How can I do this to myself?

[Lizrox]

I am smoking like a chimmney. I had my daughter in 2004 and stopped smoking until I went into drug rehab 5/2007 BTW-there were about 40 patients there; only 2 of them didn't smoke.

I look at my daughters face, I want to see her grow up, get married have kids. I don't want to die of lung cancer. But yet, I KEEP SMOKING!!!!

Why does nicotine have such a powerful hold over us if we know smoking kills.

I am going to smoke a cigarette right now. How do i stop?

Liz

[Jane63]

{{Liz}} I am probably the worst to give advice here because I recently stopped smoking for almost a month before falling off the wagon and starting back up again.

It really is insane the way nicotine can have such a strong hold on us...and I can totally relate to the guilt from knowing that you are endangering your body. I struggled with that and still do.

I used a medicine called "Chantix" to stop and it really helped!! In fact, I plan to start back on it again later this Fall when I feel I am ready to try again. {and hopefully succeed this time!}
It has little or no side effects and does not interfere with any other medications you might be taking...{other than nicotine itself}...You might want to research it and ask your DR if you could try it.

Also there are LOTS of good tips others have posted here in this section to help you along so check them out.
Best wishes,
Jane

[iuchewie]

quitting smoking/dipping comes down to a daily decision that we all need to make. it's not an easy decision, but it is within your control. personally, i have a three step plan for when i want to have a dip.

1. take out a picture of my son, look him in the eye and tell him that i love dip more than him.

2. take out a KillTheCan business card, look at it and realize that i'm throwing away my quit.

3. call up a quit brother from KillTheCan and get permission to have a dip.

i've never had to go past step 1.

here's an article that i wrote for KillTheCan - that site pertains to dipping/chewing, but it's certainly relevent for smoking as well.

http://www.killthecan.org/facts/chewie01.asp

so to answer your question of "how do i stop?" - simple... make your decision!

chewie

[historyteach]

Liz;
Yes, it's horrible the way nicotine has gained such control over our lives. They say it's as hard to quit as heroin.

The answer to your question on how to quit is this.
Anyway that works for you.

Yes, you do have to make the decision. Then, you have to follow through on that decision, by acting out in ways that support it. Whenever you have a craving, do something different. Literally.

Here's some tips from my quit.
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...s-my-quit.html (Tips from my Quit)
The only difference is that I am now One year, six months, four weeks, two days, 19 hours, 29 minutes and 23 seconds nicotine free. That's 23072 cigarettes not smoked, saving $6,344.47. Life saved: 11 weeks, 3 days, 2 hours, 40 minutes.

I used a behavioral approach to my quit and it works. Just do something different. Remember, a craving will last only @3 minutes. YOu can do anything for 3 minutes. And when we change what we're doing, we change what we're thinking and feeling.

Remember to keep the quit and post before you puff!

Shalom!