Smoking...

Yeah, verbal abuse sucks and just makes you want to eat more and more so that's my excuse waa waa poor pitiful me. I don't harp on the why's so much as the what can I do about it now's. And so I did something about it! But the quitting smoking thing was and continues to be the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my entire life. I'll admit that while I did quit cold turkey it was NOT easy (and I was just joking, of course, about the balls thing).

It actually is easy for me to quit cold turkey after the first two days, but unfortunately, it is just as easy for me to start again years later.

Have you tried Zyban?  I understand that Chantix is supposed to be a whole lot more effective, but until Chantix was approved, Zyban (sometimes in combination with nicotine gum or the patch) was considered the best there was.  Zyban is just the antidepressant Wellbutrin SR sold under a different brandname for smoking cessation.  It has very few side effects.

/Steve

Gez, Jay.  I feel for ya, bud.  I smoked until Jan. 1999, when I went into the hospital with congestive heart failure.  I had smoked since freakin grade school.  When I got out on my own at 19 (1973) to 1999, I started seriously smoking --  about 1 1/2 to 2 packs a day.  Never could go a full day without smoking -- tried several times, but never made it past 1/2 day.  It was so engrained in me, it was almost like I was afraid to quit.  Didn't know what I would do without smoking.  I was in the hospital another time, and stashed some cigs in my suitcase.  I was on oxygen!!!!! and would take it off, and go into the bathroom and smoke!  Gez, can't believe I didn't blow up the place. On Jan 3, 1999, I took some nicotine gum with me to the hospital, because my wife made sure I didn't have any cigs.  They pumped over 40 lbs of water off me in two days.  I was also coughing my fool head off all the time.  I would think to myself that I gotten emphazema due to the constant coughing and wheezing, but still kept smoking.  When I got to the hospital, I talked to the doctor and he ordered a nicotine patch for me.  I'll be darned, I went 24 hours!  I was determined, for some reason, not to screw that up.  If I went 24 hours, I could go further.  The next day was pretty rough and the nurse caught me putting a piece of nicotine gum in my mouth along with the patch.  She griped me out for doing too much nicotine.  I told her to leave me hell alone, at least I WASN'T SMOKING!!!!  I was kinda on edge!!  I did the patch and added the nicotine gum during the "tense" times.  Finally by the 13th of January, I had stopped the patch about a week before, and I was only doing a couple of pieces of gum per day, and stopped that too. My cough and wheezing went away almost immediately.   I admire Lance, or anyone, who could quit cold turkey, because there is NO way I could have done that.  No wait, I HATE anyone who can quit cold turkey!    Just kidding Lance.  I would have severe nicotine fits even 30 to 60 days after I quit.  It would have been real easy to pick one back up, but my family would have literally killed me.  But, again, I didn't want to screw this up.  It's also as much a psychological battle as a physical.  Even when the nicotine is out of your system, you can still get a nicotine fit just when you are doing something that you would normally do and have a cigarette -- after or during a cup of coffee, sitting at the computer, driving to work, etc.  For years I never smoked in our house -- always went outside, so going freakin outside was a problem.  I would always carry a box of Altoids with me, and when I had a fit, I would pop about 3 or 4 of those in my mouth at one time, and it would shock my taste buds.  It helped.  Anyway, good luck.  It is hard as hell for most people, but you can do it.  Michael.

I don't know much about the medical side of quitting tobacco, nor have I had to do it myself. I was part of a team that helped people quit, though, so I have seen it work. I know you can do it too.



The guys have already said some really great suggestions. Let me add two more that never seem to come up, but have helped people.



#1 Drink grapefruit juice. Essentially, eat/drink things with high doses of vitamin C. It helps remove the nicotine from your bloodstream. This will make the cravings more intense to begin with,; as the levels are dropping more quickly the body responds more vigorously. But it will make them go away faster, too.



#2 (especially if you smoked inside) Clean the house from top to bottom. I mean launder the curtains, clean the upolstery, wipe down the walls. Do everything you can to get the smoke out of the house. Don't forget old coats / jackets that have residue on them. You'll put them on a few weeks down the road and have a bad day. Don't forget the car!

Maybe the most important step would be to get support. Post here every day if you need to! We're here for you, man.

Thanks guys.  I appreciate all the advice and will speak with my doc this week for his suggestions. 

I know I'm ringing in late... but last June I quit with Chantix and had been a smoker of about 1-2 packs a day for 10 years or so.

I had no trouble with it or anything.
You really just need to make a decsion... what's more important.... taking the easy route and not stop smoking or grit your teeth some and work through it.

if it matters... after quitting smoking (my program made me quit 6 months before surgery.. i.e. I had to be totally smoke free for 6 months before they would operate), I realized how much money I was wasting.  1 Year later, I was able to purchase a house (something I previously thought was unattainable).

Good luck and let us know if we can help. 


Last thought...  18 months after entering my program, I've had surgery, down 100+ lbs, feel great, my live has improved about 400% since starting this journey.
So far, it's all been so worth the effort and stuff I had to push through.

Hi Jay, I quit cold turkey after one morning on the way home from work ( I'm a firefighter ) on my Harley and I started coughing while riding up the road and almost dumped the bike. When I got home I had 3 full packs left and a partial pack. I walked over to the trash can, stomped every pack and threw them away and haven't touched one since. I know that no tobacco is good for you but go get a good cigar and leave the cigs alone for a whole day and then that evening smoke the cigar without inhaling and I mean that literally while relaxing, because you will turn green and choke your azz off. I went from 3 1/2 packs a day to one good cigar a day with no inhaling. Doctors don't want you smoking so you will heall better after surgery. I also feel 100% better than i did when i was smoking it is really nice to breath again.