Help with quitting

[tallmidget]

I have been a smoker for almost 35 years.  Like most I have quit multiple times(all when I was younger).  I have tried a few times in recent years and failed yet again.  My problem is that I am OCD and require routine in my life.  I can find a way to get past the nicotine, but the change in routine is so difficult for me.  I do not have medical insurance, so medication is out of the question.  I have tried all the usual things(straws, candy, gum, healthy snacks. etc) and none of those have worked.  The older I get, the more important my daily routine is to me.  Quitting smoking means making about 20 changes to my daily routine.  The thought is just terrifying!  I plan on purchasing the Harmless Cigarettes and giving those a try. I was hoping that someone else here has OCD and can give me some pointers on how to deal with the changes that are about to happen.  My anxiety(which i also have issues with) is already through the roof just thinking about the disruption in my life.  Any advice would be appreciated.  Thank you.

[CommunityAdmin]

Welcome: Search results with OCD Should get you started on reading until someone else arrives to comment.

Mark
EX Community Manager

[AnnetteMM]

My daily routine has always been extremely important to me, so in order to help me quit I first bought and learned to use a vaping device.  I didn't buy any more cigarettes, just replaced them with the vaping materials.  So at any time I usually had a cigarette I vaped for a few minutes.  After two months of that, I was due to run out of that, so I decided to stop at that point.  I count my quit date as the first day I did not vape or smoke at all.  It's been over 100 days, and my daily routine is just fine.  I think that the vaping helped me change.  I'm sure others will have their own stories.

[constanceclum]

Nicotine patches at walmart cost $16.00 for a week supply-much cheaper than cigs. I have bipolar depression and I think it makes quitting harder but still much easier than the mod. to severe copd I live with daily. I have tried many times to quit smoking-unsuccessfully but I'm quitting again on Mon. We can do this together.

Connie

[TW517]

"I have tried all the usual things(straws, candy, gum, healthy snacks. etc) and none of those have worked."  I had 6 halfway serious quits that I failed, and numerous 1-3 day quits that never took off.  I sounded just like you each time.  The patch didn't work.  The gum didn't work.  The Chantix didn't work.  The straws, candy, gum didn't work.  After finding this site, doing a bunch of reading here, and researching about addiction, I finally realized it was me that wasn't working, not all those other things I was trying to put the blame on.  I too have OCD and anxiety issues.  Those can't be blamed either.  All of those things your addiction is trying to get you to believe, "I can't quit because _______" are lies.  You can do it.  Read as much as you can here, and keep posting asking for help, as well as posting your honest feelings.  No one will judge here.  Welcome to EX!

[elvan]

Welcome to EX, read all that you can about nicotine addiction...it is not making your OCD better, it is feeding it and convincing you that you cannot survive without it.   Of COURSE you can...you cannot even begin to imagine what it is like to deal with the results of lung damage caused by smoking.  At the beginning, it was difficult for almost all of us, we were all scared, none of us wanted to fail.  I think the best thing you can do is to track your cigarettes...figure out when and WHY you are smoking, don't allow it to be your "routine"...that's not an answer.  Do you smoke because you are stressed?  Do you smoke because you think you earned a "reward?" Think about it and pay attention to what smoking does FOR you because I promise you that it doesn't do anything good.  Changing routines can be done with a plan and working your way up to implementing that plan can make you successful.  My EX Plan | BecomeAnEX   Know what to expect, replace your current routines with healthy ones and understand that you are giving yourself a gift.  I am not going to pretend it is easy...it certainly wasn't for me but after more than four years smoke free I can honestly say that I have never regretted quitting...not EVER.  Stay close to the site, read what is working for others...implement what you can, you need to start to replace your associations with new, healthy ones.  You CAN do this, there are a lot of people here dealing with different forms of mental illness and they are making it work.  

Again welcome,

Ellen

[GyorgyiM]

Under your particular duress I am sorry to say I do not have the same experiences nor can I relate to what you are going through but please allow me to at least offer you SUPPORT and ENCOURAGEMENT that you CAN accomplish getting through this battle! The advice that you will receive here, please do not take it for granted. These wonderful individuals  KNOW what they are talking about and have proven that there "is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow"....Health, Happiness and FREEDOM.....

Just ask, and you shall receive....

Miles of Smiles......