Ex-smokers, what did you do to help you stop?
Edit: meant ex-smokers. Proof reading is not something I tend to do...
Some people quit cold turkey, some use something to replace it (thinking sunflower seeds), some make goals like only have 6 a day and work their way down.
I personally have been using nicotine products since I was about 16. Cigarettes at first, but switched to vaping at about 18. Been using them for about 6 years now and finally decided it's time to stop. I've been lowering the amount of nicotine in my vape for about 3 months, this last one being 0 nicotine in my vape. Now it's time to break the muscle memory of just mindlessly grabbing it at home and always making sure I know where it is. This last month with no nicotine was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be because I always told myself it was mostly a habit of the action and not the substance... Boy was I fucking wrong.
So what did you do, or are you doing, to help yourself quit? Need a little inspiration.
Try "Easyway to stop smoking" by Allen Carr. I was an absolutely addicted smoker for 20 years. Never made an honest attempt at quitting even though I knew I wanted to. I read this book in a few hours, the whole time thinking that it was just repetitive and cheesy brainwashing. Well it may have been, but it worked and I quit fairly easily and happily. He simply and systematically takes away every excuse, of which I had them all. /r/stopsmoking also helped quite a bit. I haven't smoked in 3.5 years.
My dude. Thanks for the rec on the book. I will DEFINITELY check it out.
That book is so stupitly straighforward and banal that I guarentee you it will have an impact. I read it but didn't stop smoking...but I still think about it and I think it will help me stop one day.
My last cigarette was in like Nov or Dec of 2017, after smoking from like ages 22-30. Definitely on the older side to start, but I was going through some shit and I hung around smokers.
I switched completely to vaping after that, having used both for like a year.
I still vape; started at 6mg, but mostly down to 3mg for the last several months. I'd like to go to 1.5mg or 0mg later this year. But will I quit? Idk. Time will tell. Or my wallet.
The drop from 3 to 1.5 wasn't bad. But 1.5 to 0 was terrible for me. I went through juice twice as fast the first 2 weeks. I was using my vape so often because I was subconsciously trying to get that nicotine high trying to get rid of the headache or whatever. Good luck if you decide to do it. I'm on 0 hopefully to nothing within the next month. Doesn't help my brother and best friend smoke and vape. I've been using hemp flower at night to lower the night cravings (when they're the worst for me).
I've a bit of a mad story about that.
After 3 or 4 years of trying to stop and failing, the smoking ban was about to come into effect in Ireland. I decided yet again I needed to stop. I started wearing patches for a few days, I found them strong so I was only changing them every other day. Anyhou, I could go an hour or two without a patch before I'd feel the urge to smoke again.
One friday night we were out in the pub, the ban still wasn't in, so pubs were still very smokey. I got on great, telling my mates how awesome the patches are, didn't get a craving all night.
It was only the next morning I realised I'd never put a patch on after my shower the evening before.
Haven't smoked or used a patch since. :-D
Hahahah that seems like an Irish thing for some reason.
Everyone goes on about vaping, and it is good, but that switch from 1mg to 0mg might as well be from 80mg to 0mg. Brains crave nicotine once they are used to it. The nicotine isn't harmful. The smoke (containing some 4000 other chemicals and radium) is.
The craving is the hard part. It pops up like pavlov's bell every couple hours no matter what you do. I put it to good use. When I get that urge for a smoke, I take a walk instead, or go make a cup of coffee, or do the dishes, or whatever other task I can think of. If it involved physical exertion, you won't want a cigarette after you finish. Turn it into a task reminder or put it to some other use, because it will never go away. You can't get rid of it, you can only repurpose it. Also be prepared to get 'triggered' every time you see someone light up in a movie or show, or every time one of those asinine anti-smoking ads pops up anywhere. I think that annoys me the most.
Fr tho. I have the same amount of craving from when I tried stopping 2 years ago from 24mg. Nicotine is a bitch to kick. That craving is just always lingering for me.
The only saving grace is that the cravings are short lived. If you can beat it for five minutes and get thinking about something else, it'll pass, and that gets easier with time.
I smoked cigars when I was a teenager (admittedly weird). Years ago I started on pipe tobacco. It was pleasant, delicious and very cheap. I quit after getting addicted to my evening smokes. It took little more than self-control. I'd be probably be screwed with regular cigarettes, they're just way too practical.
I don’t own a fedora and swear I’m not a hipster. I just like tobacco in all its presentations, such as chewing, snuff etc. Buit I quit everything because, you know, it's bad for you and shit.
I wanna suggest switching to a pipe as a way for cigarette smokers to reduce their intake, but I have no real data on that. It takes so long to clean, prepare, light up and keep it lit that you might end up smoking less. But I can't really say...
I gave a pipe to a friend of mine, he loved it but just ended up smoking it in addition to cigarettes hahahah
I'm off nicotine for about a month now, or I would probably try the pipe thing maybe. But I feel like that's going backwards from vaping.
It definitely is.
You need to treat yourself as a non-smoker. Think about "What would a non-smoker me do in this situation?" And do that. Does a non-smoker buy cigarettes when he shops for groceries? Does a non-smoker has to look for a fix after a meal? Recognise the triggers and actively resist.
The hardest thing is not to relapse. I just came back from a conference where I had a lot of smoking colleagues and of course I have caved in. Peer pressure is real.
I went to vaping, through 6mg to 0mg. Though initially the 0mg was annoying so I mixed 2mg with glycerol and other liquids to get 1.5mg and down to even 0.1mg. I can recommend trying that.
I hadn't intended to quit.
I had a bet with a friend about who'd stay away from nicotine longer. After about a week or two I won, but at that time it occurred to me that probably the worst cravings have passed, and I might as well take advantage of the situation.
For years, I sometimes had "nightmares" in which I've just lit a cigarette and was bummed about it. So probably somewhere in my mind I was still worried I'll go back.
The real trick is, whatever approach you use, you have to want to give up. I've known so many people - myself included a few times - who have decided to give up because they thought they ought to. And yes, you ought to give up, we all know that - but if you don't want to, it's going to be extra hard to do because you're fighting yourself on all fronts.
In the end, when I wanted it, I gave up one cigarette at a time, because there are two addictions - nicotine and the habit of physically smoking. Luckily I'm not very susceptible to nicotine addiction but I am a creature of habit and ritual. Trying to break both habits all at once had never worked for me, so I decided to wean myself off both slowly. First I gave up the cigarette on the walk to work in the morning. Sure, it was a hard habit to break (especially as it was the first one to give up) but I knew I could have one at half ten on my first smoke break, so that was something to look forward to. After a week or so I wasn't bothered by not smoking until mid-morning. So I gave up the mid-morning one. Rinse and repeat. By the time I'd given up all the smokes before my evening meal, I didn't even want the last few of the day.
These days I can't be near smokers because the smell completely disgusts me. I won't give people shit for smoking but I'm completely untempted by going back.