Trying to quit after 19 years.

[jeffrey_pdx]

I'm mostly fine in the mornings(a few hard days), Buts it the nights that get me. Any ideas?

[cbayer]

1. Buy or download the book "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking"

Last edited Fri Sep 12, 2014, 03:22 AM - Edit history (1)

I quite completely after 45 years. The book was the key for me.

Best wishes to you.

[jambo101]

2. Basically just dont ever smoke another cigarette.

When the cravings start just ignore them as its just the addiction talking to you. Sure the first little while is going to be tough but if you ever want to give up smoking that addiction factor will have to be dealt with.
Ultimately the only way to stop smoking is to stop smoking.
I gave up the nicotine addiction 5 years ago after smoking for the best part of 40yrs and have no desire to get re-addicted.
My current addiction is food,in my opinion a much tougher addiction as its not as black and white as cigarette addiction where you either smoke or you dont, with food you need to consume it every day, trying to maintain a healthy dietary lifestyle is brutally tough.

[cbayer]

3. Good advice.

I call it my little green demon that I just have to give the finger to.

I am not a fan of nicotine replacement at all. I agree with you that the issue is nicotine addiction.

Food is a much harder issue, as you can't quit it completely. Good luck to you in your efforts.

[meow2u3]

4. Do what I did: switch to vaping

Believe me, don't mind all the anti-vaping hype you hear or read. E-cigs really do help alleviate the cravings for tobacco.

You might still get withdrawal pangs, but they won't be as severe if you vape some high nicotine, tobacco-flavored e-juice in its stead.

I've been smoke-free for 11 months, thanks to e-cigs.

[cbayer]

5. While I am not opposed to vaping, i chose not to use any kind of replacement.

My goal was to be free of the addiction to nicotine. There is no question that a replacement will alleviate the cravings, but you may never eliminate them with a replacement.

Congratulations to you. E-cigs are clearly a better alternative to burning tobacco.

If you get motivated to get off nicotine completely, I recommend the book The Easy Way to Quit Smoking. I've been nicotine free for almost 3 months and I feel great about it.

[meow2u3]

6. No thanks. I prefer to vape

I can always wean myself off nicotine slowly (over a period of years) by vaping. I reduced my nicotine from 24mg to 15 now, after 11 months.

Quitting cold turkey is not for me. Besides, you can even get 0 nicotine flavors--the nicotine in e-cigs is optional.

[cbayer]

7. Whatever works - that is all that counts.

I had a friend visiting recently who was using e-cigs and she had some of the non-nicotine flavors, but I don't really get the point of that.

[jambo101]

8. I dont get vaping as a way to give up cigarettes

By vaping you are still smoking a plastic facsimile of a cigarette,it even lights up at the end,still ingesting nicotine the same way, i dont see what is actually being given up by vaping all i see is a somewhat cleaner form of the nicotine delivered through a plastic cigarette.

[cbayer]

9. It's better than smoking health wise.

It's the burning of the tobacco that creates the biggest health risk.

So if you can get a safer shot of nicotine, that's better.

I haven't seen data that really shows that vaping leads to complete abstinence, but it is cleaner and healthier.

I think the tobacco industry has greatly overstated what happens during nicotine withdrawal. It's a big boogie man, but it's really not that bad.

The major issue is the psychological addiction, not the physical one, imo.

[jambo101]

10. It maybe a cleaner way to intake nicotine

But you are still addicted to nicotine and i dont see anything in the vaping process that alleviates the addiction to nicotine.
If one is really serious about giving up smoking you got to give up smoking and not just change the cigarette to a plastic cigarette.

[cbayer]

11. That is my way of looking at it, but I think for others, switching delivery

methods can make sense.

The goal is to stop smoking tobacco. If someone uses a substitute to achieve that, I'm ok with that.

But I am very, very happy to be nicotine free. It was the drug that had enslaved me and I give a big middle finger to those that push this drug.

[jambo101]

12. Agreed, its insidious

I'm amazed the stuff is even legal..

[Alan Selk]

20. Wrong in every way

When a smoker switches to a clean source of nicotine they eliminate about 99% of the harm caused by smoking. It's the smoke that kills, not nicotine and not tobacco (as the numerous studies on smokeless tobacco have shown, contrary to common myth). Switching to vaping or low TSNA smokeless tobacco is not just somewhat less harmful then smoking as you have said, but several orders of magnitude less harmful then inhaling smoke. Trivializing the amount of harm reduction caused by switching moves the issue from science into propaganda and ideology.

You appear to be more concerned with having a dependency then you are about health and avoiding disease. I am guessing you would be comfortable marching in the temperance movement in the early part of the last century as your last statement in this thread about being surprised it is still legal shows.

[jambo101]

21. I was a smoker for 35 years

I know how tough it is to give up the product i just dont agree with vaping as an alternative to smoking as you are still a nicotine junkie and doing everything you used to do with a cigarette only now its in a plastic package.

[PennyK]

13. I switched to vaping 7 months ago

Yes, I still get nicotine. But did you know that nicotine is the LEAST damaging thing in a cigaret? Addiction doesn't scare me... don't you dare get between me and my cup of coffee!
Last time I "quit" with hypnosis I gained ten hard-fought pounds and was anxious all the time. This time, I'm finally losing that weight, I can breathe deeply, and no more gross coughing. I also have regained my singing voice, and I love to sing. I feel like a non-smoker and I'm in heaven!

[jeffrey_pdx]

14. My biggest problem is the the after dinner smoke

If I went the rest of my life just having that one, I would be fine with that. The biggest hurdle is after that first one I want more.

[cbayer]

15. One is too many and 1000 isn't enough.

That is why you have to recognize that it is an addiction and never smoke another cigarette again.

If you smoke just that one, you will be back to where you were before you know it.

[PennyK]

16. Ohhh yes

Every so often I do get the urge to try one. Luckily for me I know no one who smokes. Actually buying a whole pack would be a commitment I just do not want!

[cbayer]

17. I have been surrounded by smokers frequently since I quit.

Although it makes me irritated, I think it's been a good test. At no point have I come close to actually wanting a cigarette.

I could have gotten one so many times.

I am so very, very glad to be a non-smoker.

[jambo101]

18. Being around smokers

When i was a smoker i never realized the stench that came with the habit,the car,my clothes,my house,my breath all reeked of the cigarette.
Now i've been smoke free for 5 years smokers really stand out in social gatherings or just passing by, unbeknownst by them they all smell like an ashtray.
At least the vaping doesnt reek like cigarettes

[cbayer]

19. I have definitiely noticed that as well

and it reinforces my commitment to being a non-smoker.

I do find that being around people who are vaping triggers cravings in me, though. Even when I am not aware of it, I have felt the intense craving and looked around to find someone with an e-cig.