Good luck! I am completely confident you can do it.

Two points. Tell as many people as you can (via Tattered Coat, or LJ) that you are quitting and set up a mechanism whereby one cigarette means you let everyone down. I used a “cigarettes unsmoked since last cigarette” metric, which means that any single cigarette would reset that counter to 0, as if the intervening good stretch had never happened.

Second: This is something that really helped me a lot (10 weeks and counting) — the purpose of cigarettes is to help minimize feelings of stress. But you know, non-smokers have to deal with stress too — they just don’t use a crutch like cigarettes to deal with it. In other words, saying “but I was all feeling stressed out” is not a valid excuse for reverting to cigarette use.

Basically, you have to keep trying, and when you’re ready, you’ll quit. Not much can make you more ready than you actually are. I quit after 14 years of smoking, I had never tried all that much (perhaps 5 times over that stretch), and now that I have quit, I’m surprised at how easy it was. Because I was ready.

For me it was also critical that I could not be a smoker at the age of 35. That “bar” and not allowing slippage past it, was critical for me. Before 35 I could always say “I’m not ‘really’ a smoker.” After 35 — give it up, I’m a smoker.

Thanks, Martin. I’m a little ambivalent about the “letting people know” thing–though this post certainly took care of that. The thing is that I’ve let down the people in my life, particularly my wife, so many times that I would be numb to public embarrassment. As with any addiction (and I’ve read that nicotine is as addictive as heroin and coke), a lot of things can fall by the wayside when the user starts using again.

Having said that, a support system can definitely help–the quit rates increase dramatically when people use support groups. Here is a great page I just found on quiting.

Also, I forgot to mention that I’m also trying bupropion (the generic form of welbutrin) to help. Not sure what it’s doing, but in the past, I found that it relieved some of the tension and anxiety that surrounds quitting.

I wouldn’t be surprised to find that this nasal spray–which is only available by prescription–becomes a recreational drug. But that’s what I kind of like about it–I can still feel like a badass even though I’m not smoking ;) I note, though, that the page I linked to above says this about the spray:

“Nicotine nasal spray: The nasal spray delivers nicotine quickly to the bloodstream as it is absorbed through the nose. It is available only by prescription.

“The nasal spray immediately relieves withdrawal symptoms and offers you a sense of control over nicotine cravings. Because it is easy to use, smokers report great satisfaction. However, the Food and Drug Administration cautions that since this product contains nicotine, it can be addictive. It recommends the spray be prescribed for 3-month periods and should not be used for longer than 6 months.”

For now, though, my doctor is encouraging me to go crazy with it (though that’s not exactly the phrase he used).

It seems to me that the dangerous thing about cigarette addiction is that cigarettes can serve so many purposes–I smoked when I was depressed; when I was happy; when something bad happened; when something good happened; when I was working hard; when I was taking it easy. Basically, I smoked all the damn time, and for any conceivablle reason I could find.

At a certain point, though, I stopped enjoying the cigarettes. The cigarettes became pure nicotine delivery systems that weren’t even giving me pleasure any more. Every time I smoked, I hated myself for smoking.

What’s hard about quitting something is that the urge can hit at the most random times, and you must be constantly on guard against it.

But as Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers sang, “Oh Lord, I’m trying, Oh Lord, I’m trying.”

I wish you’d said that about the prescription earlier; I went to the drugstore today to get some and they wouldn’t sell any to me!!

And word on the non-enjoyment tip. It may not have been quite so bad with me, I would think how much I didn’t like it maybe once every other day. But it was definitely there.

It sounds like you’re on the right track. Remember that if you have a craving, they DON’T get progressively worse for hour after hour. If you ride a craving out for like ten minutes, it will pass.

I also reluctantly have to credit two anti-smoking measures: sin taxes and no smoking in bars etc. On the sin taxes, if the only way I can satisfy a craving is to spend like $7 for basically 1 cigarette (the one I would crave), then fuck it, no way. Of course on other occasions I can theoretically bum one from a smoker friend or something, but often it’s just satisfy craving = $7. And I ain’t paying that.

And the bars thing speaks for itself. I don’t have to duck out 6 times an evening no matter how cold it is, I’m not a social pariah, etc. It makes a difference, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. How are the Philly laws on that? In NYC you basically can’t smoke ANYWHERE.

sorry about forgetting to mention that you need a prescription….but surely you didn’t think it would be *that* easy to score this kind of dynamite? The original post now mentions that the spray is prescription-only; I do apologize for your wasted trip.

It’s expensive compared to the patch and gum (about $56 a bottle). But when judging the cost of nicotine replacement therapies, you always have to compare them to the amount of money you were spending on smokes…in both the short and long term, it’s well worth paying that much up front. but it ain’t cheap.

I should mention, too, that many people don’t like the nasal spray because it burns a little bit and can make you cough/sniffle.

Philly is starting to follow in NYC’s footsteps–a smoking ban has been proposed by a councilman, and the Mayor has come onboard.

It’s funny–I lived in NY before the ban, moved out before the ban took effect, and have been back many times since. At first, it was very, very strange to enter a bar and find it unsmokey–it felt weirdly antiseptic, and seemed to be more evidence that NY was losing its edge. But after a while, I realized how nice it was not to stink after going out; how much less I smoked when I had to go outside to do it; and how much healthier it was for everyone involved. And I realized that all in all, NY never really loses its edge—-the edge just moves around a bit.

There are only a few bars that, in my opinion, just aren’t the same without smoke. In particular, there is a bar called “Jimmy’s Corner” in midtown that I used to frequent. It’s a bit of a dive, and is full of old boxing paraphernalia. Now it feels too clean–some things, like film noir and dive bars, just don’t seem right without the smoke.

But I’ll shed no tears…

my brother has cut down from 1+ pack of Marlboro Reds to, I believe, less than a pack of Mediums a day. He now has 2 young kids and he never smokes in front of them and he’s in front of them a lot. He knows he’s addicted and has been slowly trying to stop over the years, but I don’t know if he’ll ever kick it, but thinking of his kids helps.

Don’t stop trying.

Thanks for the encouragement, dby. If your brother lives in philly, let him know about the Jefferson program–they’re really wonderful there. I’m sure that more programs like it are springing up all over the U.S.

Hi Matt. First off, I want to tell you that its awesome that you’re quitting.
When you get thru a few months smoke free, you’ll feel like you’ve accomplished something and you definitely should have.

Quitting stands as one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done in my life.
Just like you, I’ve gone thru multiple quits. One time lasting two years. Like you note above - you can’t have just one. You just can’t. No matter how much you might love to believe so.

A few things that worked for me….

I was a pack and a half a day smoker. I still liked smoking when I quit. Hell, I admit it - I still like smoking now. In order to quit, I didn’t need will
power, what I needed was “do” power. I needed to find new habits to replace the old. Smoking was so ingrained in the day to day tasks of my life, this was difficult.

Habit number one was limiting when I bought smokes. I adjusted my schedule to buy my pack in the morning. No cartons! If I had spare smokes at the end of the day - I threw them out.

Then I started to cut down the size of my pack buy immediately breaking a number of smokes in it each morning. This emphasized just how stupid this all was to me.

I would stick with breaking a certain number each day for a week or two, and then break an additional amount each following week. Eventually I got myself down to around 5 or so smokes a day, and that’s when I just stopped.

Along the way I found new things to do instead of smoking. Making and sipping hot chocolate (swiss miss) became a major habit. So did munching on carrots and M & Ms. Chocolate fires off the same chemicals in the brain as nicotine. A whole lot less to be sure, but I know this helped. I chewed a lot of Dentine Ice too. A pack of that gum slips in the back pocket, just like a pack of smokes.

Keep your chin up man. You can do it.

Thanks for your comments, Karl. Breaking a certain number of cigarettes in half after buying a pack is a great idea for people who are trying to cut down. A few years ago, I tried to quit by cutting down; alas, it didn’t work for me–I’m an all-or-nothing kind of guy.

I can’t believe that I forgot to mention chocolate, because you’re exactly right about the brain response. Chocolate can be even better than nicotine nasal spray–I sometimes feel like fireworks are going off in my head when I bite down on a particularly tasty piece of chocolate.

I very much appreciate the encouragement; congratulations go to you for staying quit.

As you can see by the way that this post switches from the first to the second person halfway through, I also hope that it can provide some help to those trying to quit. All of the additional suggestions you guys have added in the comments are great. Keep ‘em coming!

I’m considering trying to find a way to quit. You all give me encouragement. I’ve often wondered if niotine is SOOOO addictive, why don’t they have Betty Ford clinics for smokers? That’s what I feel like I’ll need. Just lock me away until it’s over.

Yikes man… yikes. Those pictures are disgusting. But my real question is why are Altoids so great? I eat the peppermint ones like a mad-man but it doesn’t help my cravings. ;)

Wanted to share info on a cool Web site for quitters called www.committedquitters.com that I’m finding really useful. It provides support that’s tailored to your individual needs. When I signed up, it asked me tons of questions about my smoking habits (annoying at first – but there’s a reason for it) then it gave me a personalized quit strategy that’s really helping me through times when I’m tempted to smoke. I found out about it when I bought some patches but since I signed up, it’s being offered it free. I really encourage anyone thinking of quitting to sign up…..it’s a really cool tool! Good luck!

I was just going to tell you that i found this great place to make cards. You can put anything on them like your info, or a picture you can even show your support on not smoking. Make your new years resolution to stop smoking. It may help someone. If your interested.
http://www.vistaprint.com/vp/gateway.aspx?S=6999461104

Never give up stopping.
Ive been smoking for 22 years. Ive been wanting to stop on and off for the past 10. I kept putting it off or half heartedly trying. I came across a book about 6 months ago. I read it and it really did help me to make my mind up to stop( not give up ) smoking. Its title is “the easy way to stop smoking” by Allen Carr. It worked for me is all I can say. Im a firefighter not a rep for the publishers. Try it what have you got loose. Good luck, and live well.
P.S. My 3 yr old daughter thanked me the other day for not smoking anymore. I nearly cried.

Check out this site (nothing for sale here, just info). It might help.

http://www.geocities.com/cupace/

Great peice. This is exactly what I was looking for. I’ve been cutting down but now I’m making my move.

That cost calculator did the trick; I had seen the nasty pictures so many times I think I’m desensitized to it, but 250K over 20 years at 8% interest? That speaks my language :) Sad but true

Thanks again… F*ck thats a lot of money

Good luck, Yonsun.

4 years now I have been smoke free. But I buy Orbit gum by the basket full and have gained 30 lbs. WHEW.

I have buried both parents due to smoking related illnesses. ( They were too young to die)

Why do they not outlaw this crap?

Matt,

You scared the crap out of me with the pics.

I’m on day 22 now… I’m posting my progress at Beginner’s Guide to Smoking.

Wish me luck!

Good luck, Matt — and nice job with your site.

71 days for me ! I used the lozenges and the committedquitters program as well but found the website to be lacking in ‘real’ support. For all teh questions they asked me I expected more than three fairly generic emails.

That said, I would echo the sentiment I hear from a lot of people that the lozenges are great. They last a while they taste better than the gum and there isn’t constant burning sensation on my arm.

Good Luck to all.

Ooft! I just found this post by accident, and at such an excellent time. I’d quit for 3 weeks, then fell off the wagon in New Orleans last month (and New Orleans is a great city for falling off many wagons) and have been gearing up for my next attempt. I’m going to bookmark this sucker for encouragement! Thanks! :-)

I’m in a very similar boat 1 pack a day for 14 years, have used the patch, the inhaler, gum, cold turkey, Wellbutrin etc in the past. Never stayed quit more than two days… except this time I quit on accident, and didn’t use any nicotine replacement aids.

Day 9, and feelin’ fine.

I’m trying to blog about it daily: Kyle Quits Smoking

the hardest part for me was to give up being so fatalistic about it. like if i cracked and had one cigarette i’d then tell myself ‘well you’ve screwed it up again now anyway, may as well start smoking again’. giving up that mentality, and realising that even making the gaps in between each cigarette is a success in itself, was one of the major steps i took toward actually quitting. free for over a year now :) good luck everyone.

I think you’re exactly right, John. Though I felt like a fool for trying to quit so often, I had read that those people who continue to try to quit — even in the face of repeated failure — are the people who do, eventually, quit. I’m beyond two years now, and couldn’t be happier about that.

I’ve been in the same boat as most of you. I tried to quit 9 months ago together with my boyfriend. He haven’t failed, but I did. Now I’m struggling for weeks to stop. I desperately want to stop.

I have a website detailing my method of giving up if you’re interested… http://www.quitcigs4free.com
Nothing to sell, just information. Everyone has their way. Congratulations!

I have been a smoker since I was age 16. I
thought then that smoking was cool and
romantic how wrong I was! By the time I was 30 I could barely walk a kilometer without grasping for breath. The advice
from my doctor to quit smoking fell on deaf ears.I continue smoking untill I was hospitalised for lung diseases. That is when I realised how precious life was. I have been smoke free now for the past 2 years now and
to say life has been wonderful to me is an understatement. I am 52 years old and my body
is slowly healing itself after so many years of
battering.
If you want to stop smoking avoid the following-
food or drinks that will made you crave for tobacco
do not visit places where smoking is openly encouraged like bars.
If you take alcoholic beverages occationaly,avoid that for at least
3 months during your attempt to quit.
Good luck and happy free smoking environment.

Hi there,

I have also tried many times to quit and I’m trying again right now (if there are any saints out there, I could use your support !)

Anyway, I stopped on 30th Dec 2007 (a day earlier than planned).

I’m blogging a daily diary of the trials and tribulations and how I get on here:-

I Quit ! (at least for now, i hope !)

Here are my tops tips:-

1) Don’t overeat ! You’ll just get more constipated and you’ll be more tempted to smoke to “clear yourself out” (well, that’s how I feel anayway).
2) Exercise when the urge comes on, it’s one of the only ways of getting rid of it, in my experience (or sleep, if you can)
3) If you cannot exercise, buy some gum but not patches (only chew when you’re absolutely desperate). I haven’t touched any gum yet.
4) Try taking a lot of deep breaths and pretend you’re smoking but without a ciggie. It really helps me, there’s something about the deep breathing that replaces something you are missing by not smoking.

Hi there Matt,

Liking your quit smoking gudies mate!

I wrote a guide after successfully quitting smoking over a year ago. Please take a look and let me know what you think - Quit Smoking Guide

Cheers, Tom

I am quitting - only day 2 right now……..wow, it is hard……..and the cravings suck!

Who was it that said “Quitting smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I’ve done it a thousand times.”?

I think it was Mark Twain.

I’ve been fighting my own battle with quitting smoking lately.

I have given up smoking many a time and for the last 2 years have not smoked a cigarette. Unfortnately i have found a new addiction and that is the Nicotine Lozengers. I think i just love the taste of Nicotine too much - well that is what i tell my partner.

If i was to be honest i just can’t let go of being a smoker !