We are gonna quit too...

[ARIES]

Hello all...

We stopped drinking,blowing and now we gonna stop smoking too..
We are gonna stop in a few weeks but we are tappering it of now..
Geert is doing the dishes (we just eat)then we gonna make some coffee and then we can smoke one...We really want to quit..My father (only 20 years older then me) was just operated on his heart..He could quiT(after smoking just like me almost 2 packets a day..And Geert and I like to have a baby in the future so it's better for both of us to quit and have both a healty body..

I just wanted to share this love from Stefanie

[historyteach]

How are you doing with the tapering, Stephanie?
Do you have a quit date?

I never had any luck tapering. I don't have the mental stamina for it.
I've got a fresh pack of Chantix. I'm going to start taking it today. When school's out, I'll be ready to quit once more. With G*D's grace, this time it will be for good!

Shalom!

[cess101]

Way to go Aries. How are the quits going for you both? I hope that your father is alright. This must be a very stressful time for you. Congratulations on your sobriety as well.

I too used the taperdown method for smoking cessation. The thing is... you have to either set and stick to a Quit Date somewhere around 2 weeks or so from the time you start tapering down or... you have to quit when you get down to 7 or less per day. If not, the tendency to start increasing and going back up in number of times you smoke occurs.

Posting on places like this helps tremendously. You gain support from other quitters, which is an essential part to quitting, and it gives you something to do with your hands. Taperdown is hard but having done it that way myself, I can say that sometimes the hard way is the best way because now, I think twice whenever the notion to smoke arises. Now I say to myself or think: "no way, I never want to go through that again!" (LOL)

Anyway (from one quitter to others), I just wanted to say "hello" and, hope to hear from you again sometime. It's wonderful to see when couples, like yourself, quit together. It's good to hear from you. Keep us posted on how it goes for you; okay? See ya!

cess101

[cess101]

Here are some tips if you are using the taperdown method for quitting. It helps to:

1. Start jotting down alternative things to do besides for lighting up a cigarette in a notebook or journal. Think of things that will break the pattern of your smoking habits. (Ex. Get up/stretch/walk. Sip water. Post a quick message or two here or in a journal. Pray or recite a quote or poem. Think of a joke and laugh. Sing/hum/dance. Do a word puzzle or play a game.)

2. Also keep a list of positive/motivating statements you can use to delay the craving or next urge to smoke. (Ex. "Go away craving; I am stronger than you." Or "I choose not to smoke today." Or "I Can Do This.")

3. Change the brand from your favorite brand down to a brand that you don't like at all.

4. Pick a designated smoking area and only smoke there (be it night/day, rain/shine). Make a few, "No Smoking" signs to hang on the doors.

5. Smoke less and less of each cigarette as time progresses closer to your quit date.

6. Make a note of any patterns you may find. From whom you smoke with to how you perform the action of smoking (how do you hold the cigarette, where you keep your cigarettes, light them, etc.).

7. Jossle around those patterns or ways that you now smoke. Take the comfort out of smoking. (Ex. Smoke with the opposite hand. Hold the cigarette between the ring finger and the middle finger instead of the comfortable way. Puff or smoke them differently (if you smoke slow, speed up and vice-versa).

8. Keep a calendar and mark important events. Schedule your Quit Date at the least stressful of weeks where you can have time to yourself.

9. Smoke on schedule (I tried this. It was hard but helped a lot) and no other time. For instance, start with every hour and after one week, extend the time to 2 hours, and so on.

10. Take note of physical tension in your body and chest. When you feel tightness or tension, try doing a few "tense-and-release exercises" to loosen up, sip water, take several long deep breaths (slowly inhaling/heavily exhaing each breath you take and repeat a comforting word, such as "reeelaaax," slowing to yourself in your mind.

11. Start preparing your home, car, and work station for your Quit Day. I used post-it notes (on the bathroom mirror, on the car's dashboard, etc.) with positive statements such as "I Can Do This" and "One Day At A Time" and simply "Breathe."
You can also keep pictures of your loved ones whereever you normally store cigarettes.
With the money saved, you can buy a special edition of your favorite magazine or a puzzle book or a candle or something instead of a pack of cigarettes.
Clean and keep things like hand lotion, flavored chapstick, nail files, pen and paper, straws, bottled water, gum and hard candy, and CD's handy in the car, at work, and rooms which you associate to smoking.

12. The night before your Quit Date, toss out any remaining cigarettes (butts & all), lighters, ashtrays, etc. Remove all of it from your sight and reach so not to tempt you later on.

13. Some people find it helpful to write a final "farewell" to their cigarettes or smoking habit explaining why they are quitting, summarizing pro's and con's of smoking, and telling them that they serve no purpose in your life any longer and explaining how good life will be without them, etc.

14. If you are rationing the number of cigarettes you smoke, put that number exactly into baggies and label each baggie Sunday through Saturday, 1 for each day of the week and don't buy anymore or open any more packs than that amount for each week. It helps you stop from chain smoking or from smoking more than one at a time.

Well, it's getting late and I best sign off for now. Will post if anything else comes to mind later on.

cess101

[evanrudenyc]

This is great, I didnt realize there was already a smoking forum, as I really dont read any others besides the "newcomers" board (thanks History Teach for the link)
So Im on day 2 and feeling ok, Im using the patch ad gum as alternatives.... I did get a bit cranky yesterday evening about 10 hours from my last smoke, but I guess thats supposed to be expected..... my friend also told me to keep some tylenol handy as I may get headaches etc..... well good luck to you guys, and wish me luck as well, we can do this!!!!!