Another thing I forgot to add as a tip; mouthwash. Nothing tastes good right after mouthwash; so when you are craving use some. After swishing a little mouthwash, lighting up can seem less appealing because it won't taste right afterwards. I quit during a very stressful time period, and one of the things that helped was carrying a little "travel size" bottle of Scope in my purse. That way I could use it whenever I needed a little help.

I will admit that when I am going through a bad time emotionally I have been know to smoke again. But luckily I have been able to do things like finish the pack and not buy another. It does take a tremendous amount of effort though. And the way I feel about losing control over that is much worse than any pleasure the nicotine gave me.

--

Hope you'll keep from it...
Myself 3 times quiting but this time the longest and as I'm really bad with consept of time I'm not sure
but believe it are 1 to two years now free from it....
except from this weekend that was where me and a friend was on my balchony drinking a bit
(something I too had promiest myself to keep from) anyhow a few cigarettes came to pass in my
breath that evening.....but will try not to do that again but drinking though I'll probably do but not to much
though.....but smoking the reason to why I do not think I'll do it next time are that that s*** from the
weekend got stuck in my lungs 1 day after and I could taste that discusting nicotin when breathing out
and if I've kept from it so long it would be insane for me to begin again.....I Hate that need and want to
keep free from it and how idiotic it are to draw that smoke into the body anyhow as so many people
dealing with the bad effects it brings and I only hope it have not brought that unto me more than to my
teeths and skin problem......U see it are really bad so all power to you and anyone quiting it.
Need a pretty strong mind though....know that by self experience.....Nicotin patches and all that other
stuff do not work......Only the mind work......but one usually do gain some weight while quiting...
I'm lucky though that I not easly do gain weight but yes I've gained some on my tummy.....but to most
I probably still look quite thin.....It are just as one are quiting the smoking hunger will take its place
but in time it do get more under contol I believe....but the appetite do come back after quiting....
as nicotin as the affect of taking away hunger.
But believe me it are really not worth to waste away yourself with cigarettes.......slowly....
and fact are after well since 1985 or something when I begun.....that is a lot of years of smoking
not counting the few years free from it.....You will get bad effects from it sooner or later.....some may
not but that is a very few lucky souls....but believe me while you still have your health quit it...and you
will see that stuff will feel better after the worse two first weeks....
Do get some lolpops and a lot of tea though as that help.

Good on you, cloud! I still want cigarettes, but I know if I just have one, my quitting is over. So I keep telling myself that if I have one it's going to be sh!t and I'm going to get so depressed and feel so disgusting, and just try to discourage myself from having it. And like I've said before, chewing gum with salty liqorice taste! It's fabulous!
I think the main reason I've been able to keep up with this program is because I'm currently in a mentally strong period. Apart from being dumped a few days ago.... But I found a replacement within a couple of hours..! Not a man, but a mobile phone. I went out and bought the phone of my dreams, a K850i with a 5mp camera. Walked around my home town yesterday taking pictures, it's fabulous!

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Anette

This thread will give me help in quitting smoking. I started again 6 months ago and some days 2 packs a day. I joined a help program and they sent me 1 month of patches, but I still like to smoke one now and then. I am now at 1 pack or less per day but I do need to stop all smoking now.

It is a nasty little fact, but it isn't the lack of cigarettes widening your waist line; it is the food you are consuming instead. Cigarette can be a (slight) appetite suppressant, but the trick is to not substitute food for smokes. If it makes you feel any better, everyone who has ever quit has gone through that too.

--

but on the good side your body is no more getting a daily dosis of dangerous nicotine... Just thought I wanted to give you some positive thoughts too
Keep on going!!

--
"Excuse me, but can I be you for a while? My dog won't bite if you sit real still"

My body is starting to suffer the consequences of quitting..... my pants keep getting tighter and tighter, I need to go on a diet and seriously start working out. I've grown a "beer belly". Well, it's been in the making for a couple of years, but now it's getting really bad.

--
Anette

Congratulations on your effort to quit smoking Anette. It sounds like you are well on your way to a healthier life. I smoked for years and tried to give it away several times and failed several times. The longest out of those failures was a smoke free life for about 11 months. Don't ask me why I started to smoke again after 11 months? I am happy to say that I finally did succeed in quitting the ciggies about 18 months ago and although I struggled with it, I now have absolutely no cravings for it whatsoever. I did use nicotine patches for about 8 - 10 weeks and I also cut down on drinking alcohol and coffee so I wouldn't tempt myself. I also sing and my vocal range suffered terribly due to smoking. Happily I have gained more of a range than I ever had and I sing very freely now. I also used my music & singing in those moments of craving or irritability and I would just go and do some singing to relax and feel good again.
Keep up the great work Anette and as well as living a much more healthy life, get back your voice and a whole lot more.

Oh, I'm sorry, you're trying to quit.

good things about quitting smoking.

sleep
relaxing
no more smelly stuff
saving money
more time to do other stuff

bad things about quitting smoking.

sleeping all day
not being able to function properly
having to smell a sweet tobacco smell on someone else
spending money on quitting smoking "rewards"
spending more time cleaning

oh, i suppose the last one is a positive

i've been smoking organic pouch tobacco, i would like to quit, for my health

Thank you for your support! It's helped a lot to have someone to lean on, I've never been able to seek any kind of support either from friends or family,they all have a tendancy to react negative to any of my ideas. I don't even get a pat on the back for quitting..

sicilianroses: Yes, tobacco is a plant, but before it enters your lungs it's been through machines that add the active ingredients, such as tar, nicotine, carbonmonoxide and benzen which are the most dangerous of the around 400 additives. Then there's the stuff in the rolling paper, and the filters of cigarettes... Marihuana doesen't have any factory additives.
I have quit a couple times before,the longest I kept without it was 7 months and the only reason I started again was I moved to a new place and in order to make friends I "just had one",and by the end of the first week I'd bought my first pack. I've tried different aids to quit, but none worked, they made it all worse. What worked for me in the end was the Extra gum with salt liqorice taste. Because salt liquorice (or just liquorice in general) ruins the taste of cigarettes. Try it, have a piece of liqorice and then a cigarette while you still have the taste in your mouth. It's horrid.

--
Anette

Tobacco is a plant. Perhaps it is a gift from nature as a natural medicine for schizophreniacs. I read a study online about lifetime marijuana smokers and schizophrenia. When it sets in, those who regularly smoked marijuana retain their cognitive functioning. Those who didn't lose it.

I've tried the patch, to some degree of temporary effectiveness. Sadly, they give me rashes and irritation. Thinking about quitting smoking always brings me back to why I started in the first place. quitting smoking -
is an exercise is emotional travesty
is an exercise in repeated failure, like I need to feel like anymore of a failure

The gum is gross.

Wellbutrin is expensive and an experiment with serotin level altering drugs, and personally causes me major insomnia. Possible long term side effects?? Though, I did effectively quit using them once for like six months.

Cold turkey, is yet, may I repeat, an exercise in emotional travesty and repeated failure.

is the reason why I gained ten pounds recently
are my friends
is a constant nagging thought and reminder

Smoking is -
sometimes a surrender in courage for the will to life

Perhaps it is not the tobacco which causes cancer, but the bleached paper that is wrapped around it.
Anything in moderation.

Congratulations. Eventually you won't even think about them anymore. You are doing great.

--

yeah *highfives* you're just so cool

--
"Excuse me, but can I be you for a while? My dog won't bite if you sit real still"

hey that´s great news! *highfives Anette*

Yes, I have! 16 days today, and the craving decreases every day.

--
Anette

Yeah - in Denmark you can no longer smoke in most of the public spaces. You can smoke at my work, but only on two areas created for smokers. If you smoke outside these areas, you are fired!! It sounds kind of harsh, but before these rules the smokers could smoke inside where everyone else is working, and we had to work in smoke all night long... I don't mind smokers at all, but not everyone was satisfied with this!
Have you still maintained to stay away from cigarettes?

--
"Excuse me, but can I be you for a while? My dog won't bite if you sit real still"

Has smoking in public places been banned in Denmark too,now? How come they're not allowed to smoke at work? That's kind of harsh, isn't it?

--
Anette

I kind of imagined it would be a lot worse.. I've got lots of colleagues who are trying to quit, and they do get very frustrated and irritated over little things when they don't get a cigarette... It's due to the fact that since August 2007 they haven't been allowed to smoke at work, which they'd been used to for years!

--
"Excuse me, but can I be you for a while? My dog won't bite if you sit real still"

It is stronger than a sweet tooth AH. At least it was for me. The urge can be so bad that it is hard to focus on anything else, and you can become very irritable. Things that normally wouldn't bother you can make you completely lose your temper.

--

Purpleperson...I like the new use name My user name has nothing to do with Tori Amos' music, Lily is my dog and avatar, I rarely leave home without her. When I joined the forum long ago, I didn't realize people were using names related to Amos' music. It's the first forum, I've been a member of, so it's been a real learning experience. BTW, I'm happy to read you are having success with your desire to stop smoking.

--
"Last time I checked he came to light the lamp for everyone" Marys of the Seas

Btw, have you guys noticed the commercials at the bottom of this site? 'Stop smoking' and 'How to quit smoking' - it's kind of cool

--
"Excuse me, but can I be you for a while? My dog won't bite if you sit real still"

I've never been addicted, so it's hard for me to understand what it feels like when you need to smoke. So one day, I asked a colleague of mine who was trying to quit what it felt like when she needed a cigarette, and she said that it felt a bit like when you want to eat something sweet... I don't know if you know the expression to 'have a sweet tooth'? Is this right? Because then I can totally understand that's it's hard to quit...
Love, AH

--
"Excuse me, but can I be you for a while? My dog won't bite if you sit real still"

Edit: I read your post wrong, graveyard, I'm sorry. I made a whole post about not quitting, then I noticed you said you were trying to quit. It's good you're trying, but you have to be mentally strong. When you've finally decieded, you can't allow yourself that one cigarette, if you know what I mean. It's do or don't. And if you're not prepared, you won't make it.
Good luck!

--
Anette

My father used to smoke 3 packs a day, he's been death for almost four years now.
I am stupid enough to tell u that i smoke one pack a day. Im trying to quit though but it's hard, real hard.
The point is (if i had one) that we can quit no matter what. But we are going to die no matter what. So many questions: quality of life?, quality of death? (WTF), etc..
Im sorry for my writing, i uderstand english perfectly but can't write it well.

ps: im new so be nice

Lilytoo, how's this for a username? Took me a while to find something Tori related in stead of my normal Garbage one. ("Bow down to me" is taken from the song Supervixen)

Shortysugar: The increased intake of coffee was shortlived. I'm back to my normal intake now, have even reduced the chewing gum. It's day 10 and I feel the initial craving has given up quite a lot. I hardly feel it now, and when I do it's very short-lived. I'm getting on the pill myself, but wasn't aware of the combination before I'd already quit.

--
Anette

Hey Anette!!
It sounds like you had a great night there From what I understand when reading your post, you didn't smoke at all - I'm very proud of you! Just keep going that way ... We're all with you
Love, AH

--
"Excuse me, but can I be you for a while? My dog won't bite if you sit real still"

Hey Doll,

ummm yeha, haha I guess the truth sometimes comes out when we're under a little intoxication.
However, I totally feel you, and think it' great you're trying to quit, and glad you have a good motivated reason~ I just hope that you can do it in a healthy way. increasing your caffine intake might not be the best, bu tI'msure it's jut a temporary fix, try chewing gum and maybe the patch and or mint leaves- my friend did it. hopefully I'll be the one to quit next because I'm trying to go on birth control, finally for once (i never believed in it because it's un-natural and side effects)
But one of the things they're telling me, is to quit.. So.. plus it's gross anyway!

But I wish u *Luck!!

--
"I'm Fire and Air, All in a nova-sandwich"

Hello Annette. No you didn't offend me at all. To be perfectly honest, I greatly admire what you are trying to do. I'm not sure I would have that kind of inner willpower. I have never had to be tested in that way, and for that I am very fortunate.

I have learned in life, however, that one should steer clear of debates, where they have no direct experience. I know it is a losing proposition when someone can say, have you ever had to go through it yourself. When that answer is no, if one still persists, others start perceiving that person as someone who tries to act like they are a know-it-all - when they can't possibly know or understand what someone who has actually gone through it does.

So I was merely attempting to bow out of the argument gracefully, foreseeing the enevitable. And yes, I fully understand how having to struggle with this, could make someone react to something in a way which is uncharacteristic with their more usual nature.

So I want to sincerely congratulate you on your effort to quit, and I have a feeling you will ultimately succeed.

:):)

Steve B.

Oh my,I can't remember anything about last night. I don't remember posting here. It seems like I didn't have a smoke, I really hope I didn't. I had a couple of shots of sambuca and one shot of absinth, two shots is my limit, more than that and I black out. Christ, I hope I didn't do something dumb.
Bush411, I am really sorry if I've offended you, or said something disrespectful.

Anette

--
Victory is an elusive whore.

If you say that smoking has nothing to do with quitting a "Habit", I guess I just have to respecfully bow out of that argument. Although I don't Smoke (Never Have) Don't Do Any Kind Of Drugs (Never Have) and I don't drink alcohol (Never Have) I always thought that for anyone struggling to quit, it was because they were addiicted to it. However, if anyone says that struggling to quit Drugs, Alcohol or Cigaretts, has nothing to do with being addicted - thus, trying to quit a habit - I REALLY WOULD NOT BE IN A POSITION TO ARGUE WITH THEM; inasmuch as I have never directly experienced that.

All I know is what I've seen others go through, read and heard about; and my perceptions as a result. Thus, I will acknowledge, that in this argument, inasmuch as I have no direct experience to base my position on, I am simply outclassed.

Once Again - Good Luck to you.

:)

Steve B.

I am off to bed..............
--
Victory is an elusive whore.

Ok, tonight has been one of my ultimate tests, and I have been able to withstand the deslire for a smoke. And I am very drunk. It has been very difficult at times, but I Feel I've
just passed a milestone in the quitting process...... I am exceedingly drunk but I only want to sleep, I feel no need for a smoke....... Sleep is my best friend right now!
--
Victory is an elusive whore.

Ps. You non-smokers; I do know what you are talking about..... Smoking has nothing to do with quitting the habit... STEADY, GIRL, ON YOUR FEET!!!

--
Victory is an elusive whore.

Thank you, all of you. You've been a great support for me, even though I might have
remained quiet about it. I am very drunk right now and I have managed to keep off the cigs, I suppose this is one of my main tests... But at the same time that I long sor a smoke I am so sure ab out not giving up, and one of the reasons is Tori herself.. She is such an inspirartion
for me and so many others that ......( I lost my train of thought..) Well, off to bed......
Victory is an elusive whore.

Again, since I have never smoked in my life, I really don't know what you are going through. However, it does seem that you are managing to muster the will to endure. I suspect that if you get through this initial period, it will probably become easier.

I would imagine it is similar to someone who tries to go "Cold Turkey" and kick a Heroine habit. Although, I also have never experienced the use of drugs (Illegal or FOR THAT MATTER EVEN LEGAL - I have never even put any prescription medications in my body during my entire 55 Years of life on this earth) - I do understnad that a person trying to kick the Habiit, so to speak, usually finds the first week to be the hardest. Afterwards, it supposedly to get easier. Therefore, i am assuming it will be like that for you.

Thus, if you can manage to muster the strength of will to resist a few more days; YOU WILL MOST LIKELY BE WELL ON YOUR WAY TO OVERCOMING IT.

I DO WISH YOU ALL THE BEST IN YOUR EFFORTS. From what I have read, so far, in this thread - it looks like you will succeed.

Good Luck!!!

:)

Steve B.

Hi Anette
don´t give up! I know how it feels; I quit smoking last summer, I had smoked for years and years.. and I remember the first time I had a drink after quitting; it was truly a test; the craving for a smoke is so strong but you´ll get over it. hang in there!

--
Free thinkers are dangerous

I'm on my 5th or 6th glass of wine now, got my bro and my best friend visiting and they're both smoking like chimeys, and it's sooooooo hard to not grab that stick and have a puff. But I'm determined, I keep telling myself I'll get "cotton-mouth" if I do it, and I don't want that. But the more drunk I get, the more I want it. But I'm determined not to have one. It smells so damn good, though.......

Anette

--
Victory is an elusive whore.

I'm having a weak moment.... I'm feeling very powerless, and the gum isn't helping much. I can't do any cleaning either to keep my mind off it, because my arm isn't well today from all the cleaning yesterday.. I can't eat too much unhealthy food either, cos it's a bad replacement, altho those chilinuts seem awfully tasty right now.... They're looking at me with protruding eyes...... Screaming "eat me, eat me"!! NO!!!! I WILL NOT!!!!! I AM STRONGER!!!!!! I should get a punching bag...... that'd help.
Ah, that's better..... the initial craving is stopping. Good.... Feels like I've just been jogging for 10 and am now trying to catch my breath. Man, that was a tough one. I could use a drink........ but I can't drink cos it'll increase the craving. I need to find something to do, I'm getting a bit restless...

Good luck Anette! I've never been a smoker but keep at it, you seem to be going so well. And as you said, you're saving a LOT of money now, and you can use it to do all sorts of fun things.

Hey Anette!
I've always been fascinated by people who were able to quit smoking just like that... And I know lots of people who have done it! Keep on going, and I'll be following your progresses with interest
Btw, yeah I've read some books which I didn't want to end So when they did, I just continued the stories in my mind
Good luck with the non-smoking!!
Love, AH

--
"Excuse me, but can I be you for a while? My dog won't bite if you sit real still"