ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Smoking

Another thread went from asbestos to smoking, so I thought I'd start a new one here for smoking, and how I quit.

I took a variety of drugs in my youth and on quitting found nicotine the most addictive and hardest to quit(didn't use the more addictive drugs). I beat it on my third try. I found the first few months to be the toughest, then another tough time after about a year...when I had quit, so it wouldn't hurt if I had one occaisionally. Then I'd be smoking a pack a day within two weeks. Hence, the three tries. The last time I just told myself I'd never have another smoke. That was about 25 years ago. All three times were cold-turkey, I never could get anywhere cutting down.

Dave

I smoked one pack a day for 15 years. One evening in November of '99 while working a side job, I got so sick and tired of doing it, I finished the last cigarette in my last pack, and said "That's it, I can't take it anymore". I never cheated, never looked back. And probably the greater benefit of quitting, other than my health, was my kids came around me to talk more often. I did gain about 15 pounds after that, but I wound up working that off, plus some.

I am smoking about 1.5 packs a day and seem to be using the excuse that I am to stressed to quit ,maybe when things get better I will try and concentrate on quitting smokeing. I have recently got some info and maybe I should consider a quit smoking aid. I just was gagging as I was on my way to the store to buy a pack just prior to reading this Thread. What a moron I can be LOL.

Originally posted 08-27-2003 02:56 PM:

For those who are trying to quit smoking: GO MAN!! I quit in 1987 after 13 or so years of smoking (heavily... would rather smoke than eat kind of addiction). I can be somewhat fiercely competitive and was told that something that was only 1/30th of an ounce was kicking my butt... that seemed to make a difference in my perseverance and commitment to quit.
Also, I decided I wanted to be a 'non-smoker' not a 'quitter' so I changed the way I described my effort and began to envision myself 10- or 20- years down the road without cigarettes.

Next, I proposed a deal with my smoking co-worker (ok, ok, the cigarette was smoking and she was just the sucker on the other end...) I knew I'd have to be able to cope with other people smoking and not cave to the habit or I'd smoke for the remainder of my life. We agreed that early in my effort if things got tense for me, she'd smoke on my behalf... smoking by proxy... ahhh, that was a wonderful and effective way to satisfy that nerve-wracking edge of addiction-breaking that thwarts so many attempts. When she continued to smoke, I wasn't bothered by the fact that I was 'missing out' either.

Even now if I've had a tense period of time, I'll wake from sleeping and realize that I was having a leisurely smoke in my dreams but there's no way I'd light up in reality!

Recent thoughts:
For a change it actually helped to be competitive... go me!

I recall that smoking was a "gotta have a smoke, oooh the jaw pain & headache are back and now I'm sick at my stomach, ahh - - I feel a little better - almost good enough to say I'm relaxed, gotta have a smoke" cycle for me. When I realized that the jaw pain and headache were caused by the action of sucking smoke out of the cigarette, it became much easier to convince myself that it was time to quit for good.

I quit on the same weekend that I decided to paint my bathroom - a room where smoke and moisture had made an ugly mess on the walls and ceiling. I told myself that I wasn't going to live in a home where the walls were dingy and covered with layers of smoke. It helped to mark the passage into a cleaner health situation with a cleaner home to both motivate and reward me for the change.

Cigarette smoke is just nasty to me now but occasionally I get a whiff of someone's cigar or pipe smoke that's momentarily pleasant. I wouldn't want to breathe all that junk in myself but a passing aroma is ok - it reminds me of that 'relaxed moment' when I used to light up.