low self esteem, brah?


OP, I made myself quit by making myself hate the idea of smoking.

I re-programmed my brain by using very strong negative images

I would picture myself vomiting up chunks of cancer and half digested bile puke

I would tell myself that instead of smoking a cigarette I was going to breath in car exhaust and picture myself breathing in black oily diesel exhaust


that's the same method they use to brainwash you to buy products, but in reverse:  powerful emotional images change how you think.

your brain works on association, you learn to associate one thing such as vomit with another thing, such as smoking


try it, it works

picture yourself in a cancer ward with your lip being cut off by a doctor

do it enough times, it's take the horsepower out of your dip habit


If you quit without changing how you think and feel about smoking, you'll always want to come back to it

well, nicotine is a powerful sedative, most people feel like shit when they try to quit for at least two weeks

I quit cold turkey 3 times. 3rd time it stuck. I quit on a Friday, and drank heavily with smoker friends that night. I figured if I could get thought that night with no smokes...it was downhill from there. That was about 10 or so years ago, haven't had one since.

the gum helped in 1990

I switched to dip. That said, I can't smoke on any oilfield location so most of my day I can't really smoke. I need to quit dipping though. I go through over 1 can of Copenhagen a day... And on weekends when I'm drinking I can still smoke a pack a night on top of that. The only time I need a smoke is when I'm drinking. I guess I haven't totally quit smoking yet.

It was easy for me, plain old will power and self discipline. I think what makes it hardest to quit for some folk is peer pressure.

20 year plus smoker - 1 week on Chantix.  Haven't had a cig in 4 years.

Started at 11-12, quit when I was just about 31. I tried several times before the last/final time, longest was about a year...but always managed to get back into the habit, until this time.

Previous times I went cold turkey, and while it sort of "worked", it never really took. Partly because there was always an unsettled craving that never got closure, and partly because mentally I just wasn't committed to it.

This last time around I used Nicorette, and followed the program down to the damn letter. The first couple of weeks were annoying but not difficult; the gum pretty well took care of the nicfits...the problem was the stupid bubble packs the gum comes in. Protip - have a small, sharp knife with you at all times, because when you nicfit and need the gum RIGHT NOW, you don't want to spend a minute fumbling and cursing at some moron for packing the gum up like it's a nuclear secret or some such shit. Stab the pack and get the gum; you'll thank me for this

After a few months (again - following the program on the boxes), I started to wean myself off of the gum...it wasn't nearly as difficult as the cigarettes, but there was still some cravings there. Be aware of it, plan for it. It's not difficult to overcome, just know it's going to happen. I kept spare pieces of gum around for a while, just in case...never needed any though.

Once I was clean...never really wanted one again. For the first couple of years I would get the _occasional_ craving after imbibing too much (occasional as in, maybe twice-three times a year), and for a while I did enjoy a (good) cigar every month or two (without inhaling)...but after not having any smoke of any kind for a few months and then having a cigar, whoa. A) it put me on my ass and B) it reminded me of why I quit to begin with...the next morning, it felt like a cat not only shit in my mouth, but then proceeded to give birth, and then have all it's babies shit in my mouth. And that was without inhaling a damn thing. The hell with that.

I still enjoy the very occasional cigar, but it's very rare...and oh god does the next morning stink.

The TL;DR summary: There's plenty of crutches available to help you quit, and don't be afraid to use them...few things are more addictive than nicotine. Having said that, if you're not mentally prepared to quit and willing to permanently end it, you will wind up smoking again. Once you're over the physical craving in a couple or three weeks, it's all mental from there. Be strong, stay with whatever program you choose, and you will come out clean on the far side...

Been smoke-free since 2005, haven't even had a drunken craving for one since 2009 or so, give or take. I can smell a smoker in a car ahead of me on the highway

+1

I finished my last pack on a Friday, then started and kept drinking until Sunday. I started to like the feeling of not smoking while drinking.

The next 2 weeks I had a beer when I wanted to smoke, just to get that feeling back and it works.

Been off smoking for almost 18 months now after 14 years of 2 packs/day.

I "quit" a dozen times and tried to avoid alcohol but always failed that way.

It is like tearing the band-aid off slowly instead of quickly.

The plus side of my method was that watching others smoke does not bother me even after meals or while imbibing alcohol. I have total immunity now

Everybody is different, there are many methods, and even if you fail now and then do not stop trying.

Good luck to you.

Cold turkey.  I dipped and smoked for 15 years, and the first couple of weeks without nicotine sucked.

Had a heart attack at age 43, followed by a stent and angiopasty......instant quit.

AR15-SBR

*in my Biz Markie voice* I caught the vapors...

Can even think about smoking a cigarette now...I swear it's the best way..

I quit cold turkey in August of 2011, and I don't regret it one bit.

well then try cold turkey and if that doesn't work out try an ecig.  Whatever you do just dont buy the ones that look like cigarettes.  Those things suck balls and almost nobody quits from using those.    You can get a good setup that hits like a boss for around 100 dollars.  Go to the vapers den subforum here if you decide to go that route and we will help you find something.  





Also vaping isn't nearly as addictive as smoking IMO and most people agree.  After you do it for a while you naturally seem to be able to back off of the nic levels without freaking out and most peopl use it less and less and either quit or use zero nicotine juice because it is still quite enjoyable if you find flavors you like.  Just not something you can't live without.  For example if I leave my vapor stuff at home when I go up to my cabin for the weekend I don't freak out and buy some smokes.  It doesn't really bother me not to have it even though I enjoy it. I just wait till I get home. plus after using ecigs for a while smokes smell and taste pretty horrible. you wont really want one.





Whatever you do just keep trying to quit and you will figure it out one way or another.  Just never quit quitting.





 

In my view, cigarette addiction consists of two elements.

 

E-cig now.

Haven't had a analog in 32 days.

Previous times, cold turkey and before that, patch.

I used the patch for a few weeks then the ecig for about 4 months
Quit any way you can, taking that shit into your lungs is bad bad news. I smoked 2 packs a day for 17 years.  The ecig was a painless transition. It helped with the physical side of the addiction like nothing else can

That's how I did it.  But for me, maintaining my weight where I want it to be, has been way more difficult.  I only had to make the decision to stop smoking once and it was over.  But I have to decide to push away from the table three times a day.

Been going on 8 months now with e-cigs.  Smoked maybe a pack of cigarettes in that 8 months, but sure as hell a lot better than the pack a day I was smoking over my 10+ years smoking.

I will say, my general respiratory health has gotten much MUCH better.  Used to be in the low 80's on my PT test due to my horrible run times.  My last PT Test I scored over a 90.

The patch and willpower

27 year habit; and just about every type available. Mostly Copenhagen the last several years. I literally always had a dip in.

The patch.  It worked. But it's still only 20% of the battle.



The patch was great because it made the intense urges only a minute long, instead of never-ending.  I fought through those urges and won.  Over ten year now.



You can do it, OP.  The night before I quit was one of the most negative nights of my life.  The thought of never smoking again (even though I desperately wanted to quit) was almost overwhelming.  I finally went to bed, and when I woke, the patch had don't its job, I was able to get through that first cup of coffee, and from them on I knew I knew I could do it.

No doubt.



We don't NEED to smoke.  But we need to eat.



 

First and most importantly. I wanted to quit. Then i took the drugs to help me get off.

I was a three pack a day smoker. Clean for 11 years now.

Chantix.

Cold turkey.  I had been in amazingly good physical condition for my high school and adult years, then one day I realized that I was getting winded walking up the stairs.  That was a big reality check and quitting cold turkey was no problem after that. Unfortunately, that's what it takes sometimes.  Good luck, and remember that however you do it, you are more powerful than a little piece of paper wrapped around some dried leaves and cotton.

When I was younger, cold turkey. Started working out. That helped.  
Started again. One year of chewing Nicorette. Then started again. From 2007 to March 2014
Nicorrette gum.  Stopped chewing the gum, and I am using a 7mg patch to ease the
Nicotine withdrawals.  Started exercising again, and now I am going longer with out
nicotine.

Good luck. I usually get angry when going through withdrawals. In 1996 I was going through some
bad withdrwals, and knocked out a 6'4 bouncer.  I am 5'8.

Chantix, tried everything else.
Dec 07, thought I was stroking out the Ex had me so stressed.

I quit 4 years ago or something like that-can't recall exactly.
I used Chantix and highly recommend it.  I even paid for it myself because my insurance didn't cover it.  Honestly, It was so easy I wished I had quit 15 years ago.  
Oddly, the two most scary sounding side effects are both directly related to Nicotine widthdrawal (Thoughts of suicide and vivid dreams) so imo, it's not fair to credit this to Chantix.
The other thing that helps and something you should  prepare for is to eliminate people who smoke from your life for a while.  If you think you can hang out at the same bar with the same group of smoking friends you are fucking fooling yourself.
Lastly, though many have quit cold turkey I can't imagine why.  With the various quit aides out there it really is dumb to put yourself through it.

Cold turkey. Said fuck a bunch of 7$ a pack and just quit.

This. I didn't even want cigs any more after I found the right vaping kit (volcano ecigs inferno). Since then I have lowered the nicotine content in my liquid down to about 4mg and am fine with it. In fact, I could probably stop vaping right now without much trouble but I enjoy it.



 

It's cheaper than cigs and you can lower the nicotine content to quit. Ecigs are perfect for people like me who didn't want to quit.



 

First time I quit, I was about 20.  I got these plastic filter attachments that had progressively larger and larger holes/filters in them.  There were about 20, and every few weeks you switched to a slightly weaker smoke.  By the end, I was barely getting any smoke at all and quitting was way easier.

Picked up dip for some odd reason several years ago.  This time, I went on the patch.  Wore that for months and months, way longer than you're supposed to.  The steps down and final quit were hard but not impossible.

Anyway, the key for me seems to be weaning myself off of it very, very slowly.  i.e. be 100% comfortable at whatever lower level of nicotine you're on and then give it a few more weeks before reducing it further.  I forget where I read it, but there are some studies that showed huge success with this method too.