I'm really trying to quit so I looked up some sites and I found this I'm only 16 so I really want to quit before I turn 18 and can buy my own cigarettes so I hope i can get the most help from all of you because I really need it
Oh, my - how absolutely WONDERFUL that you are ready to quit at 16. You made my day better!!! You will have to take my advice with a "take what you need and leave the rest" attitude because it is geared to adult quitters.
The important thing you can do right now is to educate yourself on what nicotine does to your body and mind. To that end, I highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” This is an easy and entertaining read. You can search for it online or at your local library. Here's a link to a video here on the site which describes nicotine addiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpWMgPHn0Lo&feature=youtu.be.
You should also read the posts here and perhaps go to the pages of folks who you think might be helpful. You might visit whyquit.com, quitsmoking.com and livewell.com for the good information contained there. @https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/best-of-ex has lots of blogs written by members of this site with their experiences and guidance. You should also do the tracking and separation exercises recommended here on the site.
After you have completed the recommended reading, it will be time to make an informed choice of the quit aid, if any, you will use. If you go that route, I personally recommend the aids that don't let the addict control the dose such as the available prescription drugs or the patch. If used properly, gum, lozenges and inhalers are fine, but they need to be used only as a last resort. I have seen folks become addicted to them if they substitute them for every cigarette they used to smoke - just trading one addiction for another. I do not recommend the e-cigarette for three reasons: 1) the vapor has been compared to the polluted air in Bejing on a bad day, 2) they just provide another nicotine delivery system while continuing the hand to mouth smoking motion, and 3) the batteries can spontaneously catch on fire. . But – any method that you think will work well for you will be best for you.
The idea is to change up your routines so the smoking associations are reduced. I don't know if your family knows that you smoke, or if you only smoke away from home. If it's always before school, take a different route there. If it's after school, find something else to do during that time. If it's out with friends, stay away from any who smoke for a bit when you first quit. Feign an illness - or punishment - or whatever it takes. Rearrange the furniture in the areas you used to smoke so the view is different.
You need to distract yourself through any craves. You can take a bite out of a lemon (yup - rind and all), put your head in the freezer and take a deep breath of cold air, do a few jumping jacks, go for a brisk walk or march in place, play a computer game. Keep a cold bottle of water with you from which to sip. Don't let that smoking thought rattle around in your brain unchallenged. Sometimes you need to quit a minute or an hour at a time. You will need to be disciplined in the early days to distract yourself when a crave hits. Get busy! Here is a link to a list of things to do instead of smoke if you need some fresh ideas:
The conversation in your head in response to the "I want a cigarette" thought needs to be, "Well, since I have decided not to do that anymore, what shall I do instead for the three minutes this crave will last?" Then DO it. You will need to put some effort into this in the early days, but it gets easier and easier to do.
Stay close to us here and ask questions when you have them and for support when you need it. We will be with you every step of the way!
Welcome ! Im happy to see your here and realizing its time to quit ! Your doing yourself a huge favor.
Okay so here's the fast simple thing to do....most important is that you understand that the reason you keep wanting to smoke is because every single time you light up, you wake up brains receptors and they set you up to crave the next smoke. Therefore, they need to be starved.
I recommend you do some homework by reading as much info as you can on this site. Theres also a SUPER FAST READ , A book by Alan Carr called the Easyway to quit smoking. Highly recommend it.
Make a list of all the things that TRIGGER your desire to smoke and beside each one list what you will do to replace the smoke for every trigger you list.
Stay active here. Blog often and stay in touch.
I want you to be successful so do your homework first, then quit. The more you understand this addiction, the better your chances are to have a successful quit.
You are to be commended for coming here at your age and starting this journey now!
Theres another awesome site with TONS of info called WHYQUIT.com...Check it out also
Start a journal and collect your thoughts as you go through this so you can keep track of your craves, feelings and all.
Welcome to EX, what an absolutely wonderful goal you have to quit now...not only before you can buy your own cigarettes but before you have likely done any damage to your lungs. Quitting is not an event, it is a journey and it is one day at a time. You need to read everything you can about nicotine addiction and understand that it IS an addiction and that recovery is ongoing. I came to this site every morning and every evening and I still do, for the most part, over five years after I quit. I smoked for a very long time and did a great deal of damage, I wish I had been as smart as you are and that I had quit early. Many people have found the book "The Easy Way to Quit Smoking" by Allen Carr to be very helpful, you can probably get it from your local library. I have also heard many people talk about the site Whyquit.com and many stories of quitters there. I think it is best to make a plan My EX Plan | BecomeAnEX and that may help you. I suggest reading a couple of blogs on here...there are way too many for me to recommend all of them. I suggest reading one by YoungAtHeart For Our New Years' Quitters (and community members, too) and another one by JonesCarpeDiem For Our New Years' Quitters (and community members, too) You can find lots more at https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/best-of-ex . I don't know if you have support at home, I would like to think that you have family and friends who can help you as well as a family doctor. You CAN do this and you have a HUGE advantage over many of us who have smoked for lifetimes.
Oh wow, congrats on wanting to quit at such a young age and before you are so deep into it, that you really can't get away from it!
If only I had calculated the affects that smoking would do to me down the road (here I am 43 years later) I would have done what you are doing now! Back then it was a "I thought it was a cool thing to do" and "I was a rebellious teenager".......
Believe me, you want to quit now, and here's why.....
It Is NOT Cool!
It ages you way faster than you would normally otherwise!
It stains your teeth....
It gives you bad breath...
It makes your hands smell.....
It makes your clothes smell.....
It does not, and I repeat....DOES NOT....make you look cool....
It is an addiction that is hard to beat if you do it long enough......
It causes so many health issues.....Also makes recovery last longer than normal.....
It continuously costs more and more money........
You are literally making others rich by being addicted to their product....
There are so many better things to do with your life than smoke.....It truly is a time sucker! A waste of precious time!
I am quite sure I am forgetting so many more things right now, but one thing I know, is life is better without smoking!
I wish someone had pushed me harder to quit a long time ago.....You have your whole life ahead of you, and you don't want to shorten it by smoking! Stay here, read the things that are offered up to you, and I don't care how young you are, you will make good friends here, who will continue to support you while you are quitting, and perhaps you can show others around you, that smoking is not a requirement to be cool.....Welcome to EX Nathaniel.....
You are in the right place for success, just add the commitment, and you too can do it!
Welcome Nathaniel-lee, you're making the best decision that you'll ever make in your lifetime and you are going to be successful one precious Smokefree Day at a time or hour minute or even a second at a time and you've also made my day because quitting at 16 is the smartest and the decision that you'll ever so you enjoy a lifetime of Freedom.
From a bunch of old people that have smoked longer than your parents have been alive, please stop now. Throw your cigarettes far, far away and run like hell. It is so amazing that you are mature enough to already be reaching out. You obviously have a good head on your shoulders. However like most people your age, you probably think us old people have no “clue”. I’m not going to do a lot of preaching to you cause you probably don’t want to hear it.
Smoking is stupid. It stinks, its expensive and carrying those oxygen tanks all over so you can breathe is so not a good look.
16 and a whole life ahead of you. And you've already wised up enough to know smoking is not a friend you want hanging around with you. Smart! You also know yourself well enough to know that once you can buy them on your own, you're likely to. So you kinda "get" they're addictive. Where are you getting them, by the way? Just curious. Out of your parents packs or from friends? (Don't worry, we won't tell. lol We don't even know who your parents are. Many of us have snitched a cigarette or two from our parent's packs. I did! I'm just curious because - well I have a curious nature! And I'm not 16 any more, so I haven't a clue as to where you might be getting them. Teach us! We need learning just like you.)
Anyway, you will get a whole lot of more wisdom if you hang around with us. We may be older than you, but we were YOU once. And you haven't been US yet. Ya know?!!!
Keep a sense of humor about you! It'll make the journey that much more fun and less onerous (look it up!) So glad you came here. Stick around. The discoveries are never ending!
I'm impressed! At 16, I wasn't thinking about quitting. You are way more wiser today than I was at your age. Stay connected, read through the things they tell you to. I have been a smoker for years and I am new to this site and taking the members advice.
Kudos from me too. Obviously, we're all impressed that you made that decision to quit at such a young age. There's still time to avoid all the side effects that other's have mentioned. Pick a quit date that's not far off and plan and educate yourself to prepare. There's great support here, so if you need help we're here for you.
You can do this....and the rewards are awesome. I'm on my quit journey and have had ups and downs but I don't regret quitting. Good luck to you. Stay positive
Congrats on finding us! If you really, really want to quit as you say, you are in the right place for support, stay close, blog about your journey, forgot about "trying" and say "I am here to quit", the word "try" leaves room for failure. And we don't want that, do we. On a TedEx, someone was saying "the mind is doing what we really want, but we need to tell it what it is we want" Tell yourself I really want to quit no matter what, and ask here any questions you might have about the process of quitting.
Congratulations on your decision to Quit smoking ... especially at an early age...Gosh I wish I had done that hon...now work the program and gain Knowledge and Preparation for your Quit day...Keep close to the site so we can help you through your craves...~ Colleen
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