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Give and get support around quitting

twalker94
Member

Help me stop smoking

Plz

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5 Replies
JACKIE1-25-15
Member

 to the Ex Community

You have come to the right place for help to quit smoking. Quitting is doable.  Education is the key to successfully quit. It is suggested to read Allen Carr's Easyway to Quit Smoking which can be found on pdf on the web.  Another good site to get info is www.whyquit.com.  There are several articles to read.  Nicotine 101 and Freedom From Nicotine My Journey Home.  Quitting takes planning and preparation go to EX Plan | BecomeAnEX to decide how you are going to go about quitting. To get help on navigating the site go to. Community Help‌. 

Make quitting smoking your number one priority. Start by getting rid of anything associated with smoking such as ashtrays, lighter, etc.  You can do this if you make up your mind that you can.  Relearning your thinking that you do not have to smoke is a good beginning.  No matter what never ever take another puff.  NOPE.  Take smoking off the table as an option and do something different. 101 Things to Do Instead of Smoke SINAO smoking is not an option.  One day at a time.  Never give up, never give in. Hang tough.

Beck37
Member

Welcome!!! We are here for you... What can we do to help?

Beck

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sweetplt
Member

Hi and Welcome to Ex’s...glad you found our site.  You are here so you want to quit smoking which is good.  I believe knowledge, preparation, and hard work will get you quit and keep you quit.  Read My EX Plan | BecomeAnEX and set a quit day and plan for that day like no other.  Search for blogs and read on helping with this quit.  Also, keep close to here for support and to give others help.  WE are in this journey together...You can do this and I know, I was you 139 days ago...~ Colleen 

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YoungAtHeart
Member

Welcome to our community!

This endeavor requires education about the addiction, preparation, planning, support and commitment.  We can help with all but the last  After you have done the beginnings, you need to make up your mind that you are not going to smoke another cigarette NO MATTER WHAT!  Then you must honor that decision one day at a time, sometimes an hour or a few minutes at a time....but you MUST stick to it.

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. If you do nothing else to get ready for your quit, please do give this a read.


 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. Here is a video to inform you further about nicotine addiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpWMgPHn0Lo&feature=youtu.be.

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 after you have tried to delay and distract.   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.  You need to start out with a plan to reduce use of them over time - which the patch does by decreasing the dose contained in them..  For the gum, you can start by cutting each piece in half, then in quarters, then sub regular gum of the same flavor in between, adding more and more regular gum.  For the lozenge, you need to start subbing a mint in between to begin, increasing the number of them over time.  I do not recommend the e-cigarette for four 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,  3) the batteries can spontaneously catch on fire and 4) you can become addicted to that and it has not yet been proven safe .
 

It will be informative if you do the tracking and separation exercises recommended here on the site. As you track each cigarette smoked, note its importance, and what you might do instead. Put each one off just a little to prove that you don't NEED a cigarette just because you think you do.
 

The idea is to change up your routines so the smoking associations are reduced.  Drink your coffee with your OTHER hand in a place different from when you smoked. Maybe switch to tea for a bit.  If you always had that first smoke with your coffee, try putting your tennies on right out of bed, going for a quick walk, then taking your shower and THEN your coffee! Rearrange the furniture in the areas you used to smoke so the view is different. Buy your gas at a different station. Take a different route to work. Take a quick walk at break time where the smokers AREN'T.
 
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:
 https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/Youngatheart.7.4.12-blog/2013/02/25/100-things-to-do-instea...
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!


 Nancy

elvan
Member

Welcome to EX, you have gotten the best possible advice above.  Quitting is not an event, it is a journey and sometimes, it is one moment at a time.  The rules are very simple...just don't smoke.  You can do this, education, support, and commitment will pull you through.

Stay close to the site, read, comment, blog, we all want you to succeed.

Ellen

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