Quit Smoking

If you need help to Quit Smoking, here are some of the best suggestions I’ve seen! Here are the responses from 19 people willing to help Quit Smoking to ONE person: Talk about getting support!!! I thought they were so kind and helpful. Here’s the link:

http://www.43things.com/entries/view/23260?new_comment=22413

I would be happy to support anyone who is serious about taking this one on. It’s sooooo worth being free of all that junk.

I’ve gone 5 weeks without a cigarette. I am down to 2-3 urges a week, which are easily manageable.

• my lungs feel better
• I’m not wasting at least 1 hour a day obtaining and inhaling that drug
• I smell better all the time.
• I’m not hacking up stuff from my lungs
• I’m not as short of breath.

WELL WORTH IT!!!!!!!!!

that you can cut pieces of their gum into 1/2 or 1/4 pieces. I’m at the 3-week mark, but still chewing nicotine gum. However, to wean myself off, I’ve come down from 8-12 mg. per day to 4 mg. per day. I do this by cutting the 4 mg. gum into quarters.
You can save a lot of money by buying a box of the 4 mg. gum instead of a box of the 2 mg. gum, which are about the same price. The village idiot could figure out that by cutting the 4 mg. gum in half you now have the equivalent of TWO boxes of 2 mg. gum. I hope this helps! If you can’t follow that, then you may be the village idiot. :-)

I go a great link that I want to pass on the ALL the nicotine addicts. I know I’m an addict. . .and I always will be, even if I don’t smoke. Here’s the link!

http://science.howstuffworks.com/nicotine.htm

really making up my mind! The problem with other times I have quit is that I’ve let the part of me that wants to smoke to have a say “in my head” too often. I end up giving in. Giving in just ONCE feels like failure, so I give up and go back to smoking. This time (I’ve made it two weeks now), and here’s the main reason: I made up my mind not to entertain thoughts of smoking. I believe it was C.S. Lewis who wrote about wrong thoughts: You can let them fly through your head, but you don’t have to invite them in for afternoon tea. With resolve, and fewer arguments going on in my head, I’m winning.

I know, easier said than done
Just a nugget of info I’ve learned about addictions in college:

Try creating new routines. When drug addicts relapse after treatment, it is often in an environment similar to where they used to use drugs. This environment has cues present, such as drug paraphernalia, a certain smell, furniture, ect.

What does that have to do with smoking? Well, nicotine is a drug. You may have certain times when you smoke that have become a part of your daily routine. That’s partly why people have a really hard time quitting. Cues are constantly present b/c smoking has become part of your daily routine. Elicit drugs have to be concealed, and as a consequence, have very specific times and locations where they are used. Try finding something incompatible with smoking or go to a totally new environment at the times you are used to smoking.

http://www.43things.com/people/view/brea7md

People who have gone to Alcoholics Anonymous have told me that many people there have found it harder to quit smoking than to quit drinking. I smoked from 18 to 28. I read that if I quit for 10 years after 10 years of smoking, my life expectancy would return to normal. I didn’t smoke for 23 years. Then started 4 years ago, like an IDIOT. But I know for a fact that it’s worth it: no cravings, no smelly breath & clothes, etc.
It sure takes determination, though.

I found a small corner store a couple of blocks away from my house that will let me buy SINGLE cigarettes for 25 cents! Now I’m not buying packs and resisting the temptation to smoke 1/2 pack a day. Since it takes EFFORT to walk to the store for one cigarette, I’m less likely to smoke. Imagine: I found a way for my laziness to be an ally!

I’ve cut down to about 6 cigarettes a day. I know the instructions say NOT to smoke and chew the gum at the same time, but I need help with the transition.