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Give and get support around quitting

Kevmp
Member

Recommendations

I havent bought a pack in three weeks...but still smoke on average 6....down from a pack. I really want to quit altogether but cant get over the hump!!!! Help!!!

14 Replies
Barbscloud
Member

Welcome to the Ex.  The key to a successful quit is an education about nicotine addiction and preparation.  Pick a quit date and go to My EX Plan | BecomeAnEX   and make the commitment.   Read, read, read everything you can on this site.  Change your mindset and believe that you CAN do it.  We're here to support you through every step of your journey.

Barb

Kevmp
Member

Thank you

0 Kudos
YoungAtHeart
Member

Welcome to our community!

Don't despair!  The reason you can't get down to 0 cigarettes is because you are (sorry to tell you!) going about it the wrong way.  What you are doing just keeps you in constant, never ending withdrawal.  When you quit, you are in wicked withdrawal for the first few days, but then when you have stopped for a bit and the brain receptors die off, they quiet a little at a time.  The way you are doing it now,  you are just keeping them alive and demanding!  To be honest, I have a 7+ year quit, and I practically chain smoked up to my quit date - so it's really not necessary to cut back drastically or quit BEFORE your quit date.  Read on to understand why!

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.  This is a better way to prepare than trying to drastically cut back before your quit date.
 

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

Kevmp
Member

Thank you!!

0 Kudos
TikiMama
Member

Welcome to the Ex community, thanks for your honest share! I am on day 4 and I still want to smoke. I did not want to quit, I knew I had to so I took the steps provided by this website. I told people about my quit date and why I wanted to quit. I signed up for the gym and have been to work out every day since quitting. Some moments are definitely more of a struggle than others, but to be fair to the quitting thing, it has lessened up since that first day. I wish you the best and hope you become an ex, too!

TriGirl
Member

Good job! Congrats on 4 beautiful smoke-free days!!!

0 Kudos
sweetplt
Member

HI and Welcome to Ex’s Kevmp 

Glad you found our site...you are down to 6 cigarettes, it is time to quit...you are putting your mind and body through withdrawal on a constant basis.  Please do the work suggested by Barbscloud and YoungAtHeart ... they are giving you good information...Keep close to the site for support and knowledge about this addiction...now get working...and know we are here for you...Happy Sunday ~ Colleen ~ 258 DOF 

jonimarie
Member

If you are down to 6 you can get to zero. 

You have the discipline to get down to 6 so what is stopping you to get to zero. This is the question you have to answer within yourself. All the above material and accepting that this is an addiction makes the zero a day doable.

maryfreecig
Member

...but can't get over the hump...

But you can and now you have a quit community to tell it to--we're here 365. Quitting feels like the end of something precious, too precious to give up. Nothing precious is being given up--it's a dependency and recovery from it is within your grasp. Stick with Ex, stick with your goal.

https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/newbie-quitters/blog/2019/07/26/no-matter-what-never-give-...