In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.

PLS HELP WITH TIPS TO HELP ME QUIT SMOKING...

treedawgtreedawg Member Posts: 321 ✭✭✭
edited May 2002 in General Discussion
would love to quit. what worked for you????? i wish they would go up to $10.00 a pack.
«1

Comments

  • niklasalniklasal Member Posts: 776 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    $10 a pack won't help either

    If you REALLY want to quit, try this....

    Don't buy packs.

    If you see someone smoking a cig, ask em for one. If they give you one, great. Enjoy. If they don't, so what. Pretty soon you will get sick of asking friends/strangers and you'll give up entirely.

    May not be perfect, but worked for me.

    My gun is prettier than yours, and it's a Glock!
  • PelicanPelican Member Posts: 1,061 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I used the pill. Got my doctor to prescribe welbutrinSR (sp?). Used it for about 3 months and was able to quit. Been over 4 years. Still have strong urges on occassion but they pass in a minute or two.

    The Almighty Himself Entrusted the Future of All Living Creatures to a Wooden Boat.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -"Audemus jura nostra defendere"
  • William81William81 Member Posts: 25,353 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I quit 20 years ago before the patch etc. I just finally had had enough. I was in Graduate School, working full time and was smoking two plus packs a day. I started out with a different workout every day to try to motivate myself. I cut back on my # of smokes per day and chewed gum, ate tooties pops and hard candy. As the work outs continued and I started feeling like I was getting some where I had more motivation to cut down and finally quit after approx. 6 weeks of slowly weening myself.

    I have not had one since. I did keep a pack in my desk for almost a year just so I knew there was one there.

    Good Luck
  • AlpineAlpine Member Posts: 15,092 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    This won't help..
    ...don't start.

    Your milage may vary.
    ?The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.?
    Margaret Thatcher

    "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."
    Mark Twain
  • k.stanonikk.stanonik Member Posts: 2,109 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    welcome to the club, i am on day 2 without a smoke and boy do i want one. I am using the patch. wish me luck
  • jager22jager22 Member Posts: 197 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
  • treedawgtreedawg Member Posts: 321 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    i tried zyban about 2 years ago and it made me so uptight i was afraid that i'd snap at any time. i'm usualy very laid back, but....
  • MercuryMercury Member Posts: 7,830 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Try chewing on toothpicks or mints or something to keep your lips/mouth busy. My Dad used that method after smoking for 30+ years.

    He hasn't smoked in a couple of years now!

    Merc


    NO! You may not have my guns! Now go crawl back into your hole!

    ****************************************

    "Tolerating things you may not necessarily like is part of being free" - Larry Flynt
  • will270winwill270win Member Posts: 4,845
    edited November -1
    Since it's unwise to smoke while reloading..........chain yerself to the bench.


    ~Secret Select Society Of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets~
  • offerorofferor Member Posts: 8,625 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    This is true. I lived alone, but if you can get your friends & family on board with it, it won't matter.

    I realized that I had two problems -- craving, and the fact that I would forget that I was trying to quit. Since my surroundings weren't going to change, I had to figure a way to combat the physical craving as well as the mental forgetfulness. So I decided to start quitting on a Friday after work when I had the whole weekend to myself. I was determined to do this, so I didn't mind doing something foolish. Here's three things I did:

    1. I knew that if I bought a pack I could immediately throw it away, because that's still a lot cheaper than lung cancer. So I made up my mind to waste all the cigarettes I needed to in order to keep from smoking. If I bought them in a weak moment, I'd throw them out or destroy them in a stronger moment.

    2. I knew I spent most of my waking time in one room of the house in front of the TV, with only quick trips to the bathroom or kitchen, so I made huge signs out of opened up newspapers and in very heavy black poster ink I wrote a word on each "poster." The three big signs read: CANCER! - YOU - A**HOLE! I hung these three signs over the drapery rods all around the living room so that I had to see them whenever I was in the room. This helped my memory not to slip while at home. And I did stay home, all weekend, so that I would be in a safer environment.

    3. Whenever a physical craving or "nerves" would well up, I would lie down and take a nap. I would sleep through the craving. I don't know if a few tranquilizers would help with this, but I didn't need them because usually when I'm nerved up I'm tired and need a catnap.

    After the first weekend, it got a lot easier. I left those signs up, and looked at them when I walked in after work. It was a small price to pay to confront myself with what I knew, in my honest moments, was basically the short version of the truth. My grandma died of emphesema, and that's no way to go either. Same for my aunt, and my uncle got some kind of leukemia. My dad never picked up the habit, and he's still healthy enough to run a mile and do 300 situps at 76.

    I hope this "system" is of some help. It's really about keeping your focus for the first few days and having the freedom to get plenty of rest. Naps are a good way to "drop out" until the worst of the physical craving is over. If you need something with a little kick orally, drink tea or coffee or eat chocolate or something. Chew on pen or pencil. But the key to my system is, cold turkey. You can taper down on Wednesday or Thursday if possible, but once you start the process on Friday night, its zero tolerance.

    - Life NRA Member
    If dishonorable men shoot unarmed men with army guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and not by general deprivation of constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
  • sandman2234sandman2234 Member Posts: 894 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Good Luck!!!
    You have to be able to quit with a pack of coffin nails lying around.
    I had to quit drinking, and having sex till I beat the habit. Stay away from areas that you normally smoke alot. Stay clear of people that smoke, at least for a while.
    Don't give in for just "1" quick one.
    Good luck! You will not regret it.

    Have Gun, will travel
  • woodsrunnerwoodsrunner Member Posts: 5,378 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    It will be four years for me on july fourth. I tried pills, patches etc. none of them ever worked. My dad had always told me when I was ready I would just stop. In a way he was right. Some of the things I did to make it easier.
    1) pick a special day to quit. Independance day has two meanings for me now.
    2) For about a month before I quit I switched brands every day. I usually smoked Marlboros. So one day I smoked PALL MALLS, next day COOLS, Lucky's, etc. I also tried to pick less popular brands so I was always smoking stale cigarettes.
    3) Find new ways to deal witn stress. I had a habit of stepping back and having a smoke whenever a stressful situation arose. At first I kept one of those little puzzles in my pocket, the ones with the little steel balls you have to jiggle to get the balls in the holes. It works takes about as long as a smoke too.(but don't let your boss catch you)
    4) Everyone has different feelings on this, but the only time I did it I never restarted smoking. Keep your last cigarette. I used to smoke my last one, then about 2:00am I'd find myself driving 5 miles to the store. It's just one of those stress things. You start worrying about not having one and needing it.
    5) Don't tell anyone you're quitting. Unless you want to be reminded about it alot. People mean well but the constant inquiries weren't any help at forgetting to smoke.
    6) Stop wearing shirts with pockets.After almost 4 years I still occasionally reach for my pocket after starting the car.
    7) Set a goal for all the money you're not spending, don't make it too hard to reach and don't make it too easy. 16 months after quitting I had a small house down payment.

    I smoked between 3&4 packs of Marlboros a day for 14 years. If I could quit anyone can.

    Woods

    How big a boy are ya?
  • gskyhawkgskyhawk Member Posts: 4,773
    edited November -1
    what every one else has said and more,, the biggest thing for me was making up my mind to do it no matter what,,, you have to DECIDE to quit no one else can do it for you ,, you have to have the mind set that this is it ,,, look back over your life at the times when you did some thing special, when you made up your mind to do some thing, what ever it was, and you did it,, what worked at these times how where you able to do it then, what made you keep going then?? remember YOU CAN DO IT, JUST DECIDE TO AND GOOD LUCK
  • salzosalzo Member Posts: 6,396 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Though not for everybody, I reccomend NICORETTE gum. I tried the patch, and did not help, because the digesting of nicotine was passive. I needed to do something, and chewing on a piece of gum filled with nicotine, instead of enjoyinf a smoke, seemed to work. I would actually step outside when I had a piece of gum. I think it is important to do at least six weeks with the gum. The first time I quit, I chewed for a week-stayed of cigs for 8 months, and then got started again. This last time I quit, I stayed on the gum, chewing at least 4 pieces a day(at the beginning about ten pieces), and I have been "nicotine" free for over a year. If I go back, it will not be due to needing nicotine, but my own stupidy.

    Happiness is a warm gun
  • 4GodandCountry4GodandCountry Member Posts: 3,968
    edited November -1
    I smoked an average of a pack to a pack and a half per day, unless I was drinking and then smoked two to three. I did this for around 14 years. I was an addict, plain and simple. I woke up one morning hacking and wheezing and reached for my marlborows, took one out and looked at it. I asked myself this question, " Does this little cylinder stuffed with god only knows what own me, do I control my actions or does this little white cylinder control". Then I thought about watching my Dad die from emphazema, and how his grandkids didn't get to know him, what kind of man he was. I thought about how the last ten years of his life were slowly and steadily drained from his body. I thought about how much pain I felt as I sat and watched him die before my eyes. I asked myself another question, do I want to have my children experience what I had to go through, do I want to be able to play with my grandkids. I know none of us have any guarantees as to how long we'll be around, but I decided that I was gonna do my part and i quit then. good luck,

    When Clinton left office they gave him a 21 gun salute. Its a damn shame they all missed....
  • tin22tin22 Member Posts: 731 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    You could remove things that make you want to smoke. Like for example ash trays. Try munching on candy or gum to relieve you from picking up a cigarette. Try to do something that keep your mind of pick up a cigarette. If this does not work you could pick those smoke patches.
  • RoofdogRoofdog Member Posts: 34 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    hey treedawg
    first off you really have to want to quit,i made up my mind to quit for my son,hes 6 and don`t need to smoke,i didn`t quit for myself if it was just about me i would still be smoking,one way i found was real easy to quit was put little post-up signs all over the house,like above the tv,in front of the toilet on the fridge and on the front of the computer,on the signs write "quit smoking july 4" or any day,just put them where you see them alot and read them everytime you see them after awhile you won`t have to read them but sub-limitatly you will,put the notes up about 2 months before you want to quit,birthdays are aways good or holidays,the most important part is that you have to wanna quit.



    Edited by - roofdog on 05/16/2002 10:05:32
  • RickstirRickstir Member Posts: 574
    edited November -1
    YOU are bigger and stronger than those cigs.

    I smoked for 18 years. Quit Jan. 2, 1982. I was in the hospital for shoulder surgery and my GP came by the night before I was to be discharged. He had a serious look on his face. He asked me how long I had been smoking.....18 years I said. He looked me straight in the eyes and said...."I just got your cheast xray".... pregnant pause for about 5 seconds. During which time my heart had sunk into my feet! He didn't change his expression at all. Looking real serious. Then he said "It's clear, why don't you quit?" I never forgot that feeling waiting for the other shoe to drop.

    I quit three weeks later. Absolutely the easiest thing I have ever done. I was ready to quit between the ears. Never had a craving or anything. Its been over 20 years and sometimes I still dream I am smoking, wierd.

    Get it in your mindset. You are the ruler of your body, not some rolled up vegetation. In just one week, you will feel much better. You'll know your on your way when you notice how good food starts to tastes.

    Like in the NFL, defense is the key.
  • bartobarto Member Posts: 4,734 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    i quit 8 yrs. ago cold turkey.
    not for everybody, but it worked for me.
    my wife said i was an animal for 3 mos. but i dont remember it that way.
    still have my last opened pack of cigs sitting in front of me on my computer desk.
    one of my favorite trophies!
    lots of luck, i know you can do it.
    barto

    the hard stuff we do right away - the impossible takes a little longer
  • n/an/a Member Posts: 168,427
    edited November -1
    There is a treatment available here in Tampa Florida and the Military also uses it,

    A friend had this treatment and now does not even crave cigarettes,
    It is guaranteed to work.

    They give you a mild sedative, then two shots right into the carotid arteries, and an injection in the arm, this blocks the nerve receptors, therefore no craving, your told to go home and go to bed for a good nights sleep, and when you wake up in the morning your will be no longer smoking, and you wont even crave it.

    The cost is 400.00 but most insurance companies will accept it.


    Check with your Doctor about this proceedure.


    LR
  • sandman2234sandman2234 Member Posts: 894 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    And you have to get past the "I'm quiting, and get to the "I don't smoke stage". Kind of a mental state, but if you don't smoke, why would you want one?

    Have Gun, will travel
  • twinstwins Member Posts: 647 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Cold turkey and just deciding I wanted it bad enough worked for me.

    Good luck!
  • ndbillyndbilly Member Posts: 1,573 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    As the posts above show, it's an individual thing. There's no one best method. Keep trying until it sticks and don't beat yourself up too much if it takes more than one attempt. Remember Mark Twain's line about how easy it was to quit smoking? "I've done it a thousand times."

    This worked for me but it was definately NOT by design.

    The day my daughter was born in 1990 I had the flu and didn't feel like smoking. Couldn't smoke at home because of my young son and couldn't smoke at work due to a "smoke-free" building rule. After about three days, I had recovered but thought, "Let's see how long I can go." Made it about three weeks. Decided (with logic only an addict can follow) that I could control the urge and that I could have a cigarette occasionally. Bought a pack of Camel plain ends and lit up. Within five minutes my head was spinning and I was nauseated. It occurred to me that I was clearly past the physical craving and that the whole desire for a cigarette was purely in my head. Quit then for good. But that must've been the 10th time I made a serious attempt. Had quit for up to six months before. Don't know why I started again or why quitting worked the last time.
  • k.stanonikk.stanonik Member Posts: 2,109 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    the first time i tried to quit was about 4 yrs ago, my marriage went south came home and there was a bottle she was drinking and a pack of smokes, i took the smokes wanting a clear head and the ability to remember what was said so i started again. i made the decision last tuesday i was tired of the wheezing, out of breath at work so i am trying again, using the patch, used it last time and made it 6 months, started seeing a young lady a couple of weeks ago that has the same interest as me but doesnt smoke, so for myself and if things work out , i am making a serious effort to stick around several more years. i havent had a smoke since 9 am last tuesday morning, treedawg if you realy want to quit support is a mouse click away. in advance if i seem snippy with any one my apologies.
  • v35v35 Member Posts: 12,710 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    You have to be scared enough and hate yourself enough for being a slave to this addiction.
    I used to say to myself as I lit a cigarette; "Just look at yourself dodging the issue at hand instead of facing it squarely. You should have enough strength of character to handle it without delay". This combination did it for me, not tapering off or picking bad brands. At parties I had as many as three cigarettes going at a time.
    Cigarettes were $.33-$.34 a pack then and I was up to 2 1/2 packs a day.
  • interstatepawnllcinterstatepawnllc Member Posts: 9,390
    edited November -1
    I would like to state something that has not been said yet. Once you have stopped smoking and you are new to the game, remember that is is always easier stay quit than to start again and try to stop again. I personally have quit on three seperate occaisions and each time was more difficult than the last. Been almost a year now and I really can not see any possibility of ever smoking again.
  • bullelkbullelk Member Posts: 679 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I watched my Father go thru an operation for throat cancer, it was hell for him to go thru that. He suffered for a long time after that first operation. That did it for me, I quit right off. That was in 1970. One thing you have to do, Buy a case of life savers & gum.
    Gino
  • treedawgtreedawg Member Posts: 321 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    thanks for all the help. i've got a box of patches that i've been looking at for over a year now and i'm going to start using them saturday morning. there is one more thing that i forgot to mention. i go through 2+ packs a day, as well as a can of copenhagen a day. guess i've got it real bad.
    thanks again,
    todd
  • k.stanonikk.stanonik Member Posts: 2,109 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Hey treedawg, i was 2-3 packs a day for the last 20 yrs, started the patch last tuesday, i find life savers to help also, buy the big bags of assorted flavors cause you will need them, i'm with ya buddy
  • Richie RichRichie Rich Member Posts: 439 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Try what they told my dad,
    stop=live
    smoke=dead
    get it,
    got it,
    GOOD.
    this was about 30+ years ago.
    It worked for him because he is now 89 and crochity as ever.

    Remember,"your woman may not find you handsome, But atleast she'll find ya handy". I love that show..............
  • treedawgtreedawg Member Posts: 321 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    i will be putting the patch on the arm in the am....atleast me wife doesn't smoke and hates it when i do. i'm not going to tell her or anybody else at this point. y'all are the only people that know.

    wish me luck
    todd
  • k.stanonikk.stanonik Member Posts: 2,109 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    good luck treedawg if i can make 4 days on the patch so can you.
  • wundudneewundudnee Member Posts: 6,105 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    treedawg,

    I've been there and done that. Take it from me if you don't quit now you are going to pay the price later. Use any product that you think helps but when it's all done it will be your determination and will power that does it. I think that if a person says they are going to try to quit they are whipped before they start. If you want to quit, quit. It will drive you about half nuts but nobody but you will know that. Make it look like the easyist thing you ever did. Your family and friends will be amazed that you are that tough and made it look so easy. Take it from me beer and coffee can be drank without a cigarette and they still hit the spot. However, I about beat my chest to a pulp before I learned you can drive a tractor without smoking. Hang in there and good luck. If you can get past the first week you whipped it.

    You're tough, you can do it!


    ....................
    AD ASTRA PER ASPERA

    To the stars through difficulties
    standard.jpg
  • ayudayud Member Posts: 5 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    The habit is both mental and chemical. Throw your lighter away.Make a little chart for each day the size of the pack and attach it to the pack. Chart to show each hour.Make a code number for reasons for lighting up ie.before bed,after sex,after meal,starting a job,watching TV etc. Record each cig.-time of day,reason. Look for the patern. Set a goal like 4 weeks or five weeks. Cut down on your heavy smoking times as you see on the chart.Work on this and your body will respond to fewer gaspers each day.Work it out your system. It worked for me. I was amazed.OK chew gum,eat wheatgerm,set a glass of water on your refrigerator with butts in it and leave it there.Spray mouth with Banaca.Getrid of accesories like the Lighter I mentioned,ash trays,use matches,make it difficult. Take a puff and put it out. Anything to cut back to meet your deadline.
  • Spring CreekSpring Creek Member Posts: 1,260
    edited November -1
    Skoal Bandits, the little chewing tobacco filled pouches.
    That was the trick for me.
    Just enought nicotine to take the edge off.
    Then weaned myself off of them.
    I had watched my dad die of lung cancer, but still joked to all my hunting buddies about how we would lose all the Marlboro freebies if we quit.
    Then, when my first grand daughter was born.......My daughter put it this way
    if you want to see the baby, you can't smoke in or around our house; and we won't be coming to yours.
    It really "Pi$$ed" me off, but then a reality check said-do it!!
    Been off for 6 years.

    SUPPORT THE NRA
    @ $3 a pack--look what you can donate to the NRA.
    I've used what I used to spend on Cigs to upgrade to Life Member-
    Benefactor Level.
  • IconoclastIconoclast Member Posts: 10,515 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    treedawg, I'm Type AAA & was smoking as many as six packs a day when I quit (no, that's not a typo). I didn't quit as many times as Mark Twain alleged, but I'm sure the number was well into three figures. I had to get away from stress-producing circumstances (virtually anything given my personality), which was a three week period when I would be alone in the house. Drank no coffee for most of that time.
    Used the gum - still do, more than I should, but figure it's not half as bad as smoke. When the craving got real bad, I'd brush my teeth & go for a walk until it passed. The first time I *really* quit (then I re-married, which killed that!), I kept a "trophy pack" which proved my downfall in falling off the wagon. This time, I made sure threw everything out - and still found packs in old jackets, tackle boxes, the like. I think I was more stressed about not being able to smoke or not having smokes available than I was about going a few hours without one. Several others have alluded to some sort of isolation, and I would emphasize that. Cooperative person that I am, most every time I did quit for a few days, some 'helpful' self-righteous prig would give me a lecture about how evil I was to have even started smoking - or something in that vein - and p*** me off so badly, I'd find something to light up just so I could blow smoke in their face. I also used a punching bag quite a bit the first few months. I'd used cigarettes for a substitute for a hot temper for too many years and had to have some outlet for that. Discovered over time, I mellowed out (some) naturally. I did try the patches, briefly, had allergic reaction on my skin.

    It's a witch, but if I can do it, I figure a normal person can - but it's entirely up to you. Mind over tobacco, as it were.

    If you or k.stanonik wish any support, I'll do what I can. And I promise not to lecture!!!! I still allow people to smoke in my house & in my presence - been in their shoes and refuse to treat them like second class citizens.



    I did quit coffee for a few weeks.
  • SUBMARINERSUBMARINER Member Posts: 1,362 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    DOCTORS SAY THAT SNUFF IS 3 TIMES MORE ADDICTIVE THAN CICARETTES.WHEN I GOT READY TO QUIT I JUST QUIT.AFTER 15 YEARS.IF YOUR READY YOULL QUIT IF YOUR NOT YOU WONT.ANYTHING ELSE IS JUST A CRUTCH....AN EXCUSE TO YOURSELF TO SAY WELL THAT DIDNT WORK SO ILL KEEP ON SMOKIN.DONT LEAVE YOURSELF AN EXCUSE JUST DECIDE TO QUIT.IT TOOK ME AWHILE BUT THIS APPROACH WORKS IF YOU HAVE THE WILL POWER IF YOU DONT HAVE THE WILL POWER FORGET IT BECAUSE YOU ARE DOOMED TO FAILURE ANYWAY

    SUBMARINE SAILOR,TRUCK DRIVER,NE'ER DO WELL, INSTIGATOR,AND RUSTY WALLACE FAN
  • k.stanonikk.stanonik Member Posts: 2,109 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Been thinking about all this, it cost me about 10.00 a day to smoke, at that rate i cna take the money i dont spend on smokes and in a couple of weeks i can get that walther PPK i have been lookin at down at the store.
  • treedawgtreedawg Member Posts: 321 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    haven't smoked since my last post in here friday night. the patch is making my arm a little sore, but that's ok. monday will be the hardest yet, because i work outside and all the "guys" smoke. if i can make it tomorrow, i think i'll be well on the way....
    todd
  • IconoclastIconoclast Member Posts: 10,515 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Hang in there, dawg!
Sign In or Register to comment.