Stopping with smoking.

Just quit three weeks ago now. Have been smoking quite heavily, especially the past 3-4 years. Quit cold-turkey, no patches, no gum, no vape, nothing. Only the first few days you're going to have a lot of cravings, be strong. The bigger issue, at least for me, is breaking the habit, not so much the need or cravings.

Had to quit, managed to get my veins so clogged up I started having problems walking. I need to go to a vascular surgeon to clear things up, which will happen next week.
 
It's easy to quit. I've done it hundreds of times. (old joke)

I once dated a girl who knew her smoking was a roadblock to her gaining me, a non-smoker, as a husband. (Her words, not mine.) She said she kept a pack in her closet and, whenever she felt a craving, she'd go and look at the cigarettes, then close the door. Just knowing they were there helped her.

When we broke up, she said she would always be grateful to me for getting her to quit. She has more energy. Breathes better. And she can smell things she couldn't before.
 
I used Chantix. My dentist at time prescribed it for me. It was about 10 years ago, and I'd been smoking heavily since my teens, so about 40 years or so, I think. The idea of Chantix is that the first week you smoke as much as you want, and taper off during the next 3 weeks, I think (my memory is hazy). When it didn't work the first time, I kept trying--the side effects warned about weren't a problem for me. At that time, my wife wouldn't let me smoke in the house, and i finally got down to about 2 a day. Then, I got the flu--and it was too much trouble to go out on the terrace in the winter cold to smoke, so I was able to give up those two a day--maybe one a day by then. But it took longer than it's supposed to, and yes, it's very hard for most people to quit.
 
I stopped in 1996. First, I tried to stop one day, and a weekend just after. It was hard but feasible.

So, I decided to stop definitively. As time passed away, it became easier and easier. I even tried a few times to smoke again, but realised I couldn't anymore. Maybe I wasn't so intoxicated than I believed. I don't know, but it's one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life.

Too many people died around me because of that.

No patch, just mundane chewing-gum (without nicotine).
 
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Nicotine salts might be the most addictive substance on the planet. So you are struggling for a very good reason.
1) Read "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking" by Allen Carr. My friend told me everyone who reads the book quits smoking, she read and quit, and I was, like, nah, no way. Then I read the book and quit smoking.
2) Chantix. Really, really helped to start gaining some nonsmoker time for me. But I relapsed a couple of times even on Chantix. The key is to keep quitting, even after you relapse, because the most important thing is to gain as much time NOT smoking as possible, for your brain to relearn living healthy and without constant nicotine drip.
3) Patches. They work pretty well if you do them in the right sequence. For me they worked well after I already had some experience living without smoking. They were the last thing I used when I quit ~11 years ago.
4) Go on a support forum - there's a pretty good one, or used to be at least, https://forums.delphiforums.com/quit_smoking The research shows that a lot more people quit and stay quit if they use social support of any kind. And there are good learning resources there too. I used it back years ago, and it was crucial for my success.
You can do this! Beat this nicodemon!
As a side note, lozenges (chewing gum with nicotine) may not be a good tool. Patches are better because you get a constant release of nicotine versus spikes from each gum piece (which you want your body to forget).
 
I was a heavy smoker for 50 years, as were many of the programmers I worked with over the time. Roll-your-own.

First diagnosed with COPD (emphysema) in 2005 but kept smoking, moved to the coast in 2012 and switched to vaping in 2016, which is why I'm still alive at all - albeit on 2l/min oxygen 24/7. No more nicotine since 2019.

Since then in an aged care unit attached to my hometown hospital, mostly stuck in bed, working on my phone, and still glad to be alive; only physically afflicted so far.

Not a humble brag. Alain, you have the chance for a bit of a hard struggle, then a new life!
 
It was a 44 year span between my first smoke and my last. Like many, I tried to quit several times but wasn't successful until I committed to myself to really stop smoking for good. I set a date and time - 12 noon the day after my birthday and kept it. It wasn't hard for me, I didn't have any withdrawal symptoms even after smoking a pack of Marlboro 100s every day. I was just sick of it. That was 8 years ago and I feel so much better. You don't realize how bad cigarettes are until you stop smoking them. They make you stink and are extremely unhealthy. Just man up and quit if you want to, don't if you don't.
 
I've seen people who quit smoking because everyone else around them was rolling their eyes and leaving the area due to the smell of the smoke. And with a lot of public and private places going smoke-free, that was just additional motivation. A few years ago (pre-pandemic), a cousin of mine quit smoking after I pointed out that the smell can get on the clothes, and can be difficult to get out.
 
Oh, by the way, maybe the last thing you need to know before you quit smoking is that nicotine binds to virtually every immune cell in your body and does something to them. Bet you didn't hear that on the news before or won't anytime soon.
 
astyle said:
I pointed out that the smell can get on the clothes, and can be difficult to get out.
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I've seen people getting kicked out of an ICU for their smelly clothing. Smoking in a closed room wearing a fleece...
 
Alain De Vos said:
This is a goal much harder than i imagined.
Good advises ?
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Be a man! It will going to be hell on earth for a couple of weeks, but if you can resist in this time then the need to light for another cigarette will fade away. After that be careful with you're smoking/drinking friends. After a couple of drinks at the party and you will again feel the urge to light a cigarette. You will stop completely to think of cigarettes in maybe a year... That's what I felt in past. Hope it helps.
 
May be replace one addiction with another? Every time you feel like a smoke, go for a walk or do pranayama (deep breathing) exercises (i.e. focus on the health of your lungs).

Typically you have this behavior sequence: cue, craving, response & reward. May be you can learn to identify the cues or triggers that make you crave cigs and try to a) avoid the context where cues occur or b) associate some other (healthy) behavior with these cues. I am not a fan of the "extending the streak" of good behavior method. It is ok to not be perfect and fall off the horse once in a while. The key is to not beat yourself up over it and get right back on the horse!
 
bakul Brings up an excellent point. My problem is eating. When I'm just sitting in front of the computer or TV, I tend to eat cause I think I'm hungry or, more likely, just want something to do with my hands. Then I snack on junk food without paying attention to it and could easily over eat without knowing.

If you smoke because you're on a break or just have nothing else to do--find something else to do! If you need a break from the computer, get up and go for a walk. It should help keep your mind off the craving, I would think
 
Yeah, but what if somebody keeps attacking those time fillers? Like, one time filler is a bad idea, then the next one has serious downsides that you didn't think through, third, fourth, fifth, nth?
 
drhowarddrfine , by "attacking those time fillers", I mean voicing disapproval if they see someone engaging in those activities, launching accusations of wasting time and not being productive, asserting that it's better doing something else, generally acting incredibly unpleasant and toxic, and most importantly, persisting in that behavior for a long time.

Sometimes it feels like the person doing the attacking is just lacking empathy towards the person who's engaging in those time filler activities.
 
astyle I didn't know people did that. It irritates me to no end seeing smokers hanging outside their work on a "smoke break" as if it's some kind of entitlement I don't get to have. If Harry needs to take a break from his terminal, he's going to take a walk (or whatever) anyway so if it keeps him from lighting up--more power to him.
 
I just remembered something. When I was 19 years old, I was riding with some work friends who were all smokers. I asked how they got started and it got around to them trying to get me to start. I remember them trying to teach me how to inhale. When I did it once, I recall my lungs feeling so stuffed up I immediately stopped and never thought about trying again.
 
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