Struggling really hard to stop smoking

[Mack]

Nothing helps. Tried meds, tried going cold turkey and I always return to smoking. So far I managed to stay a month clean, but after that I started inhaling cancerous smoke again. One cigarette to coffee, maybe another after dinner and kaboom, I'm a pack a day smoker again. You probably know how it goes.

So, what are my other options? Massage therapy, hypnotherapy, dunno, being one with the universe? I'm down to try anything that will free me from this hideous habit.

 

[Deleted member 4367]

Vaping using cartridges that ween you off nicotine maybe?

 

[Betelgeuse]

Everyone always raves about Allan Carr's book.

 

[insertwhatever]

maybe try a vape ?

 

[Mack]

Vaping using cartridges that ween you off nicotine maybe?

Click to shrink...

Tried vaping and it was just another way of inducing nicotine into my system. Lowering the strength of ejuice just made me vape like crazy.

 

[capitalCORN]

What I did was a staggered schedule. As a pack a day smoker, I turned that to one cigarette every hour, then after a week one every 2 hours, then so and so forth.

 

[Deleted member 4367]

Tried vaping and it was just another way of inducing nicotine to my system. Lowering the strength of ejuice just made me vape like crazy.

Click to shrink...

Man I'm sorry that it has its hooks in you so deep. It sounds like a miserable struggle you are dealing with.

Are you around other smokers much? What's the social aspect of it for you?

 

[Stinkles]

Not necessarily helpful op —set yourself up with a mantra that directly connects to the physical need.

I quit cold turkey (like twenty plus years ago) and used the craving as evidence it was working. Every time I was desperate for a smoke I reminded myself it was progress and I eventually became addicted to that little dopamine hit. It's like trying to lose weight and every time you get on the scales you find you've dropped two pounds.

so it's a form of dumb self hypnosis but it might work for some people.

"I desperately need to smoke therefore I haven't smoked for a long time therefore it is working "

 

[shamanick]

If you haven't heard of it, The Easy Way by Allen Carr is a very popular book that's helped a lot of people quit. It didn't work for me.

I've quit many, many times (haven't smoked since August 20), and the only thing that works for me is the patch. For some people, only the gum works. You have to find what works for you. Ultimately, you have to really want to quit, the NRT just helps.

 

[8bit]

LSD will change your relationship with nicotine from an hour between smokes to months or years between them.

 

[hombremalo]

Read the book, it works

 

[Volimar]

I can't give you any advice but i wish you the best of luck.

 

[Mack]

Man I'm sorry that it has its hooks in you so deep. It sounds like a miserable struggle you are dealing with.

Are you around other smokers much? What's the social aspect of it for you?

Click to shrink...

No social aspect, I just have to smoke. Like if I don't, I feel nervous and miserable and the feeling gets worse form minute to minute. Also smoking is very enjoyable to me. It's a love/hate relationship.

The thing is I smoke for 14 years now, a pack a day, sometimes more, and I can feel how it affects my body. No stamina, sore throat, stuffed nose etc. Oh, and my girlfriend hates it and we argue all the time about how much I destroy myself and burn through a seizable chunk of our income while smoking.

 

[Mack]

Not necessarily helpful op —set yourself up with a mantra that directly connects to the physical need.

I quit cold turkey (like twenty plus years ago) and used the craving as evidence it was working. Every time I was desperate for a smoke I reminded myself it was progress and I eventually became addicted to that little dopamine hit. It's like trying to lose weight and every time you get on the scales you find you've dropped two pounds.

so it's a form of dumb self hypnosis but it might work for some people.

"I desperately need to smoke therefore I haven't smoked for a long time therefore it is working "

Click to shrink...

Thanks for advice Frank, but I lack will to do such a mind stunt.

 

[Officer Big Mac]

https://youtu.be/d--UiOSAuio

 

[Stinkles]

Thanks for advice Frank, but I lack will to do such a mind stunt.

Click to shrink...

I thought so too but it eventually sank in. I don't doubt you're right about yourself tho.

 

[Vilix]

I wish you the best of luck. I occasionally smoke. It's such a nasty habit.

 

[Stinkles]

I wish you the best of luck. I occasionally smoke. It's such a nasty habit.

Click to shrink...

I didn't smoke for that long and have been 100% quit for twenty years but still occasionally have bad dreams where I smoke a pack for KP reason and I can smell my clothes.

 

[Blue Skies]

LSD will change your relationship with nicotine from an hour between smokes to months or years between them.

Click to shrink...

Which is funny because the times i tripped we all smoked a pack to the face in like 6 hours

 

[DopeyFish]

I'd say keep vaping

Even if you vape like crazy, you just set the juice content lower

keep in mind that's using actual vape juice and a machine, not juul / nic salts... those vape pens are incredibly strong and not very cheap.

Get some zero nic juice and mix with 3mg juice and eventually work your way down to zero nic. you need to get by a solid week. Even though you are taking nicotine, you're only getting nicotine. Remember nicotine isn't very harmful (in controlled quantity), it's the rest of the stuff in a cigarette that is. There is also something in cigarettes that is far more addicting than nicotine but I felt that after vaping for an extended period of time that what we call the nic fit just disappeared. I have never craved a vape after a few weeks of vaping 3mg straight.

Eventually once you're at no nic, you just have the habit to stop and not the addiction... easiest smoking cessation ever as there's no longer any physical demand for the substance.

 

[vainya]

No social aspect, I just have to smoke. Like if I don't, I feel nervous and miserable and the feeling gets worse form minute to minute. Also smoking is very enjoyable to me. It's a love/hate relationship.

The thing is I smoke for 14 years now, a pack a day, sometimes more, and I can feel how it affects my body. No stamina, sore throat, stuffed nose etc. Oh, and my girlfriend hates it and we argue all the time about how much I destroy myself and burn through a seizable chunk of our income while smoking.

Click to shrink...

This is exactly how I was and my husband was the same way as your girlfriend. There were always arguments about destroying my body. But I had to stop. So I ended up having to accept that the nervous and miserable feelings were going to happen, but they're temporary. It really does stop getting worse. If it didn't, I wouldn't be quit for almost 3 years.

Joining a community of exsmokers helps too. It keeps you accountable because you'll feel bad going back to them and admitting you smoked. Sometimes I wonder why there isn't such a community here for that (unless there is and I keep missing it).

 

[Ryaaan14]

I quit smoking twice w the patch and quit vaping w the patch so that was always kinda my go-to. It's super easy and it rly took the edge off my cravings w no side effects. In fact it was fun to use them to lucid dream 🤷🏻‍♂️

Ive learned one important thing tho, nothing will help u quit if u don't actually want to quit

 

[Weston]

Tried vaping and it was just another way of inducing nicotine into my system. Lowering the strength of ejuice just made me vape like crazy.

Click to shrink...

I did the same thing. I'd just let myself vape all the time and eventually I'd go back to vaping my normal habits once I got adjusted to the new nicotine level. For 3-0mg I bought a big bottle of 3mg and topped it off with 0mg everytime I used some. After I was at 0mg I vaped all the time but it tapered off after a couple months. Now I dont really feel the urge to smoke or vape.

 

[Deleted member 41178]

No social aspect, I just have to smoke. Like if I don't, I feel nervous and miserable and the feeling gets worse form minute to minute. Also smoking is very enjoyable to me. It's a love/hate relationship.

The thing is I smoke for 14 years now, a pack a day, sometimes more, and I can feel how it affects my body. No stamina, sore throat, stuffed nose etc. Oh, and my girlfriend hates it and we argue all the time about how much I destroy myself and burn through a seizable chunk of our income while smoking.

Click to shrink...

You sound exactly like I did, I smoked for years but I loved it. I tried everything to give up, gum, drugs hypno therapy and nothing stuck.

I was spending nearly £400 a month on smokes, my wife hated it(although she didn't complain too much as I was a smoker when we met)

I've now been smoke free for coming up to 4 years and you know what worked, actually wanting to give up. I smoked my last pack and said that was it, those first few weeks were tough but it got better.

Basically all I'm really saying is I don't think you can quit unless you really want to.

 

[Deleted member 3896]

Research the history and the politics of tobacco companies and the tobacco lobby.

You'll find it's filled with racist right wingers that have gotten rich out of giving people cancer and gaslighting them about it for decades and decades.

Just stop cold turkey. You don't NEED to smoke. Don't let those people fuck with you or your body any longer.

 

[Anthony Hopkins]

I quit by working a lot and not going out and drinking alcohol.
Working a lot, helped because when your working in a kitchen hours go by and your to busy to be distracted by smoking.

 

[Kotze282]

Tried vaping and it was just another way of inducing nicotine into my system. Lowering the strength of ejuice just made me vape like crazy.

Click to shrink...

Still a lot better than smoking even 1 cig a day.

 

[TigerKnee]

Vaping helped me quit. Been over two and half years now.

 

[Deleted member 3896]

A few more things to consider:

-The instant you stop smoking, the nicotine will start leaving your system and physical withdrawal symptoms will disappear in a day or two. Everytime you start back up, you reset that clock.

-Rituals worked for me-- I bought a pack of the nastiest, harshest smokes I could find and chainsmoked them till I was sick the night before I planned to quit. I destroyed a pack of cigarettes the morning I quit. I also held unlit ones in my fingers or up to my mouth after I quit if I was with friends who still smoked. I took smoke breaks at work which were just me going outside for the same amount of time I would have smoking.

-Cardiovascular exercise is a great way to redevelop a relationship with your body that smoking has been blocking. I was amazed at being able to feel my lungs after just a few days.

-Think about the money you're losing and think about how you can reward yourself for quitting with all the money you'll be saving.

-It's fucking gross and it stinks. You stink because of this habit. It took me a little while to realize this about myself after I quit. Once I did, I was like holy shit it's so nasty and so obvious and that stale smoke smell is always there regardless of how much you bathe, brush, mouthwash, launder, etc.

-I smoked a pack and a half a day for eight years then quit cold turkey. It's been a long time since I stopped and I'll never be a smoker again. It's actually quite easy once you see the whole picture.

-Make a plan and pull the trigger. Tomorrow is a good day to be done with it.

 

[Lost Knight]

I used to smoke, but I quit in 2015 and never smoke a single cigarette since. There were themethods that worked for me:

1. I started going to the gym to keep in shape and myself busy.

2. I started lowering the number of cigarettes gradually over the course of a year.

3. I adjusted my diet and started eating far more fruits and veggies.

 

[mescalineeyes]

If you haven't heard of it, The Easy Way by Allen Carr is a very popular book that's helped a lot of people quit. It didn't work for me.

Click to shrink...

quit 4 years ago using this book. it's fucking sick like you're brainwashing yourself into not smoking.

 

[bytesized]

Everyone always raves about Allan Carr's book.

Click to shrink...

I quit after reading it and it's one if the best things I've ever done. It was my first time trying to quit though and I kind of did it as a test to prove myself I could do it and to see if what the book said was true. Turned out that it was and the longer I would be without smoking the easiest it was to keep going. Not even sure how long ago this was even, lost count, I think around 16 years now. When I imagine myself if I would've kept smoking a pack a day during all this time... fuck, maybe I'd be dead already, who knows. And the money I would've wasted too.

 

[Morphis]

You said you tried meds, did you try Cytisine?

 

[Jeffolation]

Wasn't able to stick to vaping until I tried using a Juul. Haven't had a cigarette since May.

 

[Glasgow Mega-Snake]

Start some regular activity that directly benefits from not smoking. Like some kind of sport that needs good stamina/lung capacity. You'll notice improvements pretty fast, and also the setback when you smoke even a few cigs. Or join a choir / take singing lessons and realize you'd lose half your range by smoking

The danger in this is of course when you stop doing said activity and think you can allow yourself to smoke a few now. No. Don't to that. It's a trap.

 

[shamanick]

-Rituals worked for me-- I bought a pack of the nastiest, harshest smokes I could find and chainsmoked them till I was sick the night before I planned to quit. I destroyed a pack of cigarettes the morning I quit. I also held unlit ones in my fingers or up to my mouth after I quit if I was with friends who still smoked. I took smoke breaks at work which were just me going outside for the same amount of time I would have smoking.

Click to shrink...

great post in general but especially this point - smoking is a ritualized activity and you have to replace it, at least temporarily

 

[sml_x]

It's not easy, and I can only speak to my own experience, but after 3 tries on the patch the 4th attempt finally clicked. I was at 1-2 packs a day. Follow the step-down dosage instructions, keep it on at night (even though the dreams suck) and keep thinking about how awful tobacco companies are.

Vaping seems to work for a lot of people but in my mind the process/ritual is too similar to the real thing.

 

[Deleted member 3896]

great post in general but especially this point - smoking is a ritualized activity and you have to replace it, at least temporarily

Click to shrink...

Thanks! Yeah, that was important for me to understand and put into practice. I also ran through a "smoking greatest hits montage" (ie that one after stressful news, that one after great sex, that one after a particular meal, etc.) with an imagined sad orchestral score through my mind as a sort of way to honor what I enjoyed about it then to say goodbye to it.

Good job on quitting and good luck on staying quit!

 

[TheGhost]

Tried vaping and it was just another way of inducing nicotine into my system. Lowering the strength of ejuice just made me vape like crazy.

Click to shrink...

That's the point, you keep doing it until you're down to zero nic.

Say what you want about vaping but if you want to break the physical and mental habit of

Going to the store
Buying a pack
Packing the pack
Flipping over your one lucky cigarette
Smoking
Smelling like shit
Losing a lighter or the pack and freaking out

Just vape
Yeah you're still putting nicotine into your system but you're also avoiding all the shit that causes the cancer in cigarettes.

 

[Lafazar]

Watch this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRL7o2kPqw0

 

[TheXbox]

My dad just got diagnosed with COPD. He quit smoking a year ago and has been extremely active/healthy outside of smoking for fifteen years. But he still smoked for his entire adult life, and now he's going to be sick for the rest of it.

You can't quit soon enough.

Not necessarily helpful op —set yourself up with a mantra that directly connects to the physical need.

I quit cold turkey (like twenty plus years ago) and used the craving as evidence it was working. Every time I was desperate for a smoke I reminded myself it was progress and I eventually became addicted to that little dopamine hit. It's like trying to lose weight and every time you get on the scales you find you've dropped two pounds.

so it's a form of dumb self hypnosis but it might work for some people.

"I desperately need to smoke therefore I haven't smoked for a long time therefore it is working "

Click to shrink...

This is basically how my dad did it, as far as I understand. Kind of like exercise -- if your body is tired, you're doing something right.

 

[Nihilistic Monk]

I've been given up for going on 4 years now. What finally worked for me like Stinkles said, is a kinda mantra but with a physical prop.
Basically, I bought a fucking huge jar of lollypops from Amazon. Chupa chups. That good shit.

Every time I wanted a cigarette, I would eat a lollipop. Now it probably isn't healthy to eat 20 lollipops a day, but it sure as shit must be better than smoking. That turned into a "Ha, fuck you, I'm having a lolly instead of a cigarette again" and I broke the cycle by enjoying that feeling. That became the habit.

Within a few weeks i was noticing I was saving money, I wasn't having to run to the store to buy cigarettes in evenings etc. The realisation (Finally) sunk in that I was happier not smoking.

Best of luck with it. Please persevere, it is totally, totally worth it.

 

[Deleted member 46948]

Nothing helps. Tried meds, tried going cold turkey and I always return to smoking. So far I managed to stay a month clean, but after that I started inhaling cancerous smoke again. One cigarette to coffee, maybe another after dinner and kaboom, I'm a pack a day smoker again. You probably know how it goes.

So, what are my other options? Massage therapy, hypnotherapy, dunno, being one with the universe? I'm down to try anything that will free me from this hideous habit.

Click to shrink...

I switched to Iqos and Heets after not smoking for two weeks because of illness.
I found out two weeks was enough for cigarettes to start tasting foul to me. I know Heets are only marginally better health-wise, but they don't have a lot of small rituals associated with them for me like cigarettes do, so I smoke them a lot less frequently (I used to smoke a pack a day, now a pack of Heets lasts me for at least two days).
It's not all the way, but it's a start I guess.

 

[Earthed]

Everyone always raves about Allan Carr's book.

Click to shrink...

Worked wonders for me, I'm like 7 years clean.

One anecdote from the book that really spoke to me is this: You don't need nicotine. It's just the smoking that makes you want it. People live life all the time without it. You might think that it calms you down, but really, it's the lack of nicotine that makes you extra nervous, and smoking just brings you back to the baseline every non-smoker is at. In a sense, it's like putting on a pair of shoes 2 sizes too small just to feel the relief of taking them off. Realizing how idiotic that really was made me in turn realize how idiotic smoking is.

 

[jotun?]

Just stop buying them

You can thank me later

 

[Outlaw]

In 2017, I spent a year as a project manager for a construction gig in St. Louis. I was never a big smoker, would occasionally bum a square during a night out if I was hammered. Anyway, during this project I spent a lot of time in the field with the laborers and picked up their Marlboro lights habit. By the end of the project, I was going through a pack a day.

Finished the project, flew back home to Texas, and my gf pressured me to quit because she's lost a few family members to lung cancer.

I tried those vape kits you can customize with coils/cases and shit, didn't work for me. I bought a JUUL and never looked back. I only really rip it during drives, and haven't smoked an actual cigarette since.

With the recent flavor bans, I've been weening myself off the JUUL. I've done little trials where I'll go a week without it easily, so I know it's doable.

 

[janusff]

I quit smoking like 6 years ago and it was cold turkey. Felt a little sick from not smoking so I took a Benadryl and took a fat nap. After that the hard part was the habit of smoking (every time I got in my car to drive, the mornings, etc) with that I just kinda ate more mints and smoked more pot. :p I know that it's not that much healthier or anything but yeah it worked. Haven't smoked or wanted to since.

 

[Lockness Mobster]

Been there OP,one of the hardest things I had to do. Not only did I cut cigarettes(used to smoke a pack a day for 5 years,smoked for over 15),but I quit drinking liquor and smoking weed all at the same time. Those other two triggered my want for cigarettes so they had to go. I went to vaping and dont regret it. It's been 5 years since and I feel so much better with none of that shit in my life. I'd say try n stick with vaping,maybe start at 12 and cut to 6 when ur ready. Good luck my friend.

 

[Mack]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. I guess, there's no easy way to quit smoking. Welp, will try to limit my cigarettes day by day and quit cold turkey on New Year's Eve. Wish me luck!

 

[Frunkle]

Set milestones for yourself. If you can get through a day without smoking, you'll now know that there's light at the end of that tunnel. First day back at work, first long drive, first "scenario where you know you smoke", etc. Get through one bad day then you'll know you can get through a day like that without smoking. You'll always have errant cravings but they're never worth going back on. Plus once you're finally free of it you'll feel so great about yourself. Good luck. :)