How did you quit smoking?

Zenya · September 2011

Not for me - I quit a long time ago.

Chantix?

Nicorette?

Nothing?

I know people on the nest have never smoked Stick out tongue so if you have someone close to you who quit then please answer for them.

[Poll]

mattswife91805 · September 2011

My DH is trying to quit, what is working for him is leaving his money/debit card/credit card at home when he goes to work (unless he needs gas). He is also chewing gum when he gets the urge to smoke. He is doing good so far, hope he can stick with it.

AnnapolisLari · September 2011

I quit when I got pregnant. It took a few weeks after the BFP (gasp!!), but by the end of the first tri I was a nonsmoker and just never picked it up again.

I totally admit that I smoked from high school off and on until I was 37.

mulrooney · September 2011

I started with the patch, but it made me sick/dizzy so I stopped it after 10 days. Then I went white knuckle for 2 weeks until the cravings got less & I became less of a monster. I quit 6 years ago.

ali-1411 · September 2011

I got pregnant. Amazing what throwing up after after cigarette will do to your addiction

I got pregnant with DS when I was 19. Horrible morning sickness but I smoked through the first trimester. Finally gave up but the cravings never went away. I would light a smoke, just hold it and cry because I wanted it so bad. I started smoking again about three days after he was born. Got pregnant again at 25. Smoked through most of the first trimester, was so sick that I gave it up. This time, the cravings went away completely and never really came back. I had a few times that I wanted one when I was drinking but they always made me sick. Its been about 3.5 years now since I quit.

DH quit cold turkey almost two years ago. He didn't use anything but candy.

My dad quit using the gum. My mom tried everything...the patch, hypnosis, gum...It took her 3 or 4 rounds of Chantix to finally be able to quit.

Zenya · September 2011

Thanks for the responses. I quit without anything also. I used a few psychological tricks (waiting myself out, etc) but nothing major. The person I am posting for is convinced she doesn't have the willpower and to me it wasn't necessarily willpower but I don't know how to define it, either. she NEEDS to quit.

justEK · September 2011

For me? I just put it in my head that it wasn't an option to smoke anymore. I had tried to quit so many times before and had zero willpower. I told one person only that I was quitting (ghm). Sadly I've had a few lately, but I think this post has helped me realize I can take control again. So thanks for that.

Angela814 · September 2011

I answered for my sister. She quit several years ago. She had actually quit a few times and then started smoking again. She said that it had to be something she really wanted to do, so when she quit the final time, she did so without any aids.

shopgirl78 · September 2011

I chewed a few pieces of gum for the bad cravings, no more than a handful though.

I used an online support group.

But mostly it was a lot of will, mind over matter...I can put my head strong to good use : )

eta: it did help that I got pregnant a month after I quit and i've sort of convinced myself it only takes one to become an addict again.

Looked this up about me: You've been Quit 2497 days. $12,172.88 and 9 months, 16 days, 4 hours of your life saved!

FriskyPanda · September 2011

Well this time I'm doing the patch (day 1!). I've gone cold turkey (b/c of pg), used gum and patches. This time I'm going to do the whole thing though (the 8 week recommended program) in hopes that it will stick. With the patch, I chew gum (regular) and try to drink more water. I run on the treadmill when the cravings get bad (more the inhaling than the nicotine). I also got fidgety today and washed my cabinets. My H is also quitting now and he is going cold turkey. Our house is not the most pleasant place to be right now, but I think it'll be better in a couple of days.

Also, what helps me is to smoke all the cigs I had. I can't try to quit with cigs in the house/car/etc. It seems like such a waste not to smoke them. I stayed up late last night to finish the pack, and slapped the patch on before I had coffee this morning.

Lastly, when things get rough I look up on the 'net the changes that are happening to my body based on how long it has been since my last cigarette, and I have an app that calculates how much money I've saved by not smoking. Using all of this I was really successful earlier this year (5 months), but made some stupid decisions one weekend in July and here I am. Ugh. I hate it. I tell my SKs all the time to never smoke. I hope they listen.

Rebekah1021 · September 2011

I met the hubby. He grew up with his mom smoking and hated it. Told me it was a dealbreaker. I wanted him.

DandRAgain · September 2011

my dad smoked from the time he was 12 (yes 12, his parents smoked, and it was EASY for him to steal cigarettes and not get caught) until he was 50, most of those years were a pack a day habit.

for YEARS my mom nagged him to quit...and finally she quit nagging.

Then, my dad's mom died of emphasema...a pretty painful/sad death. Then my dad got into the family tree and realized that there has NEVER been another male relative who lived past 50..his own father died a few months after turning 50 of a heart attack...he had male cousins who died of complications of diabetes in their 40s....a few male relatives who died of weird things....a car stalled on a train track, etc...but NO male past the age of 50, and it was a wake up call.

He started chantix one month after turning 50 and now he's 60 and hasn't smoked for 10 years. Now he can't imagine.

If my dad can quit, anyone can.

joy143dh · September 2011

I quit, cold turkey, on Thanksgiving 2010. I had been smoking 2-3 a night. My BFFs dad was dying of cancer and I couldn't stand to see what it did to the kids. I woke up and decided I didn't want to put DS thru it. I still had a 1/2 pack that I just threw away and never looked back.

ETA: I just wanted to add that I don't think it's possible to quit unless you want to quit. And I think (with no research or proof - just real life experience) people who use a "method" (gum, hypnosis, accupuncture) are more likely to pick up smoking again. Most of my friends have gone back because, despite the risk and nastiness, they still enjoy smoking and weren't ready to quit on their own power.

august06mom · September 2011

I quit cold turkey 20 months ago. I just knew I couldn't smoke anymore. I know it sounds easier said than done (and it certainly wasn't easy), but I think people need to have their own epiphany, for lack of a better word.

I also quit when I was pregnant with DS1, but then I started up again when he was 2 months old. Even when I quit that time, I knew I would go back to smoking.

ali-1411 · September 2011

joy143dh:
I quit, cold turkey, on Thanksgiving 2010. I had been smoking 2-3 a night. My BFFs dad was dying of cancer and I couldn't stand to see what it did to the kids. I woke up and decided I didn't want to put DS thru it. I still had a 1/2 pack that I just threw away and never looked back.

ETA: I just wanted to add that I don't think it's possible to quit unless you want to quit. And I think (with no research or proof - just real life experience) people who use a "method" (gum, hypnosis, accupuncture) are more likely to pick up smoking again. Most of my friends have gone back because, despite the risk and nastiness, they still enjoy smoking and weren't ready to quit on their own power.

Ditto this x1000. I tried to quit several times before I was ready and I just couldn't do it. I have an old blog entry from one time I tried and its like the ravings of a lunatic. I always loved smoking. I loved the social outlet it gave me at work, I love the feel of it between my fingers, I loved the smell of opening a fresh pack, I loved the hot smoke going down into my lungs. I don't know if I ever could have quit if the pregnancy hadn't made me so sick.

peekaboo716 · September 2011

I answered for my dad. His story is similar to DandR's dad in that he was scared due to the health of others around him. He smoked for 35+years and most of that was 2 packs a day. He tried hypnosis, prescriptions, gums, everything. But, like joy said, those didn't work because he didn't really want to quit. He finally quit cold turkey because his BFF from high school was diagnosed with lung cancer, his brother had a stroke, MIL had emphysema.

I have a coworker who quit 2 years ago. She went with the gum. One of the things that helped her was having a pack of cigarettes in her freezer. She put it in a freezer bag and froze it solid in a block of ice. That reminder everytime she opened her freezer helped her.

Another coworker and her DH did Chantix. It just made her an unbearable person to be around and she went back to smoking.

jessica1080 · September 2011

Rebekah1021:
I met the hubby. He grew up with his mom smoking and hated it. Told me it was a dealbreaker. I wanted him.

This! I met my hubby and it was a deal breaker for him. I would call him on the phone and he would talk me through my cravings. After a while the cravings got less and less. Although I will admit that I quit smoking over 8 years now and I could pick them up again in a second. I LOVED to smoke!

Jodi&Joe · September 2011

I love smoking.

My lungs don't.

I smoked from the time I was 8 (maybe 10 - however old I was in 3rd grade) until I was in 6th grade (when I got caught by my parents and stopped). Started again right after my 8th grade year was done and smoked until I met Joe at age 22. He did/does not like smoking and I told him I wouldn't smoke around him. I thought it was going to be a one night stand (maybe two nights! LOL). I didn't realize I would marry him. So while we were dating, it was still an issue for him but I would sneak them when I was drinking (either from friends or my sister, whatever). SO I was smoking maybe 10-15 cigarettes a month or so.

Recently, (since we got the Harley basically - so about 1.5 years), I've been buying my own packs. I still only smoke when I'm drinking. But I smoke quite a few when drinking (about 10 or so each time - if we are out for the day). I smoke 1-2 if I'm just hanging at home drinking. I probably now smoke about a pack a month.

I still don't smoke outside of that. But I have noticed lately that I have THOUGHT about smoking at different times (while at work, etc). And the thought (prior to a year ago) would have never even crossed my mind. So I can see how it's slowly creeping it's way back in. I don't think I will ever be a full time smoker again. I mean, even when I was, I only smoked 5 cigarettes a day (one on the way to work, one on each break (so 3) and one on my way home). I wasn't allowed to smoke in the house and was too lazy to go outside. If I went out at night (which was almost every night), I would finish the pack. So I would smoke about a pack a day - if I went out. If I didn't, it was 5/day.

It's such a nasty habit. It stinks. It's unattractive. It stains your teeth. It's gross. But I thoroughly enjoy smoking!

Want a personalized experience?

How did you quit smoking?

Re: How did you quit smoking?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards