small pieces and carried in a tin for that flavor to last just briefly instead of always sucking on a mint. You did not use to smoke as an infant ,child. Your not smoking when your not. Then you don,t smoke. Because you don,t smoke. Acknowledge how long its been and know you,ll lose that record if you give in. Besides you don,t smoke,its been .... long.You don,t smoke in your sleep so use that time towards 48 hrs. Sure its weird at morning ritual but that's fine,life is weird and you are not smoking this morning.Whats for breakfast? Whats going on today and away we go instead of loitering ,lingering and burning a cigg. Yep,truck starts,crack the window and keep moving. In time we smell again,taste too. Look out Timmies! First hours then days then after a couple days its not the drug you are fighting, its your ingrained habit.Plenty to do after that, unencumbered by a waste of a desire. YOU don,t have to smoke therefore you don,t. Want one now and then for some, sometimes but don,t because you don,t.Wait till you don,t smoke and then get near some one who just did, its close to repulsive. Happy Hunting.
A friend used to say," that brown stuff your smokin will kill ya."

 

[worldtalker]

Here you go Brother!

GOD Bless

Chris


Smoking: The Cause and Cure

 

[G.I.B.]

Do things where you can't smoke. Put yourself in non smoking places/situations.

Go waaaay out camping for a few days, no access to cigarettes.

Stay away from people and places were smoking is prevalent.

It's tough- don't believe anything different. It was the hardest thing I ever did.

My wife (bless her heart) wanted to light a carton of cigarettes and shove them down my throat.

In 5 years your lungs will heal.

It will be the best thing you ever did for yourself.

It will take years for the desire to completely go away- but you can choose to ignore the desire.

I wish you the best of luck. You are going down a path a lot of us have already traveled down- were proof that it CAN BE DONE!

 

[Dave44]

I dipped tobacco for about 35 years. My wife nagged me for 10. So I quit for a few months and started again. But I renewed my nerve and tried again. This time I tried nic gum and patches, no cigars, and flat out willpower! I have found that I am very weak when exposed to chocolate, and eat what I find. But I haven't dipped in about 6 years now.

Not saying I don't want to, or that I don't feel like taking it out of someone's mouth and claiming it as my own occasionally, but my willpower and resolve gets stronger all the time. The trick is to prepare yourself, and stand by your decision!

But when having a beer with my friends ? It is reeeeeaaaly hard.

 

[packerbacker]

I quit with Chantix. I smoked for many years and was smoking 2 packs a day and sometimes more. I don't miss it a bit and it sure saves me money!! Best to you, you're the only one that can keep that butt out of your mouth. You gotta quit long enough to get over the hump. then it's downhill from there.

 

[Muddyhandz]

Wow! I want to address every post.......they're all so good!
This has become my very own self-help book that I'll come back to often. Lots here to absorb.
You all just gave me an ace in the hole. I'm gonna make it through.
This is a great forum!
Thanks a lot and bless you all.

 

[Red James Cash]

Muddyhandz I provide a service,i will help you quit smoking.


Quitters, Inc. by Stephen King.

"Quitters, Inc." is a short story by Stephen King, first published in King's 1978 collection Night Shift.

The main character, Richard "Dick" Morrison, is a middle-aged man who smokes.[1] One day he has a chance meeting with his old college roommate Jim McCann who advises him to go to Quitters, Inc., the firm that he says helped him kick the habit. The firm is said to have a 98% success rate with their clients and guarantees that once the person has enrolled for treatment, he will never smoke again. Dick at first forgets about the referral, but after a month passes and work is going horribly, Dick decides to go to Quitters, Inc. out of curiosity. There he's introduced to a man named Victor Donatti, who will be his quitting counselor. Donatti begins by telling the history of Quitters, Inc., saying it was founded by a New Jersey mob boss who had been a heavy smoker and realized before his death of lung cancer that he must aid others in quitting. Donatti says they are serious in their desire to help others be cured of tobacco addiction, despite their shady history. The following day, Donatti states to Morrison that they have found out all the relevant information about his family, which shocks Morrison, in particular the information about his mentally impaired son.

Dick is first told of what will happen; that for the first twelve months he will have round-the-clock surveillance on him at all times to ensure he is not smoking, with the watchers immediately reporting back to Donatti if they see Morrison smoking. After a second twelve months, the surveillance would be reduced to 18 hours a day, but you will never know which eighteen. After one year of being in Quitters, Inc. from then on, Morrison's surveillance would be reduced to random surveillance checks for the remainder of his life. Dick then finds out about the brutal enforcement methods used by Quitters, Inc. from Donatti. These include administering non-fatal electric shocks of increasing intensity to his wife if he is caught smoking a cigarette and a second infraction would put Morrison in the shock room. A fourth infraction would involve beatings being administered to his son, and subsequent infractions would result in more trips to the shock room with higher voltage, and more painful beatings of his son and wife. Donatti also reveals that after the ninth infraction, his son's arms would be broken. Finally, if Dick commits a tenth infraction, Donatti says, placing a gun on his desk, Dick would become part of "the unregenerate two percent". "But even the unregenerate 2% never smoke again. We guarantee it."

With some difficulty, Dick is able to quit, after only one slip, which results in his wife Cindy being abducted and shocked. Dick, however, now must deal with other aspects of the firm's strict methods, this being that Dick has gained weight and that is an issue Quitters, Inc. deals with as well. Donatti uses the Mafia connections to obtain some prohibited diet pills for Dick, and sets a target weight for him to adhere to. Should Dick stray from this goal, then his wife's right pinky finger will be cut off. Morrison faithfully exercises and keeps in shape, also giving the Quitters Inc. business card to a barfly with a smoking addiction, echoing what Jim McCann did to Morrison at the start of the story. The story ends where Dick and Cindy have a chance meeting with the McCann's, and Dick learns that Jim McCann had drifted from the weight standards of Quitters, Inc. as his wife is missing her pinky finger.

 

[Dave44]

Muddyhandz I provide a service,i will help you quit smoking.


Quitters, Inc. by Stephen King.

"Quitters, Inc." is a short story by Stephen King, first published in King's 1978 collection Night Shift.

The main character, Richard "Dick" Morrison, is a middle-aged man who smokes.[1] One day he has a chance meeting with his old college roommate Jim McCann who advises him to go to Quitters, Inc., the firm that he says helped him kick the habit. The firm is said to have a 98% success rate with their clients and guarantees that once the person has enrolled for treatment, he will never smoke again. Dick at first forgets about the referral, but after a month passes and work is going horribly, Dick decides to go to Quitters, Inc. out of curiosity. There he's introduced to a man named Victor Donatti, who will be his quitting counselor. Donatti begins by telling the history of Quitters, Inc., saying it was founded by a New Jersey mob boss who had been a heavy smoker and realized before his death of lung cancer that he must aid others in quitting. Donatti says they are serious in their desire to help others be cured of tobacco addiction, despite their shady history. The following day, Donatti states to Morrison that they have found out all the relevant information about his family, which shocks Morrison, in particular the information about his mentally impaired son.

Dick is first told of what will happen; that for the first twelve months he will have round-the-clock surveillance on him at all times to ensure he is not smoking, with the watchers immediately reporting back to Donatti if they see Morrison smoking. After a second twelve months, the surveillance would be reduced to 18 hours a day, but you will never know which eighteen. After one year of being in Quitters, Inc. from then on, Morrison's surveillance would be reduced to random surveillance checks for the remainder of his life. Dick then finds out about the brutal enforcement methods used by Quitters, Inc. from Donatti. These include administering non-fatal electric shocks of increasing intensity to his wife if he is caught smoking a cigarette and a second infraction would put Morrison in the shock room. A fourth infraction would involve beatings being administered to his son, and subsequent infractions would result in more trips to the shock room with higher voltage, and more painful beatings of his son and wife. Donatti also reveals that after the ninth infraction, his son's arms would be broken. Finally, if Dick commits a tenth infraction, Donatti says, placing a gun on his desk, Dick would become part of "the unregenerate two percent". "But even the unregenerate 2% never smoke again. We guarantee it."

With some difficulty, Dick is able to quit, after only one slip, which results in his wife Cindy being abducted and shocked. Dick, however, now must deal with other aspects of the firm's strict methods, this being that Dick has gained weight and that is an issue Quitters, Inc. deals with as well. Donatti uses the Mafia connections to obtain some prohibited diet pills for Dick, and sets a target weight for him to adhere to. Should Dick stray from this goal, then his wife's right pinky finger will be cut off. Morrison faithfully exercises and keeps in shape, also giving the Quitters Inc. business card to a barfly with a smoking addiction, echoing what Jim McCann did to Morrison at the start of the story. The story ends where Dick and Cindy have a chance meeting with the McCann's, and Dick learns that Jim McCann had drifted from the weight standards of Quitters, Inc. as his wife is missing her pinky finger.

I remember that one! Back when King was a great writer! Sad that he is trying to go back to obscurity by writing so so magazine articles?.