49 Years A Smoker

[kanndak]

The first cigarette I smoked was at age 10. I remember it like yesterday. The neighbor kid stole a pack of Belair menthols from his parents and we hid out in the woods and took our first puff. I got the spins really bad and got sick to my stomach but had heard that if you kept smoking those feelings would disappear. They were right,a pack later I was smoking without any adverse affects. I'm not really sure what made me want to try it because both my parents smoked and I hated the smell. quite a few of the kids I knew smoked so I just kept on going. About three years into smoking I decided I was going to quit. This was before patches and gum etc. Well guess what, I was hooked I just couldn't seem to make it through the day without a cigarette.

     I've tried patches, gum, lozenges, Wellbutrin, Chantix and cold turkey. Heck I even tried cold showers. I've tried at least 10 times or more in my life to quit. I always made it past the supposed three day feelings start to diminish stage. Guess what the feelings were still there. Even after three months I felt like I just quit yesterday. It didn't matter that I knew how many cigarettes I didn't smoke or how much money I saved all I knew is that I had been brainwashed by nicotine. I bought "The Easy Way to Quit Smoking " book, which by the way is a very good book. But it hasn't worked. I'm at wits end. I have early stages of COPD now. I get a bad case of bronchitis that can last for months every time I catch a cold. and I'm not getting any younger.

     IT'S TIME TO QUIT!!!! I'm wide open to suggestions, but know that this isn't the first time I've had to deal with this so the standard replies for how to make it through this addiction are things I'm already familiar with. My hopes are that there are some creative minded ex smokers that have a new or fresh idea to try. I still haven't tried hypnosis. Does this work for some? Is it worth spending the money on? I'm currently trying the Nicoderm patches again. I'm two days a non smoker and of course not feeling at all satisfied by the patch. No, I'm not closing myself off to any type of suggestions that are the standard just looking for new ones. Thanks for being here to talk and vent to.  

[Barbara145]

Hello.  So glad you found this site.  I smoked for 52 years.  I tried to quit many times and I could never succeed.  I was hypnotized no less than 4 times.  I did it with a group a couple of times and then I tried a private hypnosis person a couple of times.  Needless to say it did not work.  The experts from Mayo Clinic are associated with this site.  For people who need it, they recommend  2 forms of nicotine replacement.  I quit using the patch and the gum when I needed it.  It worked for me along with coming to this site frequently for support.  I needed the daily support and encouragement for at least a year.  Congratulations on 2 days.  You are beginning a journey that is remarkable in so many ways.

[anaussiemom]

Yes Hypnosis works.   Try it on you tube first, would be my first suggestion. It is not quite like they  ask you to act like a duck or anything, and you wanna do it! Just a relaxed state is all!   You can wake yourself out of if you want.  Most of us do not want to.  Feeding our brains positives, does indeed change the brain!! kanndak   Also can do it at night with ear buds, usually drifting off is fine and for some an extra good thing   Also found acupuncture, useful.. YOU do have to want to quit.
There is no way around that.  Committing to the quit everyday is the key....Hence I believe, that is the main ingredient! 

Best wishes!

[JACKIE1-25-15]

Hypnosis was a short-lived experience for me.   Two days not smoking is a great start.  Come here as often as you need to.  You say you have tried just about everything.  Have you ever tried a support group? I don't mean just register and leave.  How about bookending your days here?  When you need help come here first.  You said the book did not work for you.  Maybe just reading some of the blogs here may help to start. Welcome. Quitting takes a lot of work. 

[KMC56]

40+ years of smoking, 1010 DOF.

Seemed like climbing a mountain with the aid of tooth picks!!!  But I made it to the summit, well worth the climb my friend.

Every year getting older and wishing , or making promises to quit on this year or tha year...just came to a point..I wasn't going turn 60 with a cigarette controlling my life.

I couldn't have been this successful without the aide of this site...blogging and whining..most importantly moving forward one day at a time.

You can do This!

~Kathy 

[Bonnie]

Thank you for your honesty.  I, too, was a former "serial quitter" and tried everything (except Chantix) that you have, even Nicotine Anonymous, face-to-face.  What made this last time my "forever" quit?  God knows I certainly knew my "triggers" by then.  I knew that the emotional "stuff" and the games my nicotine-addicted brain would play with me would be the battle to win. One day at a time, sometimes one moment at a time...dealing with the smoking "thoughts" (because that's all they really are, after the physical withdrawal--which you say it easy for you to get past--is over).  I just had one this evening, because I was happy about something...how ridiculous is that?  I say pretty ridiculous, and I shook my head at the thought...and I laughed.  NO WAY am I ever going to light another death stick.  I am so grateful this part of my life is in my control

This group made the difference for me--all the knowledge and support...the love, really.  No one knows how hard it is to quit an addiction more than a recovering/recovered addict.  And this group is here 24/7...I could blog and whine and pout and boast about my milestones any time I wanted, express my feelings and sometimes just expressing my feelings was all I needed to move forward.

I have read from some folks (like Barbara145) that you can use the patch with an oral aid (gum or lozenge).  I didn't know you could do that.  It might have helped me quit sooner to use both, plus Wellbutrin.  I personally would use anything and everything I could if I was starting to get COPD--I have a friend who smoked and never tried to quit until she was diagnosed--she quit and stayed quit but her life has been changed...she couldn't smoke now if she wanted to, her breathing is so bad...and so many of the things she wanted to do now that she's retired she can't do.  My best friend is on the same path...I find it so very sad.

About hypnosis: I tried it once and that quit lasted 3 days, only until some "stressor" or "trigger" happened...a mind game that I lost, time and time again. 

I really hope that you keep coming back.  I couldn't have done it without this great group of people.  We all want you to succeed this time.  It is so very hard to quit and then start up again and then quit and start up again.  The vicious cycle just tears down your self-esteem, not to mention your finances, and your precious health.

There are some very wise people who are active on this site and dedicated to helping people success in quitting nicotine.  I decided to stick with the winners and I am so glad I did.

Bonnie

386 Days of Freedom

[Barbscloud]

I smoked for 50 years and have 321 DOF today.  I've tried nicotine patches, nicotine gum, acupuncture, hypnosis, Chantix, etc.  This time I used Welbutrin, nicotrol inhalers, smoking cessation and the Ex.  Did one thing help the most or was it the combination of them?   I know having a support site has really made a difference.  Having somewhere to go when you think you can't go any longer without a smoke has kept me smoke free.  It's not easy, but you can do it.  No matter what you use, you have to want it.  

Barb

[kanndak]

Thank you everyone for your heart felt responses. First thing in the morning is always my roughest time and sitting here reading your letters makes me even more determined to get past this. 

[JACKIE1-25-15]

Yes, you can.  Continue to come here.  Support makes all the difference in quitting smoking.  We can not do it alone.  If you need help just holler. 

[anaussiemom]

JACKIE1-25-15  Hypnosis is on going.   Positive affirmations. That is pretty much what hypnosis is.  You tube.com  is great to refuel and reteach the brain, positive food for thought!  Lots of fabulous hypnosis on the web to reinforce positive thought as much as you want.  It is a resource" available to all. 

Kudos!

[Barbscloud]

Kim, I paid a good bit of money to see a hypnotist that was recommended to me.   That didn't work.

[JACKIE1-25-15]

Hypnosis to quit smoking did not work for me. 

[anaussiemom]

It works for me for free.   I do have to be consistent, for me feels like a good form of meditation, so I use it when I have the time.   I only listen to certain ones on youtube.com.  I am sorry it didnt work for you or Jackie. 

  I would not recommend  paying  for it, if you can get it for free. 
When I finally learned, it is more a form of meditation, for me.  I realized it helps, for urges and nerves. 
 


No magic cure for addiction for sure.

[Posamari]

For me hypnosis did not work. 

Everyone is different.

Tough realism works for me.

COPD, death, being hooked up to oxygen 24/7, having something/nicotine CONTROL me and thus my life. 

Smoking is a form of slow suicide and I wanted to live and have the respect from my daughters as a non smoker. 

I love to travel; now it is so much easier. I'm not looking for a place to have a quick smoke between flights or wherever I am.

I no longer smell. Or paranoid I smell like a disgusting cigarette.

Febreeze and sprays be gone!

The stress of not worrying about the smell of tobacco is very liberating.

I smoked on and off for 35-40 yrs. So glad I got that monkey off my back.

Quit now before your body quits for you because of smoking related illnesses and death.

No one has ever said

'I regret quitting smoking'.

The freedom of not being

'a smoker' is amazing.

It's not easy but so worth it in the long run.

Stay close to the site for support and educate yourself on everything nicotine/tobacco/smoking addiction.

You can do this! 

[JACKIE1-25-15]

Love your enthusiasmsm.

[maryfreecig]

     I'm all out of fresh ideas. I did nothing unique or unusual to quit, though I did offer myself two choices: quit now or quit now. I also told myself, once I quit, that I would go back to smoking if I did not get better, but that today would not be that day. It took me 1 year ten months to turn the corner (fyi--I went cold turkey, very little support--mostly online information and videos, no Ex). I was 54 when I quit and found it hard to change my thinking. Still I persisted (Thank God). Came to Ex 2 years in and 10 months not smoking. I'd improved a lot, but I found helping others, and hearing how other were staying smober, helped me to really clean up the murkey areas of my smobriety.

One thing stood out to me in your blog:

    You said you felt the same three months in--to me that sounds as if you did not change your thinking, you just didn't smoke. I think quitting cigarettes is, for many of us, much like sobriety is to an recovering alcoholic. Smobriety as a former smoker comes one step at a time--some come together faster than others. But recovery is real, so please stick with Ex, become of a part of a smober group made up of newcomers and everyone else.

[Mike.n.Atlanta]

Well I've gotta stick my nose in here. All of the NRTs are all well & good but they don't work on their own. You hafta make em work. There is no magic bullet. If we want it...we'll make it work. Stick around & let us help.

[anaussiemom]

Exaggzactly.  Mike.n.Atlanta  !!  

Wish there was a magic way!

[kanndak]

I don't think it's so much changing the way you it's more about redirecting. When I said three months in felt just like the first day. I was sitting in my vehicle for lunch. I always smoked during lunch in my vehicle. There was no escape from where I was. Thinking about sunny beaches or how great life was without cigarettes didn't take away this daily experience. I know your probably thinking why not eat lunch somewhere else and the answer is during the winter when these feelings hit me it was not an option. When I wrote about it being like the first day, I couldn't figure out how to free myself from being in a spot that I will always be in at some point. It is like many other situations that throw the fact that you smoked in your face. For me it eventually caused me to go back to smoking. I'm just saying it is extremely difficult to train the brain to change how you think about certain situations that may arise daily. 

[elvan]

No one said it was easy...well, maybe Allen Carr did, I quit so many times in the past that I lost track.  I lost more than one quit because I was fighting the craves...I was exhausted.  I did not realize that recovery is a journey...one day at a time.  I changed my routines, every morning, I came to EX, I also came here every evening and any time during the day when I could.  I read blogs, I read what was working for others and I tried some of the things...some were just not going to happen for me.  I have COPD, I had the upper lobes of both of my lungs surgically removed because of the damage.  I am on oxygen at night only, I work out regularly and I eat a healthy diet.  I WORK my quit.  I don't have craves any more, I have been free for more than five years.  I accepted that smoking did nothing FOR me, only TO me and it got easier.  I did and I still do deep breathing because it's GOOD.  I stay close to this site so I can welcome new people and learn all kinds of things that help on this journey.  I never expected to get addicted, I was 17 when I started and I remember hearing two girls in the rest room at school talking about how hard it was to get through the day without a cigarette.  I smoked maybe two cigarettes a week...I HATED the way they tasted, after smoking for 47 years, I STILL hated the way they tasted and the way they smelled and the way people looked at me if they saw me smoking.  I never want to go back there and give up control of my life.  You CAN DO THIS.

Welcome to EX,

Ellen