After about 30 years of smoking, I'm right at the edge of getting ready to quit. Again. I'm frightened and nervous and have all of the other typical emotions. Aside from all the typical good reasons to quit, nicotine causes me nerve pain. Sometimes extreme, horrible nerve pain. I'm a paraplegic and nerve pain is common, but not the kind of nightmarish pain that the cigarettes add to the party. Can you believe that I've dealt with this for 7 years and still haven't officially quit?!! Thats how powerful this damned addiction can be.

Well enough about me, man, CONGRATULATIONS Nimbuss!!! Be strong dude. I think you can tell that you've got a lot of people here rooting for you. I'm one of them. You can do this, and hopefully so can I.

 

Thank you, I hope you find what you are looking for to Fight the power.

 

Dont be afraid. Just think about how you will no longer cough your lungs out in the middle of the night, your flat will no longer smell like an ashtray, your stuff will no longer be covered with this sticky horrible gunk that gets everywhere, you no longer will have to worry if this weird chestpain is just an aching muscle or an oncoming heart attack or even beginning lung cancer.

It will be great

PS: I'd been smocking 3 packs a day for about 20 years and quit about 5 years ago. Best thing I every did in my entire life.

PPS: To further support superliquidsunshine point... Just Google reconstituted tobacco. It will give you an idea of the kind of crap they put into cigarettes.

 

Last edited: Feb 11, 2016

Most often I smoke it, but I vape it, too. Vaping is the best way to use it, I think. However, I am a smoker so either way works for me. Marijuana has an interesting effect on me, and I suppose others. It makes me feel calm and satisfied [Indica-relaxing variety, not Sativa], and interested in music, and I have no need to smoke at all. When one is trying to quit smoking, it would be surely better to either eat it, drink tea, or vape it.

 

Last edited: Nov 28, 2019

You can do it!! Live a longer, healthier life. Screw those cancer sticks.

 

I don't know if you already do it, but may I suggest you to practice some sport? Anything will do, even just running. It will make you realize how fucked up you are, but it will also make you feel better AND tired (in a satisfying way). This will help you to sleep.

Believe me. After a 2 hour kickboxing workout I could sleep anywhere

 

i don't smoke, but this thread is really interesting and informational. Makes me want to make sure I don't start. Glad you all battled and won the fight.

 

I started smoking at school when i was 18-19 years old. I was one of the few that didn't smoke
so i was literally cut out from their "social" circle. So we non-smokers adapted to the clique.

Soon i didn't like cigarettes anymore because of that strong paper taste and heavy smell.
I went over to smoke cigarillos, then later cigars and today i whiff pipe!
Rarely i inhale smoke, i like more the taste and the odor.

Smoking the pipe is completely different than smoking ready-made cigarettes, it is much slower.
Seen from the sociological side smoking cigarettes is a thing for the low and middle classes,
like drinking alcohol is. For pipe smokers the *rituals* are sometimes more important than the
smoking itself; the choice, mixing and blending of the tobacco.

I can stay several hours without smoking ( i only smoke indoors ) but of course the abstinence
symptoms come back after a certain amount of time! I'm aware that smoking isn't so good for
health, sometimes i tend to smoke because of boredom and because my lifestyle in the place
i live now is not really fitting to me. Years back i was living on the seaside and i went swimming,
snorkeling and doing long walks on the beaches, that helped me to get in balance.
So if you want to quit smoking you have to choose a lifestyle that fits to you.
Once chosen the *temptation* of smoking for compensation will naturally decrease.

 

a tablespoon of cream of tartar in a 6oz glass of orange juice in the morning will reduce the cravings

 

I have faith in you, mate. YOU CAN DO IT!!! Big props to you if you do in fact successfully quit. I never smoked cigs and I never ever will.
Be strong, keep the head up high, and fight that shitty fucking urge. That's a monster trying to kill you. Don't feed it - Starve it to death!
Your 2 side effects sound very much like a symptom of your body trying to adjust. It will all work out, I'm sure. Also, try not to hang around people who still smoke. Try to distance yourself from them. If they're gonna light one up, just be sure to leave ASAP and stay away from them at least until they're 100% done with that cigarette(s). It will help fight the urge. Also, you don't wanna sound like this poor woman:

This ad scared the living shit out of me and that's why it was the final brick in the wall as to why I decided to NEVER EVEN TRY to smoke a cigarette. This woman passed away in September of 2013 because of one thing - Smoking. I don't want this to happen to you, and I don't want you to die. I have no clue who you are, but I know you're a human being with feelings and that's all that matters to me. Be smart, and quit that nasty crap, please and thank you. I believe in you, can I know you can accomplish this.
Best of luck and congrats!

Sincerely,

Impressive

 

Thank you for the support, very scary stuff indeed, I didn't even consider that something like that could happen

 

Last edited: Feb 12, 2016

@Nimbuss Lots of good advice given here. If you absolutely can't do it alone there is a drug called Chantix that has a very good success rate for killing the nicotine craving, not sure if avail where you are or not. However like any drug it can have possible neg side effects with some people like mood changes, depression, etc., but for many it works, it did for me within 6 weeks.

But just remember, nicotine is probably the most insidiously addictive drug there is to quit and some people fight it for years before final success, so even if you slip up now and then, it doesn't make you a failure. You're only a failure if you give up trying! Good luck man.

 

I quit smoking by 11-10-2007 (will never forget this day), went from 40 cigs a day to 0, and first days went hell. BUT i did not stop any other things associated with smoking (drinking, social, etc) for when I went through a holiday doing all things normally except smoking, I knew I was ready to stop. Then it began to ease next weeks and then it disappeared. it WILL go away, everyone has their own pace, but it's bloody worth it. Even after a few months, you can have one bad day and a strong will to smoke. Be careful with these days, as the craving will vanish very fast.

Cause cigarettes are not all about cancer, there are hundreds of alien substances your body recognizes as ´enemies´, and before causing cancer it will start every possible inflammatory reaction within your body leading to softer but increasing chronic diseases. You'll get from irritated bowel, shorter breath, decreased libido to clogged arteries, high blood pressure, depression, you name it. Deregulated immune system will let you susceptible to minor yet dangerous cumulative inflammations and reactions much before a cancer will appear.

It's hard, but quit. The day cravings go away, you'll be proud of yourself. And so much healthier, even before you notice it.

 

Nicotine patches, helped me a lot, but you might get used to them too but i like it, well I use them sometimes of course very small doses, i saw one guy got hooked on nicotine gum. In my opinion making your self go throu withdrawals is not very good for your mental health and it's not for everyone, get Nicotine 21mg patches cut them on half CAUSE THEIR ARE EXPENSIVE, be careful after 2 weeks 21mg might be too much and you might get headache and feel sick, but before that you might reduce to 14mg or if you are already on a way, then try to start from 14mg. just remember it is a substitute, but the one that is easy to reduce and stop

 

After 40 years of smoking, I quit 1,5 years ago with the help of the e-cigarette.
From my point of view, it is a substitute. You need a proper instument, I began with joyetech ego aio, which is (was) a good entrance product (or the likes of). I began with 18 mg Nicotine, but with high Glycerine (80%) Flavors, so that there is a smoother feeling in the throat, but keeping the "throat hit" of a normal cigarette. I soon changed to mixing my liquids by myself, as the premade liquids are exepensive and do not meet my requirements.
There are a few benefits with the e-cigarettes, first one is the absence of persitend smell, second one is that you can say good-bye to the normal cigarette without the terrors of completely abandoning Nicotine and sucking on something . Next one is, you can avoid using it for much longer (six hours is no problem). And of course, your body regains its natural state within a short time, and your self doesn't suffer. A usual smoke lasts for me only a minute or so. Three or four puffs, and I am ok.
After the change I reduced Nicotine within a few weeks to 12,6,3, then zero. I used CBD liquids (DYI with crystals, very expensive) as throad-hit substitute, which worked unexpectedly good.
For more than half a year I stayed with zero Nicotine, until I got bored and put a little in again. Now I am on 3 mg, but I am more and more abandoning the e-cigarette, since I do not like the efforts of sustaining the supplies.
Shortcomings are definitevly there. If you take too much Nicotine, you will get headaches like descibed above with those Nicotine patches. The vapor itself makes a fine layer of 'something' on furniture, dishes, and of course electronic devices, so it's good not to vape near your gear. I do only vape in the kitchen or outside.
The first and foremost requirement is being absolute ready inside your mind, not imperatively to quit abruptly, but to make a change, under the condition one can live with the change. I enjoyed every benefit of leaving the smoker's world, and today i like the smell of every smoked cigarette I encounter on various places, myself not being a part of that anymore.
e-cigarettes have a different addiction pattern, since Nicotine impact in the brain isn't enhanced by Ammonium anymore, which is a big additive in every normal cigarette. If you encounter tobacco without Ammonium and other chemicals added, you would be surprised how uninteresting it is for a regulary smoking experience.
I for myself never felt any urge to smoke a cigarette again, and that's the point for me. I often saw me (in my mind) taking one out of the box , putting it between my lips and lighting it, as if that action was a part of me - but not actually inhaling. There was no need for that, so I didn't do it.

 

Be extremely resolved (in advance) to shrug off any craving or smoking impulse that comes to mind!!
Refuse to be tormented!

So many activities or habits will instantly awaken the impulse to smoke, you need to be mentally prepared NOT to yield.
This aspect is one of the most important.

I have seen some people being almost forced to quit because they are dying, and even with high tech pills and a bunch of products, they go back to smoking...

So count first and foremost on your motivation and how to keep it firm, because cravings have a tendency to weaken the initial resolve, that's why I suggest to rapidly shrug off and expulse immediately thoughts of smoking. otherwise, left unattended, the cravings gather enough strength to cause a relapse!

I used patches and nicotine gum until I became addicted to the patches and gum.
Then I quit the patches, then the gum, and now I am free from cigarettes!
My couple of joints a day get no competition

I noticed results rapidly:
Outside of music, I work on a moving truck and haul all kind of furniture up and down all kinds of flights of stairs.
Good thing I don't smoke anymore!
I am a working Pitt bull, when I start, I don't stop till I'm done.
You wanna know the silliest thing I see? Out of breath people reaching for a cigarette

Five years have gone by, and I really do not regret!
I hope you find good advice and succeed!
P.S. I may be wrong, but I think vaping nictine products might be worse than regular smokes.

 

Last edited: Nov 26, 2019

I quit smoking one and a half years ago. I smoked for 12 years.
I have often tried to quit and have often failed. I tried nicotine patches, herbal tobacco and e-cigarettes. Nothing worked. I relapsed every time.

What helped me was to do sports. Swimming, to be exact. It strengthens the cardiovascular system, trains the lungs and reduces the extreme nervousness that comes with nicotine withdrawal.
Try that. Swim 30 to 60 minutes a day. It helped me. Maybe it will also help you.

 

Last edited: Nov 26, 2019

1) Identify what "triggers" your cravings and try to reduce those activities for a while (drinking beer used to be my major trigger.)

2) Remember cravings usually last less than a few minutes so ride it out. Do push ups/exercise/ distract yourself until the craving is over.

3) This is a weird one but worked for me: "pretend" to smoke an unlit cigarette while programming beats etc. People thought I was mad doing this but it worked! It re-programmed my brain to realise there is no "reward" from the physical action of inhailing.

4) Stop hanging out with people who smoke (until you've got it under control!)

 

Last edited: Nov 26, 2019

I smoked many years and had numerous attemps to stop but it didn‘t work... Then I found „stop smoking“ by allen carr. During reading you are allowed to smoke further so you can take it easy...
It is telling you the truth about smoking and is changing your thinking. It was easy for me to stop and after a while I was completely free again. I am now 15 years smokfree. This book safed my live I guess and a huge amount of money. Quitting smoking can be easy with the right mind. No other things needed (they only make it more difficult). I am 100% sure this is the easiest way to stop and can highly recommend this book! I know 4 people that couldn‘t stop and had numerous attemps but after reading the book they could.

 

Last edited: Nov 26, 2019