Quitting Smoking - Your advice is needed

[ali777]

We all know there is an endless list of health hazards associated with smoking, and hair loss is one of them. In a way, quitting smoking should be considered as one of the hair loss treatments :innocent:....

For me the main factors why I want to quit, in priority order, are:
1) Money
2) Time
3) Social exclusion
4) Health

1) Unfortunately, at this particular moment, time and money are more important than my long term health :dunno: . The amount of money I spent on smoking is crazy, I feel like an idiot paying such high tax on some cancer sticks. The funny part is, I spend less money on food :smack: .

2) Time.... Whenever I try to concentrate and get some work done, something in me tells me I need nicotine and I have to stop whatever I'm doing and go out for a smoke. This can be both good and bad. Sometimes I need a break and smoking is an excuse to step outside, but most of the time it's a distraction.

3) Forget everything CCS says about women, I bet smoking is even a bigger turn off. It's not only about the women, smoking is just not cool anymore, and rightly so. If I go a long time without smoking, and a smoker gets near me, the smell is just awful uke: .

4) And health.... I exercise, etc (too many excuses) so I'm relatively healthy but it's a potentially fatal addiction :x .

So any advice on giving up would be appreciated.

The way I see it, if I can go without smoking for 3-4 days, the rest is easy. The only time I managed to stop smoking, it took me 3-4 days for the cravings to disappear.... I got drunk one night, and I thought one cigarette wouldn't harm me. Well, it did...

I started reading Alan Carr's "easy way to quit smoking", it's a famous book. I have to say this book kinda works, whenever I read a few pages I really don't want to smoke. I haven't finished reading the book yet, so there is still a chance I might become an ex-smoker when I finish reading it. The book gave me an idea (not that original, but it's along the lines of the book), every single time I get a craving for a cigarette I should think about my hairloss and tell myself that I don't need nicotine to feel better about myself. (The book employs "the power of persuasion" tactics and keeps repeating that we don't need nicotine to feel better)

I've also tried NRT (Nicotine Replacement Therapy). The patches, gums, etc make cravings lighter but they don't disappear. NRT just doesn't work for me. I get headaches, anxiety, heart palpitations, etc.

Couple weeks ago I went a whole day without smoking, but the second morning my brain was absolutely blank. If I didn't have to work, it wouldn't be a problem but I need my brain to be alert.

There is no magic solution, the cravings will be there for a few days, but how would you build will power?

If I ever get rid off this addiction, I'm gonna become an anti-smoking activist. Seriously, it's extremely addictive and very hard to beat.

 

[Petchsky]

I quit just recently, though i've never smoked hardcore, 2-3 a day. Same as you, took 3-4 days for the cravings to go away, i just ate and ate and ate...though one thing that helps is to replace one drug for another, but that leaves you no better off...you could drink a pint of water any time you feel a strong need to go outside for a quick toke.

 

[Cassin]

I was a smoker for....10-12 years....I quit about 5 years ago after many failed attempt using various methods.

Smoking is far more mental than people give it credit for so you have to tackle it from a equal parts physical/mental angle. So with that you can't, in my opinion, use crutches like gum, patches or whatever to help you stop.

And the cutting down angle is bull sh*t....who is disciplined to cut down while still smoking? There is too much room to cheat.

You have to hate smoking...loathe it...that's the only way you can start quitting.

So in my opinion the only way to quit smoking is cold turkey. Stop at once. Have your smokes, go to bed and when you wake up drop it.

Day 3 is the hardest since so much of the chemical garbage is flushing out of you...

After a week you will start sleeping better.

After a month you will notice how much more money you have.

After 6 months you won't really think about it anymore and the smell of smoke will literally make you sick. Many smokers talk about how vile the smell is.

After a year you will have a hard time remembering when you quit.

Good luck brother int:

 

[patagonia]

Congrats on that good move..You have my support Ali....

 

[ali777]

Thanks, I might give a go tomorrow.

I do actually hate smoking. I hate the fact that it's having a negative effect on my life. Instead of working for 8 hours a day and relaxing in the evenings, I find myself having lots of breaks and then trying to make up for it in the evenings. I also hate the fact that I don't have spare cash.

In a way, it's not smoking that I hate but the addiction/habit. I want to be free and in control of my life, I don't want my life to revolve around smoking.

 

[The Gardener]

The way I see it, if I can go without smoking for 3-4 days, the rest is easy.

Noooooo.... that attitude will lead to failure.

Another ex-smoker here, I've quit about three or four times, and finally in my mid-30s was successful in putting an end to it for GOOD. I've been quit for, sheesh, its like 7 years now as a non-smoker I suppose?

My advice: I believe the mental processes associated with quitting smoking are EXACTLY similar to those you go through when you are breaking up with a girlfriend. The process can be has hard, or as easy, as you make it for yourself.

Going back to the "breakup" comparison... there are some who go through a breakup, and just drag it out. Constantly thinking about the girl, constantly mourning, constantly engaging in sentimental thoughts about the girl.... these folks are in misery, and if you take the same mental "strategy" in quitting smoking, you'll fail.

Now, THEN, there are those who go through a breakup with a girl, and do whatever they can to make a CLEAN break from her. NO phone calls, NO emails, you trash all of the sentimental memorabilia that she gave you... in other words, these are the people who have made a FIRM decision that this girl is NO GOOD for them, and make a conscious decision that they want a CLEAN break. If they hear a song on the radio that reminds them of the girl, or if they go somewhere and it brings back some special memory that they had with the girl, they CONSCIOUSLY CHOOSE NOT to allow their minds to indulge in sentimental thoughts.

THIS is the mental approach you need to take with smoking. Quitting smoking is like breaking up with that bitchy girlfriend who you KNOW is no good for you, is bad for your esteem, and bad for your wallet.... but, oooh, aaah, the sex and companionship was OH so good. You need to get angry at her. Get angry at the cigarettes. You KNOW they are no good for you, but you also know that over the coming months, she'll start calling you again.... "honey, I really miss you!... I'm so sorry!... Oh, I am really wanting your lovestick tonight, remember the good times honey?.." etc, etc. You need to REMEMBER that this girl, i.e., the cigarettes, were NO GOOD FOR YOU and were just a biitch that were ruining your life.

You need to develop the "clean breakup" mentality, an attitude of fortitude, one that has made conscious decision to take a new path, and LEAVE the cigarettes behind. If you catch yourself getting sentimental about cigarettes, you need to change the thought in your mind.... FIND ways of distracting yourself. DONT ALLOW YOURSELF THE LIBERTY OF GETTING SENTIMENTAL. As long as you can distract your mind for a few minutes, the craving will pass. And as with breaking up with girlfriends, at first you think you've made a horrible decision and second guess yourself... but keep strong... and you know that the more time you put between yourself and that last cigarette, the less sentimental you will get... and in my case, you will just wake up one day and suddenly realize that you have gotten over the cigs, just as after a breakup the day inevitably comes when you realize that you have gotten over the woman.

And in my case, the first thought that came to my mind was cursing myself for not quitting sooner.

It is really a mental thing... quitting can be as easy or as hard as you make it. If you choose to mourn and linger in thoughts of how badly you want a smoke, it will be hell. If you choose to change the subject in your mind and consciously redirect your thoughts to other things, and DON'T allow your head to linger in sentimentality over cigarettes, you'll be surprised just how EASY it is to quit.

Good luck... and all I can say is I just wish I could express to you how much you will appreciate it a bit later down the road. Just have some blind faith during the initial week or so that "this will get better", and stay focused during those first few foggy days when you'll feel like a female on her period.... just keep moving, one step in front of the other.... and BELIEVE ME it gets a LOT easier, QUICKLY.

 

[The Gardener]

I havn't missed cigs at all. In fact, I get mad at myself for smoking all of those years. "Why did I do that to myself?" always comes up.

So true.

After I quit, I was flabbergasted as to why I didn't do it earlier.

 

[Ian Curtis]

Wait! Doesnt smoking lower one's testosterone levels?

 

[Petchsky]

You can't beat a bit of 'erb!

Hey Gardener, you ought to have your own TV show or something, it's just the way you put things and your handy tips on a whole multitude of different things. You still have those tips you used to post on air travel and jet lag?

 

[hair_tomorrow]

Congratulations on your decision to quit smoking.

First, visit: http://www.whyquit.com/

Then, to hang out and commiserate w/ some of the nicest people in the world who are also quitting - go join up w/ the folks over at http://www.quitsmokingmessageboard.com/

"Keep the Quit"

 

[barca FC]

I am addicted to Hookah...its worse than cigarettes...for people who quit, how better did u feel after cleaning ur system from this sh*t other than better sleep (which I really need)?

 

[Eureka]

When I quit it was all mental. Really just being annoyed by the fact that I was being controlled.. by my own doing. I light the smoke.. yet I don't want to?

All came down to the fact that a Smoke couldn't light itself, couldn't find it's way to my lips without my help, and couldn't get itself in my lungs without me.

I stayed quit for over two years after smoking for 5, heavily. But I may start back up given time. I tend to agree with Bill Hicks when it comes to smoking, and I quit more over my own annoyances at being so addicted then any sort of social reasoning, Or fear of health problems in the future.

Although I would go with cigars rather then cigarettes.. too many uneeded toxins involved in smokes.

 

[optimus prime]

How is it going started yet.

I won't offer any advice as I know jack-sh*t about smoking. Just good luck, you can do it.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_rAHnwWfsaY

 

[HughJass]

How's your quitting efforts going Ali?


just started again after 2 years of abstinence :smack:

 

[ali777]

How's your quitting efforts going Ali?

I was going to conveniently ignore this post :innocent:

I still smoke...

It's a mental barrier for me. Yesterday I was traveling and I went without smoking for more than 4 hours, twice. I don't have a problem not smoking when I know I can't smoke, but when I work I keep thinking about it...

I was thinking of trying again one of these days.. I really want to quit. Every single time I light one up, I feel guilty. So, the desire is there, but the will power is missing.

PS: Whenever I get cravings, I'm gonna think 1) hair 2) social acceptability... As I said in my first post, I think smoking is a very big turn off for most girls.

 

[CCS]

I'm just glad smokers hate the smell after they've gone without for a while. The thought of many non-smokers not being bothered by the smell, and me being bothered, just is scary. I like to know that when I ask a smoker to step away from the building, I'll get an applause from the people in the building, and not become and outcast.

One of the guards at my complex likes to smoke in the courtyard. I don't want to get on the guard's bad side, since we are friends right now, but I want to ask him to please smoke another 30 feet away.

 

[kadosh]

the trick is to keep yourself busy . after three or four days it get's a lot easier .
the smell never bothered me though . even before i started smoking .

I quit a year ago .

 

[ali777]

the trick is to keep yourself busy . after three or four days it get's a lot easier .
the smell never bothered me though . even before i started smoking .

I quit a year ago .

If I don't smoke for a few hours, I actually hate the smell of it.

I know it sounds strange.

 

[Petchsky]

I don't think anyone likes smoke when it's in their face, but I don't mind the smell on people, not preferable though.

ccs, if you ask the guard to smoke 30 feet a way, he'll think you're a massive tool :jackit:

 

[Eureka]

Ali I hate that social Acceptability reason .. It's really something ridiculous for someone to be judgmental about.

At least I would have an excuse for stinking, what's everyone else's? Bad breath, B.O etc.. I don't hate on my friends for being stinky sombucks. It's not like your asking other people to smoke, or to inhale your second hand smoke.

But yea if your unhappy about it, It's the mental game man.