HOW DO I LEARN HOW TO QUIT SMOKING?

[jean10]

Ok, so I just joined and I don't know what to do next? Joining a site that says it's going to be of help, and finding nothing on here to guide my steps to quit....it's not really a big help. WHAT DO I DO NEXT? I went from smoking half pack a day and this week, I've only had one cigarette a day. I think I can finish this pack, 18 cigs left and be done, IF i just smoke in the evening, when craving is greatest. but really, what do I do? where are the suggestions?

[hwc]

If you are down to one cigarette a day, just pick a day, throw what you have left in the dumpster and quit while you are ahead.

That's incredible to be down to one cigaratte a day. You are already in full nicotine withdrawal. It shouldn't be any worse to just quit entirely.

All you really need to do is come up with some little tricks to work around the craves. You probably already have some. Suck on a straw. Eat sunflower seeds. Whatever.

[jean10]

I think I will be "generally" ok, but the only big issue I will have is when I am driving. That's when I did most of my smoking. I dread getting back in my car and wondering what to do with my hands. I tried to quit a few times in the past. One time I sucked on a straw. I thought that would help. No, not so much!

Then another time, I kept my last cig butt and when I had an urge to smoke, I got that butt out and puffed on it. The thing for me is, I know I have an addiction to nicotine BUT I also LOVE the taste of the cigarette. I enjoy the taste and that's one reason it's been hard for me to quit in the past.

One other time, I switched to menthal cigarettes because I hate the taste of those. It didn't really work that much. I know just kicking them altogether is the only way it's going to work. One motivation I have to quit, not only because of my onset of asthma, caused by smoking, is that I would love to have a sense of smell again. I have some sense of smell but I have to put my nose to something and really breath deep, just to smell something, be it a candle, soap, fragrance of any type, etc.
My fear is that I will eat too much or eat sweets to replace smoking. I do not want to gain weight because I need to lose about 40 lbs to begin with. Any sugguestions on what kind of candy or something to munch on, that helps eleviate urge to smoke?
thanks!
jean

[hwc]

Jean:

To give you a better answer:

The program recommended by Become an EX can be found here:

Become an EX Plan

It is a plan for cutting down your smoking over a few weeks by learning how to work through your triggers, such as wanting to smoke while driving. It also tells you to go get a nicotine patch or gum. And set a quit date a few weeks into the future.

However, you have obviously already done most of this. I don't want you to wait to quit because it is highly unlikely that you can stay at one cigarette a day for very long. You are already experiencing nicotine withdrawal which is not a stable condition. You'll either quit or go back up. Might as well quit! Soon. You are already down to practically zero nicotine per day, so I think it would be counterproductive to start taking more in the form of gum or patches. The whole goal here is to stop being a nicotine addict by never taking another dose of nictotine for the rest of your life.

The recommendation of www.whyquit.com is one I would totally endorse. Their educational materials got me through the first week after 38 years of smoking. I would start with:

The First 72 Hours

Follow the links to Joel's Library and Joel's Audio/Video Lessons for more info. It's all free.

As for the car. We've all been there, done that. You'll have to figure out which of the arsenal of tricks you like. Cut some plastic straws in half and "smoke" them. Suck on a cinnamon stick. Put a rubber band around your wrist and snap it. Play dashboard drums. Scream your fool head off to your favorite radio station. You'll get there. I can't tell you what it's like to do a seven hour drive without a single thought of smoking! Now, that's freedom.

The thing for me is, I know I have an addiction to nicotine BUT I also LOVE the taste of the cigarette. I enjoy the taste and that's one reason it's been hard for me to quit in the past.

I bet that if you are really honest you don't love the taste of very many cigarrettes. You may remember the good ones, but most of our cigarettes are pretty nasty. We smoke 'em because we need a drug fix. Focus on the ones that burn your throat, the ones that you had to force yourself to smoke because you were sick and coughing but needed that nicotine. Most of what we remember as "good taste" is really the ahh feeling from relieving nicotine withdrawal. Take some deep cool breaths and think about how good it will feel to be able to breath again.

I can't emphasize too strongly how close you are to becoming an ex-smoker. One a day is incredible. You are right there. Seize the moment. Just make a commitment to go one day without your one smoke. See how you feel after 24 hours and whether you think you can go for a second day.

[rj_]

Take a read of these.

Education + determination = success

Best of luck, RJ...Free at Last

[rj_]

This hit me when I realized how many times I had attempted to self inflict this method. what misery.

Quitting by the gradual withdrawal method. I discuss this method quite extensively in my seminars. I always tell how if there is anyone attending who knows a smoker who they really despise they should actively encourage them to follow the gradual withdrawal "cut down" approach. They should call them up ever day and tell them to just get rid of one cigarette. Meaning, if they usually smoke 40 a day, just smoke 39 on the first day of the attempt to quit. The next day they should be encouraged to smoke only 38 then 37 the next day and so on. Then the seminar participant should call these people every day to congratulate them and encourage them to continue. I must reemphasize, this should only be done to a smoker you really despise.

You see, most smokers will agree to this approach. It sounds so easy to just smoke one less each day. Thirty-nine cigarettes to a two pack a day smoker seems like nothing. The trick is to convince the person that you are only trying to help them. For the first week or two the one downside is you have to pretend to like the person and you have to talk to them every day. They won’t whine to bad either. When they are down to 30 from 40, they may start to complain a little. You really won’t be having fun yet. When the payoff comes is about three weeks into scam. Now you've got them to less than half their normal amount. They are in moderate withdrawal all the time.

A month into the approach you’ve got them into pretty major withdrawal. But be persistent. Call them and tell them how great they are doing and how proud you are of them. When they are in their 35th to 39th day, you have pulled off a major coup. This poor person is in peak withdrawal, suffering miserably and having absolutely nothing to show for it. They are no closer to ending withdrawal than the day you started the process. They are in chronic withdrawal, not treating him or herself to one or two a day, but actually depriving him or herself of 35 to 40 per day.

If you want to go in for the kill, when you got them down to zero, tell them don’t worry if things get tough, just take a puff every once in a while. If you can get them to fall for this, taking one puff every third day, they will remain in withdrawal forever. Did I mention you really should despise this person to do this to them? It is probably the cruelest practical joke that you could ever pull on anyone. You will undercut their chance to quit, make them suffer immeasurably and likely they will at some point throw in the towel, return to smoking, have such fear of quitting because of what they went through cutting down, that they will continue to smoke until it kills them. Like I said, you better really despise this person.

Hopefully there is no one you despise that much to do this to them. I hope nobody despises themselves enough to do this to themselves. Quitting cold turkey may be hard but quitting by this withdrawal technique is virtually impossible. If you have a choice between hard and impossible, go for hard. You will have something to show at the end of a hard process, but nothing but misery at the end of an impossible approach. Quit cold and in 72 hours it eases up. Cut down and it will basically get progressively worse for weeks, months, years if you let it.

I should mention, this is not a new technique. It has been around for decades. Talk to every long-term ex-smoker you know. Try to find one person who successfully used the cut down approach, gradually reducing to eventual zero over weeks or months. You will be hard pressed to find even one person who fits this bill. One other perspective that should help you see the flaw in the approach. Look at people here who had once quit for months or years and then relapsed. One day, after such a long time period, they take a drag and are smoking again. If one puff can do this after years or decades, guess what it will do after days or hours of being smoke free. It puts the smoker back to square one. All that any ex-smoker has to do to avoid relapse or chronic withdrawal is to - NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF!

Joel

[heather49]

A couple of suggestions, you're using basically the technique that would happen if you were using chantix altho the dis-interest in smoking would be from the medication. So you're telling yourself that you have 18 more cigs to go right? Then count 18 days and that is your quit date. Period. Use NRT if you have to, but on the day you choose to quit, you quit. Prepare yourself. Remind yourself when your quit date is. But you have to quit on that day. Then you will see what a help this website is. That is one suggestion. Another one might say, stop now, throw away the cigs you have left. But this is an individual choice. I personally had to "prepare" myself. In other words, "i have three more days, two more days, one more day, etc.

[hwc]

Heather:

In this case, the odds of sticking to one cigarette per day for 18 more days are so slim that this is a risky approach. There is a very large chance that this smoker will be back to ten cigs per day before getting to Day 18. Jean has an incredible opportunity right now. She may not even want to quit in 18 days.

Or.... quit today and in 18 days she will be completely finished with nicotine withdrawal and well on her way to being a comfortable ex-smoker. You don't quit smoking by continuing to smoke.

[edith2]

It doesn't matter when you smoke, how often, what time or regular or menthol. Smoking is an addiction. So no matter how you do it, you're feeding the addiction. So when you stop, it is quite an adjustment because your body starts healing as soon as you put that last cigarette out. It's not the taste that you like so much, it's that smoking is your comfort blanket and companion. The thing about that also is that it's going to kill you alot sooner if you continue. As far as munching on food, I would suggest nuts. Trail mix. Raw almonds. They help with the craving of putting something in your mouth. Then get something to do with your hands. I bought myself a hand-held solitaire game. Anything to keep your hands busy. Rubix cube. That little toy you squeeze and his eyes pop out. It's also a matter of changing your lifestyle from a smoker to a non-smoker. It takes time and it can be done.

[cainan-fortun]

Get this book! "You Can Stop Smoking" by Jacquelyn Rogers. If you are serious about quitting this book will help. You can get it through Amazon for around $6.00. Here is the ISBN# 0-671-52303-1. Use the people on this website along with the book to help and support you.