How to quit smoking

If that meme was for real, guys would start smoking, just to quit...

Quote from Solow

Okay, I'll take her up on it!!! I think my wife's reaction would be more than enough reason to quit.

Either way you quit

I quit smoking on Jan 2 1995. Back then the patch was still prescription and my Insurance covered it so that is what I used. I also got some of those chrome Chinese balls, you know, the ones that come in pairs usually in a box that when you knock them together they sound like bells. anyway I had them in my hand every waking hour - I needed something to keep my smoking hand busy just as much as I needed the patch for the nicotine

Anyway good luck I pray that you make it this time

Quote from edwardaneal

I quit smoking on Jan 2 1995. Back then the patch was still prescription and my Insurance covered it so that is what I used. I also got some of those chrome Chinese balls, you know, the ones that come in pairs usually in a box that when you knock them together they sound like bells. anyway I had them in my hand every waking hour - I needed something to keep my smoking hand busy just as much as I needed the patch for the nicotine

Anyway good luck I pray that you make it this time

Can't see myself fondling those all day...

@Solow John Wayne said "Quitting smoking is easy, I've done it hundreds of times."

As everyone has said it does help to want to quit. That makes it a hell of a lot easier. I've quit quite a few times and not smoking now. Alcohol is my trigger and my wife and friends smoke so I find myself being drawn back in. I don't have as an important reason to quit as you do.

My Dad had a heart attack and almost died in 1989. It was touch and go in the local hospital and 2 days later he was transferred to Baylor in Dallas. When we were in the ambulance transferring him they asked Do you smoke? He said no. I said you lie, (he was an episcopal priest) he said I don't anymore and he didn't for the next 21 years. He had a reason to quit just like you. He died of colon cancer but that's another story.

Chantix works. Costs me over $400 for a month so if your insurance pays for it, do it. Take it and smoke until you don't, not necessarily just after the first week. That seems to be the only thing that works for me and you aren't still putting the nicotine back into your system. They do have Vapes in a non nicotine if you need something in your hands. Sunflower seeds, tootsie pops etc work also to keep your hands and mouth busy.

Keep this thread going keeping us informed on your progress and maybe we can keep you accountable. Some ex smokers can be the worse but don't let them get to you. You might want to cuss them after a couple of days not smoking but remember they say after 3 days the nicotine is gone from your system and it's a habit you are breaking after that.

Good luck brother and if I can help in any way, reach out. Spud

I drink 8-10 bottles of Coke a day and people tell me all the time, "you gotta quit or you will have kidney stones". Guess what I'm 41 and still haven't had them(knock on wood). My wife is in the medical field and she said "quit when you want not cause people tell you that you should". I quit drinking Coke every night, then I start again in the morning.

Sent from my iPhone using Polaris Slingshot Info

Quote from Solow

Wow, and here I thought my family was all gone. You guys rock!

I wouldn't push or want anyone to try and quit what makes them happy. That's like someone asking/telling me to give up riding motorcycles. It's not going to happen. If you try please talk to your wife, kids, neighbors, and coworkers cause with no/low nicotine you will turn into an evil evil person for a while. Trust me I have nightmares of when my dad stopped snuff, chew, and smoking pipes (not Crack pipes either). Please be nice he isn't with us anymore.

RNJ12

Quote from Solow

I agree, but I need back surgery and they won't do it if I smoke. I know it's for my own good so I can't get too upset with them.

I will pray for you but maybe try to quit till it's over and maybe you will like the extra money in your pocket I meant SS . You may decide you like the way things smell, taste, and new things you are able to do with kicking the habit that you keep it up. Either way I hope and pray for the best for you.

RNJ12

I dipped for about 30 years. I quit last year with the assistance of the patches. It worked wonders for me, having said that you have to have the mindset that you are going to quit/ want to quit. Also don't quit between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I gained 30 pounds, I've finally lost the weight I gained from quitting.

Quote from Maverick5990

Go to the link I put on a previous post.
It's the nicotine!!!!

As someone who has vaped since 2007, not a genius, but has a tad bit of knowledge about nicotine.........
The reason they "claim" nicotine reduces the chances of a fusion taking is because.......
Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor, so it causes the blood vessels to shrink resulting in reduced blood flow to the fusion site resulting in diminished ability to self repair the damage.
But nicotine is not the only vasoconstrictor on earth, just the lefts and antivapes scape goat because it furthers their "narrative" of I don't do something so no one should be able to do it.
Coffee is a vasoconstrictor
Energy drinks are vasoconstrictors
Tea is a vasoconstrictor
Anything with caffeine in it is a vasoconstrictor.
So none of that crap either if you believe the "science".
Did you know Tomato's contain nicotine?
Did you know Nicotine does not cause cancer?
Did you know that the EU government and medical testing has resulted in PROOF that vaping, even with nicotine containing liquids are 95% safer than smoking?

When I quit smoking I figured out there a multitude of "habits" that smoking creates that makes it difficult for a smoker to quit.
First one is obvious, the nicotine addiction, second is having something in your hands since we are used to cigarettes and lighters, your hands need something to do (hence the Chinese balls, hand spinners), and 3rd for me was being able to inhale and blow "smoke" which tells your brain you are doing something you are used to, but now i blow water vapor, not smoke.
For me vaping filled all those "addictions" with a 95% safer (and better tasting) alternative. But I did not "have" to quit smoking, i wanted to because of how much i was wheezing and coughing when i was trying to go to sleep, how fast i would get winded with just a little walking and a little common sense.
I now do not stink of cigarettes, neither does my house, cars, clothes. My blood pressure stays in the 120's over 60's (i'm in my 50's), but the bad is that food actually tastes good now, so i have to watch the food intake.

Since I am not a doctor, I can not give @Solow medical advice ( I would never dream of doing that)
BUT
If I were in his shoes i would do a little research on chantix and vaping. Chantix will not help with the nicotine withdrawal as it blocks the receptors from nicotine, so even if you smoke while taking it, it will not satisfy the cravings, so you have to understand that regardless of how much you smoke, it is futile as your body does not get the satisfaction of nicotine, so tell yourself why waste the cigs.

Ecig liquids come in varying nicotine concentrations and no nicotine at all (called "zero nic") and is an excellent way to slowly cut down the nicotine levels and "wean" yourself of the nicotine dependency slowly and comfortably. Then once at zero nic, slowly wean yourself off the habit of vaping.
To those of you that quit cold turkey, CONGRATS, you all are supermen and superwomen, I could not do it, so vaping was the solution for me.
So the final on what I would do in his shoes..... take chantix if i wanted to, then vape zero nic juice so all i would lose is nicotine which is the reason for this discussion while slowly working to quit vaping and breaking the habit of needing to inhale, exhale and blow vapor.
or
If i had the time, vape nicotine containing liquids, but every bottle cut the nic level slowly until i was at zero nic, then live life knowing i am 95% better off than smoking cigarettes.
But like I said, I am not a genius, nor a doctor.

Quote from Solow

That's the hard part, I don't want to quit, I enjoy it. I'm a boring person and that's my only vice. If I had it my way, I'd be smoking during the surgery, I hear it goes well with oxygen, lol

May I suggest a NEW 'vice' .... put more miles on the Slingshot. Lots of fun and more difficult to have a cig when taking the curves at 60 mph...

Quote from Tripod

If that meme was for real, guys would start smoking, just to quit...

That was my thought exactly, soon as I saw that meme! And I've quit for over 13 years now.

Here's how I did it. And I loved to smoke. First, I wanted to quit. I was tired of the rattling in my lungs when I would lay down. I wanted to live longer, to see my Grandkids grow up. I didn't want my wife to be kissing a dirty ash tray. And I was tired of having to carry something around with me like Linus's blanket all the time. Not to mention, it was getting expensive. So, the first thing I did was to get an aluminum slide pack, that you put the cigarettes into. That way, you have to think about what you are doing, you can't just reach out of habit. I went from a pack a day, to 6 cigarettes the first day doing it that way. Also, if I got a craving, I would ask myself, is this something you really want, or is it circumstances that are causing the desire? Is it stress, or just that I had a cup of coffee and a piece of pie and now it's time for a smoke? That kind of thing. But, I would always tell myself, OK, I can have one but I'll wait just 10 minutes and see if I still want one. If I did, I'd have one, or part of one. Only took me a couple of weeks, then I went a day without smoking. The evening of the 2nd day without smoking, I threw them away and got a fresh pack to carry. The fresh pack was unopened, and by having it I felt like I had a crutch.... if I really was in a bad way, I had them with me. I had also decided that if I did have one of the unopened pack ones, I'd start with a new unopened pack the next day. I never opened the pack. I carried it for a month, then threw it away. Yes, I could have given it to someone, but there is something about tossing that pack into the trash that seemed to solidify my accomplishment.

I can honestly say, I will not smoke again. I'm not even tempted when around others that are smoking, even if I'm drinking at the time. I'm past it now, and there's no looking back. Remember, you'll never hear an old person tell you they sure are glad they never gave up smoking.....