quitforme79

Hey SR peeps,
I believe it is time to say goodbye to nicotine. After I stopped drinking in November I started noticing signs and having symptoms of smoking. Probably too drunk/hungover to see and feel while I was active. I am coughing up disgusting brown stuff daily for a few months (sorry to be graphic) and have developed these debilitating headaches. I have also developed a precancerous condition and was told by my Dr that nicotine only speeds up cancer growths. Having said all that I am having such a hard time actually putting them down. WHAT is WRONG with me?!

I have nicotine gum on hand but still went to the store to buy two packs today. Thinking I will finish those and be done with it. Should I start the gum after that or quit cold turkey? Any experience, advice or a kick in the butt would be helpful

Rennet

In my opinion, chewing nicotine gum is like drinking a beer instead of taking a shot. The goal is to get off the nicotine right?

My brother had much problems quitting, could not succeed with the willpower method then finally had success is Cantrex or whatever that prescription is.

I had success cold turkey just thinking of it like a sickness. Your body is going to give you all these physical symptoms saying it wants a cigarette you just have to tell your body to shut up, that is BS :P Then it goes away

hope22

quitforme I've used nicotine gum and the patches before to kick the habit. (I quit for about 3 months then started again) The gum helped to take the edge off. There is a thread that was started a couple of weeks ago about electronic cigs, some folks have had some success with those. Good luck, you can do it!

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...out-there.html

peanut44

I smoked for 18 years and I really enjoyed them, however, it was starting to catch up with me. Causing wrinkles prematurely, having that annoying wheezing, ticking thing with every breath when I'm trying to sleep.

The pain in the ass of having to go outside when it's 15 degrees just to get it over with , not too mention the cost.

Now, I can breath, look healthier and I smell good.

I cut down for about a week before I quit, 1/2 a smoke at a time, but the patch has also really worked well for me too.

And my breathing and stamina was better within a week. Also, try homeopathic remedies, like lozenges. They work pretty well too.

Above all, be ready mentally. If you want to be done with smoking, be done with it. The end. Period.

Good luck!!=)

janiebluebird

I want to get off nicotine for good, too. I use the electronic cigarettes off and on for weeks at a time but then I never truly lose the craving for nicotine, I was consuming FAR more nicotine than I was from real cigarettes, and I was still wasting money. I haven't smoked since about 2:30pm today and my lungs feel unhealthy. I want to quit all forms of nicotine and am going to try once again. Some things that have worked for me in the past are: using a smartphone app that tracks my time off cigs, breathing through a very small straw in a meditative way(sometimes I think its actually the breathing I enjoy the most about smoking), exercising, watching gross-out anti smoking videos on youtube. I think it has a lot to do with your mind state going in. Here it goes again - good luck.

mirage

I'll tell ya what..it was WAY easier to quit smoking after I'd quit drinking. I found it impossible to drink without a smoke. I used the lozenges when I needed to take the edge off, but was careful to not dependent on them. After a few weeks, I was barely having one so I stopped those, too. Worked out great for me. Try everything if you need to!

quitforme79

Thank you all! I know i just need to go ahead and get on it. It will be so great to not be a slave to this last addiction! It's almost as if it will be showing myself how the "old" me is really done with. Exciting yet scary if that makes sense

Dee74

There's a few folks quitting this month in this thread Quit

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...h-madness.html
D

Rennet

Another helpful thing for me when I quit cold turkey was quitnet.com. They have this simple little calculator that tracks how much you save and how many cigarettes you have not smoked. I haven't checked it in a while, but years later it is like $15k for me. It's cool and motivating to see that little number grow over time

Northlander

I quit smoking first (50 days smoke-free now) and that inspired me to stop drinking (20 days now). The strategies of riding out the urge are basically the same. The nicotine will be out of your system in 3 days (a bit more or less for some folks), then the issue becomes urge surfing. Just remember that the urge goes away whether you light up or not. If you do light up, all you are doing is ensuring that the urge will come back in about an hour. Don't tell yourself you are sacrificing something when you quit - you aren't. Your gaining health, money, and self-confidence.

silentrun

I vote cold turkey. Rip that bandage off. 72 hours of sickness, then better slowly. I usually make it about 3 months then go back. (dumb drunk decision) I am looking for a 3 day period I can be that sick for then going to go again. I now know through this site that I can't allow a passing urge to take root into a fantasy about use. Good luck to you.

quitforme79

Thank you